Computer won't turn on

I built a custom machine using a Gigabyte motherboard, corsair memory, AMD Phenom II processor, and ATI graphics card. It's running Windows 7 Pro. THe machine started just fine after it was built. Now when it's started from cold all of the fans come on, the hard drive starts up but nothing shows up on the screen. I do a hard shutdown and restart the machine and it comes up perfect.

I double checked the memory and found a small compatibility issue and corrected that. No luck. There are no special settings in the BIOS. This happens every time it's started from cold. Does anyone have any ideas of what I may have missed?

asked Dec 14 '10 at 15:34

David
3.3k●11●20●62

Plug it in to the AC???

(Dec 14 '10 at 15:45) Jackster1337

was that really needed?

(Dec 14 '10 at 15:47) Tim Fontana

Crap.... are you kidding me? I have to plug it in too?

(Dec 14 '10 at 16:12) David

Durp......

(Dec 14 '10 at 16:25) Jackster1337

3 Answers:

oldest newest most voted

Reset the bios on the motherboard. Move the GPU into another card socket. Change screen plugs on the GPU and your DVI/HDMI Cable.

If none of that works, reseat the CPU, RAM and GPU, unplug all the cables fro the board and plug them in again.

If none of that works, take out RAM stick by stick, Try all the sticks on their own in different sockets.

Also please post the parts you have here, CPU Motherboard, Ram and GPU

answered Dec 14 '10 at 15:37

Tim Fontana
15.5k●136●202●377

I appreciate the tips. Some I have already tried and a couple I will have to look at. Only one slot for the GPU. RAM swap tried. No luck.

(Dec 14 '10 at 16:14) David

damn, get back to me when you have tried the others.

Also, could you please describe the process before the computer stopped working

(Dec 14 '10 at 16:16) Tim Fontana

Here we go - Mobo: Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H; Graphics: ATI Radeon Sapphire with 1GB on board; CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition; RAM: Corsair CM2X1024-6400C4 DDR2.

(Dec 14 '10 at 16:22) David

No real process. The machine sits in a classroom and is used for training (i.e., putting on presentations, lectures, etc.). No monitor, just a projector hooked up to it. Instructors go in, turn it on and it should work. It will work after the hard shutdown. First start it fails. It won't flash the Gigabyte screen or anything until you shut it down and restart.

(Dec 14 '10 at 16:31) David

if it is old, it may have just expired

(Dec 14 '10 at 17:01) Tim Fontana

I think that it could be the PSU. But only try replacing the PSU after moving the GPU. If you have no more PCI-e slots, try reseating it in the slot. Then, change the port you are using for the display. For example, if you're using DVI, switch the port you are using, or switch the cable type if you must. Then, reseat the CPU and reapply thermal grease. Then reseat all of the RAM, this time in different slots. After that, if it still is acting sketchy, take out the PSU and replace it with another.

P.S.- I have your motherboard. It's bargain basement, but it's pretty decent.

answered Dec 14 '10 at 18:25

HHBones
4.1k●61●82●118

0	It sounds like a PSU problem to me... Try using a different one and see if it fixes the problem! answered Dec 14 '10 at 19:05 NickMiller 1.1k●44●46●59

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