Need help building a budgeted gaming system (amateur)

[ShyguyXPC]

also check the RAM as I mentioned, I've seen that happen too with bad RAM or defective RAM as well, but more times than not its something over heating with the CPU. only takes a second or two for a CPU to heat up enough to overheat.

[Fizur2002]

make sure the fan to your CPU cooler is plugged in and spinning.

[kenny536]

I tried both sticks of RAM in different combos.

Well the CPU Fan does not start up as fast as the other fans and the lights on the mobo - is that normal?

heat sink is fully mounted - if it was overheated I'd figure it would stay off for a while - but this turns on for a few seconds, turns off for a few seconds, and then repeats that cycle forever.

Yeah I tried using a flathead on the jumper - didn't do anything. The mobo started up when I put the power switch from the case onto the mobo.

And yes, when I tried jumping it, ocassionaly it would shut down in about 1 second.

[Fizur2002]

alright, time do get nitty gritty. Unplug all your hard drives and cd drives. unplug your speakers and take out any add-in cards except your video card. Only use 1 stick of ram and reseat your heatsink on the processor. Let us know if it boots that way, and if so, slowly start adding in your components one at a time.

[kenny536]

I already did all this - I said that a couple posts ago that I followed the guidelines on this link :

PROBLEMS with a NEW BUILD? Try This!! - PCMech Forums

that means that nothing is in my case.. my mobo is sitting on top of the box it came in.. all that is connected is 1 stick of ram, psu, mobo, videocard, monitor, cpu, thats it.

[kenny536]

I think the problem is something related with the CPU. I unplugged the PSU cables (CPU1 and CPU2) so that there is no power to the CPU and I also unplugged the CPU fan. I then turned on the computer and now the power stays on. I left it on for about 30 seconds on two separate occasions without any interruption in power. I did not leave it on for more than 30 seconds because I'm not sure if it is safe to do so without having power to the CPU and the CPU fan not being on. Is that safe? Does this mean that the problem is CPU-related?

Here is what the situation is:

I have the everything out of the case.. the mobo is on top of the box it came in .. I have the PSU connected to the mobo, I have the case power switch and the other front panel cords connected to the mobo, one of the case fans connected to the PSU.. the CPU is on the mobo with the heatsink installed. I also have one stick of RAM in there.

That's it.

[kenny536]

It still may be power supply because every time the power turns off the PSU still makes that hissing sound.. i have the PSU separated from the mobo now so I know for sure that hissing sound is the PSU. Maybe it just does not have enough power to stay on? Although I'm unsure why it stays on continuously when I unplug the CPU power. Maybe because it is defective it does not have enough juice to continually power the CPU and mobo? This would explain why I had absolutely no power when I had everything connected like the hard drive and the DVD drive. The PSU couldn't handle it all. So maybe it is the PSU. I already ordered a new, different PSU from NewEgg (Corsair), they gave me free next day shipping so it is scheduled to be here Friday, but may probably get here on Monday because of the holidays. They are going to refund me on this OCZ.

But if it's not the PSU then what? I tell NewEgg that the mobo may be defected as well? If that doesn't fix it I call NewEgg again and say the CPU is defective?

[kenny536]

Yeah - so it was the motherboard that was defected.

The new PSU came from newegg this afternoon - same result.

I drove to tigerdirect and bought a new motherboard, and now it's staying on! I'm glad that's over... hopefully I don't run into anymore problems. Thanks for your help.

I do have one more question though - the motherboard I bought from tiger direct was this one: Asus P5Q Green Motherboard - Intel P45, Socket 775, ATX, Audio, PCI Express 2.0, S/PDIF, Gigabit LAN, Firewire, USB 2.0, SATA, RAID

for 129.99 + 12$ tax... the P5Q-E was not in stock.

So my question is - is this motherboard fine? Because if it is not - what I could do is just use this one and tell Newegg to refund my defected motherboard and buy a new one from newegg and after it arrives in 2-3 days, I'll return this one to TigerDirect. Should I do that or this mobo fine? Here is the link to it.

Asus P5Q Green Motherboard - Intel P45, Socket 775, ATX, Audio, PCI Express 2.0, SPDIF, Gigabit LAN, Firewire, USB 2.0, SATA, RAID at TigerDirect.com

Thanks.

[KarmaKiller]

Yes, that motherboard is actually a step up. That's not a bad price either.

Glad to hear you got it worked out.

[kenny536]

I have another problem.

I hooked everything up and the computer runs fine - but the first thing I do is run BIOS right? I cannot get to it.

According to my mobo manual - I just power it up and hold DEL.

I don't know why I can't get to it, it can be for one of three reasons:

1. The USB function is not working on the motherboard - the keyboard I bought is an illuminated one, so it turns blue when it is powered, but when I plug it into the USB, it doesn't turn blue - when I plug it into my laptop, it works perfectly fine. However, on my new build, if I plug in the USB halfway, at just the right amount, then it will illuminate.

2. Am I setting up the monitor wrong? From what I understand, I do not plug in the analog cord right? Only the digital? The monitor seems fine, the light is on and on the top left corner it keeps saying "Digital" and then "Analog" and keeps cycling through like that.

I don't know if the problem is that I cannot access BIOS because of my keyboard.. OR that I actually AM entering BIOS but I cannot see it because I am doing something wrong with my monitor.

I have no idea how I access BIOS.. i tried holding down DEL but it did not work. I tried using a PS2 keyboard also (although I think it is broken because none of the lights turn on).