little help with a computer build

FishPony · 11-29-2006, 10:52 AM

allright so im putting together a computer for my cousin. we get it all put together and cant get anything to show up on the monitor. now ive never put a computer together with a dedicated video card from the start. is there anything special i need to do to get the bios to display? it should just come up so i can boot to a cd correct? am i completely missing something here or what? heres the parts.

A-DATA Vitesta 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model ELJPE1908K - Retail 107.99

Intel Pentium D 805 Smithfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 Dual Core,EM64T Processor Model BX80551PE2666FN - Retail $94.49

ECS NFORCE 570 SLIT-A (V5.1) Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $99.99

POWERCOLOR X300SE64HM256 Radeon X300SE HyperMemory 256MB HyperMemory (64MB On board) DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail 33.99

Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YD 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM $69.99
Rosewill RFA120L-B 120mm 4 Blue LEDs Case Fan - Retail

ukchris · 11-29-2006, 02:01 PM

Make sure the RAM is seated properly?

Is it powering up? Have you connected the power switch correctly? Any beeps?

FishPony · 11-29-2006, 03:33 PM

it powers up and then after like 10 seconds there is a few beeps. the only thing i cant get it to show anything on the monitor. i tried taking both ram sticks out and it doesnt beep then but it sitll doesnt show anything on the screen. if the sticks of ram were bad or incompatible wouldnt it still show the bios?

ukchris · 11-29-2006, 04:00 PM

Have you tried one stick at a time? It sounds like it is at least trying. In my limited experience of boards with no onboard video you should get a display. Is the video card seated ok? Does it require external power?

FishPony · 11-29-2006, 04:17 PM

on it doesnt require external power and yeah i made sure it was seated properly twice so i dont know. i tried one stick of ram also. might hafta run in and get another video card to use with a different lcd monitor and see if it works. theres another thread on here about a samsung monitor and having problems using the dvi input. maybe if i use analog it will work to get video for now.

turbocad6 · 11-29-2006, 04:46 PM

you should get at least a low res display unless it defaults to an on board video, if there is none you should by default get the display, & then you need to install the drivers to get higher res usually..

beeps are usually a trouble code... find out what the # of beeps means for your board is usually a good first clue too..

FishPony · 11-29-2006, 05:16 PM

i tried to find out what the beeps mean but its not a regular beeping so ill hafta listen to it a little better tonight. would the memory be causing this? thats all i could think of. unless the motherboard is dead? when i took the memory out it didnt beep but still got no picture.

turbocad6 · 11-29-2006, 07:57 PM

could be memory, could be something else... try to check the beeps.... that might tell you...

FishPony · 11-29-2006, 09:03 PM

well i got the beeping to stop. i had a 2x2 power connector plugged into the motherboard which was causing the beeping. not sure why that stopped it but it did. now i still cant get any video at all on the monitor. i guess im gonna go buy a different video card and see if that fixes it.

2k1Toaster · 11-29-2006, 09:11 PM

The 2x2 connector is the P4 connector. Required for most intel chips to boot up. It supplies a dedicated power stream from the PSU for the CPU for times it needs lots of power.

And the Pentium D's are trouble makers. I have had this happen a bunch of times. Basically the board "supports" the pentium D, but not. You need a BIOS update. Every Pentium D I have put together required this. Same problem too. Looks like it is working, fan on, a beep, lights, everything, but no video.

It is because there are no clock cycles, so it goes once and that's where all that happens. So what do you do I hear you cry!

Really the only way to update the BIOS is to get something to tick, so you need another CPU. A temp CPU if you will. Basic P4 Celeron or something cheap. Plug it in, and it will work. THen update the BIOS, and stick the Pentium D back in.

I do this so often I have a spare cpu now, but before I went to CompUSA and "Rented" (21 day no questions ask return policy for 100% refund) a basic $20 cpu that at the store costs like $120 and slapped it in, updated the BIOS, and plopped in my good Pentium D.

I am almost 100% certain this is your problem.

FishPony · 11-29-2006, 09:44 PM

well when i plug in the 2x2 connector it causes the beeping. when i unplug it it doesnt beep. does this sound right?

FishPony · 11-29-2006, 10:01 PM

ok hmm now it is doing exactly what you are saying. would a core 2 duo work or not. im thinking of either sending the pentium d 805 back and getting a 6300 or just "borrow" a celeron from somewhere if the c2d wont work.

2k1Toaster · 11-29-2006, 10:50 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by FishPony

ok hmm now it is doing exactly what you are saying. would a core 2 duo work or not. im thinking of either sending the pentium d 805 back and getting a 6300 or just "borrow" a celeron from somewhere if the c2d wont work.

use the pentium d, just borrow a crap cpu.

The CD won't work because the computer effectively has no CPU! It can't POST. It doesn't even know it is a computer.

And no not a core duo. they need a special socket too, so new mobo as well.

FishPony · 11-30-2006, 01:29 PM

ok that make sense now i just dont understand why it says it supports a pentium d 805 when it doesnt without a bios update. it also says it supports a core 2 duo which is the same socket as the pentium d. would a core 2 duo work without a bios update then? im not sure where im going to get a lga775 cpu

FishPony · 12-01-2006, 10:59 AM

i called ecs and they said they have never had this happen. they said since a pentium d is an older core that the mobo should recognize it no problem. right now im thinking theres something wrong with the graphics card or monitor. it only has dvi out so i cant test it with another monitor. im going to go to best buy and get a different video card to make sure that isnt the problem since that will be the easiest thing to check first. then find a different 775 cpu.