# New PC build boot up problems



## dEaF TO LiGhT (Jan 3, 2008)

Okay, I'll be as detailed as possible.

I got my parts from newegg and assembled my computer last night. I went to power it on, and, it powered on fine, all the LEDs went on, and the fans fired up. However, there was no picture on the screen. I hear one short beep from the PC speaker, but nothing more. Also, the floppy drive's green light remains lit. After a few seconds, the computer remains on, but it quiets down a lot.

I'm guessing this is a graphics card problem, but I'm not totally sure. The motherboard's green light goes on while it's off signifying everything seems okay. And when I power on the computer, the green light on my graphics card goes on, which signifies that it has been powered correctly.

Quick specs:

ASUS P5K-E WIFI AP mobo
EVGA GeForce 9800 GX2
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
4 GB G.SKILL DDR2 800 RAM
850W CoolerMaster power supply
2 Seagate Barracuda 7200 rpm 500 GB sata drives
Sata samusung lightscribe DVD-RW
Thermaltake Armor Series 8000BWS chassis

I think it should also be noted that I had some difficulty installing the graphics card. The 9800GX2 is so big that it was nearly impossible to fit in. Even with a full tower chassis and a solid ATX motherboard, I could barely fanagle it in to the right spot. Once I got it in, the tool-free latches on my chassis could not secure it. Luckily I had right-angle SATA cables to fit underneath the huge gfx card.

Can anyone help me out? Thanks!


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## Computer_Doctor (Feb 14, 2008)

Pretty good system specs and it sucks that it don't work at this point.

One thing you can do is to remove the bios battery and also clear the cmos. Refer to your motherboard manual for the cmos batter location. Leave the batter out for about 10min and put it back afterwards.

I also recommend taking out all of the computer parts and only re-seat the following parts:

power supply, motherboard, cpu, ram, and videocard. If you have more than one stick of ram try booting the computer with only one stick at a time and switch ram slots. Also make sure everything is seated properly, even the videocard.


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

hmm sounds like a possible cable problem. the one beep you heard is the post beep, and the fans quieting is what it should do. is the DVI or VGA cable loose at all on eiter end? have you checked the monitor with another computer?


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## dEaF TO LiGhT (Jan 3, 2008)

the monitor seems fine, and it's not loose. i know it's not the monitor, but something else because it's not getting past a certain point in the boot up sequence, which is indicated by the fact my floppy drive's light remains on. as i mentioned earlier, the video card isn't seated that well. it's so damn big that the latches on my chassis can't lock it down. I know that it's connected, because if I pull it out a little bit the red light on my mobo comes on saying it's not connected properly. I tried even holding it in a supported position with my hands while i booted up just to see if improper seating was the case, but it didn't help.

before i finished building, i used alcohol to clean the heatsink and cpu off and reapplied thermal paste to both, and covered it pretty generously. I didnt see it leak out the sides though. hopefully that's not the problem.


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

that could be a problem. its better to have not enough thermal paste then too much. however, i dont think thats the problem. you would at least see something. try redoing thermal paste i guess i dont see whats wrong. might be DOA which would not be fun but im stumped..


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## dEaF TO LiGhT (Jan 3, 2008)

any idea why the floppy drive light stays green? it could be a clue to something...


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## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

what kind of bios are you running?


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## dEaF TO LiGhT (Jan 3, 2008)

I don't know yet i get no picture on the screen... and i just buiilt it so this is the first boot


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

if you havnt installed anything then its trying to read itself. motherboards have floppies automaticly first on the boot order so its trying to boot from nothingness. kinda odd though..


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## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

Have you tried plugging the video card in the other PCIE slot? It's a long shot but worth a try


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## dEaF TO LiGhT (Jan 3, 2008)

hmmm... did not work


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## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

It's wierd that the floppy light stays on...

double check to see that the floppy drive is correctly plugged in and powered. If that's not the problem then try to disconnect the floppy drive completely (from power and the motherboard)

I doubt that any of these are the culprit...you should be getting some sort of display on the monitor. Have you another motherboard with which you could test the video card? or another video card to test on the motherboard?


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

if the floppy light stays on the cable is usually in the wrong way round
reset the cmos


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