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Dennis Peacock
07-27-2013, 11:06 AM
My 7 year old computer finally gave it up. I ordered a new ASUS motherboard, AMD 3.4 GHz processor and 16 GB of RAM. It's been a LONG time since I've built a computer, but I put it all together last night and no beeps, no video, no nothing. Do the new motherboards need to be isolated from the stand-offs and fastening screws of the chasis? Am I missing something? Do I have a bad motherboard?

Yes, it does power up.
The MB does not have a built in video card, I installed 2 different video cards and still no dice.
I removed the memory and the video card and I still get the same results....no beep during POST or anything like that.

Sean Troy
07-27-2013, 12:37 PM
Do you have the correct power supply?

Chris Achtschin
07-27-2013, 5:47 PM
Could the original power supply be the culprit?

paul cottingham
07-27-2013, 5:49 PM
Any led lights on the MB? If not, dead board or inadequate power supply. Do you have the tax power switch connected correctly?

Dennis Peacock
07-27-2013, 7:18 PM
Yup. Excellent power supply and chasis.
LED's on the MB light up. Power to the video card and such.

paul cottingham
07-27-2013, 7:27 PM
What kind of power supply? Brand? Are you sure the ATX leads are connected correctly?

Phil Thien
07-27-2013, 8:43 PM
Make sure you have the 12v 4-pin 2x2 CPU power connector from the power supply connected to the motherboard. If your power supply doesn't have the 2x2 connector, you need a different power supply.

paul cottingham
07-27-2013, 10:05 PM
Make sure you have the 12v 4-pin 2x2 CPU power connector from the power supply connected to the motherboard. If your power supply doesn't have the 2x2 connector, you need a different power supply.
what Phil said!

Sean Troy
07-27-2013, 11:29 PM
Make sure you have the 12v 4-pin 2x2 CPU power connector from the power supply connected to the motherboard. If your power supply doesn't have the 2x2 connector, you need a different power supply.
Incorrect wattage in the PS could cause problems also.

Dennis Peacock
07-27-2013, 11:58 PM
Phil,

I have the 2x2 connector hooked up correctly as well as the primary power hook up on the MB. I used to build PC's but got out of it many years ago. I'm a large scale Unix guy but I'm not totally new to home computers. My troubleshooting skills for home machines is a bit rusty, but I was checking to see if the MB still had to be isolated from the chassis like in the days of old. ;)

John Coloccia
07-28-2013, 12:18 AM
Phil,

I have the 2x2 connector hooked up correctly as well as the primary power hook up on the MB. I used to build PC's but got out of it many years ago. I'm a large scale Unix guy but I'm not totally new to home computers. My troubleshooting skills for home machines is a bit rusty, but I was checking to see if the MB still had to be isolated from the chassis like in the days of old. ;)

Did you go through the MB jumper by jumper? You might have something dumb going on, like the speaker hooked up to the reset, or something like that.

paul cottingham
07-28-2013, 1:27 AM
Phil,

I have the 2x2 connector hooked up correctly as well as the primary power hook up on the MB. I used to build PC's but got out of it many years ago. I'm a large scale Unix guy but I'm not totally new to home computers. My troubleshooting skills for home machines is a bit rusty, but I was checking to see if the MB still had to be isolated from the chassis like in the days of old. ;)
If the ATX power switch connector is backwards it will not post. Very easy to do, and very easy to miss.

Jerome Stanek
07-28-2013, 6:43 AM
What I like to do is build it on a piece of cardboard with the bare minimums on and then add other things. start with no ram and see if you get any beeps. Yes stand offs are still used.

Dennis Peacock
07-28-2013, 7:31 AM
If the ATX power switch connector is backwards it will not post. Very easy to do, and very easy to miss.

Thanks Paul. I will double check it to be sure.

Stephen Tashiro
07-28-2013, 8:53 PM
Do the new motherboards need to be isolated from the stand-offs and fastening screws of the chasis?


I haven't seen a modern motherboard where such isolation was needed. Look at the holes in the motherboard. If they have a ring of soldier around them then the motherboard can be grounded to the chassis at that hole.

The most frequent problem I have had with modern motherboards not posting is incompatible or bad video cards - especially the "SLI" type.

Adam Cruea
07-29-2013, 1:21 PM
I was going to suggest pulling the RAM, too.

I have an X-58 based motherboard with an Intel; when I got new triple channel memory, the board would not post with the new 12 GB in the secondary channels (slots 2, 4, and 6), so I swapped it to the primary channel (slots 1, 3, and 5). . .poof. . .booted up great.

And don't worry about shorting the MB. If you do, you'll know because the board just won't power on, usually. That's a nice step from the past where you used to be able to fry things unintentionally. Now you have to *try* to screw a computer up.

Rick Christopherson
07-29-2013, 4:32 PM
I would look for a CMOS reset jumper. Obviously make sure it is not in reset mode now, but also give it a reset too. Go through the manual and identify all of the jumpers and confirm their positions.

Depending on how many memory sticks you have, try different configurations and physical slot locations.

I would pull everything out, including the hard drives and see if it goes into post. However, unless the manual states that it should beep going into post, not hearing a beep doesn't necessarily mean it is not going into post.

Oh, and make sure the processor you have is compatible with the board. There are a lot more variations on processors these days that unless it came as a bundle, it could be easy to get one that isn't compatible.

Because you have an external video card, I would assume it may be a high performance one. Make sure the video card is not expecting a 6 pin power connection from the power supply.

Speaking of the video card, it is frequently the video card that handles sleep and hibernation. Even when you turn off the computer completely, it is still running with almost no power unless you unplug it or flip the mechanical switch on the power supply itself. Every once in a while I have to do a full hard power down to reset the OS in the video card. With the video card running for months at a time without a hard power down, the driver would get corrupt and I could not boot. I ended up replacing virtually every part in the computer with spares before I finally discovered this.

Along those same lines, when you are swapping out parts or connectors, make sure you unplug the power supply. Don't rely on the fact that the computer isn't running. The power supply is still sending power to various components even when off.

And finally, it would be helpful to post model numbers for all of the parts.

C Scott McDonald
07-30-2013, 2:42 PM
I had something very similar and it turned out to be the CPU chip itself. Try reseating it and make sure the arrow triangle thing is pointed in the right direction. ensure the CPU chip is certified for the motherboard.

Dennis Peacock
08-08-2013, 4:33 PM
OK...here's the latest update.

I took my machine to work and had a couple of young guys that build machines to look at it. They said that the motherboard was bad. I went through Amazon and got a replacement motherboard. ASUS M5A97 R2.0
I have Corsair Vengeance memory - two 8 GB sticks
I had the AMD Athalon II X2 260 3.4 GHz processor
Corsair TX-750 modular power supply

The short story is....I got all this in....set it all up....and nothing. No BIOS screen, no PC speaker beeps, no nothing. Yes, power to all the devices and the LED's on the MB we lit up.
Got the replacement MB in from AMAZON, set it all up....and nothing again....same thing....no BIOS screen, no beeps, no nothing....just powered up devices and LED's lit up on the MB.

I'm now thinking that I have a bad CPU.

Brian Elfert
08-08-2013, 6:56 PM
CPUs rarely fail, but anything can be DOA. I've dealt with several hundred physical servers at work over the past dozen years and I can't recall any failing due to CPU errors. Sorry, I can't help you more.

I long ago gave up on building my own PCs due to things like this and the the price difference just wasn't enough.

Chuck Wintle
08-08-2013, 7:45 PM
if you removed the cpu and then powered it up you should have the beep code for no cpu or remove the video card and a beep code for that.

Dennis Peacock
08-08-2013, 9:48 PM
if you removed the cpu and then powered it up you should have the beep code for no cpu or remove the video card and a beep code for that.

I going to pull the CPU now and test this.

Dennis Peacock
08-08-2013, 10:12 PM
Nope. No beeps at all with the memory removed, cpu removed, video card removed.
Nothing.
I even took my digital meter to check the pins upon power up for the speaker. No voltage change from Zero volts DC. I even ripped out a PC speaker out of a different PC and used that, still no beeps. I metered both speakers from the pin connectors...both read 0.17 Ohms resistance.

I never dreamed that putting together a PC from parts would become so complicated. And to think that I used to build PCs for people for a very long time and I've worked on computers for the past 40 years. I just can't seem to get this to work. <frustrated I am>

Stephen Tashiro
08-09-2013, 11:14 AM
Nope. No beeps at all with the memory removed, cpu removed, video card removed.
Nothing.


I've never seen a motherboard that would give beep codes with the cpu removed.

Unless the motherboard has an onboard speaker, you won't hear a beep code without a speaker connected to it.

paul cottingham
08-09-2013, 11:57 AM
Make sure the speaker is hooked up. You must have a CPU in the board to get beep codes. The CPU is needed for the most basic parts of the POST process. You should get beeps with no video card or no RAM. I said earlier I suspected the power supply, or perhaps one of the extra cords off it is not connected or is connected incorrectly. I stand by that suspicion, or perhaps the CPU is cooked, but in all the years I did IT I never saw one just die, without an obvious cause or warnings.

Dennis Peacock
08-09-2013, 12:24 PM
Make sure the speaker is hooked up. You must have a CPU in the board to get beep codes. The CPU is needed for the most basic parts of the POST process. You should get beeps with no video card or no RAM. I said earlier I suspected the power supply, or perhaps one of the extra cords off it is not connected or is connected incorrectly. I stand by that suspicion, or perhaps the CPU is cooked, but in all the years I did IT I never saw one just die, without an obvious cause or warnings.

I ordered and installed a brand new power supply....Corsair TX-750 Modular.
Power supply is not the problem.
I got online with ASUS this morning and they determined that the replacement motherboard is bad. So now, that's 2 bad motherboards in 3 weeks time. PC speaker has been hooked up on every single install/setup......CPU has been installed for beep codes.....just don't ever get any beep codes.

Everything is handled with grounding and possible static charges in mind.
I've built a lot of PC's in my time.....and NONE have been as frustrating as this one. Now I'm looking at exchanging the ASUS motherboard with a Gigabyte motherboard.

Dennis Peacock
08-09-2013, 1:44 PM
I'm returning the ASUS motherboard to Amazon and I have ordered a Gigabyte motherboard.

Greg Portland
08-09-2013, 1:59 PM
Did you go through the MB jumper by jumper? You might have something dumb going on, like the speaker hooked up to the reset, or something like that.
Remove everything but the CPU, 1 DIMM stick, the graphics card, PSU, the power switch connector. See if that works. If so, swap out the DIMMs to identify the bad stick.

Dennis Peacock
08-09-2013, 2:49 PM
Remove everything but the CPU, 1 DIMM stick, the graphics card, PSU, the power switch connector. See if that works. If so, swap out the DIMMs to identify the bad stick.

Did all that and many more steps....as directed by the ASUS tech support site. I'm just ready for all this trouble to be over and I have my home computer working again.

Jerome Stanek
08-09-2013, 3:08 PM
have you verified if the power supply was working some of them will give just enough power to light the leds.

Larry Browning
08-09-2013, 3:08 PM
You can get a nice Gateway Desktop box for around $300 at Walmart and be done with it. Sounds like you have had way more than $300 worth of aggravation already!
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Gateway-Black-SX2110G-UW23-Desktop-PC-with-AMD-E1-1500-Accelerated-Processor-6GB-Memory-500GB-Hard-Drive-and-Windows-8-Operating-System-Monitor-Not/24766511
Or, is it the journey and not the destination for you?

Dennis Peacock
08-09-2013, 5:01 PM
You can get a nice Gateway Desktop box for around $300 at Walmart and be done with it. Sounds like you have had way more than $300 worth of aggravation already!
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Gateway-Black-SX2110G-UW23-Desktop-PC-with-AMD-E1-1500-Accelerated-Processor-6GB-Memory-500GB-Hard-Drive-and-Windows-8-Operating-System-Monitor-Not/24766511
Or, is it the journey and not the destination for you?

Larry,
I was looking for a less expensive upgrade to allow me better video editing and replace a machine that was magically rebooting itself about every hour it was on. yes, I've spent just over $300 now and maybe a bit more (out of frustration)......so here's to praying that the coming Gigabyte motherboard is my ticket to success. I used to highly trust ASUS motherboards.....I got burned twice this time around....so I'm done with ASUS motherboards.......at least for the next few years.

Larry Browning
08-09-2013, 5:31 PM
Larry,
I was looking for a less expensive upgrade to allow me better video editing and replace a machine that was magically rebooting itself about every hour it was on. yes, I've spent just over $300 now and maybe a bit more (out of frustration)......so here's to praying that the coming Gigabyte motherboard is my ticket to success. I used to highly trust ASUS motherboards.....I got burned twice this time around....so I'm done with ASUS motherboards.......at least for the next few years.
It used to be that building you own or upgrading components could get you a more powerful computer for less money, but I am no longer convinced of that any more. Your basic PC is becoming more of a commodity type product. Once something starts to go out on it, you might as well just scrap it and get a new one. That's what I did with my 6 year old PC that had a hard drive failure. It was only going to cost me about $150 more to get a whole new PC, with a much faster cpu, more memory, etc... It just seemed like a no brainer. This is not the way it used to be even 5 or 6 years ago.

paul cottingham
08-09-2013, 5:36 PM
I still prefer to buy individual parts, cause then I can avoid junk parts. The last machine I built ran for 6 years, cause I was picky with parts. Sort do like my tools!

Larry Browning
08-09-2013, 5:55 PM
I still prefer to buy individual parts, cause then I can avoid crap parts. The last machine I built ran for 6 years, cause I was picky with parts. Sort do like my tools!
My old Dell ran for 6 years too, I think all that is wrong with it is the HD. Of course if you get enjoyment out of building it yourself, go for it! After all it really is all about the journey and not the destination. When it becomes more of a PITA than a fun project, it may be time to rethink things.
BTW: I think when my even older unix media server goes belly up, I will probably revive the Dell to take its place.

Brian Elfert
08-09-2013, 8:00 PM
It seems the PC that Dennis is building would cost way more than $300 to buy already built. Also, that Gateway PC for $300 is junk. That AMD CPU is pretty slow and is designed for cheap PCs like that Gateway. They work fine for email and web browsing, but more than that would strain it.

Rick Christopherson
08-10-2013, 5:06 AM
I haven't been back to this thread in a while, but I actually have a high-end AMD motherboard that is a duplicate for my current workstation. The reason it is a duplicate is because I thought the original board was bad, when I later discovered the problem was elsewhere. It may be older that what you bought, but it is way more powerful. It is the basis for my SolidWorks workstation. It is completely unused and in the original box. Let me know if you might be interested.

268237

Rick Christopherson
08-10-2013, 5:12 AM
That AMD CPU is pretty slow and is designed for cheap PCs like that Gateway. They work fine for email and web browsing, but more than that would strain it.Obviously you don't know the difference between a CPU and a motherboard. What you described is a poor (albeit common) motherboard, not a CPU.

Kelly Oliver
08-10-2013, 8:32 AM
Chances are that you need a new power supply. The never components require much more power than the older ones did, plus some of the plug configurations are different. I ran into this about 4 years ago and ALL IT WAS, was an under-powered power supply. Don't buy the cheapest power supply you can get, chances are you will be replacing it sooner than later. If you aren't a gamer something mid-range should be fine. Power supplies are the most frequently changed item in a PC.

Brian Elfert
08-10-2013, 8:45 AM
Obviously you don't know the difference between a CPU and a motherboard. What you described is a poor (albeit common) motherboard, not a CPU.

Did you even look at the specs for PC Larry referenced? I absolutely 100% guarantee that the AMD E1-1500 is a slow CPU relative to most of the CPUs out today. The Passmark CPU benchmark rates it at 677. The Core i5-2410M CPU in my laptop gets a score of 3193. My old Pentium 4 3.2 Ghz processor from 2006 isn't all that far behind the AMD E1-1500.

Jim O'Dell
08-11-2013, 10:01 AM
Dennis, hopefully the new motherboard will correct your issues. If not, have you started with the bare minimum components installed to start with? Obviously, you need the video, if the board does not have video built in, but leave everything off you don't have to have. If ok, add one daughter board and check. If it works with the bare minimum, but then dies when something is added, you've found your issue. Don't leave the memory out of this loop. I'm a big believer in Corsair memory and I've never had a problem with it in 4 computers I've built, but there can always be a bad stick from any of the manufacturers. Also pay close attention to the latency numbers of the memory if you haven't...that can create some issues. I did a lot of research on my last build, Intel I3 and an Intel motherboard, after reported issues of not posting with this particular motherboard and found the memory specs were critical.
If, as I suspect, you have done this type of testing, then I don't understand. Oh, another thought, what type of hook up are you using to your monitor? Does your monitor have several options for hook up? (my ASUS LCD can hook up in one of 3 different ways and I have to select in a menu in the monitor which input to use)
I'm looking at replacing my wife's computer. I'll build again, this will be my 5th in the last 15 years or so. Her's still works, it's just limited to 3 gig memory and she's running some pretty powerful music notation programs that are bogging it down. Anxious to hear how the new motherboard works out! Jim.

Larry Browning
08-11-2013, 11:03 AM
I did not mean to imply that that one particular PC was THE one that I recommend. I was trying to offer an alternative solution to his problem. That example came from a 20 second web search. Apparently I failed miserably at my intention. What I was trying to say is that the smart thing to do now may not be the same as what it once was. The market for desktop PC's is way down and that there are deals out there on brand new complete PC's that might be a really good fit for him that could save him a ton of aggravation for just a small amount more than what he has already spent.

But on the other hand, if Dennis gets a lot of enjoyment out of doing this sort of thing, then he should ignore my suggestion and stay the course. It just seemed to me he was about fed up with the whole thing and ready to just start using his computer.

Bill Huber
08-11-2013, 11:43 AM
I have watched this thread and just don't understand what is going on.

I have sold around 200 PCs with ASUS motherboards with Intel and AMDs and have never had a bad one. I have had 2 board come back after about a year of use but that is it.

I just can't help but thing there is something other then the board that is the problem.

Dennis Peacock
08-14-2013, 8:53 AM
Received the new tube of thermal paste yesterday and the new Gigabyte motherboard is slated to arrive this Friday.
I have bought a new anti-static wrist strap in case the old one was bad. Old habits from working on larger more expensive servers I guess. ;)
I talked with 2 other guys at work that build a lot of PC's and they said that they have had several ASUS MBs to go bad in under a year as well as arrive DOA. I just hope that the arriving MB resolves my issue.

Funny thing is.....I've helped both my boys build PCs from all my old stuff sitting around and BOTH have machines that are up and running without issue. :o

Oh well, I guess we'll see come this weekend if my MB arrives on Friday.

Bill Huber
08-14-2013, 9:17 AM
Received the new tube of thermal paste yesterday and the new Gigabyte motherboard is slated to arrive this Friday.
I have bought a new anti-static wrist strap in case the old one was bad. Old habits from working on larger more expensive servers I guess. ;)
I talked with 2 other guys at work that build a lot of PC's and they said that they have had several ASUS MBs to go bad in under a year as well as arrive DOA. I just hope that the arriving MB resolves my issue.

Funny thing is.....I've helped both my boys build PCs from all my old stuff sitting around and BOTH have machines that are up and running without issue. :o

Oh well, I guess we'll see come this weekend if my MB arrives on Friday.

Please let us know how it goes...

Dan Hintz
08-14-2013, 9:56 AM
I used to be a huge fan of ASUS... you just couldn't kill those guys, and they performed quite well with a good array of on-board peripherals. Those days appear to have been over as of several years ago. They may still have some great buys, but I've seen QA go down the tubes. My last scratch-build attempt was with an ASUS... first board appeared dead, so I got in another one. Second appeared dead, but it turned out it simply did not like my specific memory modules (Kingston!). I sent it back and ended up with a Gigabyte board.

My next system was a Dell. It's not nearly as powerful as what I could build, but it did what I needed and arrived in a couple of days. Did the same with my wife when her piece of crap started to die, just bought a Dell. It's simply not worth my time anymore to build from scratch as I'm not trying to eek out the last few cycles by overclocking.

Phil Thien
08-14-2013, 7:03 PM
I have watched this thread and just don't understand what is going on.

I have sold around 200 PCs with ASUS motherboards with Intel and AMDs and have never had a bad one. I have had 2 board come back after about a year of use but that is it.

I just can't help but thing there is something other then the board that is the problem.

I've done thousands and have very few Asus DOA's. Very dependable stuff. My peak is probably about 1500 in a year. These days I still do hundreds in a year.

In fact, they are so reliable that when something DOESN'T work, I question everything else, first.

Dennis Peacock
08-15-2013, 2:20 PM
Phil,
I'm really happy that you've had such great success with ASUS. I spent a lot of time on the phone with support for both ASUS and AMD.....both determined I got 2 bad motherboards. All I'll add here is that I'm done with ASUS MB's......at least for the next 4 - 8 years when I get ready to build another one. :)

Dennis Peacock
08-16-2013, 6:42 PM
New Gigabyte motherboard is in..!!!!!

I installed it just like I did the previously installed ASUS motherboards.

It is ALIVE..!!!!! My machine is working and Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit is now installed. I am PUMPED.!!!!!!

Bill Huber
08-16-2013, 7:48 PM
New Gigabyte motherboard is in..!!!!!

I installed it just like I did the previously installed ASUS motherboards.

It is ALIVE..!!!!! My machine is working and Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit is now installed. I am PUMPED.!!!!!!

That is great, glad to here it, now I will have to think about it the next time I have to build a PC for someone.

Jim O'Dell
08-18-2013, 11:49 AM
Great news Dennis!! Glad you are up and running.
My first 2 computer builds were with A-Open AX6BC motherboards and Intel processors. This was from reading online and great reviews from the Anandtech website. Both still worked when taken out of daily operation. I then cannibalized them and built one that is still in rare use running Windows 2000. The last 2 have been with Intel boards (someone else builds them for Intel to Intel's specs). All have used Intel processors. We are about to replace my wife's XP based computer that is about 6 years old, first generation dual processor. Still works, but just doesn't cut it with the music notation software she uses in her music teaching. It maxed out at 3GB of memory!! Not even worth trying to update the OS on it. Will go with another Intel/Intel setup with at least 8GB memory. That is what my desktop has. I even upgraded the laptop to 8GB. Both running I3 processors and work great. Jim.

Andrew Pitonyak
08-23-2013, 3:08 PM
Thanks for posting the final solution....

Very surprised that you had two bad motherboards. I am blessed to live near a MicroCenter which has a very good return policy..... So I usually buy my stuff from them when I can.

It seems that the only way to easily trouble-shoot this sort of thing is a spare part. That is very tricky with motherboards since few home builders keep a spare motherboard on hand.