So, I am building a system for my dad and taking advantage of upgrading my system at the same time. I bought a new mb/processor and RAM, so I just removed my previous mb/processor and RAM from my computer and installed it in a new case for my dad. I then added a new PSU among the other components and tried to boot the system. The case came with blue LED lights in the fans and when I plug in AC, the fans started whirring and the LED light emitted appeared to be pulsating. I also notice the green LED on the back of the PSU was blinking. So I push the power button and hear the hd whirring up, but the DVD drive won't open and I get no video. I thought maybe the new PSU was bad, so I tried a different one with same results. I tried disconnecting power to all components except the mb and still get the same result. As I know the mb was working fine in my old case, I am wondering could a ground out in the new case be causing this? Or is it possible I fell victim to ESD (though I wore an ESD strap through the whole removal/install process and used an antistatic bag to transport the motherboard). I really don't want to pull the mb and try testing it outside the case as it was very time consuming to install and perform all cable management, but I think that's going to be my only other option to confirm if it is now a bad mb or not. Anything I may have overlooked?

First thing to do when building new or from scratch is just to start with the basics to get PC to turn on.

-Video Card
-Keyboard
-Mouse
-Power Supply
-Monitor
-Hard drive and Memory

Nothing else, this way you can troubleshoot from the basics of what a PC needs to run - Don't worry about DVD drive, just the necessary items to make it turn on

Once you get the thing to turn on, then start adding items (sound, modem, other peripherals, etc.. )

Check your ribbon cables to make sure they are connected properly (Red line on cable faces toward the power)

You have cable connected to motherboard in IDE1 and Red Line on cable (pin 1)

Video card is firmly seated

Are there any beeps when you turn it on?

first thing to do when building new or from scratch is just to start with the basics to get PC to turn on.

-Video Card
-Keyboard
-Mouse
-Power Supply
-Monitor
-Hard drive and Memory

Nothing else, this way you can troubleshoot from the basics of what a PC needs to run - Don't worry about DVD drive, just the necessary items to make it turn on

Once you get the thing to turn on, then start adding items (sound, modem, other peripherals, etc..)

Check your ribbon cables to make sure they are connected properly (Red line on cable faces toward the power)

You have cable connected to motherboard in IDE1 and Red Line on cable (pin 1)

Video card is firmly seated

Are there any beeps when you turn it on?

Thanks for your response. " I tried disconnecting power to all components except the mb and still get the same result." As mentioned, I already tried that. The video, sound, ethernet, is all built-in to the mobo, so no problem there, and I am using a SATA HD. No beep codes on power up.

first thing to do when building new or from scratch is just to start with the basics to get PC to turn on.

-Video Card
-Keyboard
-Mouse
-Power Supply
-Monitor
-Hard drive and Memory

Nothing else, this way you can troubleshoot from the basics of what a PC needs to run - Don't worry about DVD drive, just the necessary items to make it turn on

Once you get the thing to turn on, then start adding items (sound, modem, other peripherals, etc..)

Check your ribbon cables to make sure they are connected properly (Red line on cable faces toward the power)

You have cable connected to motherboard in IDE1 and Red Line on cable (pin 1)

Video card is firmly seated

Are there any beeps when you turn it on?

Thanks for your response. " I tried disconnecting power to all components except the mb and still get the same result." As mentioned, I already tried that. The video, sound, ethernet, is all built-in to the mobo, so no problem there, and I am using a SATA HD. No beep codes on power up.

Do you Have an operating system on the hard drive?

Do you have SATA drivers installed on the hard drive?

No OS. I am not even plugging in the hard drive. All I have connected is the mobo, processor, and RAM, as well as the p/s. Even then my p/s has a lighted fan and I get the same pulsating light from it.

If you do not want to at least try above mentioned steps in my first post - then hope someone can help you as you do not even want to try

Sorry if my previous post offended. I HAVE tried those suggestions as I mentioned in the initial post. There hard drive having sata drivers or not is irrelevant as it is not even POST'ing nor is the hd even connected. Besides somehow having the mobo go bad in me or having a short with the case and mobo, I am looking for any other suggestions as to why I am having this issue. BTW, it's a 550 watt PS, so I don't think it's because the mobo is underpowered either.

Ok several things to check.

Firstly on the mother board itself do you notice any bulging or leaking capsitors? If so this is your issue replace the motherboard.

Also I would check the voltage coming out of the PSU and ensure that the switch on the back is set to the american power standard and not euro as that would get you no where but fried hardware. Also check to make sure all dipswitches/pins are set correctly on the motherboard.

Well this gets a bit more interesting so let me offer a few more ideas.

Firstly did you remove the CPU at any time? If so check for damaged pins. Also check to make sure the fan over the CPU is in fact running when you turn it on.

If these are fine I think you really need to test the PSU with a multimeter to make sure its not putting out spikes or dropping voltage. The reason for this is its probably the PSU is what fried your mobo. To that end, if the PSU tests out fine test it on a different mobo if the psu and other mobo work fine its either A bad mobo or B bad ram.

Your graphics card could have gotten fried as well if the psu is bad(and the ram etc so forth) but you wouldn't experience the same issues if it was just your graphics card hard drive or dvd player. So they shouldn't be worried about right now.

If you can use the ram on your other mobo and it still boots(also try 1 stick at a time) then get memtest86 or similar product(can be found online for free) and test the ram for defects, I recommend letting the test run over night at least for many passes on the ram.


Also if it was a grounding problem, the damage is already done. But if the boards are screwed into the case I don't see how that could be your issue. Especially because you went the paranoid route with anti static bag etc(I just use the good ole' fashioned arm on the case to ground me to it technique, it works fine but I don't necessarily recommend it.)