I set up a machine with a new mobo and processor, a P4. I plugged it in with nothing but the fan and motherboard jumpers\power plugs and it turned on with the fan going and managed to beep a few times. I figured it was working because I had no ram or video or anything to see, I was just testing to see if it did anything at all...

So I put in some ram and hooked a monitor up and keyboard. And turned it on and only the fan turned on. I heard a quiet click like noise every few seconds, but that was it. LEDs were working. Couldnt get it to do anything else. I tried reinstalling the processor but it didnt make a difference.

Did I fry the processor after I turned it on the first time? I didn't see it burnt or anything so it didnt overheat. I dont know the exact specs but I know everything is compatible..

This is the first time I installed a processor and a mobo. It came with a heat sink fan with this grease on it, but I wiped it off because I had this white compound that It came with...

thnx

a: did you get the right motherboard for your CPU/RAM?

b: did you plug in all the power plugs including the small square 4 pin one?

"I plugged it in with nothing but the fan and motherboard jumpers\power plugs"

That may have damaged it

That quiet click came from monitor. That happens if the mobo isn't powered correctly, assuming that your VGA is on-board. If it is AGP/PCI-E, try reseating it.
One other trick: clear CMOS. If you hear any beeps, post them in exact order. Also your mobo manufacturer and model would be of great importance here.

Got it working, aparently the first time I did have some RAM in it. and the second time I had both DDR and DDR2 memory in it which wont work.

thanks for the help =)