Member Avatar for absolutwill

Thanks in advance to anyone who can lend assistance. I am trying to determine if I have a faulty motherboard. Heres the system I put together.

Intel Pentium 4 640 3.2 GHZ Processor
Intel BOXD955XBKLKR ATX Intel Motherboard
eVGA Geforce 6800GS 256-P2-N386-AX Video Card
CORSAIR 1GB DDR2 Dual Channel RAM

After building the system I attempted to start the pc. The fans move, including the processor and Video Card fans. But nothign appears on the screen. There are NO AUDIBLE BEEPS to alert of ram or other problems. I tried disconnecting all non-essential devices (hard drive etc) but still the same problem. I tried making sure the ram and video cards were seeded properly, but still no luck. I also made sure the monitor worked of course. The power light indicator on the motherboard is lit, but nothing seems to happen. Any ideas?

Thanks,

-Will-

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by edudmurd11

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Generated

A focused troubleshooting checklist and what the symptom usually means.

When the chassis fans spin only briefly or the system immediately cuts power as soon as the 4-pin/12V CPU connector is attached, that behavior most often points to an electrical short or an overcurrent condition on the CPU 12V rail — either a motherboard power-delivery (VRM) fault, a shorted socket or component, or (less commonly) a dead CPU that draws excessive current. That explains why the system will run with the CPU 12V unplugged but dies the moment it is connected: the PSU’s protection senses a fault and shuts down.

Practical next steps (do these in order, on a nonconductive bench surface, with ESD precautions):

  1. Bench the board outside the case — remove all case standoffs except the ones that match mounting holes — and try a minimal build: CPU + cooler + single known-good DIMM in the recommended slot + power connectors (24-pin + 4-pin). Attach a chassis speaker to hear POST beeps.
  2. Visually inspect around the CPU socket and VRM area for bent LGA pins, crushed/misaligned contacts, cracked or bulged capacitors, burn marks, or any stray screw or metal shaving that could short power. Use a magnifier. Do not run the board if a short is obvious.
  3. Reset CMOS properly (remove coin cell for several minutes or use the clear jumper per the manual). Try one DIMM in each slot, and test with/without the discrete GPU if possible.
  4. If the board still cuts out immediately when the CPU 12V is connected, suspect a shorted VRM or CPU. Without spare parts the next practical options are: have a local shop bench-test with spare CPU/motherboard, or proceed with RMA for the board or CPU.

This expands on ’s heatsink check and follows up on ’s power-behavior observation. For anyone else with a similar failure (see ), the bench-test + socket/VRM inspection usually isolates whether the board or the CPU is at fault.

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Member Avatar for nizzy1115

Thanks in advance to anyone who can lend assistance. I am trying to determine if I have a faulty motherboard. Heres the system I put together.

Intel Pentium 4 640 3.2 GHZ Processor
Intel BOXD955XBKLKR ATX Intel Motherboard
eVGA Geforce 6800GS 256-P2-N386-AX Video Card
CORSAIR 1GB DDR2 Dual Channel RAM

After building the system I attempted to start the pc. The fans move, including the processor and Video Card fans. But nothign appears on the screen. There are NO AUDIBLE BEEPS to alert of ram or other problems. I tried disconnecting all non-essential devices (hard drive etc) but still the same problem. I tried making sure the ram and video cards were seeded properly, but still no luck. I also made sure the monitor worked of course. The power light indicator on the motherboard is lit, but nothing seems to happen. Any ideas?

Thanks,

-Will-

Do you have another power supply you can use to test with? It kind of sounds like it could also be a faulty power supply. We should definatly start there first.

Member Avatar for absolutwill

Do you have another power supply you can use to test with? It kind of sounds like it could also be a faulty power supply. We should definatly start there first.

Switched out with a known good power supply so I know thats not the problem. Problem is I have no other PCI express video cards or compatible CPUs/MoBos to switch. Any other ideas?

Member Avatar for nizzy1115

did you follow the directions of the motherboard manual to set all of the pin settings correct?

Member Avatar for absolutwill

did you follow the directions of the motherboard manual to set all of the pin settings correct?

If you are refering to the bios setting jumper. Yes, it's correct. I did discover something interesting. The fans in the system will only turn if the CPU power plug is not connected. If connected the pc will not do anything. The fans will start to turn for about a quarter of a second and then nothing. My hunch is a problem with the CPU. Any help with that one?

Member Avatar for nizzy1115

If you are refering to the bios setting jumper. Yes, it's correct. I did discover something interesting. The fans in the system will only turn if the CPU power plug is not connected. If connected the pc will not do anything. The fans will start to turn for about a quarter of a second and then nothing. My hunch is a problem with the CPU. Any help with that one?

It is possible...that was in the back of my mind. You should double check to make sure that the processor heatsink is properly and firmly cliped down on all sides of the motherboard mounting bracket.

Member Avatar for edudmurd11

so what did the problem end up being I seem to be having the exact same problem except i am using a really old video card because this was only ment to be a file server with no need for a monitor. all interface was going to be done remotely and all i need was to set it up using a old junker of a video card. So was the problem you encountered software/hardware and what did you do to fix it?

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