Still nothing on first boot

[OhJay]

I think I have tried everything, but wondered if you guys could point out anything I am missing.

I have not been able to perform a first boot. My system is:

MSI K9N Neo Platinum MB (MS-7030)
GeForce 7600GS 256mb Vid Card
2 - 1 GB Kingston PC400 memory
AMD Athlon 64+ 3400+ CPU
550W PSU (CompUSA store brand)
ThermalTake Silent Boost CPU Cooler

When I go to boot there is no signal to monitor, no beep. CPU fan is running, PSU fan is running, vid card fan is running. I can hear the HDD spinning up. Power light is lit and stays on.

Tried pulling all components (except vid card), tried switching RAM and running with only one chip in, still nothing. Removed CPU cooler, removed CPU, reseated and reinstalled fan, still nothing. However, when I pulled the CPU and fan, I noticed that I think I went a little overboard with the thermal compound. Got some on the CPU pins somehow, and when I went to clean them off, I notice two of the pins were bent. One of the lower pins looked like it was bent over onto itself, and upon further inspection, one in the other corner was as well. Would this be my culprit? It was seating just fine at installation, and still goes in just fine when I try to install it.

Thanks guys!

[Jamie Nixx]

I think you may have answered your own question when you said the pins were bent on the CPU, a computer won't boot if anything is wrong with the CPU, check out your warranty and try and get a new one.

[OhJay]

Got a new CPU installed, fired it up, still nothing. At least now it is beeping. It is a continuous chain of beeps, with the beep lasting about two seconds, and the interval at about three seconds. Looking at MSI's website, it sounds like it is a memory problem. Does that sound correct? Would it still not display if it was a memory problem?

Where is a good place to verify that the memory I have is correct? Got it at CompUSA, it's Kingston, but when I go to their website, I cannot find any info about the chip I have. It seems to be within the parameters for my K8N Neo Platinum mobo, but not sure.

[Jamie Nixx]

Hi OhJay, can't belive your still having trouble with this, its a shame.

Hopefully it will be up and running soon enough eh mate :D

Ok, have you tried booting with one stick of ram?

Put one stick in, and turn on the computer, if it still doesn't boot, put it in a different slot, and so on, then try the other stick if it doesn't work.

**Edit** can i have the link for where you bought your ram and the exact ram you bought.

[OhJay]

Yeah, tried swapping RAM chips and then putting in just one at a time, same issue. I bought the RAM in-store at CompUSA doesn't look like they have a configurator on compusa.com. Talked to a salesman who seemed to know what he was talking about, knew which motherboard I was talking about when I gave him that information. The Kingston part number is KVR400/1GR. Can't find any information about it at www.kingston.com. Did a search with every set of numbers on the chip and I can't find any support information. I have e-mailed Kingston in search of an answer as well.

The link to it on compusa - http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=BROWSE&N=200128+400749&Ne=400000&product_code=346510#ts

Thanks for all your help on this ... hopefully I will not be staring at a black screen for much longer!

[Jamie Nixx]

Don't get too downhearted when i say this, i could be wrong....

I think that either the Ram is faulty, or the motherboard could be damaged.

Seeing as how the kingston has a lifetime warranty i would return it asap, get some more modules, if the problems persists i would say the motherboard is damaged.

[acidfire]

The computer I'm building now did the same thing. All fans spin but blank screen and no beeps. It was 1 stick of ram causing the problem becasue the other stick worked. I would try what jamie suggest about returning the ram and get new.
I wounder if the motherboard could be the problem. If you installed the cpu and all looked good then later on you noticed two pins bent, couldn't of putting the cpu back in with bent pins do damage to the motherboard? Also if you got thermal compound of the cpu that could damage the cpu and motherboard right? I would try the ram first and if that dosen't work replace the motherboard.

[OhJay]

Well, Kingston says the memory is correct, so I guess I am going to return the memory and then proceed from there with possibly replacing the motherboard. Will let you know how that turns out!

[Fathed]

I just built a PC as well and Im running into the same exact problem as him.

[Rob]

Just a reminder of the help page for this particular problem, in case anyone has missed it.

http://www.mysuperpc.com/build/pc_first_boot_common_problems.shtml