Another first-time builder - please look at my build

[TriEclipse]

I'm guessing you ran into the RAM problem. See, the G.Skill memory needs like 2.0v to boot. I think the ASUS P5B-E defaults at 1.8v.

Solution: Buy a cheap $30 set of 256MB DDR2-533 memory from your local computer store. Put it into the motherboard, it should boot. Then you go into the BIOS and change the default boot voltage up to 2.0v. This will let your 2 x 1GB G.Skill to boot when you put it in. You can then return the 256MB DDR2-533 if you wish.

Just a possible problem/solution.

 

[06MustangGT]

I just took the RAM out completely. Wouldn't the CPU try to start up and then make a weird sound signaling that there isn't RAM?

 

[TriEclipse]

Ooh, you've done your homework. Yes, it should beep, make sure that the case speaker is connected to the motherboard. Otherwise, the mobo has no way to make any sounds (as far as I know).

Phrantic had the exact same problem, here is his thread on [H]ardForums. The second post has a lot of useful info, but basically what I just told you.

I'm wondering if this is going to be a rather annoying problem. Because in overclocking, you reset the BIOS a lot of times, and you would need to use the same technique before you could do anything else. That could get tedious, I would imagine. I'm reconsidering what I think about the P5B-E at this point.

 

[06MustangGT]

I am having a local computer shop take a look at my computer. It is giving me a huge headache and I don't know how to figure out if my motherboard, PSU, or something else is messed up. I hope this guy knows what he is doing. I thought this build was going to be fairly simple. Do most builds have problems like this?

 

[TriEclipse]

No, lol. Have you tried the RAM solution I outlined?

 

[06MustangGT]

The problem is now fixed. I had messed up quite a few things. One good thing is that the computer booted up with the RAM I purchased. I can go into more detail if anyone would like. I screwed up on more things than I thought.

 

[06MustangGT]

I started running 3dmark06 before I came to work. What do you guys expect I will score with my build running at stock speeds?

 

[TriEclipse]

10,000? I dunno, I stopped comparing 3DMarks a long time ago, but I think that's close to what you should get. If not, then overclocking will take you up to it.

 

[06MustangGT]

I got 8300 something. I guess that is good. I am still trying to figure out if my computer is as fast as I thought it would be. I haven't had a chance to play games on it, but I have tried doing many tasks at once to test multi-tasking. My system did get bogged down at times. Maybe it is XP 64. Who knows.

On another note: My cpu is idling at 38 degrees celsius. That seems good for the stock fan. I hear people referring to the temp. during loads. Does this refer to the temp while playing a game?

 

[TriEclipse]

Sometimes, sometimes not. While the CPU temp sometimes gets quite high during load, its not always the best way of measuring the load temp. For that, you use the same kinds of programs that you use to test overclocking stability; Prime95, SP2004, Orthos, etc. Then you use whichever temperature monitor you may have (I prefer SpeedFan) to see the highest temp that the processor hits. I like SpeedFan because you can make a decently long graph of the temperature progress. 38°C Idle is indeed good for the stock fan, and I would expect load temps to be in the high-40s or low-50s.