New PC and Nothing works

[objecterror]

About a month and a half ago I configured a computer with the help of the tech forums, I passed the said list to my friend and she plugged everything up. From what she's told me there was no video.

so, I am at a loss seeing as they have both RMA'd the motherboard and the video card to be safe. PC boots, no video.

motherboard
Newegg.com - ASUS M3A78 AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

video card
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR VA4673NH51 Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

The hard drive and CDROM drive were OEM models, also the PSU:
Newegg.com - Antec BP550 Plus 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

I have about as much clue as to why it isn't showing any video. I know she has about as much patience as a ticking time bomb but in the end, I am really out of ideas on what it could be. any 'suggestions' would be appreciated.

 

[oldskool]

Did you check the BIOS settings ? Unplug and replug in the video card ? Sometimes a loose card, however slight, is the problem.

Longshot: Is the monitor plugged in ?

 

[objecterror]

How about this memory? Do you know if it's even approved for the board?
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

 

[HAVOC]

How about this memory? Do you know if it's even approved for the board?
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

M/B Chipset

Intel X48,
Intel P45,
Intel X38,
Intel P35,
AMD 7XX series,
NVIDIA GeForce 8XXX (For AM2, AM2+),
nVidia n7xx series (For AM2, AM2+)

Trying to help you with a PC that someone else built will be tough.

* What type monitor is she using? Did she try both VGA & DVI or HDMI connections?

* Does that card require a molex for power?

* What CPU is she using?

* Does the mobo or case have a speaker? Does she get any beep codes on power up?

 

[objecterror]

Alright Havoc, I did some researched based on your references to the M/B chipsets. It's a 770 and I contacted Asus. Asus claims that the ram will NOT WORK at all with that M/B. On newegg it isn't very clear on the chipset support. It took me awhile and a few calls to ASUS.

The monitor she is using is DVI . But get this, We tried a lower end kingston and with the suggestion from asus, bought the 'correct' model of ram. According to asus the correct model of ram for my specific motherboard is:
Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

I followed it down to the exact model number. and this is from asus. Now, the g.skill is like 20 dollars more expensive. That's completely false if it fixes the issue. I ordered the ram to be safe, only 30 dollars, total of 56 to get it overnight.

Here is the rest of the build:
Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases - case
Newegg.com - ASUS M3A78 AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards - M/B
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR VA4673NH51 Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards - Video Card(RMA'd twice)
Newegg.com - Antec BP550 Plus 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies - Power supply
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core black edition Processor - Processors - Desktops - CPU
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives - Hard Drive
Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners - Optical Drive
Newegg.com - Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm "Core Contact Freezer" CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks - Heat sink and Fan

It's going to run windows home xp . it's cheaper and she hates vista.

 

[HAVOC]

Yep. Actually I posted the wrong specs above. I posted the specs for the 4GIG (2X2GB) kit.

The ram you first got was only for intels. Well at least you got it figured out.

Here's the link to the correct specs. (SCROLL down to the bottom of the page.)
DDR2

 

[objecterror]

That's a bit of a misconception isn't it? I mean G.Skill claimed up and down that the m/b and ram we're compatible. What a pure waste of time on some thing that could've been avoided by proper attention to detail. Maybe it was my fault for not double checking the list.

Yeah, everything it's all figured out. I never would've thought of the ram until you told me to look through the specs etc.

Thanks

 

[HAVOC]

Yea. If you look at a lot of RAM Specs on newegg.com now they have it listed as "INTEL Chipsets Only" which makes buying them a lot easier.

I guess today we really need to head to the memory manufactures website and check to see exactly what chipsets are supported.

There are SOOOO many chipsets available now and SOOOO many processors and motherbaord variations. It's actually overwhelmingly flooded.

 

[objecterror]

Guess what HAVOC, we got the new chips today and the machine is running flawlessly. It isn't as close to my original specifications as we're going to do another 2GB of ram.

That was her biggest frustration,I even triple checked with asus, accordingly, the only brand they recommend using is kingston. So, with the problem solved I'll remember to try and use a default brand for each motherboard.

Was a painful learning experience to be honest.

 

[HAVOC]

Guess what HAVOC, we got the new chips today and the machine is running flawlessly. It isn't as close to my original specifications as we're going to do another 2GB of ram.

That was her biggest frustration,I even triple checked with asus, accordingly, the only brand they recommend using is kingston. So, with the problem solved I'll remember to try and use a default brand for each motherboard.

Was a painful learning experience to be honest.

That's great. Glad you got it sorted out.

Am I understanding that you have 2 GIGs and you are planning on adding 2 GIGs more?
If that's correct, you won't be able to use 4 GIGs with Windows XP. You'll need Vista.

Windows XP only supports up to 3 GIGs.