Two new systems - Both without video.

[Jayce]

I built two identical rigs as Christmas gifts. I fired them up today for the first time to see no video output whatsoever - and yes, the cable/monitor work. I tested it with a working system.

Processor - Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Motherboard - Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TA785G3 AM3 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards
RAM - Newegg.com - PQI POWER Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model MFB42GUOE-X2 - Desktop Memory

Tried with graphics card - no luck.
Took graphics card out - no luck with onboard graphics.
Took both memory modules out - constant beeps.
Placed 1 memory module in - no video.
Reset motherboard - no video.
Reset connections - no video.
Drained capacitor charge - no video.

Went into a pc hardware chat on IRC and someone told me that my processor might be too new for the board to support. He linked me to this:

BIOSTAR :: TA790GX A3+ :: BIOS

Note - File Size 1024 KB Upload Date 2009-09-02
Description Support AMD C3 verison CPU
File 78DAA902.BST


Questions -

1 - He suggested I get an older CPU, boot it, flash BIOS, and then drop the original AM3 chip in. Does this sound like a feasible solution?

2 - I do not have any other AM3 chips to try - but I could borrow an AM2 chip from work. Would an AM2 chip work with this?

3 - Is there anything else I can try? I mean, it kind of rules out bad or faulty hardware when you have two systems doing the same thing, both brand new.

 

[THRiLL KiLL]

what are the video cards? do they need power?

and for the onboard video, is it enabled in bios?

and for the monitor, is it a lcd? if so does it support 640x480 (some dont and they will display nothing)



lastly, do you have the 4 pin power connector plugged into the motherboard?

 

[Jayce]

The video cards do not require additional power.

How would I know the onboard card is enabled in bios? I get ZERO video output...

The monitor is LCD, 22 inch. I assume it supports that resolution. My BIOS on my main computer just downsized the BIOS splash screen cause it didn't support the resolution my 24 was set to. Why wouldn't it do the same in this situation too?

Yes, 4 pin is connected. The system powers up. I just get no video and I also don't recall hearing any beeps. I take it it's not POSTing either.

 

[patonb]

So both won't show?

Did you ground them both out? As theyre the same, maybe the way a standoff is it could be grounding.

Should try to find a speaker to hear the post.

 

[Jayce]

So both won't show?

Did you ground them both out? As theyre the same, maybe the way a standoff is it could be grounding.

Should try to find a speaker to hear the post.

Yeah, that's another thing I thought about, but not until later on when I was already at work.

When I get home I'm going to take the systems out of the case entirely and see if I can get them to boot on clean surfaces that don't transmit any type of charge. I mean, I used the stand-screws that came with it. But if they're getting grounded out somehow that could be it.

What about my AM2 idea? I can grab an AM2 processor at work. If I can fire it up on the AM3 board, flash the BIOS to the C3 update, do you think that sounds like a feasible idea? I'm just not sure how compatible/incompatible AM2 chips are with AM3 boards...

 

[Hefemeister]

bios flash is a good idea as well as something grounding the board.

What mb and cpu?

 

[patonb]

Yha, Is AM3 backward complient? I thought that is how that all went.. AM3 will do all.

Anyway the advice is sound, intel had to do that to get 45nm quads running when they first came out.

 

[Jayce]

I took both motherboards out of the case and hooked them up to the power supply. I then held the case in the air by the cpu fan so it was touching absolutely nothing and fired it up. No dice.

I also tried another monitor and vga cable all together that was pulled from a working system, no dice.

I swapped out the processor with each system, the motherboard, the ram, etc.

I gave the biostar tech support guy the serial of my processor and confirmed it is indeed supported. He also confirmed this board is supported with DDR3 1066 RAM - which I have.

I have no clue where to go from here. He suggested I send the parts in to get tested. But ****, Christmas is in 9 days. What the **** do I do from here?

proc http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103687
ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820141369
board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138167

I just decided, if I can't figure this out tonight, I'll just order new **** on newegg and 2 day ship it, and RMA the rest. There might be individual parts that work out of this batch I'm sure, but I have two systems that don't work. According to NewEgg's specs, they should be compatible, but something isn't right and I've stressed every avenue of troubleshooting I could think of to rectify it.


Wow. Check this out.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.305410

NewEgg has the same mobo/cpu I bought listed as an available combo item. Obviously these two things are compatible. What do I do now? Memory? I have DDR3 1066 RAM... Gosh I'm confused.

 

[Slaymate]

What power supply are you using? Make, Model and Wattage?

 

[Jayce]

Newegg.com - COOLMAX CX-400B 400W ATX v2.01 Power Supply - Power Supplies

I just hooked up a power supply from my spare computer that has a 24 pin motherboard connector + 4 pin alternate power connector, and it too did the same thing, yet this processor works fine on my spare rig.

3 power supplies - 2 identical
2 processors - both identical
2 motherboards - both identical
2 sets of RAM - both identical

and even still, 2 systems that won't post/boot/show any video output whatsoever.

The guy at Biostar told me if something was wrong with the processor, but not the board, I would get "Invalid Processor" or some sort of error message on the screen. But I got nothing. Yet this board is packaged with the processor, which suggests it's compatible, yet it doesn't work.

What do I do? Do I just have really bad luck, or what?

edit - I just tried one of the new Coolmax power supplies on my spare computer. It boots fine.