Creating my first computer

[Maverikk]

Hi guys,

This is my first post here. Heard about this forum through a friend who said you were very helpful. I am building my first computer... I looked into the compatibility of parts and after much deliberation ordered the parts. They came today and I have assembled it all together. At first there was no life but after tweaking the Connectors to the F_Panel I have the power switch LED on but nothing else... Pitiful I know. I am starting to think I might have been too gung-ho and should have checked what I was doing with someone who actually knew what they are doing...
Here is a list of my components:

-Gigabyte motherboard ma78lmt-us2h AMD AM3 DDR3
-AMD CPU AM3 Dual Core Athlon 64 Socket
-XFX ATI Radeon HD 5450 1GB PCI-E 2.0 DVI HDMI VGA graphics card
-Corsair memory 4GB Vengeance performance kit (2x2gb) DDR3 1600mhz CL9 Unbuffered
-Coolermaster Hyper TX3 Heat Pipe CPU cooler s775/1156/AM2/2/AM3/940/954
-SPEEDLINK 5.1 PCI sound card
-CiT 550W Gold silent PSU 12cm fan SATA
-Seagate 500GB Hard disk drive Barracuda SATA ll 300 7200rpm 16m Cache oem
-Samsung 22X DVD-RW SATA
-NZXT M59 Midi Tower case

If you can see where I may have gone wrong with compatibility or have any suggestions please let me know!

Thank you.

 

[Slaymate]

I would suspect the CiT 550W Gold silent PSU as a likely suspect. But it could be a number of things.

I would suggest looking at this guide carefully just to make sure you haven't skipped something.

The animated guide to Building a PC. Learn to build a PC from scratch with PCitYourself!

 

[kmote]

Your PSU is terrible.
Did you use standoffs between the motherboard and the case?
Have you checked that the RAM is properly seated?
Have you checked the connections from your PSU? There should be two going to the motherboard.

EDIT: ninja'd

 

[Maverikk]

Thanks for speedy replies!

The guide looks perfect and I will be using it for the future and to build up my knowledge, thanks!

I have two connections going from the PSU into the motherboard. The 24 pin connector goes in fine but I do have a query about the other one. The PSU has a 6 pin and a 4 pin connector but the motherboard has an 8 pin connector. Will a 6/4 pin working in an 8 pin?
I have standoff's between mobo and case.
Sorry if this is a dumb question but what do you mean by RAM being seated? I have it firmly inserted in mobo if that's what you mean.

What makes that PSU so bad?

 

[Slaymate]

The power supply manufacturer is unreliable at best and you need a power supply with a 8-pin motherboard connector.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

If you don't want to get a new PSU you can get a 6-to-8 or 4-to-8 adapter cable. The only voltage that goes through the 4-pin CPU connector is 12V, the only voltage that goes through the 8-pin CPU connector is also 12V. The additional wires are there to provide extra current under heavy loads. However, if your computer isn't even turning on then there is a problem. I think the 4-pin CPU connector should fit in the 8-pin connector (not the 6-pin though, those are for PCI Express cards such as graphics cards). It should at least allow your PC to boot, if it crashes under load then I would look into a new PSU.

 

[Maverikk]

Ok, thanks for clearing that up for me. I'll try it out and see how it goes. Last question as I think this might be my problem as well... I am having trouble wiring the 6 pin connectors. The manual and mobo lists them as msg -/+, res -/+, hd-/+, pw-/+. The leads coming out of the case however are listed reset sw(coloured and black), hdd (coloured and black), power sw(coloured and black), +(coloured), -(black).

I think i am right in saying:
reset sw into res+/- and
hdd into hd-/+

but is pw power switch? My 'on button' lights up when I plug the unnamed -/+ into it.

Thanks

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

The switches (Reset and Power) are not affected by which direction you plug them in, as long as RESET connects to Reset +/- and POWER connects to Power +/-. The LED's on the other hand are directional (LED's light up only when connected one direction) so HDD and Power LED must connect + to +, - to -. If you are unsure which way to plug it in, just plug it in one way and if it doesn't light up flip it around. The unnamed +/- is most likely Power LED (since the Power LED lit up) but the pins on the motherboard are probably for Power Switch instead. If your PC is plugged in but powered off, an easy way to find which set of pins is Power Switch is to take a screwdriver or other small metal object (must be exposed metal, not painted or plastic) and touch it across the two pins. This does the same as pressing a switch. When the PC turns on, you've found the right ones.

I'm pretty sure this is your problem, the power switch terminals will always have a voltage across them (so that it can detect when the switch is pressed). That is why the power LED lit up when you plugged it in, but it wasn't enough to trigger the system to power up. Connect the switch instead and it should turn on.

 

[Maverikk]

Ah, I'm reluctant to do anything with it on until i get the grounding wrist band. I will keep at it though, determined to get this thing to work lol.
Is there any other reason it might not be turning on?

 

[Maverikk]

ok so this is strange... When I plug the + and - in the pw +/- the power switch lights up. When I plug the Reset sw + and - in the pw +/- then the reset button lights up. The pw+/- seems to be the only two that have power but the cables are are wrongly named? When I plug the power sw +/- orthe reset sw +/- in... nothing happens. Am I being simple here? This is hurting my head...