Trying to build pc but running into some probs

Power quality is just as important as quantity. Who makes the PSU that is working, and how many watts does it claim to be?

 

The psu is the same one I tied in the other case.

Its a corsair 500w

BTW heres my full spec list that I got online mostly at newegg

Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119106

HDD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128378

GPU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102858

RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260

PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016

CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649&Tpk=Phenom ii X3 720

DVD http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010832&prodlist=celebros

Also have a retail copy of windows 7 I landed for $35

 

Oops didnt mean to put corsair above. Its OCZ

 

That PSU is a cheaply made unit, but it should be making plenty of power if it is not defective. A burning smell usualy isn't a good thing, even in new parts. It is possible that there is a defect in the power supply, or even a short in one of your components that is not currently connected.

The only way a case can cause a problem is if it blocks airflow or if there is a piece of metal causing a short on a circuit board. You say you checked the standoffs, I can't think how the case could be causing a problem unless you had a defective power switch on the front pannel. A case is just a box; you don't even need a case...it is just so everything is in one place, protected from getting stepped on/kicked/etc.

 

O ok so I dont need another psu as far as power goes then.

Well Im not sure how to describe the smell to be honest. it wasnt like a bad burning smell but then again im not sure how to describe it at all. Id say it wasnt instense just mild.

Yeah when I said the case wasnt any good I was talking about the power switch from the front panel. It must be defective. It would not generate any power to the motherboard when i hit power. Im talking about the centurion I bought on newegg. Where as I just recently put my motherboard in a antec case and the motherboard powered on. Like the cpu fan was rotating completely. I havent checked everything as I didnt have my gpu hooked on it to output to my lcd.

I kept it simple. motherboard is able to get power though. Smell worries me a little now though since u mentioned its not normal.

 

Oh and one more thing I forgot to mention. When the motherboard powered on. A light came on.

Should I just put everything together and try to boot it at this point to see if anythings wrong?

 

Sounds like you should give it a go with the new case. Burning smell is unusual...but not a certain sign of failure so long as it goes away quickly.

 

I agree. There is the odor of things getting hot and the odor of things burning. I have frequently noticed in new builds a mild "warming" odor especially from new graphics cards being hit with heat for the first time. It isn't the pungent burning smell we have all noticed from things like melting or burning insulation, but more like a PCB simply getting hot for the first time.

A first build is like a first child. In the beginning you over-react to every cry, cut and scrape. By the fourth or fifth you tend to get a feel for what warrants your attention and what doesn't.

Dick

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

Good news and some bad news.

Kept the pc running and didnt smell anything but the bad thing is I cant get any video out through dvi, hdmi or vga. shoot me please

Yeah but the only thing I can think of is that its the graphics card or the psu isnt strong enough to power it so yeah.

Im thinking of going to like frys tomorrow and buying a psu and cheap videocard to see which one it is.

What u guys think?

 

maybe im getting this wrong but the gpu says "450 Watt or greater power supply with 1x 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connector recommended (600 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX Technology in dual mode)"

while the cpu is "Thermal Design Power-95W"

So if my psu is 500... 450+95= more than 500... plus doesnt the hdd,dvd take up energy too? Or am I just plain wrong?

 

I might have got it:

From your PSU specs: +3.3V@25A,+5V@25A,+12V1@18A,+12V2@18A,
-12V@0.3A,+5VSB@2.5A

-This means that you have a total of 36A (432W) total 12V power...but it is split between two rails, and that brand oversells their output, so each 12v rail is probably making around 200W.

Your video card is rated at 188watts, and your CPU is rated at 95W. If they are both on the same rail, then this would keep the system from starting. Your PSU is modular, so you should be able to set it up to power the GPU from one rail, and everything else from the other.

All things considered, a hard drive, dvd drive, and some fans won't be a huge power load...most hard drives use less than 2 watts, and most dvd drives use this much only durring burning. Fans typicaly take only a fraction of a watt.

 

Ok I changed the graphics card to some cheapy msi r4550 video card and got no output... edited by ddp... Also changed the PSU to a 650w corsair and nothing... edited by ddp

I dont know what to do now

 

The fans are still not running? There are three of four fan headers on the motherboard. Are they all dead?

Do you know the monitor to be good?

Dick

 

Please confirm you only have four pairs of twisted wires coming from your case front panel to the front panel headers on your motherboard:

Green-white: Speaker
Orange-white: Power switch
Red-white: Disk Drive LED
Blue-white: Reset switch

I ask because you mention in an earlier post your front panel LED light coming on, but in your photographs you don't have any wires going to the power LED headers (pins 2 and 4). Your case doesn't come with a built-in speaker, yet you have two wires apparently from your front panel connected to the Speaker headers (pins 14 and 20). Do you by any chance have your Power LED wires connected to your Speaker headers?

I have no idea what that would do (probably nothing), but I'm looking for any anomaly. When you're having as much trouble as you are, the most obvious things need to be double- and triple-checked.

Dick

 

It's time to go bac to the basics.
1.) Dissassemble the system down to components; pull the CPU out of the mainboard and everything.
2.) Find a phone book or some other large book about the size of the mainboard (or just about anything that size and non-conductive), and at least 20MM thick.
3.) Inspect CPU pins, if none are bent, carefully install in mainboard. Apply a thin, even coating of thermal great to cpu top, use a flat piece of plastic to do this.
4.) Attach CPU cooler, ensure that it's base is clean, and that it is tightly secured to the CPU. As we will only be turning the system on for a second, leave the CPU cooler fan unplugged.
5.) Don't install memory yet.
6.) Place mainboard on phonebook or whatever, so that when you put in the video card, the metal bracked will hang over the side of the book.
7.) Install video card, make sure that it is fully inserted into the slot, and is not tilted forward or back in the slot.
8.) Connect power supply connections to mainboard and video card.
9.) Move the cmos jumper to the clear possition, leave there for 30 seconds, and move back to the "run" possition.
10.) Connet monitor and power cables; nothing else.
11.) Use a screwdriver to short the power-on pins on the mainboard.
12.) If it gives a long beeeeeeeep, use the power switch on the power supply to turn off, then install some memory and repeat the test.

If it makes a video signal, turn off and reconnect the fan, then turn on to check for video signal. Repeat this with all the memory and any PCI or PCIe cards (other than video) that you might have.

If it does not make video signal when you install a memory stick, try another stick in another slot.

If it does not make video with either stick of ram in any slot, change the video card and repeat the whole test. If it still does not make video, change the power supply and repeat the whole test again. If you still have no video, then there are only 4 things that could be wrong:
1.) Both sticks of memory are bad
2.) Mainboard is bad
3.) CPU is bad
4.) Some combination of 1-3

 

Sorry about the language ddp

Thanks for the replies k7vc KillerBug.

Finally got the thing working by replacing the motherboard. everything was working exept I couldnt get any video output.

So I figured it had to be the motherboard.

Went out and bought the same motherboard at frys and some thermal grease.

Took everything out and replaced the motherboard put everything together and it booted to the bios etc. Installed Win 7. SO thats where Im at.

Only thing that makes me nervous is if I put enough thermal paste. I put it all over the top of the cpu and fan/heatsink. SO I think I should be good but not 100pct sure. Didnt seem to have any problems while it was booted into he bios but then again it couldn't have been working that hard.

 

You don't want much thermal paste...idealy, it should be ricepaper-thin, but covering the entire chip with no bare spots. Too much will actualy hurt cooling performance.

 

Ok thanks KillerBug.I did not goop it everywhere. I put enough to smooth over the complete surface of the cpu. Just to make it covered. so I should be good then. Grease came with brush thing so I used that.

I wonder what I should do now that its fixed ha

 

Drop it on the floor and you will get a few more days of fun. ;-)