Build Advice New build, won't boot, fans spin slightly

First build so bear with me...

Build with a:
Gigabyte GA-P67-UD3
Intel i5 2500K (with stock cooler)
Corsair TX750W PSU
2x2GB Corsair 1600 MHz RAM
Gigabyte GTX 460
HD
DVD Drive

I built everything as it should be. Power button and the front case LED blinks once, and the PSU fan moves slightly (maybe half of a rotation). I figure something may be connected incorrectly or the mobo may be shorting, so I remove it from my case and place it on a piece of cardboard. Remove everything except one stick of RAM in the second slot. Connect 8 pin and 24 pin power connectors. CPU in, heatsink on. Connect the power button cable from the case, power on... Same problem, however now the PSU fan spins for a good second, as well as the CPU fan. A green light flashes on the motherboard for about a second, then turns off. This sequence does not loop.

It's worth noting that I had some struggles with the stock CPU cooler, after a while it did fit correctly however the thermal compound may have been smeared too much? I'm not sure how it works when it comes to this paste. I ensured there was none on/around the CPU's pins, etc. Looks fine to me.

I've reset the BIOS and shorted the CMOS, paperclip-tested the PSU, tried every different configuration of RAM, and so forth. I really haven't the foggiest what else could make this problem.

It's also worth nothing that someone suggested holding the motherboard by the heatsink, so it is in the air, to ensure there is no shorting. This DID get the motherboard to boot correctly (four lights, maybe? on the motherboard), until it started looping during the POST, stating the lack of video card. This only happened once and I've never got it to do the same thing again.

Thanks for putting up with my extensive post. I hope there's a solution for this. I really don't want it to be the motherboard, because Gigabyte will probably not be able to send me a replacement until the SATA fix for these chipsets is released... If this is the case, I'll probably just send my mobo in for replacement in the two or three months that it takes for these updated chipsets to be shipped.

 

Check how the CPU is seated, otherwise it's a dead board by the looks.

Does the board have a second PCI-E 16x slot to drop in the video card?

 

Sounds like you have covered most things. Have you got another PSU to test it with?

But otherwise what Bindi said, maybe check the CPU & re-seat it while you have the board out of the case.

 

I would say check the PSU also. If you have an option in the BIOS to turn off unused pci and pci-e lanes try that, it worked once for me on an EVGA board, worth a go as it is easy to try.

 

Reseated the CPU. It's very tough to close the lever that secures the CPU into the socket. Tough enough that it's actually scratched the top of the CPU, chipped it slightly. Looks like the silver coating is only affected though. This feels like a problem to me... The CPU kind of just falls into place, and then I close the lid of the socket followed by the lever... Is this normal at all? I feel like it's still correct as I got it to boot earlier, as mentioned.

No second 16x slot.

Hard to access the BIOS when the computer doesn't even turn on. Don't have any other hardware to test with.

 

I had this a couple of times back during my IT engineeer days. It was always one of 2 things:

Once it was caused by the motherboard shorting out on the 'mounts' on a rubbish eMachines case (they were domes rather than stand-offs). Just glued a washer on each one and it worked perfectly. So just look over it to make sure there's nothing shorting anywhere, flects of metal and such. It may help by blasting it with some compressed air.

Apart from that all the other times were faulty PSU's, so that's where I'd put my money. As stated above, try getting one to test with. If there's a local PC shop just pop in and ask if they'd just plug a PSU in for you. Don't go to PC world though, as they'll charge you £50 for it

if it's not the PSU then it's a dead board. I'd still RMA it to be honest, just so your first on the list for a return Where did you buy it from?

 

I'll see if I can bring it to the local store here (Memory Express, in Canada) and see what they'll do. I bought the PSU from there, and the motherboard from Newegg.

 

Something quick you could try before taking the PSU back:

 

Thanks for this, but, as stated in my original post, I've tried the "paperclip test". Works fine.

 

Your CPU socket should not require so much pressure to close the retention mechanism. You should be able to do this with your index finger only (just). Can you post photos of the socket? There is definitely something wrong there.

 

My money's on a short, like Pete says, motherboard to standoffs on the backplate.
Try a little insulation tape over each standoff if you need to run it today, otherwise you should be returning it for a replacement.

 

Ah apologies, somewhere between reading and posting I forgot that detail
Definitely sounds like a PSU or Mobo related issue though. Best of luck!

 

Sounds like a short to me too... trying running the system out of the case with the mobo isolated on some cardboard.

I had the exact same problem and it was a rogue standoff in the wrong place that was coming into contact with the circutiry.

 

He did the cardboard trick already

This is most likely dead board as bindi said in 2nd post

 

I had this problem. I posted a video of my problems on to youtube lol


I believe this is a regular problem with Gigabyte board. I fixed it by buying an internal speaker for my motherboard and hearing the POST code. 3 beeps and it signalled a VGA problem. Removed and Reseated GFX card and it worked. The thing was, it was working fine for a while before this problem happened. It hasn't happened since.

 

My money is on PSU.

 

Its sounds very similar to what I experienced sometime ago. See the link below:

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=180484

It eventually turned out to be the PSU

 

Something similar happened to me a couple of days ago - the computer died but there was a faint smell of burning. Took out everything and tested the PSU at work to check it was okay. I resorted to just powering up the motherboard - lo and behold, a thin trail of smoke from somewhere.

RMA's out of the question for some really stupid reasons that I should've taken care of when I bought the damn thing. Anyhoo, a new EVGA Classified 3 is arriving tomorrow (touchwood)!

 

Wow, what an overwhelming support crew you all are. I really appreciate it.

As I've said, everything looks good. My plan is as follows: Intel's recalled the chipsets on these boards, so if I were to return mine now, I wouldn't get a new one for at least two months. My best bet is to RMA the PSU, and test the new one that comes. If it works then hallelujah. If not, then I'll know it was the motherboard and will RMA it when the time comes.

Thanks for all your help, I'll be sure to let you know how things work out.

 

HighEntropy - Have you had any joy in resolving this now? If so, what was the cause?