New motherboard won't start (Asrock Z68 Pro3-M)

[grewil]

I just purchased and assembled:
* Asrock Z68 Pro3-M
* Intel i5 2500 3,3GHz
* 1x4GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance (1.5V)
* mATX-chassis, 370W PSU, 250GB WD Caviar Blue SATA

Problem: there is little signs of life when I turn the power on.

Symptoms:
* My monitor reports no VGA-signal. I have tried two different monitors with both D-sub and HDMI. Then I even bought a PCIe-graphics card and tried with that, no success.
* There is no beep when I switch the power on. PCs usually beep when switched on (chassi speaker connected properly)
* The hard disk doesn't seem to activate, I expect at least the motor to spin up when I switch the PC on.

The only things that happen are:
* the CPU-fan starts (connected to the mobo, so there is some power there)
* the chassi leds light up

What can I do? I don't know how to diagnose this error.

[wazza300]

You have the memory in correct slot? Remove mb battery for 30mins then try,tested with another psu?

[grewil]

Interesting idea. I, perhaps wrongly, got the impression from the manual that I could put it in any slot, so I put it in the one farthest from the CPU for thermal reasons.

I'm trying your advice now, thanks so much for the advice! I'll write the conclusion of the experiment in some 20 minutes...

[wazza300]

You plugged in the CPU 4 or 8 pin power plug from psu? Besides plugging in mb 24 pin plug? Otherwise same symptoms as your describing will occur

[grewil]

You plugged in the CPU 4 or 8 pin power plug from psu? Besides plugging in mb 24 pin plug? Otherwise same symptoms as your describing will occur

You mean I need to plug in that second power cable as well?! This is something the manual has omitted to mention. I thought the 24 (in my case 20, but manual says that's OK in the 24 pin connector) pin was sufficient. I'll try this immediately, if this solves it, I'll be the happiest man on earth!

[wazza300]

You should have one 24 or 20 pin mb connector(some 20pin have a extra clip on 4pin connector making it 24pin) if so use it,then up near the CPU there's another block connector either 4pin or 8pin,plug in corresponding plug from your psu,if its just a 4pin one plug it in,it will only plug in one way

[grewil]

You plugged in the CPU 4 or 8 pin power plug from psu? Besides plugging in mb 24 pin plug? Otherwise same symptoms as your describing will occur

Mr wazza300 sir,

first, bless you and all your descendants for many generations to come.

Second, you solved my problem, which was causing me such annoyance and potentially loads of money. Your mastery in motherboards has really made a difference today! Thanks, thanks, thanks!!!!

Greg in Sweden

[wazza300]

What was causing the problem? And glad to help,enjoy your new pc!

[grewil]

What was causing the problem? And glad to help,enjoy your new pc!

The problem was that I had not connected the secondary power cable (8/4-pin). Last time I built a PC (ok, that was some years ago), you only needed the 24-pin, so I stupidly thought that was still the case.

Thanks again, you can't imagine how relieved I am right now (having mailed the store for service etc, that's always a hassle, and now I won't have to!).

[goldfinger847]

I just built a new PC with this ASRock board (full ATX version, not micro) yesterday. (2500K, G-Skill 2x4GB DDR3, Zalman 500W pwr supply, Lian Li mini-ATX case), I have a life-long friend and every few years we build the same machine together at the same time (after much study and discussion between us), the thinking being that two heads are always better than one and we have two sets of the same parts available to troubleshoot.

After a couple of hours of hardware assembly, we turned the power onto both machines and mine fired right up and went into BIOS and his spun the case and CPU fans for an instant and then was dead. The only difference between our two builds was my brand new Zalman power supply vs his reused five-year old Antec power supply from our previous build. He had used the Antec on an older machine less than a week before and it had functioned fine. We transplanted my new Zalman to his box and his machine immediately booted into BIOS too. Obviously the Antec PS either went bad or there was some incompatibility with the Antec ver 2.2 power supply and the ASRock board. If I were you before I did anything else I would try a different power supply. Good luck.