Can Anyone Help With A Build Your Own Computer Question?

by Glenn J
(New York, NY, USA)

Cool APEVIA X-CRUISER Mid Tower Computer Case, Screamin' Hot System

So I thought I knew what I was doing.

I had built ASUS Pentium systems while I was a student for the graduate school I was attending. I do know my way around a motherboard.

So, after a few years in the job, I decided to build my own home unit to replace the one the school gave me when I graduated.

I took my time, shopped and checked compatibility, watching prices and deals on places like Newegg.com and TigerDirect.com.

I finally settled on the following pieces of Equipment after I bought my Asus Motherboard from J&R here in Manhattan:

Asus M2NPV-VM Socket AM2+ Motherboard
(Micro ATX form factor,AMD Live! Ready, NVIDIAR GeForce 6150+ nForce 430, Dual Channel DDR2 800/667/533, DUal VGA Output, DVI-D & RGB, HDTV OUt interface (HDTV/AV/S Output module bundled, 2 x1394a support)

APEVIA (ASPIRE) Computer Case (Mid-Tower with LED illuminated Temperature, fan speed and voltage meters, firewire and usb ports and a swing-out bezel)

Apevia Iceberg 680 Watt ATX Blue Power Supply (neon blue green and red...yippee...variable fan speeds too, 1 20+4 Pin connector, 1 P4 MB connector, 4 SATA connectors, 8 Peripheral connectors, 1 FDD connector, 2 PCI-E connectors all with blue wrapped cords)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ 2.7GHz Socket AM2 65W Processor (CZ) CPU

OCZ Vista Upgrade 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Memory Kit

Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 3.5" SATA 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0 Gb/s HDD

Lite-ON Black 20x DVD+R 8x DVD+RW LH -20A1L-05 Burner (2 of them)

And Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD.

I assembled the Franken Computer, got lights, got a spinning HDD, got working DVD burners, but got no POST and no beeps, and (mostly) no VIDEO).

I contacted ASUS and spoke to tech. They sent me a troubleshooting checklist that led me to believe it was a bad board (the CPUs were fine as was the power supply), but they advised that the BIOS might be not advanced enough for the CPU and that i should try an earlier CPU, at which point I ordered an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Socket AM2 CPU. After that took a week to arrive, I re-checked the wiring of the Motherboard, replaced the CPU according to the instructions. Still no post, still no beeps, still no VIDEO!!

Time to RMA the Board.

RMA the Board. Get a new board from ASUS two weeks later. Take home the board, wire it up, put on older, 3600 CPU (just in case). Check wires again. Read manual again. Check wires a third time. Plug in unit, and....

You guessed it.

No beeps, no POST, HDD spinning, DVDs working, lights on, Motherboard power light is lit.

Chances that ASUS sent me a bad motherboard after the RMA? Who knows. At this point, I decide to take it in to the techies at my job and make SURE that I have not screwed up the wiring.

I have already checked and rechecked the compatibility of the components on ASUS's website.

As I write this, my tech help at work will be looking things over on their lunch hour as a favor to me to see if this can be corrected.

Wish me luck.

I just hope that I miswired something and it is easily fixed, because another 2 weeks to RMA seems like a million years.

I will keep you posted on what develops.