I'm going to shoot myself in the face...

[Sqthreer!]

Alright, let me give you the skinny:

Over the past month or so, when I decided it was time to upgrade my computer and get a new motherboard, I've been struggling with hardware compatibility problems, and I'm completely at a loss as to what to do next.

This is the system I'm trying to set up:
 - Motherboard
 - CPU
 - Video Card
 - RAM
 - Power supply
 - Hard drive 1
 - Hard drive 2 (I didn't get this from Newegg, so I'm not sure about the specifics, but it's pretty much the same as the above)

Is there ANYTHING wrong with these parts that might be preventing this piece of shit to work?

I only have one case, so I've been moving these parts back and forth with the stuff I'm using now, and it's such a fucking pain in the ass to get it all together, then have it not work, then take it all out and replace it with my current setup. I've had to do this eight or nine times.

What happens is that it turns on fine, but my monitor doesn't detect that it's plugged into anything. It just stays in powersave mode. I also noticed that my two DVD drives blink their lights in an odd way. But other than that, nothing. The fans turn on and it sounds normal, but I don't get anything. I also just waited to see if maybe Windows would start (so I could hear that piano sound when it does) but it doesn't.

I am just not educated enough to know what the hell to do here. I thought everything I had was compatible with each other. Is it just a defective piece or what? I've tried two different video cards, so I don't think it's that. I put the video cards in both of the PCI slots on the motherboard and still nothing.

I am completely at a loss and it has been a terribly frustrating month and I've spent a lot more money than I intended. Is there anything anyone can see here that might be amiss?

Fuck.

[Bobbias]

I can't help you much, but I think that power supply might be a bit on the low end considering some of the hardware you have.

I checked it all out, and there doesn't seem to be any compatibility issues (not to mention your computer would likely fail the POST test if there was any actual hardware compatibility issues).

I understand how frustrating this sort of thing can be, but my only thought is to make sure you checked all the manuals and connected everything properly (even now, my Harddrive use case light isn't connected in this computer, because I couldn't figure out how to connect it properly, lol).

I will say though that that is a pretty beastly machine, lol. How much did you actually spend?

oh, and

XXX Edition Overclocked at 620Mhz(limit 99 per customer)

Emphasis mine. WTF, lol.

[Spectere]

Alrighty, try these steps, attempting to start the computer after each one:

1) Try switching monitor ports.  With my card (which is also an XFX-branded GeForce), the port at the bottom is for the first display and the one at the top is for the second display.
2) If you get a picture but the system can't boot into Windows, reinstall Windows on the new system.  Windows installs a specific profile (i.e. single processor with APM, multiprocessor with ACPI, and several others) that is optimized for a certain system.  You can't take a copy of Windows installed on a single processor machine and move it over to a system with multiprocessors (or multiple cores) without a ton of work or a reinstall.
3) Make sure that both the 24-pin and 4-pin connectors on the motherboard are plugged in.
4) Make sure that the SLI dip switch on the motherboard is set to a single card.
5) Reseat your RAM -- unplug it and plug it back in.
6) Check all cable connections.

IF ALL ELSE FAILS, reseat your CPU.  You will probably want to have some thermal compound and surface purifier handy when you do this, otherwise the CPU might not get cooled down as well as it should.  You could just press the heatsink back on, but I don't recommend it.  I've seen systems that ran up to 10-20F hotter just from pulling the heatsink and pushing it back on with the old compound.

Edit: And no, the power supply is fine.  I put my system through a PSU calculator and it only requires a 450W power supply and I have twice the number of hard drives, more RAM, and my CPU and GPU both draw more power than his.

[Sqthreer!]

I did already try both monitor ports, on both PCI slots.

I definitely made sure everything was plugged in right; especially the 24 and 4 pin connectors.

Where would I find the SLI dip switch? Or at least, what does it look like so I can look for it?

I did reseat the RAM, and it didn't help, either.

So the stuff on my CPU right now isn't good enough? Why would I need to put more on there? I don't quite understand :| And I did reseat it once, to make sure I had it in right, which I did, so...

[Bobbias]

So the stuff on my CPU right now isn't good enough? Why would I need to put more on there? I don't quite understand :| And I did reseat it once, to make sure I had it in right, which I did, so...

I don't even understand what you mean here...

[Sqthreer!]

It had to do with Spectere's post, which I didn't quite understand either :[[[ He suggested I put a new coat of that greasy stuff on there? I'm not sure...

[Zakamiro]

This may sound stupid, but reseat everything in the rear of your computer, too. My keyboard plug sucks ass, and has to be seated nicely, or else the bios refuses to post. (this has gone away since my KVM switch)

Also, are there any beeps as it boots? From my experience, no beeps means that something is stupidly wrong and is easily fixed... A jumper, plug, or even the cabling of the cd rom drives/hard disks. Hell, try even unplugging all of your cd rom drives and hard disks-- your bios should still post even with those disconnected. (minimize variables) my computer upcompy is particular about which ide cables and power molexes from the PSU I use. Maybe yours is too... >.>

Be sure to let me know how that goes, hopefully i'll have more ideas to contribute.

[Spectere]

He suggested I put a new coat of that greasy stuff on there? I'm not sure...

Only if you remove the heatsink to reseat the CPU (which should be a last resort deal -- that's kind of an annoying task to undergo).  When you pull the heatsink off and put it on without replacing the thermal compound it can reduce cooling effectiveness.

Also, are there any beeps as it boots?

You'd be amazed at how many systems lack any sort of PC speaker nowadays, actually.  Lucky for me, one of the components that I bought came with a tiny one -- I don't remember whether it was my motherboard or the case.  It came in handy when I was putting my system together, as my very large and heavy video card took a bit of finesse for me to get it seated properly.

[Sqthreer!]

This may sound stupid, but reseat everything in the rear of your computer, too. My keyboard plug sucks ass, and has to be seated nicely, or else the bios refuses to post. (this has gone away since my KVM switch)

Also, are there any beeps as it boots? From my experience, no beeps means that something is stupidly wrong and is easily fixed... A jumper, plug, or even the cabling of the cd rom drives/hard disks. Hell, try even unplugging all of your cd rom drives and hard disks-- your bios should still post even with those disconnected. (minimize variables) my computer upcompy is particular about which ide cables and power molexes from the PSU I use. Maybe yours is too... >.>

Be sure to let me know how that goes, hopefully i'll have more ideas to contribute.

There aren't any beeps as it boots, but trust me, I double/triple/quadruple/quintuple checked every cable to make sure it was in the right place, and tried different combos of things being disconnected too many times :[ Whether or not anything actually shows up, I can't see it anyway because my monitor isn't detected x[

Only if you remove the heatsink to reseat the CPU (which should be a last resort deal -- that's kind of an annoying task to undergo).  When you pull the heatsink off and put it on without replacing the thermal compound it can reduce cooling effectiveness.

Hmm, okay well what exactly are you meaning when you say "reseat?" Do you mean just lifting the CPU off of where it goes and put it right back? Also, I don't understand why you would need to replace the thermal compound... What happens to it that renders it useless when you separate the two?

[Spectere]

Hmm, okay well what exactly are you meaning when you say "reseat?" Do you mean just lifting the CPU off of where it goes and put it right back?

Yeah, basically.  Sometimes the pins get a teeny-tiny bit misaligned.  It doesn't happen so much with sockets (Slot 1 processors were notorious for needing reseated, but you could usually reseat those with the heatsink attached) but I've seen cases where reseating them fixed problems, so I dunno.

Also, I don't understand why you would need to replace the thermal compound... What happens to it that renders it useless when you separate the two?

It's not that the compound is useless, it's just that it can easily get smeared around like that.  If you don't have a thin, constant layer of it, it won't do the best job it can do.  Like I said, I've seen properly applied thermal compound compared to smeared thermal compound make as much as a 10-20F difference.  If you ever remove the CPU heatsink, wipe away the old stuff and apply a new coat.

[Zakamiro]

a rubber glove is a handy tool for smearing it around the processor evenly, too (if you have one lying around)

[Spectere]

Credit cards work really well (the edges, that is), too, but you have to be careful not to scrape it off.

[Zakamiro]

fuck I just realized the pun on a rubber glove being handy. I'm going to shoot myself in the face when sq3r's done.

Also, if you don't have a PC speaker, consider getting one the next time you buy something online. They're pretty cool. :]

Also sq3r, go through your motherboard manual thoroughly. Ensure all jumpers are set correctly, and that every little fucking thing plugged into your mobo is right. triple check it. I mean every little thing like even the power_sw cable going from the case to the motherboard. Everything. Leave nothing unscathed. Minimize all variables.

[Bobbias]

Question: Why the fuck would they not give you a PC speaker? Seriously, POST is probably the single most important check your computer can make, and it kinda requires a speaker to communicate with you.

[Spectere]

Perhaps because PC speakers are an archaic piece [of shit] of technology, along with the BIOS?  A lot of newer systems seem to pump PC speaker audio out through the internal soundcard anyway, you just need to hook up a pair of speakers.

Seriously, it's things like PC speakers and the BIOS that are holding PCs back.  Why the fuck is my 64-bit capable system starting up in 16-bit mode?  Oh, because we have to have compatibility with the IBM PC!  OH RIGHT, THAT MAKES PERFECT SENSE!  IT'LL BE TOTALLY WORTH IT WHEN I DECIDE TO INSTALL DOS ON IT.

The hardware vendors need to grow a pair and start rolling out EFI so that we don't have to rely on technology that should have stayed in the 80s.