Please Help Building Tower

civiliam · Jan 8, 2008, 07:13 AM

Hi everyone I just need a little help i am building a new tower and for some reason it's getting no power... I tested the power supply on my old tower and it works fine I checked and checked everything seems to be plugged in the right areas any help would be great thanks

Hardware

Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 Motherboard
AMD 64 Athlon X2 5200+
2x 2GB pqi Ram
Maxtor 320GB Hard Drive
Geforce XFX 8500GT
Raidmax ATX 12V 420W Power supply

Jay

**temeteus82** · Jan 8, 2008, 08:20 AM

Hi there and welcome to DriverHeaven!

It sounds like your PSU can't handle that system since it works on other system. But do make sure that the button connectors are correctly connected. They can be real pain in the butt sometimes.

Dyre Straits · Jan 8, 2008, 09:59 AM

If you're still having problems, take the motherboard out of the new case and place it on a non-conductive surface. (A rubber mat would be excellent!)

Hook things up and see if it gets power under this setup. If it does, then you know there's some kind of short being created in the way it was installed into the case.

Then, as you reinstall it into the case, make sure you use the proper washers and screws for that particular case.

Hopefully, it will work this time around. At least you should be getting fans coming on and any lights lighting up. If not, you should try another PSU.

Good luck!

civiliam · Jan 8, 2008, 07:32 PM

hey thanks for the help guys I just had the jumpers plugged in the wrong way lol another quick question i got my os on and everything may not be a problem but my os says i only have 2.75GB Ram when I put in 4GB is there something wrong with that thanks again guys

OldBuzzard · Jan 8, 2008, 08:01 PM

You are using a 32 bit OS. It won't 'see' all 4G. To use 4G or more of memory, you will have to go to a 64 bit OS.

**temeteus82** · Jan 8, 2008, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldBuzzard

You are using a 32 bit OS. It won't 'see' all 4G. To use 4G or more of memory, you will have to go to a 64 bit OS.

Yeah to be exact it has address space for only 4 gigabytes so it sees only 2.75 Gb of ram and the rest 256 Mb is for GPU's ram. And it seems that you aren't using the /3G switch in the boot options so you won't be able to see the one gigabyte that is missing. I recommend you to move 64-bit Vista since it can handle much more RAM than you will ever need.

civiliam · Jan 8, 2008, 09:33 PM

Sweet thanks a bunch guys I'll switch over to a 64bit asap

civiliam · Jan 8, 2008, 11:36 PM

sorry another problem I have 2 Maxtor HDDs a 120gig and an 80gig they both work fine in the old box but the bios only detects the the 80gig I need to get the 120 working any thoughts? thanks greatly appreciate all the help

Jay

**temeteus82** · Jan 8, 2008, 11:39 PM

SATA or PATA drives?

civiliam · Jan 8, 2008, 11:44 PM

IDE drives i have 3 actually all IDE only the 80gig works there all the same just different sizes

**temeteus82** · Jan 8, 2008, 11:48 PM

So I take they are PATA (parallel ATA) normal 80 pin cable.
Well then make sure that all of the PATA drives are juper's are correctly placed.

civiliam · Jan 9, 2008, 12:06 AM

I just tried the jumpers still not detecting

I tried 2 different cables could it be something else??

**kris23** · Jan 9, 2008, 12:10 AM

could be dead if not even the BIOS sees it.....

civiliam · Jan 9, 2008, 12:24 AM

It works in my other tower though

**kris23** · Jan 9, 2008, 12:31 AM

have you tried it on another cable?

civiliam · Jan 9, 2008, 12:34 AM

yeah

**kris23** · Jan 9, 2008, 01:01 AM

have you tried a different part on that same connector?

civiliam · Jan 9, 2008, 01:03 AM

what do you mean?

**kris23** · Jan 9, 2008, 01:10 AM

connect another drive in the same place as that is taken by the drive in question...

if jumpers are placed in the correct master/slave orientation, the cable is good and the drive actually works then i have no idea what to say....

civiliam · Jan 9, 2008, 05:45 AM

hey thanks kris23 i figured it out something was up with the pins and the IDE cable wasn't plugging in all the way

Jan 8, 2008, 07:13 AM	#1
civiliam DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	Please Help Building Tower Hi everyone I just need a little help i am building a new tower and for some reason it's getting no power... I tested the power supply on my old tower and it works fine I checked and checked everything seems to be plugged in the right areas any help would be great thanks Hardware Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 Motherboard AMD 64 Athlon X2 5200+ 2x 2GB pqi Ram Maxtor 320GB Hard Drive Geforce XFX 8500GT Raidmax ATX 12V 420W Power supply Jay Last edited by civiliam; Jan 8, 2008 at 07:18 AM.

Jan 8, 2008, 08:01 PM	#5
OldBuzzard DH's oldest Geek Join Date: May 2003 Location: Oberlin, OH Posts: 2,781 Rep Power: 142 System Specs	You are using a 32 bit OS. It won't 'see' all 4G. To use 4G or more of memory, you will have to go to a 64 bit OS. __________________ When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

Jan 9, 2008, 12:10 AM	#13
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,017 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	could be dead if not even the BIOS sees it..... __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Jan 9, 2008, 12:31 AM	#15
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,017 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	have you tried it on another cable? __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Jan 9, 2008, 01:01 AM	#17
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,017 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	have you tried a different part on that same connector? __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Jan 8, 2008, 07:32 PM	Thread Starter #4
civiliam DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	hey thanks for the help guys I just had the jumpers plugged in the wrong way lol another quick question i got my os on and everything may not be a problem but my os says i only have 2.75GB Ram when I put in 4GB is there something wrong with that thanks again guys

Jan 8, 2008, 09:33 PM	Thread Starter #7
civiliam DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	Sweet thanks a bunch guys I'll switch over to a 64bit asap

Jan 8, 2008, 11:36 PM	Thread Starter #8
civiliam DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	sorry another problem I have 2 Maxtor HDDs a 120gig and an 80gig they both work fine in the old box but the bios only detects the the 80gig I need to get the 120 working any thoughts? thanks greatly appreciate all the help Jay

Jan 8, 2008, 11:44 PM	Thread Starter #10
civiliam DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	IDE drives i have 3 actually all IDE only the 80gig works there all the same just different sizes

Jan 9, 2008, 12:06 AM	Thread Starter #12
civiliam DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	I just tried the jumpers still not detecting I tried 2 different cables could it be something else??

Jan 9, 2008, 12:24 AM	Thread Starter #14
civiliam DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	It works in my other tower though

Jan 9, 2008, 12:34 AM	Thread Starter #16
civiliam DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	yeah

Jan 9, 2008, 01:03 AM	Thread Starter #18
civiliam DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	what do you mean?

Jan 9, 2008, 01:10 AM	#19
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,017 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	connect another drive in the same place as that is taken by the drive in question... if jumpers are placed in the correct master/slave orientation, the cable is good and the drive actually works then i have no idea what to say.... __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Jan 9, 2008, 05:45 AM	Thread Starter #20
civiliam DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	hey thanks kris23 i figured it out something was up with the pins and the IDE cable wasn't plugging in all the way