problem - motherboard/cpu/memory/other?

[Bugsy_malone 666]

I was wondering if anyone might be able to help me with my small/large problem.

I been trying to build a custom PC and the original idea was to build one in an xbox 360 shell, this kinda failed a bit because of what I believe to be motherboard issues/psu.

so my PC spec started as:
ASROCK N61P-S motherboard
AMD X2 XP6000 CPU (ADV600IAA5D0)
2 x Kingston KVR800D2N6K2/4G 2gb mem modules (it comes as a kit of 2)
Gainwood HD4670 512mb DDr3 Graphics card

then a fujitsu 160gb SATA laptop 2.5" hard drive

Everything watercooled to enable it to fit in an xbox 360 chassis (apart from pump and resevoir)

I'd like to think thats a good basis for a reasonable PC but it didnt work. Initially the power supply went pop where I had modded that, but it seemed the motherboard wasnt playing ball either when I plugged in an out the box PSU of 750watt.

so I buy another motherboard, once again a N61P-S from a different supplier, one of the few boards that will fit the chassis. this time when you press the power switch the fans would all come on, but thats about it! nothing would come on the screen. So presuming the AMD chip was at fault (bought new from an ebay computer shop) I went down novatech and ended up getting an AMD X2 XP7750 Black Edition (AD775ZWCJ2BGH) as it appears you couldnt get the 6000 anymore. plugged it into my motherboard, still nothing only I notice the northbridge heatsink getting very hot! so contact the company I got the mobo from and sent it back, they tested it and said yep its faulty we'll send it to asrock to get it fixed. 10 days pass and a package arrived for me, a motherboard in a brown box with a few manuals/cables in like the original boxes have, looks like my motherboard is back, however its not, this is an N68-S which to look at is essentially the same board.

Plug all the bits in does the same thing, powers up the fans but nothing else nothing on the monitor either.

So then I look on the novatech website for their cheapest AM2 motherboard which is a microATX biostar board, which I bought and arrived quickly, plug my bits in and it does the same thing where all the fans come on but nothing comes on the display, so I ring novatech and apparently neither my AMD chips will work with that board so by the afternoon I have sent it back.

So getting fed up I thought I'll have a look for a normal ATX size board maybe with crossfire, sure enough I found an ASROCK ALIVEXFIRE ESATA2 R3 which was crossfire and AM2 socket for just £33 from a company Ginger 6, having learnt my lesson on compatibility of the chip numbers I checked the asrock website and it listed both of the above (not sure if someone could double check) so it arrived next day.

I plug all my bits in and same story with both chips, plug it in and nothing comes up on my monitor. I thought maybe the graphics card so found an old PCI graphics card from the 5th century and plugged that into a PCI slot (as it should work!) but still nothing.

at this point I have spent a fortune and am baffeled as to what my problem is.

Could someone shed some light as to what is up?

Many thanks in advance!

[Mickha]

The one thing I can think of is your memory, as it sounds as if you're not getting past the first cycle.
Try each stick of memory, separately, and see if you get any beeps from the motherboard.
Also check that the memory is compatible with your new motherboard.

[Bugsy_malone 666]

well the other thing I wondered, would the board boot with no memory installed or do new boards have to have memory installed to work?

[Mickha]

Generally if you remove the memory you should get it to start up, but that's about all, the fans should work and the power light on the motherboard should come on, if it has one.
The BIOS should dictate the sequence on start up.
Try going to basics, just the motherboard, the CPU, heatsinks and fans, or whatever cooling method you're using, then start the boot up and listen for any beeps.
All that should happen is as you describe, so then switch it off and try 1 stick of the memory, in each slot and keep re-booting, remember to fully power off before switching the memory to each slot, and earth yourself.
If nothing happens try the second memory stick.
If still nothing happens try some memory that you know is working, and compatible with your motherboard, it's a matter of keep on trying until you locate the problem.

[Jon007]

If you take out your memory your pc will beep at you continously, make sure the internal speaker is plugged in though, if its not beeping at you continously, i'd go for resetting the bios via the jumper, if it is beeping at you contiously id go for new memory after taking all none essentials off to make sure its none of them