KA266-R and AMD 1.4GHz problems....

[Pilot]

Hello everyone - this is my first post here, so I hope you can help a newbie....

I'm currently building my own PC, here are the specs (the stuff ready to go...):

Chieftec DA-01W Full Tower Case
Enermax 350W PSU
IWill KA266-R DDR Motherboard
AMD Athlon 1.4GHZ 266 FSB
ThermoSonic ThermoEngine CPU Heatsink/Fan (up to 1.5GHZ)
512MB DDR Memory (2100)
LeadTek GeForce3 64MB DDR Graphics card
IBM Deskstar 61.5GB HD
5x45cfm 80mm fans
Creative SoundBlaster Live Platinum 5.1
Cambridge SoundWorks DTT3500 Digital Theatre system speakers
Mitsublishi Diamond Plus 22" Monitor

OK - that's what it will eventually look like - if only it worked...!

The problem started after installing (and adding power to)the Motherboard, Memory, CPU, Cooler, Graphics Card, Hard-Disk, CD-ROM and floppy drive.

When you power it up, the Cooler spins, the HD spins, the motherboard light goes green, the fan on the graphics card spins and the lights appear on the CD-ROM and briefly on the keyboard - so it looks as though all is working....

After that there is nothing....

The monitor shows no picture and stays off (orange light on instead of green).

There are no other sounds to be heard.

That's it - it appears to be dead. I've played about with the jumper settings (to the best of my knowledge, this is the most powerful system I've built - before this it was simple office PC's!), but so far nothing has happened.

Can anyone advise me on the best course of action?

I read an earlier post about it being the CMOS battery, but I've re-seated that and it's still the same!

Please, please can you help, I do not know what to do with this, and if I start ringing around the companies here in the UK, it would be good to be armed with some information etc.

Many thanks, I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards

Pilot

[hoey222]

Pull the battery, pull the power cord, then hit the power button to discharge any power traces. this will reset the bios. then try to start the machine.

in your bios check your agp rate. it's probably set to 4x, try stepping it back to see if you can at least get to a safe mode.

I've run into a similar problem with your setup. try using a different video card just to see if it boots up. something about the 266 fsb and the geforce and amd chipset combo.

[SirBrah]

Okay, there might be a NUMBER of things that can cause the symptoms you're describing. Some of which are pretty bad... lets go from easiest solution to hardest solution.
1. Memory, Video... if either fails, it won't give you a screen, and it won't even give you a warning in most cases... just blank.

2. Motherboard- Like you said the cmos battery has a lot to do with it, if you check that, make sure it comes up correctly, you should be fine. Also, if the bios doesn't boot up, nothing will show either

3. CPU - I don't know HOW many people I've talked to that built their own CPUs have caused them to fail. There are 2 possiblilities. One is if you didn't install the heatsink well enough... meaning if you don't have good contact between the core and the heatsink... maybe not enough thermal grease or too much. This will cause your CPU to fry within 10 seconds... so it seemed like you've turned it on, let it sit for a while before you turned it off.... this can very well be the case that you let it sit and fry... and finally fail... Second, if you have a big fan and heatsink, and you've tried very hard to get it on your CPU, you have most likely CRUSHed the core into powders... I personally did that with my 1ghz... so if that happens, no doubt your CPU is GONE....
All in all, the CPU is your most likely cause... because it is VERY VERY tricky to get the heatsink on the AMD thunderbirds, they are EXTREMELy fragile, and usually they have warnings at the places you buy them OEM that tells you NOT to install them yourselves... or without the proper tools.
-Wen

[Pilot]

Thanks for the info.

I have a question about the video card. If the AGP rate is too high, will fitting a PCI graphics card be better to start with, then add it later? (Will it find it at boot, even though no drivers have been installed for it, like you would do in Windows).

Also, as for seating the Heatsink/fan, I use Arctic Silver II, (I was advised to remove the thick layer of compound from the heatsink prior to installing it on the CPU as it was quite thick and could cause damage because of this). The Arctic Silver has to be around the thickness of a sheet of paper, best applied with an open razor blade. Has anyone else experienced problems with this, or have any tips on fitting the heatsink?

Once again many, many thanks

Regards

Pilot

[spanky]

Be careful w/ the artic silver too much of it and your chip will fry

[Pilot]

Hi there,

Sorry I haven't got back to you all sooner, but when you say don't use too much Arctic Silver, just how much is too much?

I applied a very thin layer with an open razor blade direclty onto the CPU core (as per Arctic's instructions from their website).

I look forward to your reply.

Many thanks

Regards

Pilot