Not Getting A Display On My New Build

[malmsteenisgod]

Hi, I recently just built my first gaming pc...sort of...

 

I was able to enter configuration easily enough, although I did get a message that there was no hard disk detected. I poked around in the settings for a bit, noticed that my bios is detecting my hard drive, I changed my RAM settings (because the default were not correct), and then proceeded to trying to boot up normally.

 

Now, I don't know a thing about booting a pc, but I set the boot priority to my DVD drive, and put in my Vista Ultimate disk. I powered down my pc and switched the jumper over to normal and then turned it on. It turns on...but I'm not getting any display. I'm not sure what's wrong or where to start. I've reseated a bunch of my hardware but still it won't work. I've switched over to the configuration again and looked around for...well I don't know what I'm looking for. Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong? My graphics card seems to be running really hot for not displaying anything. Could there be something wrong with it?

 

Intel DX38BT

Q6600 G0

HD 4850

2 GB OCZ DDR3 1333 7-7-7-20 (only 1GB installed right now)

22" Samsung 2253BW

 

If you need any more information let me know.

[hardnrg]

do you get any error beeps through the PC (case) speaker?

 

have you set the memory voltage to 1.9v? try 8-8-8-24-2T (tCL=8, tRCD=8, tRP=8, tRAS=24, CPC/CR/CMD=2T) @ 400MHz/DDR800

[malmsteenisgod]

do you get any error beeps through the PC (case) speaker?

 

have you set the memory voltage to 1.9v? try 8-8-8-24-2T (tCL=8, tRCD=8, tRP=8, tRAS=24, CPC/CR/CMD=2T) @ 400MHz/DDR800

 

Well I don't have a case speaker, but I didn't hear anything from my logitech speakers.

I'll have to try the memory settings in a moment. I was in the process of reseating my cpu and now my heatsink is being a pain.

[malmsteenisgod]

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH HARDNRG!!! I can't believe that actually worked. Why does it do that? And one other thing, although this is off topic... if I remove my heatsink, should I reapply thermal paste? Thanks a lot!

[hardnrg]

The JEDEC spec for DDR is 1.5v... the voltage your motherboard chooses maybe this, or the one specified in the SPD values of the RAM itself... which could be 1.7v or 1.8v... most DDR3 is spec'd for 1.9v for it's rated timings AFAIK

 

The other thing is the timings, they are the ones that have been tested to work on one or more motherboards, if you don't have the same motherboard/chipset, it may take more/less voltage, or tweaking other sub-timings to get the major timings of 7-7-7-20-2T

 

I guess the final thing is, some motherboards like to choose 1T for some ridiculous reason (mine seems to)

 

I'd say leave the RAM loose/slow if you changed the timings/speed as I suggested, OC the CPU first, and then come back to the RAM timings/speed later, aiming to get it up to or exceeding the rated performance.

 

If you are going to use the system for an extended time, reapplying the paste is necessary, so unless you are doing some troubleshooting getting the system to POST or run Memtest86+ or something, it's pretty much essential

[malmsteenisgod]

So, if I don't plan on OCing my CPU can I go ahead and change my RAM timings to their default 1333, 7-7-7-20, and 1.8V? And then if I later decide to OC my CPU I should still be able to do that just fine, right?

[hardnrg]

Yeah, you can do that, if the RAM won't run at those timings & speed, you can try it at DDR1066 (533), which would be 2:1 with the Q6600 FSB of QDR1066 (266), which might be better than running it at DDR1333 (666) with a slightly odd ratio of 5:2

 

Just play around with it and run stability tests to see how it works out... you're in a position now where you know settings to make your system work again, so you can afford to experiment

[malmsteenisgod]

Yeah, you can do that, if the RAM won't run at those timings & speed, you can try it at DDR1066 (533), which would be 2:1 with the Q6600 FSB of QDR1066 (266), which might be better than running it at DDR1333 (666) with a slightly odd ratio of 5:2

 

Just play around with it and run stability tests to see how it works out... you're in a position now where you know settings to make your system work again, so you can afford to experiment

 

Hmm..so I tried playing around with it and I coudn't boot so I set it back to what was working before and now I'm getting 3 beeps, no display, and no display when I try to go to configuration mode. Any thoughts? Sorry I'm so much trouble

 

Edit: Ok, now it's booting. I suppose I'll just play around and figure things out. Thanks again for the help.

Edited August 15, 2008 by malmsteenisgod