Need help with home-built computer...

[daverme]

That VGA setting in the BIOS will not cause this; a setting of PCI works fine for AGP (done it dozens of times). I really have no idea what changing to AGP buys you but it is NOT necessary to boot the machine.

The fact that the CPU fan doesn't spin I think is important. Many modern mobo's have code in the BIOS to test if the CPU fan is spinning and won't allow the PC to boot if not. In turn, that suggests that the CPU fan is hooked onto the wrong pins (or not plugged into the mobo at all). Again, many moderm mobo's have multiple sets of pins for fans because many PCs require cooling beyond the CPU and power supply. Check the manual and be sure you've plugged the fan into the right place. Also, if you chose a fan that does not plug into the mobo (with a tiny 3-pin connector) you may want to purchase one.

Dave

[Hunston]

Hi..

I'm just building myself a budget P-III 450 PC. I've got a MicroATX Elite P6BAT-Me board, 128Mb RAM and a P3-450 Slot 1 CPU.

My problem is that nothing happens when I switch on. The PSU fan starts to spin and the Power LED on the motherboard switches on but the CPU fan doesn't spin and there is no output to the screen. Interestingly, if I hold the reset button in the CPU fan spins as normal.

I've tried all the usual tricks, removing the mobo from the case, firmly seating the CPU and the RAM, but all to no avail.

I originally thought that my problems coulld come from the Voodoo 3 AGP not being able to diplay as PCI may be selected in the BIOS (which I can't get access to as I have no PCI graphics board) but that wouldn't explain the CPU fan not spinning.

Any help would be re-e-ally appreciated.
H

[jm1green]

is the CPU fan connection backwards ? check it out ?!

[Hunston]

Thanks for your help, but I still don't know what the problem is. The fan is plugged into the correct pins (it can only go in one way) and all chips are seated properly.

Power is getting to the board, the CPU fan is running and I can eject CD's from the CD-ROM. The CPU fan starts to run and then stops when power is switched on.

????

H

[knucklebusted]

Ignore the PCI/AGP in BIOS, daverme is correct, it is not important for a single display. I think this picks primary when there are multiples in a single system.

Is the CPU fan in the spot noted for the CPU? Just checking to be sure.

Do you have another fan that you can try on the CPU? I agree with the others that an unmonitored fan will not allow the machine to boot. I've seen 3-pin fans that are NOT monitored, they just pull power from the board instead of a 4-pin pass-trhough.

If you have a case fan that is monitored, plug it into the fan for CPU to see if it will allow the machine to power on.

Good luck!

[Hunston]

Unfortunately I don't have an extra fan I can try. The board has 3 pin connectors for case fan and CPU fan, I've plugged in the CPU fan to both of these and the same thing happens - spins for 2 seconds then nothing. There is no 4-pin slots on the mobo.
The fan is plugged in the correct spot.

The boards details are at: http://www.ecsusa.com/product/p6bat-me.htm

Unfortunately, as there is no output I can't tell what could be going wrong - the mobo, the VGA card, the CPU or the SDRAM

I'm struggling here...I'll give it a few days and then this mobo is going in the bin. I must remember not to buy cheap mobos.

H