Hello to all. Recently went about the task of upgrading my 500 Mhz Celeron to an AMD XP1800+, MSI KT3 Ultra Mobo and 512 MB of Crucial DDR. After installing all the componets into my case, I went to power on the system and nothing happened. Fans didn't start up, processor didn't start, hard drive didn't boot. It didn't even turn on. At first I thought, oh well I must have reversed the power switch lead, so I reversed it, and it still didn't start. So then I noticed one side of my mobo was a little too close to the edge of my case, so I readjusted the motherboard standoffs so everything was further away from the mobo plate and tried again. Still nothing. I'm beginning to wonder if I got a bad mobo. The power light starts to come on, then quickly dies out and like I said, nothing happens. Might be static damage, but I was very careful about that, grounding myself everytime I touched something inside the case. Someone please help because I really don't want to have to return $250+ worth of componets and get stuck with my old system again. Avfinatic757

hmmm could be lots of things...CHECK THAT THE PSU IS ON and ON THE CORRECT VOLTAGE (115v for the US/Canada, 220(?) for the UK, the rest of the world i dont know off the top of m head... note if you plugged it in set at 115 on a 220 system the PSU is fried, replace it... if you plugged it in on 115 set at 220 though it should be ok, just change the switch...).Check all the Power connectionsCheck all the IDE connections (i doubt its this but check it anyways)You checked the Power swtich position, did you check the reset and the others? reversing the reset button can cause problems on some mobos. Did you smell anything weird the 1st time you powered it on? If you did you are probably screwed.Check the the CMOS chip is fully seated.Are there any beeps when you power on or does it just die? Or does your mobo have a POST light array (check the back of the board for 4 LEDs, i've only found 1 ATX board with these but check anyways, should be a table in the manual that explain the different indications)?Does your mobo have a capacitor charge light (green light on the mobo, should come on if the PSU is on), and is it on? If not check the power connections to the motherboard, if SHOULD be impossible to mess those up but ive seen people do it. Make sure the clip on the power connector is flush, not sticking out any.Check that the PSU is good (the good part might be hard to figure out, if you have a multimeter you can test somewhat it but otherwise you probably cant unless you can put it in another computer) and is big enough (Athlon 1800+ id be 350w or better). Also check the wall voltage if you can.Also what mobo is it? ABIT, ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, Soyo, etc? Remove all the cards except the video card if you havent tried that already.Check the CMOS clear jumper is seated and on the correct pins if applicable (its probably near the battery and white or yellow, not all mobos have these). If you see a 3 pin spot near the battery with no jumper check your manual and see if its supposed to have one.Check that the CPU fan/heatsink if on the correct fan sensor plug (some mobos wont boot if they detect an athlon and no fan).If you've done all that and it still wont POST, its probably fried, get another mobo.http://home.cogeco.ca/~pliddell/PAIsig.gif

Mobo is MSI model KT3 Ultra. Thanks for the assisstance. Will try some of these and get back to this post. Avfinatic757

The poster above covers everything pretty well. I find that starting a new build, it is best to only have a minimum number of items plugged-in, then test to see if the unit will come to life.If you have no luck, try removing you MOBO, place it on a dry non-conducting surface, plug in the powersupply (you might have to remove it from your case also), add a floppy drive, and graphics card. Remove all other peripherals. Try starting the computer. If it doesn't start, then check the powersupply.Powersupply check - unplug from the wall and from MOBO. Look through cooling slots to see if you can see a fuse. If you can't see a fuse or want to go further, open the powersupply and check for fuse. There may also be a circuit breaker near the plug. If so, reset it. If you have a voltmeter, you can check the voltages. Search the internet or check you MOBO Manual for voltages on which pins.Most ATX MOBOs have an LED indicating voltage is applied to the MOBO even when it is OFF. This provides power to the board for turning off the computer automatically instead of having to manually press the ON/OFF switch.

Also, verify that the power supply is compatible with your motherboard. On Intel P4 motherboards, there is a seperate connector that provides voltage to the motherboard in addition to the larger "p1" power supply plug. I think the newer AMD motherboards have a second power connector on the motherboard as well, and you will need a power supply that has both motherboard power connections on it. Many of the older power supplies and alot of the older 'OEM' power supplies won't have them as they weren't needed around the time that 500 MHz Celerons were produced. I had to go ahead and upgrade my power supply when upgrading from a Celeron 400 to a new P$ and motherboard. Hope this helps,Drop me an email if I can be of any further assistance,Adrian JohanssonOcala, Florida

K, plugged in the D-Bracket that came with my mobo which as diagnostic LED's and it blinked 4 reds indicating something's wrong with the processor. I pulled it out and did a visual inspection. No pins missing and no cracks I could detect, so I popped it back in, reinstalled the Volcano 7 fan and plugged the bare minimums in (mobo, PS, video card, monitor, keyboard, mouse, sound, and drives). Still no go and I know it's not the PS cause the fans start to turn, then fizzle out and stop. Plus the LED's indicated the processor. Tim Kotula

Update:Called the tech support @ the shop I bought everything from and they gave me a number to call MSI for some info. They told me that the motherboard sometimes has to be set up for the processor, which is understandable even though I thought it was a jumperless mobo. Apparently not. They also told me however that it is equally likely that I did get a bad processor and that they would exchange it any time in the next 14 days for a new one (no charge of course) if that was the case. Tim Kotula

Make sure you don't put any extra standoffs under the mobo that don't line up with a screw hole,that could cause a short.My guess is your problem is mobo,or a power supply problem. The mobo will start up and run even with a damaged CPU. The light on the mobo will stay on,the fans will run but it will never post. The fact that you power it up and then the light on the mobo goes out says thats where your problem is.David