upgraded k6-2 to a 2500+BARTON, ABIT 7 Mobo, no boot :(

[andrewdna]

Man, I finally bought a new computer to replace my ole formerly reliable K6-2 500mhz computer, bought a 2500+ Barton cpu, and a Abit 7 (A7?), Leadtek FX 5200 graphics card, and a case with a 300w PS. My dad and I assembled everything (although I might have misoriented the case POWER ON/HDD LED/RESET cables while attaching to the mobo (couldnt figure out whether all the white ones were the + or the colored ones were the + end.) but I figure that wouldnt casue it not to boot; so I reversed directions on them. Still nothing. Could it be because I placed too much heatsink silicone on top of the cpu and covered the bridges? I checked and rechecked all connections 4X. I still cant get the mobo to come on, no fans turn, nada. Please help. Now I am wondering if maybe I inadvertently harmed the CPU, the mobo, or the mobo from Fry's is a bad one. The mobo doesnt neet auxillary case cables like the microphone jack, usb, LEDs, to be plugged into the mobo for it to boot does it? I dont know what to do next. Any help would be greatly appreciated with my first build. (oh yes, I made sure everything was plugged in and the CPU fan was hooked up properly before I plugged in the power cable; and worked on the computer on rubber mats).

Can you be a little more specific about what motherboard it is? It should say somewhere on the board itself, usually between PCI slots, I think.

Try this: Take everything out of the board except the graphics card and RAM. That includes the CPU. Now plug in the CPU fan but don't attach it to anything. Set it down on the CPU socket, or hold it in your hand. Don't let the heat sink (if it's attached to the fan) touch the board while you've got the power on.

Make sure the switch on the back of the power supply itself is in the right position. Now try to turn the board on. Does the CPU fan spin? If it wasn't the switch on the back, chances are your chip is dead.

Also, if you got any CPU paste on anything other than the core, you used too much. You only need a drop. The coating should on be atop the core and should be no thicker than a sheet of paper.

Hopefully you've got this issue resolved already. Good luck, and feel free to post back with results. I'll subscribe to the thread to make sure I don't miss any replies.

-Whir