New build not booting

Overheating would be my first guess too, but it isn't the only thing that might cause that. To check for an overheating issue, there should be a "PC Health" zone, or something like that in the BIOS. Check to see how hot your CPU is getting first, and we'll go from there. Also, make sure your CMOS jumper isn't shorted. Most boards won't even fire up with it shorted, but some do, but then shutdown shortly after firing up. If you find that your CPU is getting hotter than the shutdown temp that's set in the BIOS, you may have to raise it slighly, or even disable it, until you get a better heatsink [if it isn't dangerously hot]. Read the boards documentation meticilously.

If your saying your not using thermal paste at all, then of course it's an overheating issue. Don't even attempt to run it like that. You will probably end up toasting your CPU.

blackroseMD1 said:

No, it has some thermal paste on there, but as I was installing the cooler, a bit came off on my hands. All that was on there was what was already on it from the factory.

That's not unusual. Most people over do it with the themal paste anyway. Thermal paste is only a filler for the microscopic peaks & valley's between the CPU, and heatsink. You only need a dab. What hardware do you currently have hooked up to the board? Try to get into the BIOS to see your CPU temp with just a single memory module installed [no HDD(s) or optical drive(s) hooked up].

blackroseMD1 said:

I have a 7200 RPM HD, optical drive, 2x2GB DDR2 RAM sticks, Geforce 8800 GTS and a multicard reader. I'll work on it some more tomorrow, gonna crash right now.

By way of agreeing with Mad Max....


This sounds like it might be hardware initialization errors...

When the system starts up is there any beeping from the internal buzzer/speaker?

You have one good clue... it's done this with two motherboards, so it's not likely the mobo itself... could be disks not spinning up, memory not fully seated, CPU problems, power supply...

For first boot I always minimize the hardware. Imbedded video, sound, etc. keyboard, mouse, 1 memory strip, 1 hard disk, no optical, no accessories... The only goal at that point is to get into the BIOS settings so you can configure them.

Then, as the build progresses, I add video, sound etc. each in their own restart of the system... That way if I run into problems I know what caused it!

One trick for the really stubborn ones --and I know this isn't kosher, so proceed with caution-- is to remove the CMOS battery, start the system up and let it error out on BIOS initialization. You should get a message saying "CMOS settings bad", "Press Del to enter setup" and some boards will even take you directly into the BIOS when that happens. Once in the BIOS put the battery back in... do your detection and settings, then reboot.... on about a 50:50 basis this fixes the problem for me.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this but of late I've had a whole string of boards (mostly ASUS) where the CMOS checksum is bad and the thing won't start. The battery trick has almost become SOP with those boards.

Are you using the stock CPU heatsink? Is it mounted properly? What color was your thermal paste?

blackroseMD1 said:

I have a 7200 RPM HD, optical drive, 2x2GB DDR2 RAM sticks, Geforce 8800 GTS and a multicard reader. I'll work on it some more tomorrow, gonna crash right now.

Just use a single stick of RAM, your video card, and a keyboard hooked up to get into the BIOS, nothing else [but obviously your CPU & heatsink too...LOL]. You don't need a mouse to navigate the BIOS. You can hook the other stuff up after you get the BIOS stable.