So I bought a new proc and mobo today to replace the dead mobo in my server. New stuff is an AMD Phenom II Black X2 560 and a MSI 785GTM-E45 board. Set it up... and nothing. Well, almost nothing. Fans spin, lights (in fans and power light on mobo) come on, hard drives spin up. But that's it. Black screen. Sometimes a beep. Sometimes 2. Sometimes 3. Sometimes none.

Tried new PSU, new ram, video card instead of onboard. Nothing helps, and there's no consistency to the beeps. I can power up 3 times and get 3 different beeps.

Pulled the board out of the case, removed and replaced the proc and fan. Put in JUST keyboard, 1 stick known good ram, and new known-good psu. Still nothing.

Looks like a trip back to microcenter to exchange, right? I can't think of anything else to try...

Have you tried to reset the CMOS memory? What specific memory modules did you purchase?

If you have to go back, here is a link to current Microcenter processor/motherboard combo promos in case you haven't seen it:

http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promot...ce=ACT_BYO&

It's easy to miss connecting the processor power connector to the board. That would exhibit the behavior you're seeing.

Yes, I reset the CMOS. Both removing the battery and using the jumper that this board has.

Tried 5 different RAM sticks, 3 different kinds. All have been working fine in other machines. Even tried using both slots individually.

Yes, it would be easy to miss the proc power (especially since this board tucks it way up on the top edge) but I didn't

I've actually ordered another of this board for instore pickup since they only have 1 left. I want this particular one because it's got ddr2 (which I've got plenty of around) and more important, it's actually got 6 SATA. That saves me from having to use an addin card since my server has six drives

Ran over at lunch and swapped out for the one remaining board. Hopefully this afternoon it works when I get home!

Came home, hooked up the new board. SAME @#$@# THING!!!! No video at all on boot. Fans spin, sometimes there's a beep, or two, often none. But nothing happens otherwise. I even hauled it into another room and hooked up 3 monitors at the same time (board has vga, dvi, hdmi outs) to make sure it wasn't something dumb like it only uses hdmi unless you configure otherwise. Still nothing.

Tried a separate vid card. No dice there either.

There is SOMETHING happening, since I noticed that the cpu fan starts out full blast, but then slows down after a few moments. But that's all. There's no other sign of life in the board. Argh!

Could it be a defective CPU? I didn't swap that... and I have no other AMD boards here to test with.

Yes. Also make sure you didn't miss plugging in the 8- or 4-pin CPU power cable.

I made sure the 4 pin was connected... so I guess tomorrow I swap cpus. Argh...

I realized that Sunday we'll be visiting family in Cincinnati and will drive right past the microcenter there. That store has 3 more of this mobo in stock... so now I'm wondering what the odds are of a bad CPU vs 2 bad mobos in a row... should I drive back to the Columbus MC to swap CPUs, or wait till sunday and swap mobos again.

I'm thinking you have a bad CPU. It was a crapshoot as to which was bad on the first install attempt (could have been either motherboard or CPU), but you've now replaced the motherboard, and it still isn't even posting to the BIOS setup. The CPU is on the motherboard's default support list (i.e. no BIOS upgrade should be needed), you have compatible (and known good) memory modules installed, CPU and motherboard are properly plugged to power, and you've reset the CMOS settings. Not much else that could be wrong here that I can see - by process of elimination it would seem to have to be the CPU.

The only other thing I can think of to try is to pull the motherboard totally out of the case and power it on to ensure you don't have some sort of oddball grounding issue.

Since you went with this particular processor, I presume you plan to try to unlock the other CPU cores once you get everything running?

I've already pulled it out of the case. Second mobo never went IN the case

And no, I don't plan to unlock anything. This is just running a home server system - bought this proc just cause it was a good deal! $90 for proc and mobo... The only way to have gotten cheaper (at least locally) was a single core sempron w/ really cheap mobo. I know WHS likes multicore procs, and I wanted at least 6 SATA to handle my drive array.

People always look at me funny when I tell them to just hook up the motherboard outside the case to troubleshoot - it just never occurs to them that they can do this and save all the time of installing the motherboard into the case, just to have to take it out again. I used to have a set of power cable extensions which made doing this easy; however, they ended up in a bag the airline lost on a trip and I've never found another set of them anywhere (I can't even recall where I found them in the first place)....

And you are right - that is a crazy deal for a processor/motherboard combo. Sadly, we don't have either a Microcenter or Frys anywhere near where I live, so we never get anything like this available in our area.

swapped the cpu today - and it booted right up! That was outside the case, just cpu, power, and 1 stick ram connected. Then I installed it in the case, hooked up all 6 hard drives, dvd drive, 2 sticks ram, case fan, routed all the wires, plugged everything in, hit the power button - and it didn't start. Fans on, black screen. Started to freak out, when then I realized I'd forgotten the 4-pin CPU plug, since it's right at the top of the board under the PSU. And a black jack, so hard to see in the dark there. Connected that and everything is good. Installing WHS now

Hardware troubleshooting - so much fun!
Glad you got it working