Solution to my computer problem?

I put together a new computer without enough knowledge (apparently) to do so. I got it all together, and I plugged it in and turned it on and nothign happened.

I thought, at first, that I bent a pin when I put the processor in, so I took it out and inspected, but found no bent pins. I put it back in and tried again... still nothing.

I put the computer asiode out of frustration and decided today to take another look at it. It dawned on me that I may have stupidly purchased the wrong type of RAM (which I know could cause the computer to not start up).

Unfortunately this caused even more confusion. I looked up the specs on the RAM and found that it was non-ECC DDR400 (which is what my motherboard calls for) but it does not say anything about SDRAM. The manual for my motherboard says it supports "unregistered, non-ECC DDR 400/333/266 SDRAM up to 2GB".

Is the wrong RAM the answer to my problems?

P.S. The RAM Is Kingston ValueRAM SN:KVR400X64C3A/256
The motherboard is a Socket 754 nVIDIA nFORCE3 250Gb
SN:SL-K8AN2-GR / K8AN2E-GR

 

what do you mean "does nothing"?

doesn't turn on, no fans, absolutly nothing? not even a LED lights up? no post test, no beeps, not a thing?

 

Trotsky, Along the lines you're thinking, Is the power supply switch in the correct position for your power? 120 for the US. Or the Ueropean setting?

 

I don't think the power supply is the problem, I've replaced it before and it still did not work.

When plugged in there is a red light on the motherboard that lights up, I do not know if this is a warning light of some kind (I know a series of beeps or flashing lights can sometimes diagnose a problem) or just a light telling me that it is recieving power (my last motherboard had a green led on it).

I checked my manuals and there is nothing telling me what the red light actually means. Do you think it could be the RAM? Keep in mind that this computer has never worked, so it could be a case of DOA.

 

If you're dedicated enough, you might start checking Traces. Could be one or two broken.

 

Parden my ignorance...

how might I check these so-called "traces"

 

try unplugging all your drives, any monitor/keyboard/mouse etc

see what happens then

take out all your cards, sound/video etc,

see what happens then

then, try taking out the ram

see what happens then


if you have a voltmeter handy, try checking to see if your power supply is putting out the correct voltages, they should be 3.3, 5, and 12.
this site has a little more info on powersupplies and voltages,
http://www.pctechbytes.com/powersupply.htm

 

Your ram is fine. DDR ram is also called DDR SDRAM because its based off SDRAM. About the light..well i think that is for the video card, where is the light positioned? below the agp slot? Sense the light turns on that shows you that your power is working i guess. When you turn on your computer watch the cpu fan..sometimes it will spin for a second and stop..I think thats caused by a faulty cpu. And please give us more detailed information.