[Unimad]

Hello guys,

After quite some time of research and... meditation, I decided to built my own HTPC !
Even though I'm in the IT business for many years as a Unix Engineer and have fiddled around with server, workstation, PC and other hardware, it is actually the very first time I'm building a PC from scratch.

To cut the long story short, I did yesterday! System specs are the following:

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Case: Streacom FC8 Evo
Motherboard: GIGABYTE-Z77N-WIFI
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770T
Memory: G.Skill 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3-1600 (F3-1600C9D-16GXM, RipjawsX) (CL9 9-9-24)
Disc: Corsair ForceGT 2,5" SSD 120 GB (SATA 600, CSSD-F120GBGT-BK)
Optical Drive: Teac BD-C26SS-A93 SATA (BD-C26SS-A93)
Power Supply: Streacom 150W nanoPSU
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After struggling for many hours basically trying to fit the PSU after I had already installed the cooler and the heatpipes, I managed to put everything together and get to the grand moment of pressing the power button, but...
Nothing happened! Actually, when I press the button, I see the blue light turning on and then going off after several seconds or so and then back on and off and repeat...
Of course no display on the monitor. Seems that the system is going to some kind of power loop (?!?). I disconnected all devices, i.e. disc, optical drive and tried again, but still the same thing. I also removed the memory, still the same thing.
Now, I'm stuck as I cannot identify the source of the problem and don't know where to start from: is it a faulty PSU, faulty motherboard or processor, memory incompatibility with motherboard, some other dark force preventing me to enjoy my creation ?

I would appreciate if you could shed some light to my darkness. I cannot describe my disappointment of looking at a "brick" of ~ EUR 900 and the failure of making it work.

Thanks a million !
Wish you a wonderful day.

[matto81]

First I would check that your mobo has supported/newest bios for cpu. Check gigabyte site for supported memory.

Also try building it over the mobo box, not in the case so you know its not any grounding issue.

[bluray]

Is there any beeb? It seem to be CPU related more than anything else. Is the CPU 4-pin connector properly connected?

[Unimad]

"Bluray" and "Matto81" thanks for your replies !

Yes, the CPU is supported by the mobo. The memory should be supported as well. They don't list the exact same model, but similar.
Also there is no beep. Don't think that the mobo has an integrated speaker, but I don't hear anything at this stage at least.

After emptying my mind by posting the above, I found the courage to do it all over again.
I disassembled everything and started from scratch: removed memory, CPU, mobo, used a brush to "clean" any dust and other particles
and put everything back together. This time it worked ! At least I got to the BIOS screen.
Didn't wanna run it more, as I run out of thermal paste (used it all on the heatsink and heatpipes on my first attempt) and the BIOS was showing that the CPU temperature was increasing, so I shut it down immediately.
Will wait until Monday to buy more thermal paste and finish the assemble.

Will keep you posted of the progress. Have a nice weekend!

[bluray]

After emptying my mind by posting the above, I found the courage to do it all over again.
I disassembled everything and started from scratch: removed memory, CPU, mobo, used a brush to "clean" any dust and other particles
and put everything back together. This time it worked ! At least I got to the BIOS screen.
Didn't wanna run it more, as I run out of thermal paste (used it all on the heatsink and heatpipes on my first attempt) and the BIOS was showing that the CPU temperature was increasing, so I shut it down immediately.
Will wait until Monday to buy more thermal paste and finish the assemble.

Will keep you posted of the progress. Have a nice weekend!

It is possible that something got shorted or didn't seat properly. After you properly re-installed it, it worked. If you didn't wipe off the paste when you un-installed it, you'll be fine. If you stay in the bios screen for a while, the temperature should go up. After you got into Windows, it should cool down...

[meph555]

I am looking to make a Haswell build using the FC8 Evo case.

It appears that the following motherboards are incompatible due to the CPU socket being in the top half of the board:

ASRock Z87E-ITX
ASUS Z87-ITX
EVGA Z87 Stinger

However I have found a board where the CPU is located in the bottom half of the board:

Gigabyte Z87N-WiFi

I would be very grateful if anyone could help me take a look at the layout of this board and confirm whether it would likely be compatible?