computer troubleshooting help needed.

["Erik A. Lilleskov" <elillesk@xxxxxxx>]

Hello LUG,

We have just joined the LUG.

We are having some first-time home-assembled computer problems. If  
you are willing to try to help us troubleshoot, please read details  
below.

My son Eli (age 13, Houghton Middle School) decided to build his  
first computer. I'm little (no) help, never having done it myself.   
He did the research, got the compatible parts, and then started  
assembling. I started helping after the motherboard was mounted in  
the case, and CPU in the motherboard. We continued, followed all  
instructions and started it up. All we got was 2 seconds of fans (CPU  
fan, case and power supply fans; video card fan did not start,  
although it does move slightly-- don't know if this is normal), then  
an automatic power-down.  If we do this three times in a row it  
doesn't start up right away, but will after a minute or less.

Here are the Specs on the parts we used:

Motherboard-Model: nForce 650i Ultra (supports Intel Socket 775  
processors)
			 Manufacturer: BFG Tech/ NVIDEA

CPU-Model: E6600 Core 2 Duo
	  Manufacturer: Intel Corp.

CPU fan (bought separately)-Model: D60188-001 0.60 amps Core 2 Duo  
(and yes I checked that it supports my processor, right model, etc.)
						     Manufacturer: IntelRAM: Kingston ValueRAM memory - 1 GB -  
DIMM 240-pin - DDR2

PSU-Model: AP-450xf12v
	 Part #: ATXPow400hs
	 400w----------------12v
	 Manufacturer: StarTech.com

Case-Model: ATX8400PRO2
	   Manufacturer: StarTech.com
						

Video Card-Model: HD 2600 PRO
		      Manufacturer: ATI Radeon

Troubleshooting we have tried so far:

I disconnected all the peripherals (DVD drive, hard drive, front  
panel non-essentials) and tried again, same thing.

I tried re-seating everything a couple of times, same result.

I checked the thermal grease on CPU, distribution was good.

I tried starting by bypassing the front panel switch-- same start  
pattern.

We have an antistatic wristband. My son says that he didn't use it  
correctly at the beginning, so it is possible there was some static  
discharge. I used it when I worked on the machine.

We were very careful to only handle parts by the edges.

We checked the motherboard for shorting-- motherboard is mounted on  
raised dimples integral to the case, screws seem to be mounted OK.  
The case instructions mention spacers but there were none supplied--  
I think they are outdated instructions.

Given the above, it seems like it's narrowed down to bad RAM, CPU or  
motherboard, unless we missed something. But we are stuck because we  
don't have a way to diagnose these-- we don't have any parts to swap  
or machines to swap our parts into. Can you suggest another way we  
can diagnose these ourselves, or are there any resources on campus or  
in your group we could use to do this?


Thanks in advance on any help you can give us.

Erik Lilleskov.