New build....won't power up

[brianb22]

Built a new computer 2 days ago and went to power it up and....nothing.  Double checked all the connections to the mob and everything seemed to check out.  Tested the psu and it's working fine.  Did notice I forgot to connect the cpu power connector and thought it was my saving grace.  It wasn't.  When I hit the power button for a millisecond the led light flashes and that's it.  No whirring sounds, no fans or lights coming on.  Other than that split second of flash from the front panel power led absolutely nothing else happens.  This is only my second build but I feel fairly confident that I did everything correct.  I used most of the same parts I did with my first build and it went off without a hitch. 
Here's a list of the parts:

GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM

CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL

Western Digital WD Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

EVGA 512-P3-1311-KR GeForce 210 512MB 32-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

[Lisa_maree]

Hi

Can you check you used the m/b connector for cpu power not the PCIe power connector. Swapping these will cause a short on the power supply and show those symptoms.

[blackrainbow]

Are you sure you conencted the power switch connector in the right place on the mobo, refer to your mother bords manual for the correct place.

[brianb22]

Hi

Can you check you used the m/b connector for cpu power not the PCIe power connector. Swapping these will cause a short on the power supply and show those symptoms.

yep made sure it was the cpu connector.  double checked the actual cord from the psu and the connector on the mobo to make sure i was connecting it in the right place.  i didn't have it connected at all the first time so i don't think it would have shorted out anything

[brianb22]

Are you sure you conencted the power switch connector in the right place on the mobo, refer to your mother bords manual for the correct place.

i'm assuming you mean the one from the front panel?  yea i'm pretty sure i connected all those correctly.  used the manual from the mobo to do so.  my assumption is that if the power switch wasn't connected properly it wouldn't even make that split second flash but i can't say for sure. 

[brianb22]

I was on another site trying to find some info and came across a thread listing all these things to check before making posts like this so it doesn't waste people's time.  which is the exact opposite of what i'm trying to do.  i haven't been home yet but i can say for sure i pretty much have done everything it lists.  one thing was the spacers and to make sure they were in the right spot.  the mobo i bought for some reason didn't fit inside the case exactly as the instructions said to install it.  it was smaller.  they are both ATX not micro so it was a little weird  i left the extra 3 spacers on the case but they weren't touching the mobo at all.  the memory is set securely in the correct slots. video card is securely slotted. cpu and main power connectors are right.  cpu was inserted correctly.  the only thing that is probably not even worth mentioning is when i was installing the stock HSF.  the clip that is used to anchor it down wasn't working right and when i first tried to get it to lock in i had to press down on the fan, and subsequently the cpu, with some pressure to try and lock it.  by no means was i using much force and after i messed with the clip it became loose like it's supposed to be and clipped on.  i can't see i hurt the cpu by doing that.  i would take it off but the HSF has compound on it and i've never taken one off before so didn't know what to expect.  i don't have extra compound and didn't know if they just stuck together or whatever.  anyways i don't really know what else to say.  i guess i'm going to wake up later on today and check that list again and go through all the steps and remove the mobo and make sure nothing is fried.  the difference between my problem and what that check list was saying is that i'm not getting ANY power at all.  as i said besides that one flash of LED light its absolutely dead

[Calum]

Disconnect everything that isn't absolutely necessary to power on, one at a time - HDD, DVD drive, fans, graphics card, front USB, front audio, front panel switches (reset, power etc) and so on, as one of those could be causing a short.
If that doesn't work, remove the board from the case and test on a nonconductive surface such as a cardboard box (the motherboard box works well for this) with literally nothing but the motherboard, PSU, CPU, and heatsink connected.
If you still have the same issue, try another power supply as you're down to either the PSU or the board.

[brianb22]

Disconnect everything that isn't absolutely necessary to power on, one at a time - HDD, DVD drive, fans, graphics card, front USB, front audio, front panel switches (reset, power etc) and so on, as one of those could be causing a short.
If that doesn't work, remove the board from the case and test on a nonconductive surface such as a cardboard box (the motherboard box works well for this) with literally nothing but the motherboard, PSU, CPU, and heatsink connected.
If you still have the same issue, try another power supply as you're down to either the PSU or the board.

So disconnect HDD, try to power on.  Try the DVD and power on, etc.  I'm obviously a novice when it comes to this stuff so "stupid" questions come with the territory.  Any one of those things could cause a short in which NOTHING happens?  I've read stuff tonight where some things will work but it won't boot fully or whatever.  I can't say I've come across one post where nothing happened at all.
PSU is testing perfectly so I'm pretty much ruling that out.

[Calum]

So disconnect HDD, try to power on.  Try the DVD and power on, etc.  I'm obviously a novice when it comes to this stuff so "stupid" questions come with the territory.  Any one of those things could cause a short in which NOTHING happens?  I've read stuff tonight where some things will work but it won't boot fully or whatever.  I can't say I've come across one post where nothing happened at all.
PSU is testing perfectly so I'm pretty much ruling that out.

Yes, any one of those could cause this fault, seen it many times.
When you say the PSU is testing perfectly, how have you tested it?

[brianb22]

By testing on the mobo box with just those components what should I expect to happen?  Basically the heatsink fan and the PSU fan start turning and that's it?  If that's the case then that means all 3 of those things are working fine?

[brianb22]

Yes, any one of those could cause this fault, seen it many times.
When you say the PSU is testing perfectly, how have you tested it?

I myself have a PSU tester in which I connected the 24-pin to it and it's reading fine.  I also took it to a friend who works in computers and he said the same.  Yea in a perfect world he'd be helping me instead of having to be on here.  But it helps to learn if I do it myself

[Calum]

By testing on the mobo box with just those components what should I expect to happen?  Basically the heatsink fan and the PSU fan start turning and that's it?  If that's the case then that means all 3 of those things are working fine?

If you test with just those three items and the machine powers on, then you know one of the items you've removed is causing the problem.  Add them back one at a time until you locate the problematic component (this includes adding it back into the case as it's possible, though unlikely, there's something shorting it there).

[Calum]

I myself have a PSU tester in which I connected the 24-pin to it and it's reading fine.  I also took it to a friend who works in computers and he said the same.  Yea in a perfect world he'd be helping me instead of having to be on here.  But it helps to learn if I do it myself

OK, that's a good start.  However, those PSU testers aren't always accurate, not saying yours isn't, but it's not always a 100% sure sign that the PSU is OK.  I agree it certainly helps to learn these thins yourself, a "no power" issue is a good thing to start on actually as it's usually fairly simple to resolve although possibly time consuming.

[brianb22]

If you test with just those three items and the machine powers on, then you know one of the items you've removed is causing the problem.  Add them back one at a time until you locate the problematic component (this includes adding it back into the case as it's possible, though unlikely, there's something shorting it there).

So let's say they power on.  Should I put the mobo back and PSU back in first.  Then try power on again to make sure it's not something with the case?  Then from there go on to each individual component?

[Calum]

So let's say they power on.  Should I put the mobo back and PSU back in first.  Then try power on again to make sure it's not something with the case?  Then from there go on to each individual component?

You can go that route first, or test each component outside the case before putting it back in.  If everything else is already installed into the case, you'll probably find it easier to do the former rather than the latter, but either way is perfectly fine.

[brianb22]

You can go that route first, or test each component outside the case before putting it back in.  If everything else is already installed into the case, you'll probably find it easier to do the former rather than the latter, but either way is perfectly fine.

Yea right now the only thing that's not in the case is the PSU.  I took it out yesterday to take over to my friend's house.  Got home late so didn't have time to put it back in. 

[brianb22]

You can go that route first, or test each component outside the case before putting it back in.  If everything else is already installed into the case, you'll probably find it easier to do the former rather than the latter, but either way is perfectly fine.

Yea the only thing that's out of the case right now is the PSU.  I took it to my friends' house last night to test it and didn't have time to put it back in yet.