eBay NAS build nothing is working!

[PapaRaginPatriot]

Ordered a super cheap Dell Optiplex 790 motherboard on eBay for $12.99 USD to begin my very inexpensive NAS build.  I’ve built a Haswell i5 video editing rig a few years ago using a mobo from an HP pavilion and it worked almost flawlessly.

I cannot get this system to POST.  No video output direct from motherboard or from pcie DVI graphics card. When PSU is switched on, fans will pulse without shorting the power pins, and 2/3 boards will give a 4 short beep error code.  No matter what I do, I cannot figure out what the issue is.

 

I have tried 3 separate motherboards.  2 of which were identical from a Dell Optiplex 790. And one was an Acer motherboard.

All use the LGA1155 socket.

 

I have used 2 or 3 separate power supplies that I know work for sure and have worked with other systems just fine.  I ordered an i5 and then an i3 both LGA1155 to try to rule out the cpu causing the issue - same with both.  I ordered DDR3 that said “server ram” in the title and thought maybe this was the issue.. but then took 2 4GB sticks of DDR3 Out of my working Haswell build to try to rule out the ram.  Still nothing. Still just running the cpu fan as soon as it’s plugged in or pulsing the fans with no video output at all.  
 

I feel like it’s nearly impossible for three Motherboards, two CPUs, two PSUs, and two sets of ram to not have any combination that works or at least outputs to display. I feel like I must be missing something really stupid.

[MrBee420]

4 minutes ago, PapaRaginPatriot said:

Ordered a super cheap Dell Optiplex 790 motherboard on eBay for $12.99 USD to begin my very inexpensive NAS build.  I’ve built a Haswell i5 video editing rig a few years ago using a mobo from an HP pavilion and it worked almost flawlessly.

I cannot get this system to POST.  No video output direct from motherboard or from pcie DVI graphics card. When PSU is switched on, fans will pulse without shorting the power pins, and 2/3 boards will give a 4 short beep error code.  No matter what I do, I cannot figure out what the issue is.

 

I have tried 3 separate motherboards.  2 of which were identical from a Dell Optiplex 790. And one was an Acer motherboard.

All use the LGA1155 socket.

 

I have used 2 or 3 separate power supplies that I know work for sure and have worked with other systems just fine.  I ordered an i5 and then an i3 both LGA1155 to try to rule out the cpu causing the issue - same with both.  I ordered DDR3 that said “server ram” in the title and thought maybe this was the issue.. but then took 2 4GB sticks of DDR3 Out of my working Haswell build to try to rule out the ram.  Still nothing. Still just running the cpu fan as soon as it’s plugged in or pulsing the fans with no video output at all.  
 

I feel like it’s nearly impossible for three Motherboards, two CPUs, two PSUs, and two sets of ram to not have any combination that works or at least outputs to display. I feel like I must be missing something really stupid.

what is your graphics card??

[MrBee420]

2 minutes ago, MrBee420 said:

what is your graphics card??

and your monitor?

[8tg]

Are you running Ivy bridge chips on Sandy bridge locked bios boards? Not all 790’s can do Ivy bridge.

It won’t run ecc memory so remove that from the equation from the start.

Do proper hard bios resets, unplug the psu, remove the cmos battery, wait, replace the cmos battery, etc

 

Some 790 boards depending on the revision will have chassis intrusion sensors built into the board, it’s why some of those boards cost almost nothing, because they basically don’t work if they’re not in an optiplex chassis and all those sensors are grounded 

[Needfuldoer]

Which CPUs are you running? They have to be Sandy Bridge, the Q65 cipset doesn't support Ivy Bridge.

 

https://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-Intel_(chipsets)/Q65_Express.html

 

None of the CPUs that work in the Optiplex 790 support ECC RAM.

 

Are you using the front panel board from a 790, or working around the proprietary connector?

 

Why not just buy a whole machine?