Thing 1/Thing 2 (Sugo Problem...O)

[RJMFRY]

Greetings,

 

I recently had the most wonderful opportunity of being requisitioned by my local religious establishment to build a computer for them to run ProPresenter on, and I was given a specific set of guidelines that the build must adhere to, so to speak. Keep the build under $500 (the build itself, sans the OS. If you include the price of the OS, then $600 each) and it must be a compact build. Oh, and they wanted two: one for hitting people over the head with, the other for propping a door open.

 

So, I ran with it and was able to make, at least in theory, a pretty kickin' build even within the $500. Here is a list of the components (I'll upload some pictures later).

 

Edit: I added a Part Picker link just in case you didn't want to read my shenanigans.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/rNcbYJ

 

Case: SilverStone Sugo 13B (Awesome case, even if it is a shoebox frame with a few buttons.)

Motherboard: ASUS H97 I - Plus Mini ITX MOBO. (Again, pretty rockin' choice considering the price point.)

CPU: Intel i3 4160 (They wanted to buy a premade with some janky PSU, RAM, SSD, and MOBO all in a case way too big for what they were doing. All so it could have money for the i5 4460, but the $/Performance wasn't up to snuff. Skimping on four components just to get Quad Core

with no Hyperthreading at a lower clock speed seemed unwarranted to me)

RAM: Kingston HyperX Fury 16GB 1600 MHZ dual channel kit.

SSD: Samsung 850 Evo 240GB (It's not a rendering PC. Just running a program called ProPresenter, which this is more than sufficient for.)

GPU: MSI NVIDIA GT 720 1gb (ProPresenter requires a dedicate GPU, so this was in budget. Not really proud of it.)

PSU: Corsair CX 430 Watt

 

I stuck a Corsair AF 140 in the front just to get some good flow since I couldn't put an after market cooler on the CPU, so it's a pretty cool in there, albeit a hard squeeze for the HDD/SSD mounting plate that sits on top of it. It's also one snug SOB, as my compatriot and I suffered the price for not installing the front panel connectors in until we had already wedge the PSU--all five pounds of it perched precariously above the CPU--but we managed okay. Like any build in something this small, the complete lack of cable management is obvious, so it looks like a snake den in there.

 

That was the fun part (my partner compared it to making a model car. If a model car was cooler, maybe) but the disappointment quickly arrived when we tried to turn both units on just to see if they would post and MAYBE reach the BIOS, but all we got was a blank screen and solemn demeanors. . Well, we spent about an hour scratching our heads as to the problem was but we had to call it a day.

 

This is some of the stuff we tested, albeit at the last second without any real progress: all tests were performed on Thing 1 and 2 unless noted.

 

1. We both checked all the major power connectors (24-pin and 8-pin). The fans were all running, the leads for all the front panel items were plugged in correctly, as were the 24 pin and 8 pin CPU.

2. We checked if we had the GPU plugged in all the way. It was.

3. I proposed we may have put the CPU in wrong, but the MOBO manual confirmed I had put it in right.

4. My partner suggested that we take the RAM out to see if it would beep. I met him halfway and took one DIM out of Thing 2. The MOBO lit up like Christmas, but still no BIOS. Took both out, same Christmas in July. Put them both back in, MOBO didn't light up. Thing 2 confounds me.

 

As much as I enjoy sharing a fun build with you all, I'm honestly here for some advice on where to go forward in terms of elminating problems. I have some theories to test with my partner tomorrow, but I'm honestly somewhat perturbed by the possbilities. I'm almost positive the RAM isn't the sole cause of this, as the MOBO is compatible with the 16gb 1600MHZ DDR3 kit I have in it. Same with the CPU. The interesting thing is that neither Thing 1 or 2 is booting, which means that the problem is something that both me and my partner repeated in the construction process, which means it is most assuredly human error, and less likely to be manufacturer error, which frighten me the most. I have read the possibility of clearing CMOS, but I'm leaving performing screwdriver surgery on the MOBO as the last decision. Even with all that though, I'm still most frightened that some of the components are defunct, which is just astronomical in terms of coincidence that two individual sets of parts are both burnt. I want to believe that this is solely human error, but please share any ideas some of you fine folk might have; I would be more than happy to hear how to fix the doorstop and the bludgeon.

 

Thanks for reading. (Pics will come tomorrow)

 

Sincerely,

 

~Richard

[PC-NOOB]

Why did you go with 16 gigs in the first place?

[RJMFRY]

ProPresenter requires 8GB. Unfortunately, they're mum as to why. I figured to just squeeze 16GB in there because I could while remaining under budget. That, and I had a coupon for a discounted HyperX kit, so I just figured I'd hit the ceiling with that first.

 

Edit: the value of the discounted 16GB (8x2) kits was the same as the 8GB (4x2). Needed to check my manifest to remember exactly how much I saved.