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There is a certain satisfaction that

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comes with building your own PC

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from the ground up, some builds

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are easier than others. But whether your

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build was a difficult one or an easy

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one, nothing quite compares to powering

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on your newly built PC for the first

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time and seeing it spring to life.

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However, it is not always that easy.

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A newly assembled PC that refuses

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to boot is a test of knowledge

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and patience as well as your ability

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to troubleshoot. Sometimes

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it is a faulty component that stands

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between you and the bliss of a first

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boot. However, more often it is in error

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within the build process.

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There's usually no need to sweat

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it when your PC doesn't boot,

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it is common even with years

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of experience building PCs to encounter

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boot issues. In this video,

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we'll explore the top five most common

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reasons why a newly built PC will not

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boot and the steps which can be taken

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to put it back into working order.

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Number one, miss placed front panel

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connectors. The first place to start

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will be with the front panel connectors.

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These wires extend from the cases front

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panel and connect to the power button,

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the reset button, case speaker and drive

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activity LED's to a dedicated header

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on the motherboard. It is easy to plug

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these connectors into the wrong pins.

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If you plug the power LED wires

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into where the power switch wires should

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go, for example. Nothing will happen

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when you press your casees power button.

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Fortunately, plugging them

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into the wrong spots won't harm your PC.

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Less critical for the power and reset

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switches, is proper alignment

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of the positive and ground or negative

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wires. You should still aim to get these

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right, though, as reversing the LED

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leads will result in the light not

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working, which can hinder your ability

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to troubleshoot. On most plugs there

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is a tiny arrow to indicate the positive

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wire. The second reason why your PC may

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fail to boot is incorrectly seated RAM.

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PC systems can be finicky when it comes

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to RAM. You need to make sure that

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the RAM is fully seated, as this is one

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of the most common reasons why a PC

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would fail to boot. When installing

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the RAM, take care to line up the notch

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on the RAM to the notch on the dimm

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slots to make sure that you are not

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jamming the module in backwards.

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If it is lined up correctly, press down

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firmly so that the tops on both sides

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click into place. Wven if your ram

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appears to be installed correctly,

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if your system isn't booting, try taking

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the modules out and then reseating them.

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The third reason why your PC may fail

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to boot is missing power supply cables.

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Your motherboard requires power

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and so does your processor and graphics

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card. Depending on your specific parts,

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you could be looking at three or more

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power cables extending from your power

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supply that need to be plugged in.

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And if one of these is missing,

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your system will fail to boot.

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It is especially easy to overlook

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a power cable on a fully modular PSU.

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If your PC isn't booting double check

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that your main 24 pin ATX cable

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is plugged firmly into your motherboard.

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Separate from the motherboard,

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most mid-range and high end graphics

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cards require at least one power cable,

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which will be either a six or an eight

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pin. And finally, make sure that all

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of the cables are firmly plugged

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in to where they belong, both

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on the component side and on the PSU

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side, when using a modular PSU.

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The fourth reason why your PC may fail

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to boot is missing motherboard

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standoffs. Many modern cases come with

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standoffs preinstalled

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on the motherboard tray, while others

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come in a bag and leave it up

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to the user to decide

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where they are going to go.

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These standoffs elevate the motherboard,

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ensuring that it doesn't make contact

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with the metal tray. Otherwise you can

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run into two problems. One is that

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the motherboard will not align correctly

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with the cases front IO panel and more

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critically, the second is that your

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motherboard could short out.

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Different sized motherboards, use

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a different number of standoffs

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for a standard ATX motherboard.

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There are nine holes to align, each with

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corresponding standoffs. The fifth most

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common reason why your PC may fail

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to boot is an overheating CPU.

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It is pretty rare to end up with

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a defective CPU straight

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from the packaging, but that doesn't

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mean that it should be overlooked

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entirely if your system is failing

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to boot. But it could be that your CPU

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is overheating. One of the telltale

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signs is if your PC power's on and then

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shuts down abruptly, it's possible that

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you C.P.U cooler is not making

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sufficient contact with the processor

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and that your PC is turning off

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to prevent any damage. The first thing

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to look for would be the fan header.

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Make sure that your coolers fan

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is plugged in to the CPU fan header

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on your motherboard. This will be

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located somewhere close to the CPU

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socket and it will be clearly labeled.

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If that checks out as well as everything

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else up until this point. Remove

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and reinstall your CPU cooler.

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For a brand new build, you shouldn't

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need to remove and reapply the thermal

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paste, not unless you use too much

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or too little at the outset. And then

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hopefully by reseating the cooler,

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it will make proper contact with

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the CPU, finally allowing your PC

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to boot.