I just finished building my first computer. everything seemed fine and i am 99% posative that all the parts were compatible and such. when i tried booting the computer it stayed on for about 20 seconds and then shut off. wheneveri try to turn it on so i can format my HD and such it turns off and i have no clue how to keep the thing on. i tried switching the switch on the back to use the higher voltage but that just made the parts not work and hopefully that didn't damage anything. if u have the slightest clue what i can do to fix my problem pleeeeeease help me.

What are the parts? Mobo? CPU? RAM? Graphics Card?

Does the BIOS POST run?

Any errors or beeps?

939 pin 4 gig max ram supports 400ddr ram unbuffered, atx
amd 64 3500+ 939 pin
3x 512 ddr400 ram unbuffered
g-force 6600 256mb video card- pci express
i have tried booting it with bios on and off
i cant find a place to put my internal speaker... so no beeps, no errors on screen, only problem other than the shutting off is that it doesn't automatically recognize the ram

what is the make & model of the mobo?

sorry if it's there I cant pick it out...

have you tried with just a single stick of RAM

Elitegroup nforce4-a939 an i haven't tried with 1 stick of ram, i'll go do that now

so i tried it with 1 stick of ram. this time, i got some beeps- rather short and it did it multiple times. with the 1 stick in, no image showed up on my monitor and it stayed blank. then the comp turned off again

ok... i am looking here

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWeb/SiteMap...nuID=0&LanID=0

when i put other 2 sticks in monitor goes on and beeping goes off, comp still turns off though

in the building pcs for dummies book it says those beeps mean there is a memory problem... but that may just be because there wasnt enuf ram with 1 stick 4 it 2 work

One stick should be fine just to load the BIOS. In an earlier post you said: "that it doesn't automatically recognize the ram"

Are you sure the RAM is compatible? I will check your manual when I get a chance & hopefully someone else will look in on this.

Just btw: you did install the BIOS & mobo drivers: yes?