desperately seeking help

[pcbuyer]

I am putting together a system for the first time. Well it is the first time that I am going so far as to install the mobo, proc and everything .. completely from scratch. And well I am just completely lost.

The components I am installing are:
case: antec
mobo: p4t533-c
proc: p4 celeron 1.7mhz
memory: 256 (128 X 2) PC700 RDRAM

I followed my manuals to the letter, and have now double checked everything. I installed the mobo, checked all the jumpers, hooked up al the leads, hooked up the power supply, installed the memory, and installed the proc. I did not install the floppy, hard-drive, or cdrom/dvd drives yet.

After I had the above installed I hooked up my video card and just wanted to make sure I could boot into the bios. After turning on the computer, the psu and cpu fans started up but I got no signal to my monitor, and I got no bios messages from the post reporter.

I played around for a bit and couldn't get any better results. So I took out the cpu and memory and video card and powered on with basicly just the mobo installed. The ASUS post reporter told me that no cpu was installed, ok that is to be expected. So I put the cpu back in and powered up with just the mobo and cpu. I expected to get a post message that there was no memory installed. But I was back to where I started .. no signal to the monitor and no bios messages.

What am I doing wrong? Do I have a bad proc?

Please, please, please help me

[tb525]

memory: 256 (128 X 2) PC700 RDRAM

I assume this to be 2 128MB sticks, You may have a bad stick of ram. Try just installing 1 stick and see if it will boot. If it doesn't remove that stick and try the other one. Does it boot?

[pcbuyer]

Thanks for the response.

Actualy I ended up taking the system to a local shop to have them look at it .. cost me 35 bucks but oh well. Turns out even though it is supposed to work, it appears that my mobo will not work with pc700 memory. We put in pc800 memory and it worked fine. I hadn't thought to try that because 1) pc700 is supposed to work, and 2) I had tried booting without memory assuming I would get a memory post error .. apparently that is not the case .. live and learn I guess.