Trying this again - what is my next step?

[LoraJ]

I tried building about a month ago but got frustrated when I pushed the power button and nothing happened. Due to the holidays and busy work schedule, I didn't have time to work on it.

Today I am back and I have made some progress. I took out the motherboard and have it hooked up to the power. The CPU fan is running as is the fan on the video card. However, I am not seeing any video on my monitor. My monitor may be getting a signal because the screen is black and there is no "no signal" warning which happens when I unplug the video card.

I'm starting to think the main problem I had was the case. It was a generic case I bought at a show. Thinking about buying a more reliable brand now. But before I do that, I need tips on how to see video. Any advice? My video care is an ATI Radeon 9800x (I believe). It is AGP. My motherboard has a PCI-E slot and AGP.

[Dark Nova]

first its not the case, if your mobo fits in it then your fine
ok list full system specs.

also have you tried this: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=12753

[LoraJ]

mobo is ASUS P5VD1-X
CPU - Intel Pentium® 4 550 Processor Prescott 3.4GHz, 800MHz FSB, Socket 775, 1MB Cache
RAM - Kingston KVR400X64C3AK2/2G 2GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 Memory (2 os these, 4gb total)
Video Card - ATI Radeon 9800XT
Western Digital WD Caviar RE2 WD4000YR 400GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer

I took out all of the RAM and I sm still not getting any beeps. Took out video card and put it in again and still no video. I looked through that link but it's hard to find answers to my specific problem in it.

[blue60007]

In that link there are instructions on taking the motherboard out of the case and doing an out-of-case build. Have you done an out of case build with only the main components? You are trying to see if the motherboard is shorting with the case.

[LoraJ]

Originally Posted by blue60007 In that link there are instructions on taking the motherboard out of the case and doing an out-of-case build. Have you done an out of case build with only the main components? You are trying to see if the motherboard is shorting with the case.

No I'm not, in my first post I said I took out the motherboard. All that I have hooked up right now is the CPU, heatsink fan, power supply, video card and 1 RAM module. I also have the cpu speaker plugged in.

[blue60007]

Originally Posted by LoraJ No I'm not, in my first post I said I took out the motherboard. All that I have hooked up right now is the CPU, heatsink fan, power supply, video card and 1 RAM module. I also have the cpu speaker plugged in.

Oh my bad. Let's see...do you have any other RAM that would work in there you could swap? What about another AGP or PCI-E video card? Do you have the square 4 pin power connector plugged in? (It's around the CPU somewhere)

What wattage and brand power supply is this?

[LoraJ]

Originally Posted by blue60007 Oh my bad. Let's see...do you have any other RAM that would work in there you could swap? What about another AGP or PCI-E video card? Do you have the square 4 pin power connector plugged in? (It's around the CPU somewhere) What wattage and brand power supply is this?

Unfortunately, I don't have another video card since this one is from my old computer. Trying to see if I can borrow one from someone at work. I had heard that there were problems with some ATI cards and Asus. I wonder if that is the problem?

Yup, the 4pin power connector is in. It's an Antec 500watt.

[blue60007]

I haven't heard anything about ASUS being picky about ATi, however the VIA chipset would be the picky thing if anything. So no beeps at all? And the speaker is plugged in properly?

[LoraJ]

Originally Posted by blue60007 I haven't heard anything about ASUS being picky about ATi, however the VIA chipset would be the picky thing if anything. So no beeps at all? And the speaker is plugged in properly?

Yup, no beeps at all. I tried the speaker both ways just to be sure. no beep either way.

[flanzig1]

Do you have the extra power connector plugged into the video card?

[blue60007]

Seems like you should at least get some beeps...almost sounds like a bad board...but let's get some more opinions...it could be something obvious.

[LoraJ]

Thanks for your help guys!
I gave up though. Couldn't take it anymore and went out and bought a Gateway. Gonna sell the stuff for my build to co-workers.

I was going to put in my RAM and 2 additional hard drives in this new Gateway when I noticed the lack of power. The MoBo has a 24 pin slot (plus the 4) and they only have a 20 pin in it. Although it says I have all of these extra bays, I only have one power for one extra drive and no SATA power even though I see 2 SATA slots on the MoBo. I'm thinking about pulling this power supply out and putting in my Antec. Hmmmmmm.

[blue60007]

Oh, well, at least you got a working computer now.

What Gateway did you get? Gotta be careful, some have proprietary power supplies, standard ones may not work (and could damage things). If it's proprietary, the main power connector has the wiring switched around, so you'd have voltages going into the wrong places.

[LoraJ]

I got the Gateway GT5032.
The power supply looks pretty standard, it's 300watt ATX.

Here's the MoBo - http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERB...105552nv.shtml

It works great, but I'm not liking the video card at all. I was playing EQ2 and was getting a lot of stuttering and it would go to black for a second every now and then.