My first build and no picture

[Phoenix7879]

Well, I built my first computer and I'm having a problem that many people seem to have, no picture on my monitor. To start off, here are my specs:

Case- RaidMax Smilodon ATX-612WBP
Power Supply- 500 Watt, built in with case
Motherboard- A8N32-SLI Deluxe
Processor- AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2.2 GHz Dual Core
Processor Fan- Blue Orb II, Fan+Heatsink
Memory- Corsair 2X512MB DDR 400 PC 3200 CMX512-3200C2
Video Card- PNY NVidia 7900 GS 256MB PCIE
Hard Drive- Seagate Barracuda SATA 7200 80GB
DVD Drive- LiteOn EIDE 16X DVD Burner
Monitor- Acer AL1917W, 19" Widescreen LCD

Ok, here's what I did.

After installing everything into the case, I hooked up my monitor via DVI (Video Card has only 2 DVI and 1 S-Video, no VGA), hooked up keyboard and mouse via PS/2 ports, then plugged in the power cords for the monitor and the case, and flippped the power switch on the back of the case. At this point the status light on the motherboard came on. Then, I turned on my monitor and hit the power button on the front of the case.

The case came to life, but my monitor said "No Signal" and there was no beeps. All case fans, PSU fan, CPU fan, and video card fan were running. All LEDs in the case were on, LED on the CPU fan was on, and motherboard status light was still on. I could hear the hard drive making noise and I tested the DVD drive, it opened and closed with no problems. I pushed the numlock key and the numlock light came on, then I turned it off. I pushed numlock again but this time the light did not come on, I tried the CAPS too, but the CAPS light did not come on either. I tried turning the monitor off and on several times but still nothing. Then, I tried switching to the other DVI port and still no picture. Then I turned off the system and double checked my work.

The 24 pin power pin connector to the motherboard was plugged in properly, as well as the other 4 pin connector for the motherboard. The 6 pin power connector for the video card was plugged in properly. SATA cord for hard drive and EIDE cord for DVD drive were plugged in properly. The seating of the video card was good and the memory sticks were plugged into the A1 and B1 slots ,as the manual for the motherboard said, and they were seated properly as well. I re-did the seating for the processor and made sure that the thermal grease was ok and that I applied it the right way. The papers with the Blue Orb II said to apply a thin, even layer over the top of the processor where the fan and processor meet. I put the small washers that came with the case for the motherboard screws on just in case the board was grounding out.

I then put everything back into the case, double checking all connections as I went, and checking the manuals for all of the parts to make sure everything was correct. At this point everything seemed to be hooked up correctly. I hooked up my monitor and keyboard again exactly as I did the first time, turned on the computer and monitor and still no signal and no beeps, everything was exactly the same wasy as the first time I turned on the computer.

After this I got on the internet and found this site (glad I did too). After reading several threads I had some ideas to try. First, I removed both memory sticks and turned on the computer. This time I heard one long continous beep, the error for no memory, so this rules out the memory being bad since there is no beep with memory plugged in. Then I took out the motherboard and placed in on the cardboard box. Plugged in the 24 pin, and 4 pin power connectors to the board, and the 6 pin to the video card. I left the CPU fan hooked up and plugged in to the board. I unplugged everything else and left the memory sticks plugged in. Then I hooked up the monitor, plugged in the power cords to monitor and PSU. Turned on computer and monitor and still no signal and no beeps. Then I turned off the system and tried taking out the CMOS battery and moved the CMOS jumper to the clear position for about 10 seconds, put the jumper back to the default position and left the battery out three minutes. I reinstalled the battery and turned the computer back on. No signal, no beeps.

I tried turning on the computer without the processor installed and the same thing happened (I knew it would, but just in case).

I then reassembled the entire system correctly and also hooked up the EIDE hard drive with XP Pro. out of an older desktop to mine, set it as master, and tried one more time but same results. That brings me to where I am now. I think I have ruled it down to either a bad processor or bad motherboard, but the status LED on the motherboard comes on so I'm leaning more toward a bad processor.

I also had another thought, how can the video card display a picture without the drivers being installed on the hard drive? I have a friend who may be able to help me out with this part. Hopefully I will be able to use his computer to plug in my video card and install the correct drivers onto his hard drive, then put his hard drive and my video card into my computer and see what happens. If nothing works then, I will probably send back the processor or the motherboard or perhaps both.

Help me out guys. What do some of you think? Sorry the post is so long. I wanted to put in as much detail as possible. This is my first post here as well. I'm glad I found this site, it's awesome!

Thanks.

[Cricket]

If you're using a RaidMax power supply you should replace it with something better from this list. RaidMax power supplies are rubbish.

Cricket

[Planefreak]

Hi, nice to have you here. The first thing that you should do is test the DVI cable. It is the cheapest and easiest to replace. If you have another try it. If you get the same result then hook up the monitor to another computer to see if the same thing happens. If the monitor works then try your tv output on your video card. I made my own s video to RCA cable because I had the stuff lying around and Radioshack wants $20 for something I made for nothing. Next, check to see that the SLI jumper inside the case is set correctly. And lastly, if you have another 4 pin cpu power connector try it or buy a voltage tester from radioshack. I hate to RMA anything, it sucks having a new computer that you can't use. I don't know if that could stop you from seeing the picture but it just might. As far as the driver, I think that most computers will open to bios even without a hard drive so I don't think they need to be there. Beyond that I don't know if a bad processor could be the issue or not.

Does your case have a HDD indicator light?
After the bios beeps, does it flash?

[doubledragon5]

Replace the psu with something more reliable.... did you try the out of the build trick as well.. Although everything seems to work other than the monitor... You also need a minimum 450W good quality psu to run that card.. I would increase it to at least a 550 or 600...

Here is a guide of psu that are good and ones to stay away from.

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

[Phoenix7879]

I tested the DVI cable. Hooked the monitor up to my laptop with it and it works fine. I will try the s-video port. First I'll have to see if any of the tvs in the house have s-video. How did you make an s-video to rca? I could try that if ther's no s-video tvs. Where exactly is the SLI jumper, and how should it be set?

I do plan on replacing the PSU at some point in the near future, but not right now. My budget is a bit exhausted. I hope that's not the problem.

I don't have a HDD light, and after the beep there was no flash on the screen.

[glc]

Video cards do not need drivers until you get into Windows - even then it will run in VGA mode with no driver.

[Phoenix7879]

Ok, I tried my TV-Out port on the video card and still nothing. What should I try next?