No signal for Radeon 9800XT

[Pheny]

My specs:
ABIT KU8 mobo
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ w/ CoolerMaster HS/F
2 Gb Corsair XMS, PC3200
80 Gb Western Dig. HD (master) + 40 Gb Western Dig. HD (slave)
ATI Radeon 9800XT
XP Pro
420 watt power supply

It started a couple weeks ago with random blue screens saying "MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION", and they would come frequently. After my computer was off and I would try to boot it, it would say something about having to connect the power cable for the 9800XT. Of course it already WAS connected but whenever I reconnected it, the computer would boot fine. I tried removing the 40 Gb which I had recently installed because maybe it was sucking too much power, but it still would bsod on me. Then for a while it stopped. Now today, I have had 3 bsods, and the third one was fatal. First time it happened I rebooted normally, but when Windows came up, it would randomly freeze for a bit, and then unfreeze for a bit, freeze for a bit, then unfreeze, and then freeze, and blue screen. I found out that whenever it froze for that short amount of time any sound I had playing would be repeated (like someone stuttering really really fast and then continuing). After 1 more restart, it did it again. And when I tried to boot, it said on my monitor, "Please check signal cable". Meaning it wasn't getting anything from my video card. I have tried several replacements-
Took out the 40 Gb again.
Replaced the RAM with my old 512 mb Corsair.
Replaced the Power Supply with a 350 watt.
Now I can't replace the 9800XT because I don't have a spare, and the KU8 doesn't have a built in video connector. Is the video card the problem? Because I've had it pretty much since it was released (Paid $479 for it!), and haven't had any problems.

Please try to help me!

 

[Speed01]

Hi

From my experience it sounds very likely to be the video card. However the only true way to know is to borrow another card, it doesn't have to be the same brand, and install it in your system. If it works, you instantly know that it is your video card. If it doesn't, you know that it is probably motherboard related. If you cannot borrow another v/c can you try your v/c in a mates computer?

Also, when trying to boot up with no VGA output, do you get any beep codes from the motherboard speaker?

 

[Pheny]

I tried another video card, a GeForce MX440 (I think that's what it was), it was AGP. Still got no signal. Is it possible the motherboard or the AGP slot have gone bad? Also, I don't remember any beeping but then again I have bad hearing, so I'll try it again and see if I get any beeps.

 

[Speed01]

If the AGP card you just tried is definitely working when in another machine then it is most probably the motherboard.

The only way to rule out everything else is to disconnect the hard drives, Rom Drives, onboard USB (that runs by cable from the motherboard to the front or back of the case, and any PCI add on cards. You should only be running the motherboard, CPU, RAM, Video card and Power Supply.
* Sometimes PCI cards can stop the system from providing video output.

If you still get no graphics out, and you have the resorces, you can then try another RAM module, and another CPU. That is the most failsafe way to ensure it is the motherboard.

If you do not have another CPU or Ram module to try, it is time to either a.) buy another motherboard with fingers crossed or b.) take it in to a computer repair shop and get them to confirm whether it is the mobo, CPU or Ram.

All the best!!!