No real display [Defective V.Card?]

[Melotonen]

Hi guys,

I'm having trouble with my PC. I recently purchased a new MB and Processor. (Abit IS7-E2 with 2.4ghz Celeron D processor) along with an Antec 480w PSU. My old parts are a Radeon 9600 video card. And Corsair 512mb 3200 memory.

Now, upon boot-up, I hear all the fans spin, the HD makes it's hum, the lights on the MB light up as they should, and I hear a single beep. However, I can see nothing. Since most of the parts are new, I think I can rule them out, especially since the MB/CPU were run by the store for 2 hours when I first suspected they were part of another problem.

So that only leaves the Ram/Monitor/Videocard. If the ram is bad, I believe it would beep repeatedly. And I tried another monitor, which did not display anything either. So I suppose that leaves the card. I just got the idea that maybe the brightness/contrast was goofed up. But my monitor has a little on-screen display for those controls and that showed up fine, and adjusting them made no difference.

I have tried to reseat the videocard (along with everything else), but to no avail. So would it be reasonable to conclude I need a new videocard?

 

[shadow_29]

do you have onboard video??

 

[UnluckyNelson]

Hey...

Ok, hear me out, what I'm deducting from what you said in your thread is that you got the M/B and CPU tested and then returned home to install the hardware yourself....

Sometimes I have had the same problem with client's pc's but after removing the M/B from its mounting in the case and just running it on a insulated surface solves the problem... a short somewhere.

Anyway that's just some speculation, there is only one way to find out for certain if it's your display card, find another one and test your pc with it. (I presume you don't have onboard display...)

Good luck...

 

[Melotonen]

shadow ~ nope, no onboard video.

nelson ~ I actually RMA'd the MB/CPU because I had to replace them but it still gave no display. Just to make sure I sent them back to have them tested. They said it ran fine. I did try to run the MB on a piece of cardboard, it still did the same thing. Unfortunately I don't have another videocard that would work on that system. So I guess I'll buy one somewhere with a decent return policy, just in case I didn't need it. But would you agree that it's probably that instead of Ram?

 

[UnluckyNelson]

Yes, definately... but there are naturally exceptions!

RAM problems does wierd things from giving no display to an occasional blue screen in windows. If you have two ram modulles remove one, test it, swop them, test it.

Oh yeah and make sure you have the CMOS jumper on normal and not clear... Clear it while you at it...

Remove any switch cables... (power and reset cables) and try running the pc as bare as possible... using a screwdriver to short the power pins to turn it on.

Well that's all I can think of... mmm another thing P4 M/B's have an extra 4 pin square power connector, checked that? And maybe try your old PSU...

 

[shadow_29]

there is no certain way to tell where the problem might be,since you've got the mobo/processor checked twice by your vendor.that only leaves two things-ram and video card.like you said,if the issue was with the ram,your pc would have given multiple/continuous beeps and since corsair is a well respected ram manufacturer the chances of the fault lying with the ram are slimmed out even further,but its worth a shot.the other things i would have suspected would have been the psu but thas a antec 480 w,earthing-if any part of your mobo's bottom is touching the case and last the jumper/pin settings-sometimes a wrong atx pin assingment on the mobo causes problems like this so to be sure recheck your mobo manual.now after all above options are expired,the only thing remining would have been your video card,since it was working on your old system you know it works atleast,but if it has been lying outside collecting dust,there might be issues with the video card too.

also check your monitor and its cable.

 

[Melotonen]

nelson ~ Sadly I only have one module of ram. I double checked the Cmos jumper and also cleared it, but no change. And I have also removed all switches and started using a screwdriver. I did try my old PSU too, that's what I was using until today when the new PSU arrived. That wouldn't even allow the system to boot at all. So I think that's pretty well worn out.

shadow ~ I have taken the whole MB out and reseated it, but no luck. Plus, I have had this problem with the previous MB too, so I don't think it's a short. I checked all pins and plug's and everything is in order. So I guess it's as you say, the videocard. It hasn't been sitting out, but it wasn't working for sure when these problems started. The whole thing started when I was going to move my PC, I accidently choose reset instead of shutdown. So I pulled the plug when it was about to reboot. It would only give me a blank screen then and my MB rebooted itself every few seconds. So after a whole new MB/CPU/PSU, and most problems seeming fixed, the blank screen is still there. It's become quite frustrating.


Now I'm thinking, could it still be the videocard even though I have a display for my monitor's controls? When I unplug the monitor from the PC, the display disappears, so it's getting some kind of a signal. And the light does stop blinking and goes solid like it's getting some kind of a signal. But perhaps even if it's showing it's controls on screen and receiving some sort of signal, it could not be showing the system's output. Hm. I'm confused now