Two problems. No signal detected + HDD issues.

[Jayce]

My buddy is building a computer, and ran into these two problems.

One: The monitor says no signal detected, however the graphics card is properly inserted and is hooked up properly. This graphics card is a 6600GT, and does not appear to have the 4 pin power connector to connect to the PSU, so I assume it does not need it.

Two: He's got two hard drives, both SATA interface by WD. When he starts up the computer, it automatically shuts down seconds later. If he unplugs the hard drive, it'll boot up (but again, the monitor doesn't work so he can't see sh*t). I was assuming that the BIOS disabled the SATA controller, could that be?

 

[Nitestick]

you say when he unplugs the hdd it turns on. is that if he unplugs the hdd's power or data cable? if it is the power cable then it would most likely be a power supply issue.

 

[Jayce]

you say when he unplugs the hdd it turns on. is that if he unplugs the hdd's power or data cable? if it is the power cable then it would most likely be a power supply issue.

It's the sata cable he unplugs. The power cable is left alone in both situations.

 

[TheScientist]

I got the HDD problem fixed so that's good. But I'm still having the monitor problem.

 

[jeremy]

set that aside, does the pc power up? if so my guess is that the psu dont have enough juice.. if you have a digital multimeter then check the psu with it and report results,see these guides
http://www.ochardware.com/articles/psuvolt/psuvolt.html
http://www.driverheaven.net/guides/testingPSU/

also it might help if youll post full system specs then it will really be easier to judge if the psu is the issue

and btw only agp version of 6600gt have a molex connector,pci-e version dont have it

 

[TheScientist]

Well, like I said HDD is fine now. You think the monitor problem could be a PSU problem as well?

Edit: Sorry forgot to say, yes it powers up but the monitor can't detect it. Also incase you couldn't figure it out I'm the person Jayce is talking about.

 

[Nitestick]

it could be a psu problem. probably more likely a dodgy video card though. try the monitor on another pc. if it works on that pc then try another graphics card on your pc

 

[jeremy]

TheScientist, yeah if the psu cant power up the graphic card then no signal is sent to the monitor ,
whats the full system specs? as i alredy said it will be easier to judge if the psu is the troublemaker if youll give em out , oh and do you happen to have a digital multimeter? ^^

 

[TheScientist]

2, 250 gig Western Digital SATA Hard drives.
4, 512 Corsair Ram.
AMD Athlon 64 3700 Processor
XFX Geforce 6600GT, 256mb
Lite-on Dvd Burner
Sony Dvd-rom
Aspire ATX 500w PSU
MSI K8N Neo4-F Mobo

And no I don't have a digital multimeter. Maybe I should go pick one up? Looks like I can get one at radioshack, right?

Edit: Also, to add. ONE of the optical drives won't power up. One of them lights up but neither of them open. So I think it is the PSU.

 

[jeremy]

thats a cheap 500w psu also with too low +5/+3.3 , yeah you can get one from radioshack if you wanna be 200% sure but from the 100% point of view it sure looks like the psu is the troublemaker , i suggest youll get an ocz powerstream/tagan psu their the best