Just built my first PC and no image comes up on monitor.

[PoWdA]

Hey everyeone,

I just built my first PC (with the help of a few friends that have all built PC's before) and when I fire it up, all of the lights come on, the fans spin, but there is no image on the monitor (we have tried 3 known good monitors). Here are the specs: Intel Core 2 Quad, ASUS P5Q Pro MOtherboard, e-GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card, Seagate 500GB HD, 550 W power supply (came with the case), Samsung 22x DVD Burner, ATX case (pretty standard). All connections have been triple checked and are correct.

Here are a few concerns I have and the troubleshooting I am going to take on today to resolve these concerns.

1) The case only came with 6 spacers for the mobo so there are only 6 spacers in there right now but there are 9 screw holes. Can this be causing a certain area of the board to not be grounded causing this issue? Also could this have caused permanent damage to the mobo? I am headed to a computer store after this post to get a few spacers to correct this problem, I thought I would point this out at this time though.

2)I am thinking (hoping) the video card is DOA. I am going to grab a cheap video card during my computer store run in a few minutes here to rule out the video card. Unfortunately I do not have a PC with PCI-E ports to try the card in so I have to try a different card in my board.

So my main question. If I complete those two steps can we say the mobo was DOA? Thank you all in advance!

 

[akira282]

Hey everyeone,

I just built my first PC (with the help of a few friends that have all built PC's before) and when I fire it up, all of the lights come on, the fans spin, but there is no image on the monitor (we have tried 3 known good monitors). Here are the specs: Intel Core 2 Quad, ASUS P5Q Pro MOtherboard, e-GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card, Seagate 500GB HD, 550 W power supply (came with the case), Samsung 22x DVD Burner, ATX case (pretty standard). All connections have been triple checked and are correct.

Here are a few concerns I have and the troubleshooting I am going to take on today to resolve these concerns.

1) The case only came with 6 spacers for the mobo so there are only 6 spacers in there right now but there are 9 screw holes. Can this be causing a certain area of the board to not be grounded causing this issue? Also could this have caused permanent damage to the mobo? I am headed to a computer store after this post to get a few spacers to correct this problem, I thought I would point this out at this time though.

2)I am thinking (hoping) the video card is DOA. I am going to grab a cheap video card during my computer store run in a few minutes here to rule out the video card. Unfortunately I do not have a PC with PCI-E ports to try the card in so I have to try a different card in my board.

So my main question. If I complete those two steps can we say the mobo was DOA? Thank you all in advance!

You need to use all the spacers if there are some missing because you are shorting the board.

You need to use all the spacers if there are some missing because you are shorting the board.

Also, check to see if there is a light on the board, if that's the case, I'd look at the video card.

 

[Prodigy146]

you arent shorting the board just because you dont have all 9 spacers. i've gone through that problem before and when you short a board it doesnt start up, the fans will spin alittle but it wont start. there was a screw behind my motherboard which was causing my board to short..


You need to try a different video card and based on whether or not that works. you either send the card back or mobo back

 

[PoWdA]

There is a light on the board. The store I went to insisted that he did not have any spare spacers or any for sale. I bought a new video card. I will try that now and if it works I will ship the other back. If it does not I will be on the phone with newegg about a DOA mobo.

I just tried the new video card. It is a radeon 4670. No dice. Mother board?

Like I said.. there is a green light on the mother board but it is missing a few spacers. There was discussion of shorting. Is this a possible cause or should I get on the phone with ASUS?

 

[rohan23]

Hey everyeone,

I just built my first PC (with the help of a few friends that have all built PC's before) and when I fire it up, all of the lights come on, the fans spin, but there is no image on the monitor (we have tried 3 known good monitors). Here are the specs: Intel Core 2 Quad, ASUS P5Q Pro MOtherboard, e-GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card, Seagate 500GB HD, 550 W power supply (came with the case), Samsung 22x DVD Burner, ATX case (pretty standard). All connections have been triple checked and are correct.

I noticed you didn't list any RAM. Not to insult your intelligence, but do you even have any on the motherboard? If it's single channel, make sure it's in two slots close to each other. I had this problem because I put single channel RAM in a dual channel configuration.

 

[PoWdA]

I noticed you didn't list any RAM. Not to insult your intelligence, but do you even have any on the motherboard? If it's single channel, make sure it's in two slots close to each other. I had this problem because I put single channel RAM in a dual channel configuration.

2 2GB sticks. I have them in the correct slots.


I am sending the motherboard back to newegg. I spoke with ASUS on the phone after trying a second video card and the tech said it sounds like a bad motherboard.

 

[PoWdA]

Hey all an update and more help if anyone has advice!

I ended up replacing the motherboard. After speaking with ASUS tech support they said that not having a spacer in all of the screw holes should not cause problems. I also tried a different video card and no image. ASUS agreed that the board sounded bad and I did an RMA through newegg and just received my new board today.

I installed everything and again I am getting the same thing. No image. Tried both PCI-e slots and nothing. I have not tried a different video card yet but I am thinking the problem lies elsewhere. Any ideas?

My thoughts are that it might be the power supply. My case came with an Okia 550W power supply but in all honesty it seems pretty flimsy. The strange part is that all the fans and light come on but no video posts. Is it possible that a pin/cable/internal connection on the power supply can be causing the PCI-e bus to not get power?

So here are my ideas for troubleshooting before I send a second board back and call it DOA...

-- I want to try a different power supply. Does anyone else think this could be the problem?

-- I am using a VGA to DVI converter (I have 3 of them, I have tried them all on 3 different monitors). Would it really be that worth it to buy a DVI cable? Can this be an issue?

-- I am thinking of trying yet another video card. I highly doubt this is the issue as I tried a different card before.

-- The standoffs between the case and the motherboard... should I try getting more? The issue here is that my local shop claims they have none. great.

So these are my ideas. Does anyone think certain ideas are better than others? Any other ideas? Again I have checked every cable over and over. I get zero video. NO text, nothing. So...


help?

 

[Hid_Enigma]

I know you said earlier all the wires are hooked up but there has always been one thing that i always forgot to connect. Is your 4 pin connector connected to the mobo?

 

[PoWdA]

I know you said earlier all the wires are hooked up but there has always been one thing that i always forgot to connect. Is your 4 pin connector connected to the mobo?

Yep... The one that connects with the main connector? Yes.

 

[Atomic Rooster]

I think he's talking about the 4 pin AUX connector. It's a separate connector away from the main 20/24 pin connector that plugs into a small 4 pin port near the CPU.