PC People Help Please PT2

[Andy.]

Rather than hijack somebody elses thread even more..

I have hit a brick wall with my build and google is not coming up with answers...

I have finished connecting everything up but get no video output from the card... the monitor recognises that it is connected to something (when the DVI-VGA connector is on already) but I cannot even view the POST screen.

The board lights up (the asus sign at the bottom goes from blue to red when you press the power switch), the fans spin (CPU, case and Graphics card) but there is no other sign of life.

I put the Vista DVD into the drive and it could no longer turn the power off with a quick press of the power button so I presume that it was doing something.

Hardware is:
Arctic Freezer 7 PRO
Seagate 320 GB SATA
Antec Performance One P182
Intel E6600
Foxcon 320 8800GTS-OC
Geil DDR2 2GB 800 CL4
Asus P5B Deluxe
Enermax Liberty 500W ATX2

I have tried the following:

1) Taken the RAM out and tried with one module, then the other one.
2) Reset the Bios
3) Removed connection to Harddisk and DVD writer

Any other suggestions would be welcomed because this is really starting to get on my nerves!

Thanks, Andy

 

[ViolentJ]

Take graphics card out and re-seat would be the first thing I would try.

Got any spare graphics cards you could try?

 

[Andy.]

I have taken it out stuck it back in again and have the same results.

After more googling there are loads of people with POST problems on the p5b's. None of the posts have a definitive answer on how to fix it. Unless you have access to a barrel of spare parts, it is not so easy to work out what has gone wrong.

Going to plug in the second CPU power cable to take it up to 8 pin and see if that helps miraculously.... doubt it somehow though.

 

[nosluom]

you could do with disconnecting each device in turn mate like your cd-rom drive and whatever other cards you've got. To be honest it sounds to me like a motherboard issue, are you getting the bios beep when the pc fires up?

 

[Andy.]

I dont have a speaker in the casing so there are no beeps. Tried with headphones but that does not work either.

Going to call the computer shop tomorrow and see what they have to say. Really can't be arsed to send everything back again! This mobo seems to have issues though.

 

[Michael172]

go into your bios and check which card or slot your gpu is running on.....if you can

sounds silly but youve connected the power cabels to the gpu ?

psu powerfull enough ? bearing in mind it has to power your other components too ?


Make sure you press the card down HARD so it goes all the way in.

Re-seat the Cpu., allthough you will need to re-grease it.


If you cant get it working your motherboard is abviously fucked. I manaed to stab my mo bo with a screwdriver once. didnt work after that. If you have dropped somehting in it it might of damaged somehting.

If youve got other hardware you can try then do so.

 

[Michael172]

 

[Andy.]

^^ That is about where I am at.

I can't view the BIOS as the screen just stays black, it cannot detect a signal from the GPU.

Taking the CPU out is really the last option, by "re-greese", do you mean apply more thermal paste between the CPU and the cooler?

I read through pages and pages of forums last night and quite a few people have had similar problems, and there does not seem to be one simple solution for it.

The PSU can definately handle the power demand. I have unplugged the hard disk and dvd writer in the meantime so that it is just running the essentials.

I am taking home some hardware from work this evening to try different RAM & GPU, if that fails I will bring it into work with me tomorrow and let one of the support guys have a look, I was just hoping to solve it myself.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[b3nje]

Has your onboard gfx card been disabled?**

ignore that^^

does it have onboard graphics?

 

[nosluom]

to be honest i dont think its anything to do with your graphics card. As a final test to see if it is that you could try wacking in an old pci one or something but it definately sounds to me like a motherboard issue. Always been the case when we have pc's doing this at work

 

[Andy.]

No onboard graphics card.

I dont think it is a graphics card issue.... Either the RAM is the culprit or else the MOBO is DOA.

It is a real pain in the arse when you wait for a week for it all to arrive and then you can't use the thing!

 

[ViolentJ]

Get the motherboard replaced first, it's far from uncommon to have a DOA board. I had 3 when i built my other half a pc a few years ago!

 

[Andy.]

Will give the shop a call tonight and see what they say. Hopefully they will be nice about it. Arguing in Dutch is not my strong point.

 

[Andy.]

It is the monitor that has caused me this much grief! I just tried connecting the old 17" CRT and it worked straight away. FFS.

Only problem is that there are no settings on the TFT that can be changed that might help it recognise the input from the card... I am using a DVI-VGA converter to the philips 190C monitor if anyone has any ideas!

 

[ViolentJ]

Maybe a dodgy converter or problem with the TFT itself?

I've used 2 different TFT's with a DVI to VGA converter without any problems. There aren't actually any settings needed to recognise the input.

Is this a brand new monitor? Could you try it on someone else's machine?

 

[Andy.]

The monitor works great at the minute on my old PC. It is using a VGA output from the GPU though.

 

[ViolentJ]

I guess that could only leave the DVI - VGA converter at fault then?

I guess you haven't got any spare?

 

[Andy.]

Thanks for that comment! Just tried another cable and the TFT is now working.

Always the simplest things eh?

I am now installing the OS (I actually feel guilty for using Vista for some reason).

Can't wait to test it out.. might be a late one.
Cheers for the help.
Andy

 

[ViolentJ]

Got there eventually!

Glad you've sorted it mate, have you got any hair left? lol

 

[Andy.]

Happy with it so far, just downloading drivers etc.

Very glad that I did not take it to the support guys at work.... would have felt a bit stupid when they plugged it in and it worked.

 

[thecremeegg]

glad to hear ur sorted. i was going to suggest the power supply as i had a similar problem, turns out the PSU was dodgy

 

[Final Maxim]

cool

what did it benchmark as?

 

[Andy.]

3DMark06 of 9175 out of the box... Changed the bios settings to the correct levels for RAM etc and got 9200's then just clocked it at 2.7 and it was 9500's.

I was tempted to push it higher as it is easy to do but the PC is quiet as a mouse as it is and it does everything I need and more so I won't do it for the time being.

Can play all of the games I have on full resolution with all the trimmings so I am happy.

Still happy with yours?

 

[Final Maxim]

yep yep, all smooth.

im tempted to overclock but i aint gonna bother until i get some upgraded cooling i think

 

[Andy.]

Apparently the stock coolers are not that good for over clocking. I got the Arctic 7 Pro.. cheap, quiet and good results as long as you don't push it too close to the edge.

 

[Andy.]

Just checked your score from the old thread again.. you got a 9400 out of the box with the same mobo, ram, CPU and a standard 8800GTS... mine was just over 2000 less with the same setup bar the more expensive P5B model and a factory over clocked 8800 GTS... I am not really too fussed about 3D scores but it does hit a nerve a bit that the more expensive hardware does not perform so well. Did you use the free version of 3DMark or the proper one?

 

[Andy.]

Just did another test. 9690 @ 2.9.

The CPU did not go above 52 degrees so could push it further but dont want to fry something!

 

[Final Maxim]

Just checked your score from the old thread again.. you got a 9400 out of the box with the same mobo, ram, CPU and a standard 8800GTS... mine was just over 2000 less with the same setup bar the more expensive P5B model and a factory over clocked 8800 GTS... I am not really too fussed about 3D scores but it does hit a nerve a bit that the more expensive hardware does not perform so well. Did you use the free version of 3DMark or the proper one?

proper one mate, cracked.

i dont really know why the score was so high, what variables would affect it?

do you get "good" graphics cards and "good" processors as opposed to "bad" ones if you know what i mean?

 

[Final Maxim]

also, is my motherboard the basic model? i dont really know what im looking for

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-037-OK&tool=3

 

[Andy.]

Sounds like you just got the good ones then!

There are about 12 different p5B models... The P5B is more than some of the other modele (P5B - MX) so I don't think it is base.... The Deluxe and Deluxe/ Wifi have pretty much all of the extra trimmings though with different options in the BIOS etc for overclocking.

TBH, I don't think that the average person would be able to tell the diference between most of the motherboards on the market, I just picked one that got good reviews, was in the middle of hte price range and was in stock!