fadex1945

Here's my system specs:
Power Supply: Antec True Power Trio TPS-650 ATX12V 650W w/3 12V rails

Motherboard: MSI P6N SLI-FI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLX

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe 2.13GHz

RAM: OCZ Platinum Revision 2 2 GB (2 x 1 GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit

Video Card: EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800 GTS 320 MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3400833AS 400 GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0 Gb/s

OS: Windows XP Home Edition (SP2)

I had another thread about a weird beeping issue I was getting with this system here

Up until now that is the only problem I have had with the system. I want to state very clearly that the prior beeping was not during POST, only randomly while the computer was in regular usage. There is also currently no POST or boot up beeping either.

Anyway, I was playing a game on the system and the screen just goes black and at the same time a weird audio distortion started coming out of the speakers.

I reboot the system, and the screen comes back, I get into windows, and boot up Firefox to come here--the screen dies before I can get that done.

I restart again, this time the MoBo's flash screen displays, then the screen goes blank (as if there is no signal.)

Now the screen is permanently black with no signal no matter what I do. I have used the "test" button on the monitor and it displays "Test Good" on the screen when I do this.

Anyone have any advice for this problem? I think my first step is going to be reseating the Video Card however the card is HUGE and it is a pain manipulating it inside the case so I hope to not have to do that if there is any quick fix that anyone can suggest.

I should add the system still seems to be working, just with no video. When I turn the system on, after a minute or so I hear Windows XP start up, and when I turn the system off, I hear it shut down.

Done_Fishin

have you added any extra power connectors for the motherboard and/or graphics card .. it may be that your under powering the graphics output ..
also try adding a PCI graphics card .. and removing the other card .. see if you get output via a less power hungry card ..

There are occasions when the Northbridge on motherboards fails .. giving these type of symptoms ..
but before declaring the mobo a write off also check that no pins are bent in the VGA connector .. and if the cable is attached at connectors at both ends .. try a replacement cable .. sometimes the wires get bent too much ..

Also try your Monitor elsewhere (another PC) to prove that it's working.

check alos your screen resolution, maybe it's too high .. also check the refresh rate .. boot into safe mode and see if that helps ..

fadex1945

The only other system I have is the laptop I am posting from. I have never hooked up a laptop to the monitor before, but I just tried to (I simply connected the cable to the VGA port in the laptop) and the monitor receives no signal from the laptop.

Is this a sign the cable is the problem or is there something you need to do to enable a second monitor (this laptop has Win XP Media Center edition)

fadex1945

When the cable was disconnected, I saw a message that said "check signal cable." When I plugged it into the laptop, that went away, but the monitor then just went back to black-screen (with it's power light flashing.)

In the monitor setup on this laptop it seems to recognize there is a second monitor.

fadex1945

Actually, I just got the monitor to display the laptop, so it appears the cable/monitor are working properly.

fadex1945

When I installed the card it came with a power adapter that I hooked up to one of the cables from the PSU. This is the first system I have ever built so I'm unfortunately not 100% sure how to describe what I am talking about.

Done_Fishin

did you use it ?? that's one of the connections I was talking about .. it could be that your card wants additional power .. it could be that you Motherboard also wants additional power ..


glad to see that you got the monitor to work from the laptop .. normally it's just a question of plugging in .. but depending upon the laptop might require a couple of keys to be pushed

fadex1945

Alright, sorry for the delay I'm battling a stomach virus on top of tech problems .

Yes, I used the adapter. My PSU has several cords coming out of it, several of them have connectors that fit directly into the video card without using the adapter.

This:



Is what I am talking about. By default, you can just plug into the vid card with the single connector using no adapter. When I first installed the video card, I used the adapter. Just now, I removed the adapter and did a direct connection, and the system boots up fine (screen is displayed and etc.) This seems strange to me as it is my understanding that using the adapter gives the card more power, not less.

Also, for whatever reason one of the case fans is no longer working, even though it is plugged in and it does "jump" briefly when I turn the power off. It along with one other fan is plugged into a "fan only" connector from the PSU that supposedly can self-regulate fan speed based on need. Even without the fan that is off my system is running at 18 C right now (it's been miserably hot in Virginia the past few weeks and I've kept AC on ultra-cool, the room it is in is providing a lot of ambient cooling.) But I am still concerned that the fan is just simply not coming on.

fadex1945

Now that I have access to the system's display again here are some of the numbers:

Temp1 F71882F 18C
Temp2 F71882F 25C
Temp3 F71882F -128C
HD0 HD0 (400.1GB) 23C
Core 0 INTEL CORE 18C
Core 1 INTEL CORE 18C

VCC3V 3.30V
Vcore 1.30V
VRAM 2.11V
VChipset 1.26V
+5V 4.92V
+12V 12.06V
VCC1.5V 0.90V
VSB3V 3.30V
Vbat 2.99V

fadex1945

I'm going to play some system-intensive games for a bit to see if this problem comes back. Is it possible that taking the adapter off had nothing to do with the system working, and that maybe the video card was too hot and just needed time to cool off?

fadex1945

Well, to give an update my problems seem to be fixed and I even think I know what it was I did wrong.

Apparently, if you use said adapter, you need to make sure each of the three-pong (whatever they are called) plug ins from the adapter is on a separate "rail" I had them plugged on the same rail. Right now I'm not using the adapter at all and it seems to work alright, if I notice anymore issues I'm going to put the adapter back on but this time hook it up correctly with it on separate rails.

The case fan that stopped working was a simple case of me flicking the switch to "Medium" accidentally, and the fans that are on the PSU's fan-control have to be set on high to work properly.

Done_Fishin

Sorry to have left to you your own devices on this one .. however good on you for finding the cause and fixing it ..
thanks for keeping up updated hope it all keeps going smoothly for you from now on ..

fadex1945

No problem at all! One can't complain about free tech support :). A big part of the reason I decided to put a system together myself was so I'd learn a bit more about computer hardware. I've had a strong computer addiction for about 15 years, but usually I had to resort to local repair shops and such to resolve my issues--which sometimes took many weeks. Over the past few years I've started to get a lot better at fixing things myself and after putting this system together I've already learned a few basic things that I did not know before.

Done_Fishin

you taught me something too , that I didn't know .. keeping the supply rails separate .. haven't actually had a mobo in yet with that config or built one myself ..
thanks for sharing and for keeping us informed .. hopefuly we'll be a bit quicker off the mark next time ..