BIOS Update and Vista

[Dillybob]

My new PC (which I built) always black-screens at boot when the video drivers are installed. It will just get past the loading bar, then sit at the black screen (the monitor doesn't go into power save, so it is getting a signal).

Googled it. Some guy said it was fixed with a BIOS update. So, I found the download off of EVGA's website, burned the .iso image onto a cd with Alcohol 120% (a trial version), booted up fine, went through the write no problems.

The issue did not go away, and now when I try to access the BIOS, it will sit at a black screen with the white underscore blinking away in the upper-left-hand corner.

My specs are as follows:

-790i FTW (NOT the digital PWM)
-8GB (4x2 DIMMS) DDR3 1600 (Corsair, 9-9-9-24)
-2 GTX 280's
-Killer NIC (I know, I don't need it....no comments plz)
-Creative X-fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Edition
-Intel Q9550 (Yes, I know I should've waited for Nehalem, but this was built like 3 weeks ago)
-2 Velociraptor Drives in RAID 0 as boot drive (they're the 150GB OEM versions)
-1 WD 500gb Caviar Drive for backups
-LG DVD Burner

One more thing.....the motherboard may have grounded out a while back before I had fixed that issue. Could that have taken something out that could be causing the current problem?

I'll clear the CMOS tomorrow, as I haven't done that yet.

 

[Billb2]

Originally posted by: Dillybob

...the motherboard may have grounded out a while back..

I was going to offer some hopefully helpful suggestions ...until that.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Yes if the motherboard was grounded out there may be damage so you may want to replace the board.

 

[Dillybob]

Yeah....maybe that PCI slot is fried....or maybe it's the controller. The weird part is, the Black screen on boot issue ONLY HAPPENS when the driver is installed. It displays everything else fine. This particular board won't let you get to the OS if the card isn't installed in the primary slot.

Oh, and I can get into the BIOS now after clearing the CMOS. Too late to return the board...may as well pop the Q9550 into my old X38 board, and take the loss to get Nehalem!

PS: If I do go over to Nehalem, can I use the DDR3 I bought for this board by underclocking it? I don't want to have to buy more.....