Help with new system - no image on screen! Ack! It's probably really stupid...

[bradd]

Ok, my first big post here at the AnandTech forums. Thanks to all of those whose posts I have read and helped me decide which parts to buy.

I put together the following system:
-AMD Athlon 750 (not OC'ed)
-Abit KA7-100
-GeForce GTS2 gfx card (Hercules Prophet w/ 64MB RAM)
- 32MB PC100 SDRAM (generic) (just testing with it now)
- 2 IBM 75GXP hard drives.

here's the problem...
Upon hitting the power switch, the fans go on, hard drive spins up, power light turns on, etc but no image on the screen. I have tested with both a Viewsonic PS790, and a 14" Dell. Both go into power saving mode (amber power light on the monitor instead of green).

Here's the steps I have taken so far in trying to figure out what's wrong:
1. checked cables
2. tried the RAM in the first and last banks
3. removed all PCI cards, leaving only the graphics card in
4. unplugged all IDE devices (cdrom, hard drives)
5. double checked ATX connection to the motherboard
6. checked to make sure that the processor is firmly seated in it's slot.
7. tried another stick of known-to-be-functioning PC100 SDRAM in the first and last slots.

My question: Because the fans spin up and the power lights go on, I haven't caused an electrical short on the motherboard, have I? I don't hear any beeps from the PC speaker, so what could I narrow this down to? A faulty CPU? A bad motherboard? A messed up video card?

Thanks for all your help and suggestions, I truly appreciate them.

-bradd

 

[boomerang]

If you want to eliminate the shorting out question, take the mobo out of the case and set in on the anti-stat bag it came in or the cardboard box. Power it up and see what happens.

I had a system I built that did the same thing for me once. Turned out I had somehow scrunched up some of the connectors on the AGP slot. They were all bent up in the bottom of the slot. I was able to straighten them. My system, still going strong a year later.

I had to use a flashlight to see them down in there.

 

[bradd]

Dandy... I found a TNT that I put in the machine to replace the GeForce2 that was formally in the case. The machine boots fine, and the image is on the screen. The RAM counts, and everything is happy.

Is there anything I should do in the BIOS to be able to use my GeForce GTS 2 card?

Thanks!

 

[Ulysses]

You might take a look at this Troubleshooting Guide:
http:// [url]http://www.giga-byte.com/gigabyte-web/faq_gt.htm [/url]

 

[tcrosson]

Make sure your pushing the AGP card all the way in - the board should be flush with the AGP slot. It sounds stupid but you'd be amazed how often I see that.

 

[Silencer]

What's the card brand? I remember reading that the Guillemot/Hercules GeForce 2 64MB had some problems with the drivers that made the card cause booting problems

Edit: Re-read your original post and it's definely the Graphics card. go to http://www.hercules.com/ and they should offer solutions!