Just built very first computer, but monitor doesnt come on ????

[Airdale30]

Ok guys Im stomped and Ive lost all my pride 🙁 heres the deal.............I have a Abit AT7 motherboard,2100xp,Dual Seagate HD's,Geforce 3, Audigy Gamer. I took my time and read the motherboard manual thoroughly as well as taking my time putting this system together. After all this was said and done I finally decided to power it up and go into bios the first time. Well powered the beast up and all my fans kicked on lights etc..... except I wasnt getting any indication on my monitor. My monitor light stays in standby mode as if the computer isnt even on. Ive tried everything and yes the video card is working, seeing that Im using it at this very moment. The only thing I didnt do because I forgot was to clear CMOS while booting up for the first time and then go back to the default pin locations afterwards. But I attempted to clear CMOS shortly afterwards yet no joy. Does this sound like a motherboard only problem? Should I focus the attention somewhere else? The manual doesnt call for any special jumpers on the motherboard only jumping they talk about is the one clearing CMOS other than that it should work. Ive read this manual like 10 times literally....I cant figure it out. Any help would be appreciated thanks.

 

[WarCon]

What troubleshooting have you done?

I would suggest since your at a dead stop anyway. Take the mobo out of your case and set it on a anti-static bag (the one it came in is fine) on something sturdy (not the box it came in). Reseat your memory (making sure it clicked the tabs all the way in. Reseat your video card (sometimes those can be very tight and look like they went in but didn't all the way.

Now with just the memory, video, powerbutton, reset button, ATX power plug and external speaker (for error beeps) are necessary. No IDE cables or floppy cables yet. Try powering it up now. If there is nothing here, then you can limit your swap testing/RMAing to the mobo, powersupply, memory and CPU (more or less in that order, unless your sure you memory is fine by testing it in another system. I don't think I would risk another system to test your powersupply (in case its the killer of other components), but you might be ok testing your mobo with another powersupply.

If it boots with the minimal components then start plugging one thing in at a time until it stops booting again to find your culprit. If it completely boots outside the case, check your motherboard holder for extra standoffs or things it might short on.

Good luck man.