Monitor says 'no signal' on new comp - please help!

[jadamsuw]

Hey all,

I just put together a new build (with your help, thank you!) and have run into a slight(major) snag. My monitor, which is left over from my previous build and has been PERFECT literally up until this moment, won't turn on with this new build. Instead, all it says is DVI NO SIGNAL (or HDMI NO SIGNAL or VGA NO SIGNAL depending on which cables I've tried, etc). I am aware that usually this message means that the monitor believes it is not plugged in, but I've tried several things without any luck, such as:

Double-checking power cables from the monitor to the power strip, from power strip to wall, confirmed that power strip is turned on, confirmed that all cables from monitor to computer are plugged in.

All 3 settings of the monitor with a 2-sided DVI cable plugged into the motherboard while the video card is plugged in AND while the video card is unplugged

All 3 settings of the monitor with a 2-sided DVI cable plugged into the graphics card

All 3 settings of the monitor with a DVI-HDMI cable plugged into motherboard while video card is plugged in AND while video card is unplugged

All 3 settings of the monitor with a DVI-HDMI cable plugged into the video card

This is the first time my new computer has been turned on, and as far as I can tell without a functioning monitor:
- The case fans are working (except one, which I intentionally left unplugged from the mobo), the LED light for the case turns on
- The CD/DVD drive is working (it opens and closes when I tell it to, and I can hear it whirring as it attempts to boot from the windows DVD I have placed in it)
- The HDD seems to be working, as I believe I can hear it clicking occasionally
-The fans on the graphics card are working, ergo I believe the motherboard to be working, as the fans on the card run whether or not the power supply is plugged into the card
- The power supply is functioning, as the CD/DVD drive is working and the case turns on.
- The CPU cooler is working, another reason I believe the motherboard to be functioning

I have checked the security of every connection I can think of, including headers on the mobo and power supply to gpu. They seem secure. I have tried both DVI connections on the GPU. No luck. I'm concerned that either the motherboard or GPU are not fully connected properly, though I can't be sure. I can't prove that the power supply is connected properly to the GPU, but if that's the problem, then I can't explain why the monitor won't turn on when connected directly to the motherboard with GPU disconnected.

My CPU contains the following parts (thanks again to anandtech's assistance! c/p from my build thread, please excuse the pricetags)

Monitor - ASUS VH242H, previously working perfectly (as in, yesterday)

Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 996776 - $45

ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $95

ANTEC 302 case

Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $100 (single platter drive)

OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom - $65 (this states it is compatible with SB, don't know if that applies to IB)

Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $110

EVGA 02G-P4-2670-KR GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - $400

Intel Core i5-3550 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53550 - $210

LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support - $25

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel ... - $30

Any assistance or thoughts you guys have would be incredibly appreciated. Thank you!

Jesse

 

[jadamsuw]

My mistake; GTX 670 is Gigabyte card. Probably doesn't matter, but figured I'd be completely accurate.

 

[Nizzzlle]

Do you have another monitor on hand to troubleshoot the pc?

 

[piasabird]

It is probably not the monitor. Is your other computer still woking? Does the video card have to have two power connectors? Does the Motherboard have to have 2 power connectors? You could try removing the video card and trying it without if you have video outputs on the motherboard. I thought these new motherboards could run off of both the Intel HD Video and the video card. If that is the case plug the video into the motherboard and see if that works?

I am saying this about the onboard video (FROM CPU) because the new motherboards were designed to have the onboard video always on and maybe you have to do something in the BIOS to switch it. Also the video card could be bad so try an older one.

Normally I would just say this could be a case where the motherboard or one of the I/O cards are grounding out. This use to always be the case in no video. You may have to go back to testing the motherboard outside of the case.

 

[Zeze]

Any beeping?

Make sure Mobo is not grounding out. I had an idiot friend who mounted the mobo directly onto the case panel without the stand-off screws. Check for any parts touching.

Either that or GPU is DOA. I bet your monitor is fine.

 

[jadamsuw]

It is probably not the monitor. Is your other computer still woking? Does the video card have to have two power connectors? Does the Motherboard have to have 2 power connectors? You could try removing the video card and trying it without if you have video outputs on the motherboard. I thought these new motherboards could run off of both the Intel HD Video and the video card. If that is the case plug the video into the motherboard and see if that works?

I am saying this about the onboard video (FROM CPU) because the new motherboards were designed to have the onboard video always on and maybe you have to do something in the BIOS to switch it. Also the video card could be bad so try an older one.

Normally I would just say this could be a case where the motherboard or one of the I/O cards are grounding out. This use to always be the case in no video. You may have to go back to testing the motherboard outside of the case.

Monitor works fine on the other computer.

The video card has two power connectors, a 6-pin and an 8-pin.

The motherboard, as far as I can tell (by far the component of computers I know least about) only has one power connection, where the main cord from the power supply goes. I'm not sure if that's what you mean.

I did try plugging the video into the motherboard with the GPU power cords out, without luck. I suppose I can remove it entirely from the computer and try again, as I just realized I didn't completely unseat it from the motherboard.

 

[jadamsuw]

Any beeping?

Make sure Mobo is not grounding out. I had an idiot friend who mounted the mobo directly onto the case panel without the stand-off screws. Check for any parts touching.

Either that or GPU is DOA. I bet your monitor is fine.

I actually noticed this last night and was a bit confused, but the computer doesn't beep at all when you turn it on. I was concerned that part of the issue was that it wasn't booting properly at all, but the DVD drive fires up to try to boot from the disc.

Unfortunately, no indicator light on the mobo to assure me it is working.

Is there any way to make sure the motherboard is seated sufficiently off the panel of the case without completely removing it?

 

[N4n45h1]

Monitor works fine on the other computer.

The video card has two power connectors, a 6-pin and an 8-pin.

The motherboard, as far as I can tell (by far the component of computers I know least about) only has one power connection, where the main cord from the power supply goes. I'm not sure if that's what you mean.

I did try plugging the video into the motherboard with the GPU power cords out, without luck. I suppose I can remove it entirely from the computer and try again, as I just realized I didn't completely unseat it from the motherboard.

Wait... shouldn't you have both the 24pin and the 8pin power connectors on the motherboard?

Edit:
Looking at the images of your motherboard, near the RAM and to the right of the CPU you should need to attach the 8pin CPU power in addition to the 24pin ATX mobo power connector...

 

[bononos]

2 problems:
The mb should beep once during the POST and everything is alright so something must be wrong. Do you have a speaker attached properly. Search for beep post codes if you hear something other one short beep that signals everything is ok.

You said that the mb only has 1 power connection which means you did not plug in your EPS12 connector which is the 8pin connector above the cpu socket. Or maybe you plugged that in the graphics card.

 

[jadamsuw]

I'm at work right now so can't double-check the power connections on the motherboard. I will double check the second power connection - hopefully, that's all the problem is.

I don't have any external speakers hooked up at the moment.

Edit: My wife tells me remotely that that 8-pin is empty. Thanks guys - I'm not at home right now, but I assume the power supply plugs in to the 8-pin?

 

[ElFenix]

2 problems:
The mb should beep once during the POST and everything is alright so something must be wrong. Do you have a speaker attached properly. Search for beep post codes if you hear something other one short beep that signals everything is ok.

boards don't always have built in speakers so unless the case has a speaker it may not beep. i don't think my new asrock beeps and his board looks pretty similar.

when i powered on my new setup for the first time i had a similar issue. pull the graphics card out entirely and plug the monitor into the dvi port on the board. that fixed mine.

Edit: My wife tells me remotely that that 8-pin is empty. Thanks guys - I'm not at home right now, but I assume the power supply plugs in to the 8-pin?

yeah should try that too. your supply will have an 8 pin connector (often a split 4+4 connector) that fits there. it's the EPS12V plug, as the above poster mentioned.

 

[mfenn]

I'm at work right now so can't double-check the power connections on the motherboard. I will double check the second power connection - hopefully, that's all the problem is.

I don't have any external speakers hooked up at the moment.

Edit: My wife tells me remotely that that 8-pin is empty. Thanks guys - I'm not at home right now, but I assume the power supply plugs in to the 8-pin?

Yes, not plugging in the EPS12V connector is definitely the cause of the problem. The ModXStream Pro does have a EPS12V (8 pin connector) which should be plugging into the corresponding socket on the motherboard.

 

[jadamsuw]

You guys nailed it. Happy to say I'm writing this from my new computer and as of right now everything seems to be working smoothly. Can't say how much this site has helped out. Thank you so much!

J