my motherboard boots up but still having trouble

[memo]

so i had some problems with my current system. some power related issues. so i was pretty sure it was the mobo or the proc. so i got a new mobo, the same DFI nforce4 that i have currently. i take my old amd 3700+ and put it in the new DFI that i just got. it turns on and all the lights are on but I am not getting any video. unfortunately i dont have any other PCI video cards 🙁 only AGPs and the DFI only takes PCI Express cards, so I can't test the video card. Does the fact that the motherboard turns on and the diaganostic lights turn on mean that the proc is fine and its indeed the mobo? Would bad RAM cause the video problem? Again there was some power issues with my system so I am trying to figure out what could possibly have been zapped.

I am waiting for a friend to provide some RAM to test that, but I just wanted to get some ideas about this now.

So the mobo powering on means what exactly?

 

[WildHorse]

Your OP is a little confusing because you say the led's remain on, which means boot up failure, while the the thread title says it does boot up, which would mean all 4 led's are out.

As the mobo powers on & boot up progresses, the 4 red leds GO OUT in sequence (there's another yellow led up by the ram that remains continuously lit).

4 lights on: System start-up
3 lights on: CPU detected
2 lights on: DRAM detected
1 light on: Video detected
0 lights on: system boot-up complete

When you borrow your friend's ram, AT FIRST be sure to use ONLY ONE STICK in the orange slot closest to the board's top edge, farthest away from the cpu.

This mother board really screams when you set it up right (it's what I have right now), but if you use junk components like an "uncertain psu" or borrowed "mystery ram" like you mentioned, forget all about it. This is a mobo for overclockers.

As for your other question, well, the fact you get the count-down led's to light up is a favorable initial indication, but if they remain on, that's bad because something isn't being recognized properly (as listed above).

You won't be able to tell much about your mobo until you boot up into bios.

Resource for you:
DFI-Street Forums