Well damn. New rig and no display!

Bah! First new rig I have built from scratch and something aint right lol.

Plug in the monitor, switch machine on....nothing. The monitor is fine, I tested it on my old rig just to be sure.

To be honest I have no idea what it could be. Ive checked all the cables and I am quite sure everything is where its should be.

When the computer comes on all the fans spin up including the GFX card. The mobo has some diagnostic LEDs and counts down from 4 lit to just one lit - according to the manual and a post I saw on DFI-Street one lit led means the machine is sat in BIOS.

My spec:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
DFI UT Lanparty NF4 Ultra-D
OCZ 2x1GB Dual Channel
HIS Excalibur ATi RADEON X1900XT IceQ3
Seasonic S12 600W PSU

Any help would be appreciated

SiriusB

Have you forgot to plug a power lead into the graphics card?

Try connecting your monitor via agp dsub cable instead of dvi.

Wiggle the cable a bit at both enda, to check for a bad connect.

Reseat the graphics card.

Clear the bios (by mobo jumper or remove cmos battery).

These would be my first shots.

Well usually if you forget to connect a power lead to your GFX, the monitor still works but it stops during POST and displays a message saying "conenct power to card".

I have first hand experience of that Didn't realise my X700 Pro required power so I turned it on and was greeted with that message

Did you forget to plug in the 4 pin power connector from the PSU to the motherboard?

I notice you have a DFI what colour slots did you put the RAM into? I believe it should be orange.

Have you tried just 1 stick of RAM?

Clear the bios

If none of the above resolve it and if everything is plugged in and CPU + RAM are fine.....it maybe a possible dead mobo....

Although the dead mobo part is the last resort...

Hey all

After speaking to a mate and showing him a picture it seems my PCI cards aren't sitting in their slots properly. As you can see from the image below you can still see the contacts on my GFX card.



The PCI cards are fitting flush with the PCI securing bracket on the case and are straight. So this leaves the mobo... it would appear the mobo is too low :/

I have used the spacers supplied with my CM Stacker and the odd thing is the ports on the back of the mobo line up perfectly with the rear bracket.

I really dont know what to do... is the case at fault? the spacers? mobo? me? lol. Any ideas?

SiriusB

My motherboard cam with spacer thingys to put between the screw and the motherboard, I'm guessing mainly to stop the screw from shorting it. Try find a couple of those spacer things that fit and put them on.

how did u install the mobo?

Did you insert the lil gold screws under the mobo then screw the mobo into those holes?

Or did you install the mobo straight into the case without using the lil gold screws?

the standoffs/spacers/whatevers are actually silver with this case, and yes i did use them

SiriusB

So you mounted the mobo when u installed it?

After speaking to a mate and showing him a picture it seems my PCI cards aren't sitting in their slots properly. As you can see from the image below you can still see the contacts on my GFX card.

Click to expand...

Try plugging the monitor cable into the onboard gfx card monitor port....

Have you cleared the CMOS?
Have you tried diff RAM slots? Have you tried just 1 stick of RAM?
Try booting without the gfx card
Take the mobo out of the case cuz its a dfi it has an "on switch" on the mobo I believe...Just keep the cpu, HSF and 1 stick of RAM in the mobo only...Try the RAM in every single slot if it dont boot....
Otherwise you need to check your a) CPU and b) RAM in a diff machine if you can confirm they are working its gotta be a dead mobo...(i think)

xirokx said:

So you mounted the mobo when u installed it?



Try plugging the monitor cable into the onboard gfx card monitor port....

Have you cleared the CMOS?
Have you tried diff RAM slots? Have you tried just 1 stick of RAM?
Try booting without the gfx card
Take the mobo out of the case cuz its a dfi it has an "on switch" on the mobo I believe...Just keep the cpu, HSF and 1 stick of RAM in the mobo only...Try the RAM in every single slot if it dont boot....
Otherwise you need to check your a) CPU and b) RAM in a diff machine if you can confirm they are working its gotta be a dead mobo...(i think)

Click to expand...

The problem isnt faulty hardware, more to do with iffy engineering or my iffy installation lol. As the photo shows the graphics card isnt seated in the pci slot properly. This would pretty much explain why it aint working

The issue is why is the motherboard apparantly too low at one end, but just right at the other end? [the ports line up with backplate exactly].

If it isnt the motherboards fault, and if it isnt the standoffs/spacers fault... then it must be the fault of the PCI card bracket - ie it is too high... but I cant see CM screwing that up on a 100 quid case

SiriusB

so the mounts were already installed in the case? did you have any other such like mounts/spacers in a lil screw pack that came with the case? See if those mounts were right then the mobo would be flat all around the case...

Take your gfx card out....Have you tried plugging the monitor into the onboard gfx card connector?

There was already one standoff in the mobo tray - a kind of hint as to the correct screws to be using. I attached the rest of the standoffs needed and screwed on the motherboard. I cant attach anything to the motherboards on-board graphics... cos it hasnt got any :| at least none that I am aware of!

SiriusB

u sure the gfx card is in the correct slot? sorry for asking like

also i remember reading a problem someone had when trying to install the gfx card into a DFI mobo something to do with the screw causing it to short....

Take the board out of the case, just install the CPU, HSF + 1 stick of RAM and gfx card then see if it boots...if it does then you know something inside the case is shorting it....if it dont then i would pretty much guess your mobo is fried...hmmmm

Probably missing something written somewhere, but from that pic surely the graphics card is not plugged in all the way

Yes it is the right slot My X-FI soundcard has the same issue, which is why I am 100% positive its either iffy case or iffy standoffs.

I have absolutely no reason to believe anything is shorting or damaged since its obvious to me the issue is the cards are basically not properly attached. The reason for this is still eluding me and I am ever so slightly annoyed lol.

Just going through all the stuff that came with the case and I cant see any other screws that look as if they are spacers or anything.

In the morning I am going to get a spirit level and see for sure weather or not the mobo is level or not. If it is level then it has to be the bracket where the cards get screwed onto that is fubar.

SiriusB

yak.h'cir said:

Probably missing something written somewhere, but from that pic surely the graphics card is not plugged in all the way

Click to expand...

Aha yes... thats my problem! Its down as far as it can go due to the rear bracket the card screws to. Issue is whether its the mobo mounting or the case at fault.

SiriusB

so the board even tho its sloping at one end is not directly touching the inside to of the case?

xirokx said:

so the board even tho its sloping at one end is not directly touching the inside to of the case?

Click to expand...

I dont know if the board is sloping - by eye it doesnt look like it... but yes, the board is NOT touching the inside of the case.

SiriusB

Okay update:

I have just put the mobo in and used only two screws, one for opposite corners just to stop the mobo from moving around. I also kept them quite loose and found to my delight that the sound card JUST ABOUT fitted properly. I am beginning to suspect that either the provided standoffs are a tad short or the mobo is flexing when the screws are tightened.

In the morning Im going to see if I have missed a bag of plastic washers or something. I reckon if the mobo was just 1 or 2 mm higher up then all will be well! If the case didnt come with any then it looks like ill have to buy/scrounge some.

Thanks for your help and suggestions so far... keep posting though just in case you have reason to think its something else causing dodgy fitting!

SiriusB