No signal to monitor

ennogs · 17 Dec 2009 at 17:18

Any ideas?

Switched my PC on this morning and the screen went wierd/scrambled during boot up. Switched it off and on again and went into bios after a few seconds screen went all wierd again. At the moment the screen only shows no signal input. I am not getting any post beeps.

PC specs (No laughing please lol)

Windows XP SP3
500w PSU
Gigabyte 85661FXMP-RZ motherboard
Pentium 4 3.2Ghz processor
single stick 1GB PC3200U DDR 400 Mhz ram
Geforce fx 5200 graphics card
2 250GB hard drives
DVD writer

Luckily I have a second even older PC to get parts from to test

As the monitor was showing no signal input the first thing I tried was using the onboard graphics. No change.

I then tried a second 5200 graphics card from my second PC.

I then tried a second monitor and cable.

I then tried reseating the ram. I tried both slots.

I then tried a second power supply.

I could not try the ram from the second PC as it is different type to mine and will not fit.

The PC is booting up and the processor fan is coming on.

Now I am stuck as to what to try next. It may be the ram at fault but I don't want to go out and buy more ram only to find it is not the ram.

paradisiac · 17 Dec 2009 at 17:33

possibly ram, or overheating cpu maybe? have you tried reseating and repasting the HSF and CPU?

Plec · 17 Dec 2009 at 17:39

You've tried most things apart from different memory - it would be good if you could get your hands on some to test if possible.

You could try disconnecting all non essential items (skeleton setup) so you just have the cpu, memory and gfx connected and see if you have any luck. (disconnect all hdd, usb devices, take out PCi cards, sata/ide cables etc...)

Have you tried clearing the CMOS and reloading defaults - it's reaching a bit but it's still worth a try.

ennogs · 17 Dec 2009 at 18:43

Thanks for the replies. I will try those things. I forgot to add I did try taking the battery out and clearing the CMOS.

Plec · 17 Dec 2009 at 19:05

Your posts read like you have a pretty good understanding of the troubleshooting routine - so i'm guessing you've realised it's not looking too peachy for one of your core components (there's still hope that it could be something innocuous...)

The upside is that you have a lot of known working, spare components to test which always makes the process that little bit less ambiguous.

Good luck with it.

EDIT: Are there any sign of life at all - do the fans spin? If so have you tried removing the memory altogether to see if the board recognises that it's missing? (case speaker permitting)

ennogs · 17 Dec 2009 at 19:08

Thanks for the replies. I am going to see what ram my mate has in his 2 PC's and try that if compatible. My guess now is if it is not the RAM it will be the motherboard? If it is the motherboard time for a new PC lol.

Plec · 17 Dec 2009 at 19:11

ennogs said:
Thanks for the replies. I am going to see what ram my mate has in his 2 PC's and try that if compatible. My guess now is if it is not the RAM it will be the motherboard? If it is the motherboard time for a new PC lol.

It would certainly be the lead contender after all your component swapping - did you see my edit? (edited at the same time as your post)

Although if your friend has compatible memory the edit is not important.

ennogs · 17 Dec 2009 at 20:37

No luck

No luck with a barbones system. I don't think my case speaker is working. I never get any post beeps or sound from it even when the PC was working. I did try leaving the ram out but got no beep.

All the case fans and CPU fan are spinning ok.

ennogs · 17 Dec 2009 at 20:38

paradisiac said:
possibly ram, or overheating cpu maybe? have you tried reseating and repasting the HSF and CPU?

If it was the CPU overheating wouldn't the PC shutdown for protection?

SlugForAButt · 17 Dec 2009 at 20:52

Sounds more like a stick of RAM acting the goat. Had exactly the same problem with a PC a few months ago and it turned out to be the RAM, cheeky little monkey!
Certainly worth making the effort to check.

paradisiac · 18 Dec 2009 at 09:54

ennogs said:
If it was the CPU overheating wouldn't the PC shutdown for protection?

we get some in where the bios temp shutdown is disabled by factory default, we have also had a few skt775 in where one of the mobo pins is slightly bent causing in proper contact which makes the computer behave oddly. is worth looking into. but would say its more likely a ram or gfx issue and as you have ruled out gfx then would go with ram.