[Erdhexe]

Hello everyone!

I built a new computer and have two annoying problems, both occuring while booting to Windows XP SP2:

Most of the time when I turn on the computer, it is powered up, but the screen stays black. I can hear the hds, the fans, and everything else and it beeps (just like a computer always does when its booting up), but nothing happens on the monitor. The computer does that especially when it had been off for a while. Only after I press the reboot button, or turn it off and back on, it will boot to Windows. When the computer has been running and I need to reboot, it will do that no problem.

The second problem is that whenever it boots to Windows, the monitor will enter sleep mode for a short time right between the Windows and the Welcome screen. This does not happen when I do not have the driver for the graphics card installed. I have tried various versions, including the newest 7.9 Catalyst and an Omega, but they all cause the same thing.

I have reinstalled Windows, checked the cables and connectors, disconnected it from the power, pressed the on-button to see if perhaps some electricity has remained in the system, but nothing helps. Unfortunately I cannot take parts from another computer in order to try out which hardware might be at fault, because the new system has DDR2 RAM, not DDR, has PCI-e instead of AGP, and socket AM2, not A anymore.

Here's the hardware (all of them brand new):

Motherboard: MSI K9N Neo-F V3 nForce 560 Socket AM2 (Award BIOS)
RAM: 1024MB DDR2RAM Corsair Value Select PC667 CL5
CPU: AMD Athlon64 X2 4600+ EE tray AM2 2x 2.40GHz (Windsor, F2)
CPU Cooler: CPU Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro PWM 754/939/940/AM2
Power Supply: Seasonic M12-500 80Plus, 500Watt
+3.3V = 24A, +5V = 30A, +12V1 = 18A, +12V2 = 18A, +12V3 = 18A, +12V4 = 18A,
-12V = 0.8A, +5Vsb = 3A
Graphics Card: Sapphire 256MB X1950Pro GDDR3 SDRAM 256-bit PCIe
Hard Drive: Samsung 80GB SP0802N 7200rpm
Samsung 250GB SP2514N 7200rpm

I'm very grateful for every suggestion that might help!!!

Greetings,

Erdhexe

[crghannan]

have you tried checking in the device manager to make sure there are no hardware resource conflicts ????

[Erdhexe]

Originally Posted by crghannan have you tried checking in the device manager to make sure there are no hardware resource conflicts ????

Hello, yes I have. Everything is working properly and all the drivers are installed.

[Dave Hybrid]

Definitely graphics drivers/hardware.

Try other drivers and/or a different card.

[Erdhexe]

Originally Posted by Dave Hybrid Definitely graphics drivers/hardware. Try other drivers and/or a different card.

I've tried about four or five versions of the Catalyst drivers and an Omega based on the Catalyst 7.4

I agree that this "Entering Sleep Mode" between Windows and Welcome might be the graphics card, but I'm not so sure about the problem of having to turn the computer on twice before it boots. I have the feeling that this might be a faulty mainboard. I'm not sure though, that's why I'm looking for confirmation... What do you think?

When you say "a new one," do you suggest to get a whole different card, or just another one of the same make? (I hope that question ain't too stupid, lol)