[Crazy_Jimmy]

Hello guys, Nice forums you got here. I'm Jim and I'm new to computer building but believe i knew enough, well heres the story:

I previously had a pc with an agp ATI graphics card set up and i wanted something with a little more power. I logged onto ebay and purchassed a Pci-e MSI Nvidia 7900GTO and a MSI K8-neo4 Platinum motherboard to go along with it (both used).

So after getting excited when it all arrived I went straight away and fitted everything, according to the manual. However, once I delt with a few problems with the chipset heatsinks I proceeded to turn the computer on and all i got was the power Leds, all the fans (including the gfx card) and the lights on my keyboard. The monitor has not picked up anything, not even a flicker. I've tried this computer on 2 other monitors and still it fails to work. Therefore the problem is with the computer itself.

Now I've ran the computer with the old mobo and gfx card and it works fine again. So have I done something wrong? Have these ebayers sold me broken hardware? Is there anything I can do?

Seriously guys anyhelp with this issue would be extremely appriciated, especially with my a-level exams starting tomorrow! :(

Thanks, Jim

[Wolfeymole]

Hi Jimmy

Welcome to TCF

I reckon the reason nothing is working with the new kit installed is because you have made massive system hardware changes and that's one thing that XP doesn't like as it thinks your a a pirate.
You will have to get onto Microsoft and tell them what you have done and they will probably send you a new key when you come to reinstall.

[Crazy_Jimmy]

I have heard before that this may be the case but with my computer failing to boot even into bios mode i cannot see what this has to do with my operating system? The screen does not display anything, litrally no record of connection to my pc at all - just black. The screen is on mind, on standby.

I've found that i get one long beep from my motherboard on start up, i don't know if this means anything is wrong or the system is fine. I did try running without any ram to see if it picks it up and yes it runs long beeps continuously so seems to be working.

Theres no onboard graphics to test if the motherboard is working properly so i think what i need to do is take my graphics card to a friend and run it on his system, if that works then run his graphics in mine and determine whether the fault lies with either the graphics or the motherboard. After that I will try using a different power supply and see if anything is wrong with that, as you can see i'm pretty clueless! But surely it's to do with my hardware not my os? - Though I could be wrong lol

[Wolfeymole]

What bios do you have Jimmy?

[Crazy_Jimmy]

I've not a clue mate lol, ill see if i can find something within the manual that would tell me as i can't just look at what it says on the screen.

Yer it has given me a large BIOS Version number: W7185NMS V1.0 150305
If thats relevent or not to what your asking im not entirely sure? Sorry mate I'm not the most intelligent person when it comes to computers.

[Wolfeymole]

After searching around a bit it seems it is an Award Phoenix bios but it still seems to come down to that video card being at fault.

Have a look here for further details.
http://www.helpwithpcs.com/upgrading...beep-codes.htm

[Crazy_Jimmy]

Right I see. Well what i am going to do now is test my graphics card in my mates pc, and the test his in mine and see what i can depict. Thanks for your help Wolfey, I'll be sure to keep you posted.

[Dave Hybrid]

Try the graphics card in another machine to confirm it's not faulty.

And/or

You can also run a PC with nothing connected inside which cuts out a lot of problems.

Unplug everything except the power to the motherboard and leave the RAM, CPU and graphics card plugged in.

Disconnect/unplug all the hard drives, CD-Roms, sound cards etc.

Try that if it still doesnt post a screen I'd say a faulty motherboard.