Hello there, i'm having a nasty little problem with a new computer. My friend and I got it put together and it started up fine, as far as the system turning on goes.. However i get no video.. Onboard video doesn't work and neither does my GPU (the GPU is running, fans are on and everything). Also my HDD doesn't make a beeping noise at any point after its turned on.. and probably the most awkward problem, whenever i plug a keyboard in, the computer powers on. Everything seems to work great otherwise though. Every fan turns on with a gentle hum, i have verified that all are spinning. I'm just at a complete loss as to why I can't get it to recognise video from either onboard or the GPU. The monitor is a standard dell VGA monitor, that's about all i can do for specs since it was given to me. Its nothing state of the art but its a flat screen, and my GPU came with DVI to VGA/D-Sub converters so everything plugs in right. The monitor just won't recognize that it's in use... and i know it works fine because i've been using it on my 360 for over half a year now.

the parts:

Ram - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ

PSU - Rosewill RP600V2-S-SL 600W SLI Ready-ATX12V V2.01 Power Supply

HDD - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-G31M-S2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Video Card - EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400

CPU Fan - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

Case - COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Any help would be greatly appreciated. It's so depressing having a multi-hundred dollar paperweight on your floor.. =)

welcome to PCHF Madcow,

when you try the on board video do you have the video card removed? some systems will not work with an expansion card in. also with that type of card do you have enough power going to it?

Thank you for the hasty reply and the Welcome. My friend mainly put this together, since i havent done anything like this in over 4 years. I'd hope 600w is sufficient but maybe not? also Yes, the PCI-E card was in when testing Onboard. I should try taking it out and seeing what happens.

to add: I spoke with my friend about the possible lack of wattage, he insists 600w fine for not going SLI. Would this be something you agree or disagree with?

great madcow,

take out the card and try the on board. also does your power supply have a pci-e connector for your graphics card?

Ok I'm at work right now but we'll try that for sure tonight. My PSU comes with an 8-pin and 6-pin power hookup for PCI-e, we used the 6-pin. I looked up reviews for the video card and it seems a lot of people have no issues running this card on 400w PSUs, so my 600w *should* be sufficient. Since I cannot try your suggestion until i get home from work, can you think of anything else I should try?

How bizarre is it that my PC powers on when i plug a keyboard in? ever heard of that one before? I dont see it being a problem that holds me back since i dont make it a habbit to continually disconnect and reconnect my keyboard, but it's just odd.

Also, with the HDD not making any beeps.. how much of a worry is this? My friend says it's not a worry because it's not getting to that point, something about having trouble posting video.

Thank you so much again for your time and help.

it is very weird if your pc is powering on when you plug in your keyboard. now it sounds like you have some type of short or cross in the wiring. any other problems?

Aside from the main problem, not getting any video, and the keyboard one, everything seems fine and dandy. My PSU makes everything glow all blue and pretty and all the fans spin very quiet and fast. We might take it apart and put it back together as a way to re-check wiring too. There are definitely lots of wires, and some have a bit of an uncomfortable stretch.. not to the point where there's stress on any connections, but i wouldn't mind finding a way to run them better and check everything out.