This is my first build since 1998, and (I've been using Macs in the interim.)
So, I'm not *entirely* unfamiliar with the process, but I clearly don't know
as much as I thought I did, and I'm *way* out of practice and often out of date.
My full system list is here:
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/silliest/saved/1LZ1
But I think the relevant part is this bit:
MoBo - Asus P8Z77-V
(just a V, nothing else)
Video - Asus GeForce GTX 670
And the problem is that I have no video signal getting to my monitor.
I apologize for the length of this post, but I've tried a LOT!
I'm so frustrated right now, I need to write it out just to make sense of it in my own head, and try to figure out what I may have missed.
I initially installed everything BUT the video card, got my bios, OS and drivers all up to date. Everything worked FINE.
I had a VGA connector on the monitor.
I powered down to install the graphics card, and hook up my second monitor with SLI cables on both screens.
When I powered back up, my monitor woke up long enough to tell me it was in "power saving mode" and that's all I got out of it.
I had *not* disabled onboard drivers before installing the card (a more experienced helper told me it wasn't important, and not to bother), so I don't know if that's what went wrong or not.
I have tried the following troubleshooting ideas, while making sure to power-down from the PSU and re-starting every time. I wear a grounding strap whenever I go near it, so I don't *think* I just zapped anything.
1. Disconnected second monitor
2. Tried single monitor in both SLI slots on the graphics card.
3. Moved SLI cable from graphics card to motherboard.
4. Switched to VGA cable on motherboard. (which is the configuration that had worked before the graphics card install)
I still have no video signal.
**Edited to add a bit I left out the first time:
I took the graphics card OUT of the system entirely, and *then* continued on with the following.
The monitor will tell me SLI-I, SLI-D, or VGA, depending on which port it's plugged into, so it's getting *some* info but not actual signal. I also get the ever-present "power saving mode" and then it goes black again.
With the originally-functional VGA-to-motherboard connection in place, I have also tried the following, with full power-down between attempts
(I was assuming that plugging in the graphics card without disabling the onboard video had scrambled the bios, but I'm basically a noob, so I don't really know if that was a reasonable assumption or not.)
1. bios flash button on MoBo
2. reseating cmos battery
3. tap ctrl key during bootup
4. hold insert key during bootup
5. re-check and re-seat all internal connections and re-boot one more time just for the heck of it.
I still get the same thing on my monitor.
I'll bet a donut that it's something REALLY simple and obvious, because I'm in that state of mind where I know I'm prone to missing the obvious.
"Obvious" things I have verified:
1. I know the power is plugged in because my fans go and light up and the LED's on the MoBo do, too.
2. I know the monitor is plugged in because it knows not only what cable is in *it's* case, it knows what port that cable is in on the computer.
Beyond that, I'm kinda lost, though.
So - what now?
So, I'm not *entirely* unfamiliar with the process, but I clearly don't know
as much as I thought I did, and I'm *way* out of practice and often out of date.
My full system list is here:
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/silliest/saved/1LZ1
But I think the relevant part is this bit:
MoBo - Asus P8Z77-V
(just a V, nothing else)
Video - Asus GeForce GTX 670
And the problem is that I have no video signal getting to my monitor.
I apologize for the length of this post, but I've tried a LOT!
I'm so frustrated right now, I need to write it out just to make sense of it in my own head, and try to figure out what I may have missed.
I initially installed everything BUT the video card, got my bios, OS and drivers all up to date. Everything worked FINE.
I had a VGA connector on the monitor.
I powered down to install the graphics card, and hook up my second monitor with SLI cables on both screens.
When I powered back up, my monitor woke up long enough to tell me it was in "power saving mode" and that's all I got out of it.
I had *not* disabled onboard drivers before installing the card (a more experienced helper told me it wasn't important, and not to bother), so I don't know if that's what went wrong or not.
I have tried the following troubleshooting ideas, while making sure to power-down from the PSU and re-starting every time. I wear a grounding strap whenever I go near it, so I don't *think* I just zapped anything.
1. Disconnected second monitor
2. Tried single monitor in both SLI slots on the graphics card.
3. Moved SLI cable from graphics card to motherboard.
4. Switched to VGA cable on motherboard. (which is the configuration that had worked before the graphics card install)
I still have no video signal.
**Edited to add a bit I left out the first time:
I took the graphics card OUT of the system entirely, and *then* continued on with the following.
The monitor will tell me SLI-I, SLI-D, or VGA, depending on which port it's plugged into, so it's getting *some* info but not actual signal. I also get the ever-present "power saving mode" and then it goes black again.
With the originally-functional VGA-to-motherboard connection in place, I have also tried the following, with full power-down between attempts
(I was assuming that plugging in the graphics card without disabling the onboard video had scrambled the bios, but I'm basically a noob, so I don't really know if that was a reasonable assumption or not.)
1. bios flash button on MoBo
2. reseating cmos battery
3. tap ctrl key during bootup
4. hold insert key during bootup
5. re-check and re-seat all internal connections and re-boot one more time just for the heck of it.
I still get the same thing on my monitor.
I'll bet a donut that it's something REALLY simple and obvious, because I'm in that state of mind where I know I'm prone to missing the obvious.
"Obvious" things I have verified:
1. I know the power is plugged in because my fans go and light up and the LED's on the MoBo do, too.
2. I know the monitor is plugged in because it knows not only what cable is in *it's* case, it knows what port that cable is in on the computer.
Beyond that, I'm kinda lost, though.
So - what now?
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