Issues w/ new homebuilt rig - Please help!!!

[inwood]

Hi guys/gals,

I just finished assembling my brothers new rig but I ran into a major issue. When I power on the system all the fans/drives/hd are operational but when I plug my monitor to it, it keeps saying "check signal cable". The video card is connected to a 6 pin connector. I made sure that all the cables were connected, and I've also reseated the video card a few times. I know it's not the monitor because it works perfectly fine with my other rig. I also tried connecting my new rig to another monitor and get the same "check signal cable" message. I'm thinking it's an issue with the video card but I know it could be a multitude of other things. I'm hoping to find a resolution so I wont have to RMA the item. Here is a complete list of the major components of my setup:

Case: Antec 900
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA1156
CPU: i7 870 Socket 1156
Memory: G.SKILL F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V
Video Card: GIGABYTE GV-R685D5-1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16
Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS
Monitor: SAMSUNG BX2331

Can someone please help me pinpoint the issue? I can't seem to figure out if it's an issue with the video card/motherboard/or stupidity by me!!

Thanks in advance.

 

[buzznut]

Well, you're right this is a common issue and it doesn't mean its the video card. It could simply be not posting. A number of things can cause this but a few of them would be an issue with the ram, or some other error. (CPU incorrectly seated, Power supply, not using the second P4 power connector, etc.)

Do you have a system speaker? Do you have any beeps at startup? Have you checked other cables for connection? Have you tried to remove all but one stick of ram?

 

[buzznut]

Sometimes with faster DDR3 ram (higher density like 4GB sticks are a particularly bothersome), you need to boot with one stick and then enter the BIOS to adjust voltages/timings then you can add the second stick and reboot.

 

[jedi940]

Did you plug in the 4/8 pin CPU power connector? Also check out this guide.

PERFORM THESE STEPS before posting about boot/no video problems!

 

[T_T]

And if the troubleshooting guide doesn't help you, do a breadboard of your rig. Basically it's building the system outside of the case, but follow the instructions from the link to jsc's breadboarding guide.

Good luck.

 

[inwood]

Thanks for all the info. I just got back from out of town so I havent been able to test them out yet. I will try all of your suggestions and reply with the results.