No video????

[blueonblack]

I was testing a new CPU cooler tonight, and when I got my system back together I'm not getting any video! I use a Sapphire HD4870 card, and there are three red LEDs on the back that stay lit and I get no signal at all to my monitor. Some searching has led to this being a power problem, but I have tried reseating the card, tried the card in different slots, tried reseating all my power connections, different PCIe cables (modular PSU), and even a different PSU and a different video card (identical card), all with no change at all. I am baffled and more than a little pissed.

The only thing I've done is change the CPU cooler twice. Now the one I tested has a very strong retention clip, and I felt the board flex a little when I removed it, could I have done something there? This board doesn't have onboard video so my system is completely dead until I get this resolved. Thank God for the wife's laptop. (Yes, I am an addict, I admit it freely.)

Anyone have any ideas?

[Trace]

Might try resetting the RAM as you could have bumped it when changing CPU coolers.

[mDust]

I've personally had very interesting things happen with graphics cards. I once dripped a single drop of coolant on my graphics card when trying to tighten the clamps on a CPU barb. I watched in slow motion as it flew towards my $600 piece of hardware and it laughed off my efforts to prevent it from causing damage. As soon as it hit there was a beeping sound from the MBB speaker, the screen displayed some sort of alien pattern and then went blank. The computer shut down. I yelled and broke things on my desk. After drying the card thoroughly, it refused to work. I threw in an inferior card that I keep around for emergencies and troubleshooting to get the machine to boot. It could not run games higher than say 15fps. I was mad. Being in denial, I played around with my main card in different PCIe slots but couldn't get it to work. Since I'm lazy, I just threw the spare card in a lower slot and powered on. I was doing some stumbling when I realized I had forgotten to switch the DVI cable to the spare card. So the main card worked fine when there was another card in the system! What a delightful discovery. It eventually stopped working and I played around with other configurations until I was satisfied that it was dead and went back to using the spare card again. A few weeks later, on a whim, I put the main card back in and it worked fine by itself. Go figure. I don't know what the hell it's problem was, but to this day it still works fine.

I know this was an unnecessarily long story, but it's meant to inspire! Try different slots, throw in an additional card, mix it up a bit! Sometimes things work when they shouldn't and don't when they should.

I felt the board flex a little when I removed it, could I have done something there?

Not likely. PCBs are able to flex a bit, but repeated strain can break traces. As long as you didn't hear the board straining, there shouldn't be a problem.

Does the PSU have different connectors on it's body to plug the modular cables into? If so, try a different slot. I've seen some short out before.

Be strong man!

[blueonblack]

Well, it seems I was sadly correct. I got a new board, hooked everything back up and it works great. Damndamndamn.

I'll get a PCI video card later and see if maybe it will work with the old board, since none of the PCIe slots seem to work. At least then I could use it as a spare. Otherwise it's a large shiny well-cooled paperweight.

[mDust]

Well, it seems I was sadly correct. I got a new board, hooked everything back up and it works great. Damndamndamn.

I'll get a PCI video card later and see if maybe it will work with the old board, since none of the PCIe slots seem to work. At least then I could use it as a spare. Otherwise it's a large shiny well-cooled paperweight.

Warranty?

[blueonblack]

What is this "warranty" that you speak of?

Since I cut the heatpipes off of the factory chipset coolers that's shot. I seem to have a habit of voiding warranties on just about everything I own.

[mDust]

What is this "warranty" that you speak of?

Since I cut the heatpipes off of the factory chipset coolers that's shot. I seem to have a habit of voiding warranties on just about everything I own.

I figured as much...was just trying to stay positive as long as I could.

Since it's shot, you might as well try something extreme on it like reflowing the solder:
http://www.overclock.net/intel-mothe...obos-well.html