Hello everyone. I was cruising the net looking for some technical help and stumbled upon this forum. I sure would appreciate some advice if you all don't mind.
So, I was using my PC a while back when all of a sudden the monitor went black. I tried everything I knew and could not get the monitor to display anything. I connected it to another computer and found that it worked perfectly. I then put my video card into a friend's PC and it did not work. I decided that the video card was probably the problem, so I ordered a new one.
Well, the new video card did not work (same exact issue). So I figured that the slot or something else on the mobo had gone ballistic and I had some more serious replacing to do. So, I ordered a new mobo, this one:
Biostar P4M900-M4 VIA P4M900 Socket 478 mATX MB w/VID SND LAN & RAID Biostar P4M900-M4
This is quite an older rig so this mobo was an upgrade for me. I had to buy new RAM to put in it, but I chose it to work with my 2.66ghz pentium 4 and still leave me some room to upgrade the CPU.
So I've just finished spending hours taking apart my pc and cleaning out years of dust and I have gotten the new mobo all set up, but I am having the same problem now that I was. I turn on the pc and the monitor just stays black as if it detects nothing. The only obvious problem right now is that I have an older PSU (380W Antec) that has a 20pin connector and the new mobo is 24. I read, however, that it is alright to use the 20 in the 24 if you aren't using a PCI-E slot, and I am not. In fact, I am just trying to run the PC right now with only the CPU and RAM installed (the vid card is onboard). It seems it should have enough power to display something on the monitor. By the way it beeps once when I turn it on. That's all.
So can you guys help me with figuring out what this problem is? Did I get a bunk mobo? Is my CPU bad (can a bad CPU stop the mobo from starting up whatsoever?) Can I run the mobo without a CPU in it? Could the PSU be the problem?
Thanks for whatever help guys. My situation is that I have not a whole lot of money to keep buying parts I don't actually need, but I've got not a whole lot around me to help with isolating the problem part.
Peace,
Adam
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