Could my monitor problem be the motherboard?

[squirrel15]

My acer P191w monitor isnt working. I finally build my computer and I turned it on for the very first time, I got the monitor from my brother who never had any problems with the monitor before. Here is my build:
Thermaltake V9 case
Gigabyte 890gx mobo
Gskill 1600 cas 7 ripjaws ram
Antec truepower 750w PSU
ATI (xfx) 5850 (stock not overclocked)
Seagate barracuda hard drive
LG cd dvd writer
AMD 955 BE CPU

My monitor turns on fine, it says "ACER" then it says "no signal" about 4 seconds later. Both the mobo and monitor have a DVI cables/ports. My computer turns on fine, all the fans and PSU works too. I looked all over the internet and have tried the power cool down with the monitor (unplugging monitor and holding down the power button), I've tried unplugging and blowing in the cables and making sure theres not bend wires or anything and plugged them back in and still nothing. I have read that it could be the motherboard. Any ideas as to whats wrong and how I can fix it would help greatly. Thanks.

 

[squirrel15]

Ok. So i just turn off the computer even though its in the BIOS right now?

 

[squirrel15]

OK the other stick works too, and I'm in the BIOS now.

 

[squirrel15]

Do I just choose the "Load Optimized Defaults"? Theres also a 'Q-Flash' option (F8) is that different than flashing the bios? Once I do select something do I choose "Load CMOS to BIOS" after?

 

[bilbat]

So - both DIMMs work, individually; likelyhood of a 'bad' one is low; now, without changing anything else, power down and add the second DIMM to the other same colored slot that the working one is in; boot, and see if it's OK...

 

[squirrel15]

Alright they both work! I'm in the bios now. Now what master? lol

 

[squirrel15]

Do I continue with the BIOS like you said before all of this mess happened? lol

 

[bilbat]

... feeeel the force, Luke...

At this point, we want to do a thorough test of the memory subsystem - did you do the project I posted at the end of last night? (burning the MemTest CD?)

Also, at this point we want to make it simpler to get into the BIOS, and find out which BIOS your board shipped with...

Once again, boot and enter the BIOS; go to the "Advanced BIOS Features" page and disable the "Full Screen LOGO Show" item; while you're there, set the "First Boot Device" item to "CD-ROM", and the "Second/Third Boot Devices" (temporarily) to "Disabled"; once again, an <F10> to save and exit...

Now, on the reboot, you should see something similar to this:

What we are interested in is the BIOS version; if it's "F4" we're in good shape, and can skip some steps; if it's "F3", we'll need to fix that, after the RAM testing...

 

[squirrel15]

Well I dont have a CD to burn the MemTest on. Can I still do all the stuff without the memtest? I dont have a CD to burn it on. I'm also going to start rapid firing this. I have class in an hour. lol

 

[squirrel15]

Ok, my friend has a CD I can burn it on. Just to let you know last night I was able to use the computer and I already loaded the OS and everything and I was even able to get on the internet and download he memtest but I didnt have a CD to burn to, Did I go too far? Was I supposed to do all of this BIOS stuff before I even loaded the OS?

 

[bilbat]

" I'm also going to start rapid firing this" = "shoots self in foot, complains about having to change the bandage twice a week..."

RELAX! Go to class - put the thing out of your mind while there! On the way home, stop at gas station, pick up: six pack (Sedatives!), and blank CDs (never thought I'd live to see the day when the average gas station would carry CDs! :lol: ); the machine (or, at this point, the 'pile of parts') isn't going anywhere... It will be waiting for you when you return! Like I said, that's an impressive 'pile of parts'; you want it to turn into an impressive machine - you don't shortcut anything [:bilbat:8]

 

[squirrel15]

Alright sure thing! Do I still need to run the memtest even though the ram runs fine now? It seems like the problem is the graphics card.

 

[bilbat]

Sorry it took me a bit, I'm baking brownies and had to linger a while to lick the bowl...

Was I supposed to do all of this BIOS stuff before I even loaded the OS?

That's the basic idea 😀 There are two reasons:

The windoze installer is, in and of itself, an excellent 'stress test'; if anything in the whole system is unstable, any which way, you'll usually wind up with an abrupt problem during the install...

Windoze is happiest when it's installed with all the hardware in (and working correctly!) - you can add the stuff later, or reconfigure it, but it gets, often, to be a bigger and 'trickier' job - and the OS is the 'brains' of your new machine - you want it as absolutely and positively 'well-installed' as humanly possible!

 

[squirrel15]

So its not too late to make the changes in the BIOS? I consulted with my friend's dad whos pretty savy with computers said that I should try the video card since everything else works and I did and the monitor couldnt recognize the computer, no signal. But he said it could be a faulty video card or that I neeed to disable the onboard graphics. But before I disable the onboard I need to make sure I can reset the defaults in some way so I'm not stuck with the settings at disabled onboard ad the video card doesnt work then im up a creek fro sure.

 

[bilbat]

We'll get to the video - the memory is the first thing, as every other thing in the whole system is depedent upon the CPU and memory working together - perfectly!

Yes, you can get a 'reset' of the video subsystem once we've configured it to 'depend' on the external card - just doing the 'CMOS reset' procedure will return it to default settings which enable the 'on-board'...

Back to memory, we have yet to:
test, to make sure it's working;
examine the settings, to make sure its 'automatic' configuration, by the "Load Optimized", is the correct setting, and uses the memory at it's rated settings;
if 'problems' with either of those two - hand configure the RAM, and test - again! [:bilbat:8]

Just to give you an idea of patience, when I did my current workstation, I bought six sticks of RAM, to select and use the four fastest/most stable; I 'labelled and loaded' each stick, individually, and ran MemTest four times on each stick, overnight for each 'try', at four different speeds - to 'qualify it', and find the best sticks!! Now, we aren't going to do anything even nearly that extreme, but we do want to confirm that it's working, and working correctly...

 

[squirrel15]

Ok, so how do i examine the settings? Do I need to have the memtest burned and in the cd driver to do this?

 

[squirrel15]

I looked at the settings in the BIOS and it said the "memory core clock" is on "auto" but the clock is at 1333 not 1600 like it is when I ordered it. The case latency is at 9 too I think but its supposed t be 7. I think the volts are at 1.5 which is correct. How do I change/fix this? I burned the memtest and put the cd in my computer but it doesnt recognize it at all.

 

[bilbat]

That's precisely what I was talking about - it may be working, but not at rated clocking - we'll see if it can be done... Please post the actual part number of the RAM - and, oh, that BIOS rev # too, please...

 

[bilbat]

Umm, and is it a SATA or IDE DVD?

 

[squirrel15]

I dont know exactly what BIOS it is, it comes up and goes away so fast. It might be F4, im not completely sure. What is the actual part number? How do I find it?
And what are you talking about when you ask for sata or ide dvd?

 

[squirrel15]

Also how do I find out if its an F4 or F3?

 

[bilbat]

Should be a sticker in this general format, on the box (that the roommate threw away?), as well as on the DIMMs themselves (or at least - one of 'em:
F3-12800CL7D-4GB or something near it...

it comes up and goes away so fast

:lol: ...use the 'pause' key when it appears... 😗

 

[squirrel15]

Yep, its an F3, SHOOT! and the ram is F3-12800CL7D-4BGRM

 

[squirrel15]

So now what do we do?

 

[bilbat]

OK - gimme a little bit to look into the G.Skill p/n, and I'll get back with some procedure; do you have a USB 'thumb drive' handy? (I'm sure you didn't bother with something so archaic as a floppy drive 😉 - they're damned handy for flashing BIOS...)

I'm a bit slow, here, had a 'plumbing disaster - ten gallons on water on the bathroom floor, replaced a supply line, water behind the shower enclosure, in the basement, and now it's threatening to drip into the power supply for my water-cooling setup built into the basement ceiling 😱

Couple things - the DVD connection 'type', and - do me a favor, pick any damn thing as 'best answer' (so I don't accidentally dig into it) and start a new thread - this is wearing out my scroll wheel

 

[squirrel15]

Best answer selected by squirrel15.