No signal output from my PCI-e graphics card

[cassaria]

I have recently broken my master hard drive in my pc, so have purchased another one, however i cannot get a signal output from the graphics card to instal windows onto the new harddrive? (the motherboard doesnt have onboard graphics either) the graphics card is a nvidia 6600, pci-e and the output i am using is DVI. (the card doesnt have a vga output). I really dont know why it isnt displaying?

[ChuckFickens]

chances are that when swapping the hard drive you've slightly dislodged the graphics card in it's slot, try simply removing the card and replacing it in the slot again.

[cassaria]

I tried that, but still no joy. The connection i am using is DVI to HDMI, would that perhaps be an issue?

[Brooksy]

the DVI to HDMI shouldn`t cause your problem. Most likely is (experienced many times) that which Chuck suggests. You may have to play around with the card`s positioning in it`s slot several times. I assume you hear some beeps @ startup before getting the no signal message. I did have one occasion, very recently actually, where the graphics card slot on the motherboard had failed. I tried 3 different cards - no go. Fortunately I`d just bought an identical M/B off Ebay as a spare, so was able to install that without upsetting XP. What beeping pattern have you?

[Brooksy]

Oh, also at very first booting, the 1st black screen should have a description in the top, l/h corner of your graphics card & its memory size. The 2nd screen which you can study by pressing Pause/Break, should give you information as hard drive, memory etc. Press enter when finished to continue.

[Brooksy]

Doh, I`m having a senior moment! I`ve just remembered that the 3rd screen should list your pci-e cards - if the motherboard detects it. Again you can use pause/break to give you time to read all the stuff on this screen. What version of Windows are you installing?

[cassaria]

I will be installing windows vista.

[Brooksy]

Let us know what your investigations reveal.

[cassaria]

Will do, will have a listen to the beeps when i get back home, but hopefully a bit of tinkering with the PCI slot will get the card working and a display output.

[cassaria]

I have just tried the garphics card again and still no joy. I have also just tried it in another pc, and the same, there is no recognised signal output? also, my PC makes no beeps when it starts up? im almost certain that the graphics card is fine and working so i have no idea what the issue could be?

[cassaria]

managed to get the graphics card to work in my other computer, however i had to change the display source in the bios for it to work though. I could only do this because my other pc has onboard graphics so i could enter the bios. could this perhaps be a bios setting in my other pc?

[ChuckFickens]

What exactly happens when you switch the computer on? what can you hear and what lights come on?

if it beeps what is the beep sequence, and what is the make and model of your machine?

[cassaria]

When i turn on the computer everything seems to turn on fine, all of the lights on the front of the pc work, there is no beep sequence, after 30sec or so there is a noise which perhaps sounds like the harddrive engaging. then fan on the graphics card is spining, which suggests that it is getting power, but there is no signal output from it.

[Brooksy]

Let`s work from the start of your problem. When you say the H/D "broke", what actually happened & did you have any warning signs before it ceased to function? Also as this sounds to be not an old PC, you could try returning the BIOS to its original state when new. You will have to carefully study the M/B inch by inch looking for a tiny pair of pins with "clear CMOS" next to them. These are usually shorted out by placing one of the tiny jumpers over them for about 3 or so seconds. You should remove the power lead whilst doing this & I trust you know to earth yourself on an internal screw to rid yourself of static (power lead in) before touching anything inside. You may have to borrow a jumper from elsewhere on the M/B but make a careful note of where it lived.

[Brooksy]

By coincedence, I have the same problem. I decided to upgrade my daughter`s PC with a faster M/B & CPU, having several spares of each from about 2001 (non PCI-Express). Two motherboards fail the POST (Power ON Self Test) without showing anything on the screen. I have a PCI (pre PCI-E) card which when the POST stalls gives an error code. Unfortunatlely it would appear that both M/Bs have suffered staic shock from incorrect handling & are dead. AS with you the CPU, graphics card,are working. Your last hope I fear is that you disturbed the memory sticks seating. If it comes to the crunch you can buy an identical M/B & possibly faster CPU as a bundle on Ebay.
Good luck. Oh, you haven`t answered Chucks last question yet. question yet.

[cassaria]

Just thought id let you know that the problem was that the processor was broken, I replaced the processor and the whole thing works fine now. Thanks for your advice.