Just built new pc, to discover that my Sapphire Radeon 9600 XT (AGP 8x) isnt giving me any picture! I also tried to use a BFG GeForce FX5200 on a PCI slot, but no luck as of yet!! mobo - PcChips M870 (no onboard video) ive tried resetting the BIOS using the CMOS jumper, no beeps are coming through the speakers, ive also tried both the d-sub and s-video outputs on both cards!! oh, and ive tried changin the jumper on my 9600xt from PAL to NTSC, as a very last resort, but still nothing! anyone got any ideas as to why this would be?? thanks, pinkhippo123

Strange to get both an AGP and a PCI card to not give a picture. I would have suggested that perhaps you had your primary VGA adapter set to PCI when using the AGP card and maybe it wasnt detecting it but since you've tried both it can't be that. This is a long shot but are you sure that someone hasnt turned the brightness and contrast right down on your monitor for a laugh?!?! Failing that, are you sure that since you've just built it, that it is posting (i.e getting to the bios load up stage and beyond)? Usually errors do give out a speaker beep but I don't know how advanced you are in building PC's and maybe you've simply connected a load of things up incorrectly?!?! Watch the HDD LED for activity past the first 5 seconds or so as if it's loading something up. If all of the above gives no results then maybe you could assume your monitor is shot.

This is from the geekstogo forum...which is also a good tech forum...here it is. By Doby BIOS beep codes 1- Make sure you have a case speaker connected, if you are getting 1 long continuous beep this indicates the system can’t find usable ram, reseat the ram, try different ram or try the ram in a different dimm slot 2- 1 long 2 short indicates video error reseat the video card, try another video card Nothing on the screen with no beeps 1-Make sure the hs (heatsink) is installed properly, tight with thermal paste applied 2-Make sure the cpu fan is connected to the correct header on the motherboard 3-Clear the cmos by unplugging the computer removing the battery then move the clear cmos jumper from pins 1&2 to 2&3 for 10 minutes 4-Replace the battery and move the jumper back to pins 1&2 5-Verify all motherboard jumpers are set correctly 6-Verify all case connections are correct ( case switch ect.) 7-Verify the power supplies 20/24 pin and 4pin 12v are tightly seated to the motherboard Still won’t go 1-Remove all drives and cards except the video, remove front sound and usb 2-Repeat the above 3-The idea here is to get the computer to post and boot into bios if after doing so you are able to get into bios let the computer idle in bios for a while and watch the temps and voltages. 4-If everything appears normal load the bios defaults and make sure to save and exit 5-Now add the drives and install windows then add the remaining cards Still won’t go 1-Remove the motherboard from the case and place on a piece of cardboard 2-Install only the cpu with hsf, 1 stick ram in dimm 1, psu, video card, case switch and case speaker 3-Connect ps2 mouse and keyboard along with the monitor 4-Repeat the above and power on 5-If the computer now boots into bios you most likely had a case short so make sure when installing the motherboard in the case that you use standoffs and they line up with the mounting holes in the motherboard and none of the standoffs touch anything else on the underside of the board. Thanks to bmc2k7 for posting the above on Computing Net earlier The Beeps codes may vary with the Bios type installed. Check www.bioscentral.com