Boot issue: no POST, no video display

I've got a custom built machine using an Asus P5K Deluxe motherboard, Intel Quad Core, 2GB RAM, GF 8800, and Vista 64 bit Ult.  Yesterday, the machine booted fine and functioned completely normally.  There was quite a bit of wind here in CA and the power was flakey yesterday, but the thing is on a UPS, so I rule that out.

When I went to turn it on today, it won't boot at all.  I do not get any signal to my monitor over any of the DVI connectors.  All fans spin up (chassis and CPU) and the HDD and DVD ROM devices do spin up.  The case I'm using lacks a speaker, so I can't get a beep code (I did find a small speaker thing in my spare parts that looks like it hooks into the PC speaker header, but it doesn't make any noise after hooking it up.  I'm not sure it works.)

Things I've tried so far:
I've reseated the video card
Moved the RAM around into different slots
Checked all the connections

I'm thinking I'll have to strip it down and build it back up.  I do have some extra DDR2 RAM I can try swapping around with; I just need to sort out which of the extra is good.

Go buy a speaker?

Also (1) try swapping the video card with another and (2) try connecting by VGA instead of DVI (if the card has VGA out and your monitor has VGA in).

CannotResolveSymbol wrote:

Go buy a speaker?

Also (1) try swapping the video card with another and (2) try connecting by VGA instead of DVI (if the card has VGA out and your monitor has VGA in).

I don't know where I'd buy a case speaker.  I could cannabalize something from an old case.

1) I'm saving this one for last.
2) The GF 8800 is dual DVI only.  I've actually used a DVI->VGA convertor and hooked into the monitor's VGA port.  Didn't do anything.

I should say that the HDD does do soemthing for a little while, and then stops.  I'm going to clear CMOS and see what else I can do.

Edit:
Clearing CMOS and resetting the video card did nothing.

I had exactly the same problem with my PC last year - no POST but all the fans etc spun up just fine.

Took it to a hardware guru workmate who suggested it was the power supply.

I wouldn't believe him, since everything (fans, HDD etc) were coming on, but he swapped in a spare PSU (of equivalent wattage) and it booted just fine.

So I'd suggest trying the PSU if you can get hold of a spare.

Personally I'd take it apart and put it together on a non conductive surface (like wood) and see if it boots then..

Often the problems are related to something shorting out or not being connected firmly..

Umm google is your friend:

http://store.ramplus.com/casespeaker.html

I would test the memory. Another easy test is test the PSU under load and make sure you get correct voltage. Then I would test the video card (swap out)

Again this is not tech support. If you feel helpless or lost on what to do next engage a professional. Technet is a better suited site for this kind of discussion. I am kinda getting tired of fix my hardware/COTS software issue posts.

The RAM was the issue.  I thought OCZ was decent RAM, but out of the four sticks I bought two seem to be bad now.

odujosh wrote:



Umm google is your friend:

http://store.ramplus.com/casespeaker.html

I would test the memory. Another easy test is test the PSU under load and make sure you get correct voltage. Then I would test the video card (swap out)

Again this is not tech support. If you feel helpless or lost on what to do next engage a professional. Technet is a better suited site for this kind of discussion. I am kinda getting tired of fix my hardware/COTS software issue posts.

Thanks for the condescending attitude!  Next time, don't post.