Very Strange PC Troubles

[Enzyme_]

Ok had my pc for just under year and half, then yesterday in the middle of a game it frooze and i restarted the pc but now it wont show any video output what so ever no gfx card or motherboard BIOS, the computer has the following setup, built by myself

AMD X2 4200+
ASUS A8N-SLI
1 GB Ram (1 Dimm)
XFX Nvidia 7800 GTX (256mb Not overclocked)
120 GB HD-Drive
Windows XP

Strange thing is it loads windows with no video output cause i can still play winamp using keys on my keyboard and hear my music!

Tried the following with no success;

Swapping Ram
Trying my Brothers 7900 GT instead of my GFX card
Reset Bios
Dry booting (GFX Card and Ram only)
No graphics card tho strangely i get no beeps! same with no ram!

Although after searching on the net someone proposed i swap round the card that controls the sli part to say i have two cards although really only one this booted up once showing graphics card BIOS loaded then MB Bios and finally went blank and has never shown video again

Any ideas on what is up and how i could resolve problem

[Bongo]

Dead monitor?

[Enzyme_]

Sorry tried it wither another monitor and no luck, my monitor worked fine wiht brothers computer

[AndrewT]

Trying to parse the badly phrased penultimate sentence leads me to believe you saw nothing on the monitor, then tried something, which got some sort of image, but then that died as well?

So, computer boots up OK (playing of Winamp), and doesn't know anything's wrong, which suggests the problem is not critical to Windows. Have you tried your graphics card in your brother's PC?

Whenever you get a computer problem which looks to be hardware related, you need to test your potentially dodgy component in a working system, as well as a known good component in your potentially dodgy system to find out which is the bit that is broken.

I assume the cables are pushed in properly [/byronkincaid]

[Bongo]

Sounds like you may have a dead slot on your motherboard.

[Enzyme_]

Trying to parse the badly phrased penultimate sentence leads me to believe you saw nothing on the monitor, then tried something, which got some sort of image, but then that died as well?

So, computer boots up OK (playing of Winamp), and doesn't know anything's wrong, which suggests the problem is not critical to Windows. Have you tried your graphics card in your brother's PC?

Whenever you get a computer problem which looks to be hardware related, you need to test your potentially dodgy component in a working system, as well as a known good component in your potentially dodgy system to find out which is the bit that is broken.

I assume the cables are pushed in properly [/byronkincaid]

Sounds like you may have a dead slot on your motherboard.

The plot thickens some what, was in the process of trying my gfx card in my bro pc and once again i get the result of windows boots but with no video (can hear daft windows music once its loaded)

so i try brothers card in my pc whilest i have it out and it gives same response no video output

[M3boy]

Def sounds like a dying motherboard

[Tractor]

Trying to parse the badly phrased penultimate sentence leads me to believe you saw nothing on the monitor, then tried something, which got some sort of image, but then that died as well?

So, computer boots up OK (playing of Winamp), and doesn't know anything's wrong, which suggests the problem is not critical to Windows. Have you tried your graphics card in your brother's PC?

Whenever you get a computer problem which looks to be hardware related, you need to test your potentially dodgy component in a working system, as well as a known good component in your potentially dodgy system to find out which is the bit that is broken.

I assume the cables are pushed in properly [/byronkincaid]

Sounds like you may have a dead slot on your motherboard.

The plot thickens some what, was in the process of trying my gfx card in my bro pc and once again i get the result of windows boots but with no video (can hear daft windows music once its loaded)
so i try brothers card in my pc whilest i have it out and it gives same response no video output

So, with your gfx card in your bros pc it has the same fault?
yet with his gfx card in your pc it is still faulty?

[RichEO]

Do you get the BIOS screen showing at all? Is your monitor CRT or LCD, I say this as CRTs often don't warm up quick enough to actually show the BIOS screen.

Does you graphics card have 2 outputs, have you connected to the other one, on both cards / PCs?

Have you tried resetting your CMOS / BIOS?

[Enzyme_]

Tractor:

Yeh gfx card has same fault in his pc and brothers gfx card in my pc gives same result

Richeo:

Both monitors are LCDs and i have always been able to see the bios screens on both the gfx card and motherboard,

Tried both outputs even hooked my tv up to the tv out and tried to find any output from it!

CMOS / BIOS both been reset, removed battery for 30 mins then replaced it

[RichEO]

  Very strange. Would like to say it's a software issue, but not seeing the POST and having tried your card out in the other PC is a bit confusing now. Faulty motherboard AND graphics card however unlikely is all I can come up with atm.

Are the graphics cards both nVidia? Is the fan still spinning OK? Is the auxilliary power connector plugged in? Have you got any compressed air to clean your PCI-E slot?

Have you taken everything apart and back together again? Sound strange, but often the motherboard can be grounded somehwere and cause problems, try taking it all out of you case and powering it up on a desk.

Suggestions after that are: nick your bros motherboard and graphics card and see if you can get your PC working then. If it works, put your graphics card in it and see if it still works. Like I said could be faulty mobo and gfx however unlikely.