just built mine a week ago

had to wait a whole week without OS b/c newegg was out of stock

during that week.. i was able to boot into bios and just look at the settings (no setting changes)

well i just got my xp home OEM...

i turn the computer on and i get "PLEASE CHECK SIGNAL CABLE" message and the moniter shuts off

why would the computer work fine for a week and just stop working when i'm ready to fire it up with the OS

Basic, but have you check the signal cable to make sure that it is indeed snug? Do you have another monitor you can try?

You might want to reseat the video card a couple of times if you don't have onboard video...

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