I am stumped, plz help me!!!

[JohnnyTrek17]

My first time here so here goes; I have an Athlon 64 2800+ cpu, ASUS 754 pin motherboard (don't remember the model), 1 gig or RAM, 2 x 160 gig hard drives, LG dual-layer dvd burner, Asus tv tuner, Cobra sound card, BenQ 19 inch LCD, Windows Xp Pro (all up to date). I used to have an ATI 9600 se 128mb videocard, in jan 2007 I purchased a Powercolor X1600 pro AGP 8x videocard. followed all the instructions for installation to the letter and everything was working fine...I could hear the fan on my new videocard cause my pc was very quiet before, then one day my pc was on but I could'nt hear the fan anymore...then a burning smell so I shut it down, powered it up again and it seemed ok...the next day when i started it up I could see the Asus logo screen come up but then no more image but my pc was running (could see the hard drive light blinking). I thought it might be the videocard I had just bought so I got another one and installed it but I get the same logo screen then no image!!! Can anyone point me in the right direction so I can fix this problem? I've been using my laptop for over a month now and I miss my desktop. Thanks in advance for any help or advice you might have.

Johnny

[Paul Komski]

Can you get into windows in safe mode (F8 during startup)?

Can you boot to another device such as a boot floppy or live CD (eg Knoppix) both with and without the hard drive connected?

If no results to the above. Can you get into the BIOS setup? In other words is the PC comleting its POST?

[George Hallam]

well it sounds like your fans gone to make sure nothing else is damaged if you have you old graphics card put that in and see if it will boot. then if it does it just mean your graphics card is no good is it still under warranty if so send it back and get a new fan or just see if the fan on it is unplugged

[JohnnyTrek17]

thanks alot for your help people...but i've tried a second brand new videocard and the same thing happens...guess i fried the AGP interface or the BIOS is corrupt. it's time for a new motherboard, memory, videocard and cpu

[Whyzman]

I would try Paul's suggestions first...

[Sylvander]

But the POST never completes does it? [I assume so, but you haven't answered Paul]

So there's no way you can boot from ANY drive.

What I found interesting [and significant] is that...
1. The video is initialised and there is a display on the monitor [hence video is functional].

2. But then some step in the POST results in a loss of video signal output "I could see the Asus logo screen come up but then no more image but my pc was running (could see the hard drive light blinking)"/
Which POST step failure could cause that I wonder?
e.g. What if the RAM was faulty and when the video BIOS was shadowed to [that location in] RAM the display of video image output failed/ceased.
Except I don't think it can be that because here's a part of a generic Phoenix BIOS POST...
48h Check video configuration against CMOS
49h Initialize PCI bus and devices
4Ah Initialize all video adapters in system
--------------------------------------------
4Bh QuietBoot start (optional)
4Ch Shadow video BIOS ROM
4Eh Display BIOS copyright notice

Note the BIOS is shadowed just BEFORE the display of BIOS copyright.

[Paul Komski]

there is a display on the monitor [hence video is functional]

Exactly. That is why I wondered if we are dealing with a failure to comlete the POST. If that's the case it could be any piece of malfunctioning hardware and a bare bones boot could be informative.

[Whyzman]

Exactly.

You're not gonna get an image on the monitor without the video card functioning...somewhat...

Follow Paul's suggestions....

[sassie05]

...then a burning smell...

Guys.. I think something is toast.
As Whyzman said; follow Paul's suggestions

[Fruss Tray Ted]

I think something is toast.

It's what's for supper

[Ajmukon]

It could be a bad connection to the CPU- (which would result in a failure to POST) or a bad CPU because of the "Burning smell"

I would follow Paul's suggestions and test to see if POST is even completing