firstly, a big well done to sampson a supposedly "senior member" leading you all down a dark path that is windoze.
WRONG
no bios screen = hardware
unplug your hard drive and see if it boots, if it dos then listen to sampson, if it dosnt (and it wont) youll wanna read the rest of this post.
ok, cant remember all the questions completely but ill try to hit every note in one post.
first job. check for compatability issue with your specific bord and pcb number, as well as your bios and chipset. all of these can cause a vga failiure.
the basics of pc engineering teach that when using a confirmed working monitor, a vga error usually details a memory fault. this isnt the case since you all have working older cards and one person even had the card working in another board. so for most of you this will be a compatibility problem between you gfx and one of the listed items above.
also, there are two types of 12v rail connectors for gfx cards. one is a 4 pin much like the atx 2.0 plug. the second is 6 plugs with only 4 wired up.
the flat yellow connector your seeing is the "vivo" connector and has nothing to do with the basic functions of your card.
whilst fixing this problem i suggest unplugging anythin unneccesary.
ie. only mobo, cpu memory and gfx card are connected and powered.
im pretty sure all x800 series need the extra power connector. so do this. even if no plug was supplied you may still need it.
if removing all the extra stuff solves you problem, rejoice, and reconnect one by one to identify the part causing the problem.
now onto the jumpers.
if your bord is old enough to still be using these, you need to be memorising your motherboard book as this will give you clues as to where you have gone wrong.
as far as i know the only jumper on the back of an x8 series card is to select ntsc or pal for the composite output.
for those of you with dual dvi output, try a proper dvi monitor. even if you have to expliot a money back garuntee to do so.
everyone should check this one :
your gfx card has a default active head. be it dvi or vga. so try all connectors on the card as the default can be switched at any time. it is usually the one closest to the motherboard. but this isnt a definate rule.
if you have onboard vga, try sticking your plug on there and see if theres any life. it could just be a bios setting as mentioned before, again your motherboard book will tell you this.
and if youve got all the way down here and still having problems, id suggest:
A: contact your motherbord vendor for and exact list of tested and supported cards for their board.
B: bite the bullet and get a newer motherboard with a 915 chipset (if your on intel that is) as i have never seen issues with these.
if your using a via chipset, you need shooting. these are the most troublesome for compatability errors with ati cards.
bar having your hardware sat infront of me, i can do no more for you guys. so i hope this helped some of you, and your now enjoying the exccellence that is the x8 series
p.s. on the 915 chipset i have run an x300 an x800 gto an x850 pro vivo and am awaiting an x850xt but since its identical bar no severed pipelines and a few mhz to the 850 pro im not expecting any problems.
all have been used on two boards. gigabyte 81915g-mf and the foxxcon 915 p7ad
