No picture when turning on computer

RikuoAmero

Hey guys, I'm at my wit's end here. I'm getting literally no picture at all with this old desktop of mine (not even a BIOS). Here's the machine

A Fujitsu Scaleo L
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz CPU
4GB DDR2 RAM
320GB SATA Hard Drive (Win Vista Home Premium 32-bit installed)
XFX Geforce GT 240 512MB

I first bought this machine years ago, gave it to a friend, then got it back earlier in 2014. He dual-booted between Win Vista and Win XP (both were installed on the same hard drive).
When I got it back, I replaced the CPU to what I listed above (before it was some crappy 2.0 GHz dual core, can't quite remember what it was), added a second hard drive (2.5" 320GB), on which I installed Ubuntu, swapped out the PSU for a 580W, added the mentioned Geforce card and put in a blu-ray drive (that is now at this moment in my main gaming rig).
For a while, everything was okay, if a bit shaky (I had never used Ubuntu before). However, now, the machine won't boot up at all.
At one point, I was trying various flavours of Ubuntu and Linux, and I remember having problems getting a picture (I remember I think having Lubuntu installed and having to go into recovery mode instead of the main Lubuntu boot in order to prevent a scrambled picture)
I did take out the 2.5" hard drive a while back and just used it as a storage drive for my gaming rig with a USB dock (basically, I erased Ubuntu). However, now, whenever I power on the machine, I get no picture at all. I did not erase the original 320GB hard that has Vista on it.

I have tried using the HDMI connector on the Geforce card and powering on, no dice.
I have tried using the Geforce's VGA connector and powering on, no dice.
I have tried the onboard VGA connector and powering on, both with and without the Geforce card installed, no dice.
I have tried removing the CMOS battery and reinserting it (hoping to just reset the BIOS), no dice.
The machine powers on and, apart from the no picture on the screen, it seems to be running just fine.

Any help guys?

braddun

how many beeps does it give


http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

RikuoAmero

braddun wrote: »

how many beeps does it give


http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

None. I remember now it gave a good strong beep back when it worked.

TerrorFirmer

Could be the board. Realistically, the machine is only worth about €80 even if fully working, you could pick up another for about €50-60 and transfer your Gt240 and ram over.

Also, on that point, have you tried booting up with alternating sticks of ram?

mordeith

Maybe I'm missing something but have you ruled out the monitor as the problem? (i.e connected to another monitor)

RikuoAmero

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Could be the board. Realistically, the machine is only worth about €80 even if fully working, you could pick up another for about €50-60 and transfer your Gt240 and ram over.

Also, on that point, have you tried booting up with alternating sticks of ram?

Can't believe I never thought of just getting a new board, and here's me for the last few days looking at getting a laptop to replace it. Thanks! I'll just get a mobo-CPU-RAM bundle and maybe an SSD or two (RAID 1), and a copy of Win 8.

syklops

Before you replace the board, resit the memory. When did you first start having this problem? What was the last change you made before the problem?

RikuoAmero

syklops wrote: »

Before you replace the board, resit the memory. When did you first start having this problem? What was the last change you made before the problem?

Too late, everything's been ordered. For those who care, specs are
AMD A8 5500 Quad Core 3.2GHz
4GB DDR3 RAM
Radeon HD 7560D
XFX Geforce GT 240 512MB
2x 128GB SSD in RAID 1
Windows 8.1

TerrorFirmer

RikuoAmero wrote: »

Too late, everything's been ordered. For those who care, specs are
AMD A8 5500 Quad Core 3.2GHz
4GB DDR3 RAM
Radeon HD 7560D
XFX Geforce GT 240 512MB
2x 128GB SSD in RAID 1
Windows 8.1

I actually meant more that you could just buy a whole other PC of the same spec as your non-working one for €80.

Where did you buy those specs - what did you pay? The AMD A8 is poor value for money compared to Intel, though the integrated graphics performance is a bit better. No point using that GT240, the 7560D onboard video on the A8-5550 is probably as fast at least.

RikuoAmero

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

I actually meant more that you could just buy a whole other PC of the same spec as your non-working one for €80.

Where did you buy those specs - what did you pay? The AMD A8 is poor value for money compared to Intel, though the integrated graphics performance is a bit better. No point using that GT240, the 7560D onboard video on the A8-5550 is probably as fast at least.

Amazon and Dabs.ie. I know about the 240, but the APU is coming in a motherboard+cpu+RAM bundle, and the mobo doesn't have a HDMI out, whereas the 240 does. As for poor value, the bundle was the cheapest quad core I found. All I'll be using this machine for is web browsing, email and watching videos, and maybe playing visual novels (which don't need a beefy graphics card).

TerrorFirmer

In that case, you could have gotten a faster Intel G3220, motherboard, 4gb, for far less, and get far better performance....bundles are a terrible choice of any website, they're usually horrifically outdated (case in point....)

RikuoAmero

Intel G3220 is a dual core 3.0GHz. The A8 5500 is a quad core 3.2GHz. How is the Intel one faster or better?

TerrorFirmer

AMD processors are far slower than Intel ones. Especially per thread, they destroy them. The A8 and A10 quad's in particular are much slower. You could have gotten a G3258/G3220, HDMI motherboard and 4GB ram for about €140....not sure what you spent on that setup but probably a good bit more I would imagine.

syklops

RikuoAmero wrote: »

Too late, everything's been ordered.

Well while you wait for it to be delivered why don't you reseat the RAM and then can establish whether you have a working mobo you can sell or one fit for the bin.