I just assembled my brand new computer and its not working. When I turn it on, my lcd shows no signs of activity and goes into power-saving mode within seconds. My LCD doesn't have the usual signs that it has when not plugged into the computer though. This is a list of parts I used for this computer:

Case from my old computer
PSU from my old computer (Ultra X-Connect 500 Watt Modular Power Supply)
Monitor from my old computer (Dell 20 inch 2005FPW Widescreen LCD Monitor)
Brand New Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9
Brand New AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor
Brand New Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu
Brand New Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA 200Gb Hard Drive (ST3200822AS)
Brand New Geil DDR400 PC3200 2Gb (1Gb x2) 184 pin Dual Channel Memory
Second Hand (Tested) BFG Geforce 6800GT OC PCIe Video Card

BFG suggested I needed a BIOS update, which has to wait till monday. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Hi nix,

Important question: was your old computer Intel or AMD based?

>Do you get any system beeps at all, like it was booting but you can't see anything? Do you hear your hardddrive and optical drives spin up? Or does it start - you can hear the CPU heatsink fan start to spin up - but then just suddenly shuts down and the CPU heatsink fans turns off?

>Is there a power bulb on the mainboard, usually a tiny green light that illuminates when power is active on the board? Does that light stay on constantly?

>Exactly what do you mean, your monitor goes into "power saving mode" on startup? Do you mean it just remains dark? Have you connected it to a different computer to make sure that it is working? Also check the data plug and socket for bent/damaged pins.

>Have you tested the memory stick that you have with memtest on a different computer to make sure it is good? Believe it or not, sometimes you will get bad memory even if it is new. It's happened to me once, and once is enough!

It is going to be tough going to perform a BIOS flash without a working monitor. I would put that on hold until you perform all other checkups first. If the problem is a bad BIOS, I strongly suggest returning the mainboard for an exchange/refund. Attempting a BIOS flash may nullify your warranty on the board, and if the board is defective, you are then up a creek without a paddle.

A couple things that comes to mind:

1. Your video card is not plugged in fully
2. The monitor cable is not plugged into the video card fully
3. Video card is defective
4. Monitor is not working

Have you tried resetting the BIOS via jumpers. Ranchhand is right about flashing the BIOS on that new MOBO. A failed flash may nullify the warranty, or even a flash at all during the warranty period may nullify it.