'Dumbo' wrote:
I did have the old trick of shorting the green pin to an earth and both PSU
were running. I even checked all the cable ends with a voltmeter. 12.26v
and 5.1v on all Molex connectors and 12.26 on the PCI-e connectors so all
would seem well. I swapped them around this afternoon to try them out and
this gave me the chance to check everything out. My LCD Poster doesn't
seem to be fully displaying but with the GTX in place it was flashing
between DET DRAM and CPU INIT(that dreaded one) but no POST. I did notice
the GTX fan at full speed and the LED lit up green on the back of the card.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
I then swapped out some RAM but alas nothing changed. I then swapped out
the VGA cards again and all POSTed well except that the BIOS was at
default and displayed that error (BIOS ERR).
Now I'm stuck with a very expensive paperweight unless I can get another
PC without 680i or 780i chipsets.
I have now got everything running on one PSU (Hiper E880W) and I am
planning a BIOS update to see if this will help.
_____


Good report on what you've tried to diagnose the problem.
The only suggestion that occurs to me is related to the BIOS LCD display
flashing between two messages. That doesn't seem right. Perhaps there is a
fault with the specific motherboard in your system. I don't remember if
you've posted what motherboard you use, but if the two display adapters (the
4870 and the GTX280 are known good, it might be wise to get on with customer
support for the motherboard manufacturer BEFORE you flash the BIOS. Then,
if THEY suggest a BIOS update, and the system goes belly-up, or the problem
remains the same you've got a good case for a return and replace.

Trouble-shooting a computer system is differential diagnosis, just as in
"House", a US TV medical mystery series starring Hugh Laurie.

Phil Weldon

"Dumbo" wrote in message
...
I did have the old trick of shorting the green pin to an earth and both PSU
were running. I even checked all the cable ends with a voltmeter. 12.26v
and 5.1v on all Molex connectors and 12.26 on the PCI-e connectors so all
would seem well. I swapped them around this afternoon to try them out and
this gave me the chance to check everything out. My LCD Poster doesn't
seem to be fully displaying but with the GTX in place it was flashing
between DET DRAM and CPU INIT(that dreaded one) but no POST. I did notice
the GTX fan at full speed and the LED lit up green on the back of the card.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
I then swapped out some RAM but alas nothing changed. I then swapped out
the VGA cards again and all POSTed well except that the BIOS was at
default and displayed that error (BIOS ERR).
Now I'm stuck with a very expensive paperweight unless I can get another
PC without 680i or 780i chipsets.
I have now got everything running on one PSU (Hiper E880W) and I am
planning a BIOS update to see if this will help.

Thanks

Robin