PC Problem...

[Buffalobiian]

Hey guys, I'll need your help.

The story goes... I was plugging in different fans and unplugging them in the computer to check for system noise/cooling performance etc. I was using mini-pliers to pull out the CPU fan cable from the motherboard, since it was a bit tight.

For whatever reason it slipped out of my hands, landed on the video-card, then (from memory) it either stayed there or landed on the ground afterwards. The fan on the 9800GTX+ then sped up to (full?) speed, being really loud, and there's no image on screen. The light at the back of the graphics card is green (it's red when it's not getting enough power from the 6-pin power cords). - Not sure if it's supposed to indicate other sorts of error.

In any case, I turned off the computer, and tried rebooting - it boots into windows, as I can hear the welcome screen, but I don't see an image, and the fan's still going like crazy.

I thought I might have wreaked the video card. So I unplug the card, and swap for my old 8500GT passive. When I try to boot the comp, same thing happens - black image, welcome screen music.

I'm like 99.9% positive the plies hit nothing else on the way down except the 9800GTX+ graphics card, which isn't plugged in at the moment.

What seems to be the problem? I've got a feeling I busted my PCI-E slot. The pliers were sturdy, but the card was secured with screws and all. Perhaps a short-circuit of something when it hit? Still, I'd imagine that'd affect the card, but not another one, unless somehow the drivers weren't compatible. The passive heatsink's warm, so it's definitely power. Gigabyte 965-S3 doesn't have onboard graphics, so right now I can't do anything with it.....

Help appreciated.


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Edit: okay, I let it rest for ~15minutes, and now it's booting with the 8500. The resolution's all stuffed up, but that's fine for now. I'll turn it off and retry the 9800 in 5 minutes. Fingers crossed.

Fan's back to low speed, screen boots up fine....

Thoughts: WTF??, Banzai!! and I'm going to sleep for the night before some other crazy shit happens.