So am I doomed?

U might be OK. Do u have a PCI video card? If not, pick one up at Compusa or something, should be like $30 or so. Plug it in. Your PSU is probably WAY too weak to power up the 7800GT. But it should fire up a PCI video card.

Also, try another PSU, if you have one. It may be the PSU that took the brunt of the shock, and not the mobo and vid card.

You can always return the 2 items to Compusa and say they are incompatible.

Do you think this qualifies for an RMA? After all, it wasn't my fault that the wiring was loose in the first place...And if my hardware does work, do I need to get a new power connector? Or is running one just fine?

Edited January 1, 200620 yr by Aegis

or if the lack of output is due to me not having inserted the processor yet .

Err...if you don't have the CPU installed you won't get any video output.

omg, i missed that part! haha, just put the proc in and it should work.

About the power supply...I bought my PSU based on the suggestions of Guru3d:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/content/242/5/

They recommend 22Amps on the 12V rail, which is exactly what I got, so I don't see how it's too weak. The video card fan was even spinning, so I assume there's power to power up the fan at the very least.

I can't test to see if it works with the CPU yet, since the heatsink doesn't arrive until Jan. 6.

Edited January 2, 200620 yr by Aegis

On another note, something (I'm not sure what it's for) on my motherboard burnt down...

Doesn't seem like putting the CPU in will make it work...

They recommend 22Amps on the 12V rail, which is exactly what I got, so I don't see how it's too weak. The video card fan was even spinning, so I assume there's power to power up the fan at the very least. I can't test to see if it works with the CPU yet, since the heatsink doesn't arrive until Jan. 6.

Well, there are many PSUs for under $30 that 22A on the 12V rail, but how do they behave under a load?

For at least 2 of my friends, their video card problems and system stability issues immediately disappeared when they got OCZ and Antec PSUs. Immediately. No other tweaking required. They had stock PSUs that came with their Aspire and Rosewill cases. They did not blow up or anything, just didn't have enough juice to consitently fire up a 6800GT and a X800XL while keeping the rest of the overclocked system rolling.

They have no isses now (they got the OCZ Powerstream 430W and the Antec TruePower 550).

Most people hate spending that much on PSUs, but it saves a lot of tweaking time when the system is acting funny and all the stats and temps look normal.

It appears that I've been able to fix the molex connector using simple tools such as a paper clip and pin ! Where is the common sense these days ? Anyway, can't wait until the heat sink arrives so that I can test to see if it works.