Hey,
this'll sound real stupid but,... i took the computer around my mate's, he managed to push the graphics card in a little further and the computer now works. I went through BIOS pretty quickly, and the installed XP, I'm on the internet with it now!!! A Woo Hoo..!!!
I don't know how he got the graphics card in the right position, from what I tried, it would not go in any further. it's still not plush with the case, but obviously good enough. It might have something to do with the plastic latch on the mobo's slot, actually took it off in the process and it slid in fine...
So I'm now damn happy to have a fully working (I think) self built system.
Thanks for all the advise guys, think i went a bit overboard thinking the graphics card was bust. The neovo manual labelled the VGA cable as DVI, that's why I got that confused... was kinda sh*tting myself thinking I'd broken a £900 machine...
So, just thought I'd wrap this thread up. will be posting Mark05 etc scores and getting advice about running the system etc.
feels a lot better than a pre-built system
Rufus
p.s and I didn't use any sellotape in the end