this is the second time i have had these symtoms with an entirely different set of hardware (which is at the pc shop down the street right now) and they said the pcie slot is a gen 1 my 2nd 5850 needs a gen 2 slot?
does this sound like it makes any sense?
and if so and this is the same kind of problem, great i will ust get two new radeons that are the right gen.
PCIeX16 slot and a PSU 6 pin connector to the Graphics card to power your card. IDK what a 2nd Gen slot is? PCI, PCIeX1.... you want need these slots on that Mobo unless you go with a 3 or 4 card setup, and that will require risers.
Check your connections from psu to your graphics cards, and if those connections are good try to get output from your VGA output.