Pandaman

I did try searching your forum here for a question like this and didn't find anything, so my apologies if my search queries weren't good enough.

I just got an EVGA nVidia GTX 470 Superclocked graphics card today and swapped out my Asus Dark Knight Radeon HD 4870 1 gig card for it. When I first tried to start my computer after installing the card, I had forgotten to plug in the two 6-pin PCI-E power connectors and saw that my system started normally, but of course I didn't see any picture. After smacking myself on the forehead, I turned the system back off and plugged in the PCI-E connectors and tried to turn it on and now, all I get is that split-second of power in the system (fans barely start to spin, the lights might come on for a fraction of a second, etc.) and then the system fails to respond further.

My power supply is an Antec TruePower Quattro 850 watt, and it's the "stealth-upgraded" version that has 25 amps per 12 volt rail, and there are four of those. I understand that this new GTX card requires 38 amps cumulatively and I'm pretty damn sure my power supply has more than enough juice to cover the power requirements so this issue is truly baffling to me. It seems like it's not getting enough power, but I just don't see how that could actually be the case.

I tried unplugging all the PCI-E connectors again and saw that my system still attempts to start up with no picture (but all the lights and fans are going consistently) so it's not like I blew anything up. I tried plugging just one PCI-E connector in to see if I could determine if one or the other port (or cable) was borked or something but no matter which cable I plug in to which slot, either one into either slot or both into both in both ways, the response is always the same. Just that fraction of a second of power and then it shorts out. I tried using those PCI-E-to-two-4-pin-molex connectors for one or both of the slots in all possible combinations with the regular 6-pin jobbies and that didn't make a difference. I even plugged my PC directly into the wall in case the power strip was somehow causing a problem and again, no dice.

In reading the reviews for this card on a few retailer websites I've seen that quite a few of them seem to be DOA -- is that just what's happening here? Or are there any other likely possibilities? I don't want to send the card back if I don't have to. Anyone's help is much appreciated.

Oh, in case it's relevant, here's the rest of the hardware I have in my machine: my motherboard is the Asus M3A78-T and I've currently got a Phenom 9850 Black Edition quad core CPU in it clocked at the standard 2.5 GHz, eight gigs of Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 RAM and then two hard drives (a SATA 80 gig and another SATA 750 gig) and one DVD-RW drive. Besides that, I've only got three fans in the case and that's it.

synthesis204

Might seem dumb, but you did uninstall your Radeon drivers prior to booting with the 470, right?

Also...no idea what booting without additional power might do to a card. Someone else will have to help you there -- but you are correct, that PSU should more than suffice.

If it's new/still under warranty, and no one can fix it, they should still replace it.

mcdragon2

only thing I could think it might be besides a DOA is that the 2 connectors you are using are on the same rail and thus you are only getting 25 amps total

Pandaman

Huh... I guess I never thought about them both being on the same rail. That seems unlikely given that both of them are hardwired to the power supply (this one is modular and I could plug in two more 6/8 pin connectors if I need them) and this one is designed for SLI configurations and everything so I'd hope they wouldn't make that kind of mistake.

And as for uninstalling the drivers, I did in fact do that. But considering that I can't even get my machine to POST I don't think that would be relevant at this point. ^^;

EDIT: Okee, so, I went ahead and plugged in another PCI-E connector into the power supply and tried that with one of the ones hardwired to the power supply and same result yeeeeet again. Alright. Thing's probably dead. So much for my Christmas gift to myself. :p

Tipstaff

That motherboard has onboard video, right? Have you tried taking out the video card, and running off the onboard video? The idea is to rule out the motherboard. If it works, try putting back your old video card, and if that works then move onto looking at the new card as an issue.

On the same note, double check the motherboard. Make sure that the jumper for the CMOS is set correctly. In fact, make sure it's actually there. I've seen it where people accidentally dislodge theirs when replacing components (I know that the CMOS clear jumper is further down the board, but still check.. you never know). As well, you could also do a CMOS reset to see if that helps (turn the system off, unplug the power, remove the CMOS battery, reset the CMOS via the jumper, then put everything back and test).

Edit: almost forgot. Don't forget to run the standard double checks on the other components. So, check your other connectors, such as the hard drive data and power cables, main ATX power cable, and the 4 pin power cable next to the CPU, as well as re-seat your RAM, CPU, and any other PCI or PCIe cards you might have.

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Pandaman

I've gone back and plugged in my old video card and everything boots up and runs just as it did a few hours ago before I started messing around with this. I did reset the CMOS and yes, the jumpers are all in-place where they should be so it seems like this thing is just toast. I've requested an RMA so when I get the new one in I'll see if it works or if there's some kind of crazy incompatibility or something. Hope not. -_-

Anyhoo, thanks for the help. I just thought maybe there was something obvious I might have been overlooking somehow buuuuuut I guess not.

Pandaman

Figured I might as well bookend this as it's coming up on a lot of google searches and apparently I feel the burning desire to publicly embarrass myself.

So, I got my second card in and it had the exact same issue. And as I'm moping on my couch, turning the card over and over in my hands trying to figure out what I must be doing wrong (as getting two identically DOA cards seems so incredibly unlikely), I happen to look at how the PCI-E power connectors are oriented on the card. And I see the little nubs on the inside of the housing there. And then I realize I am a complete dumbass.

Even though I checked this repeatedly the first time, I somehow managed to get the PCI-E power connectors plugged in upside-down and then repeated the same mistake with the new card. The cables make it look like it's impossible to put them in the wrong way but sadly, this is not so. All that was happening was the card was shorting out because the pins weren't in the right places. +1 point for good engineering. -5,000 points for a 16-year tech not knowing what the hell he's doing.

I hang my head in shame and promise to cry into my keyboard at least once an hour as I play Metro 2033.

Veridian3

ROFL

At least you thought to plug them in and connect the screen

Pandaman

Of course I did. I'm not an idiot.

>_>

blibbax

Congratulations on getting it sorted... and lol :P

Did your retailer not check that the original card was faulty before sending a replacement?

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Pandaman

I bought the card from Newegg and I guess they have rather lax RMA policies these days. I have something like an eight year order history with them (with a smattering of RMAs) and I seem to remember them actually trying to verify the damage in the past. Now the process seems to be:

1. Open package.
2. Determine if contents match approximately with item indicated on RMA.
3. Take another puff from marijuana cigarette and approve RMA.

Well, I'm just guessing. It's based on how the notification that they had received my RMA came about ten minutes after UPS indicated it was delivered, and then about one minute after that I got another e-mail indicating it was approved. I guess the net result is I made sure someone's going to get a nice open-box discount. Well, that and I still can't feel the tip of my thumb and index finger on my right hand because of the damage they received from improperly re-seating the power connectors about sixy times. Them plastic corners are sharp.

Judas

at first i was finding this relatively easy thing to occur perhaps..

but then i pulled out 3 of the Video cards here.. one of which is the 4870 and the other a 5770 ... and no matter what i do... there is no way i can plug in the power connector upside down or in the wrong way..... mostly because the "clip" on the power connector would not fit anywhere else without litterally PRYING on the card to get it in there.. and even that it doesn't look like the pins are shaped correctly to do this.

So i'm really curious...

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Pandaman

Yeah, um, I don't expect that it's "easy" to do in most situations. First of all, it's impossible on my 4870 because of where the PCI-E power connectors are located. They're just plonked straight onto the PCB with the little tab for the clip to hold onto clearly visible, and they're a little ways inward so you can't even line up the connector with the port if you have it upside-down. The thing that threw me with this one is that the PCI-E connectors are enclosed in a little section at the end of the card which makes it a lot harder to spot the nub at a glance. It doesn't help that I'm colorblind and as time goes on, seeing little differences in a thing is harder and harder to do. And 'cuz of the nature of colorblindness, I can't even tell it's getting worse. Woo!

Ahem, anyway, so because these power connectors are enclosed and the clip would go over the edge of the card (pretty snugly, I'll admit) that led me to believe that the plastic was just machined a little too small or something. Hey, I never said it was a fantastic excuse. Consider this a bit of accidental QA on my part and if anyone's curious about what would happen if you somehow managed to do that, well here you go.

Tipstaff

PCIe graphics power connector rule: back is flat, and teet/s are in the front.

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Pandaman

Yes yes I know. =P As I said originally, I did check to make sure that they matched but I'm pretty badly dyslexic. I've got all these mental checks in place to make sure I do things right still but it just so happened to fail me pretty badly in this instance.

OldBuzzard

You aren't alone.

Just about every one of us have had a "I am a dumb ass" moment.

Some of us, more than one

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When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

blibbax

First time I ever looked inside my PC, it was to fit my first ever upgrade: a new graphics card into a system with integrated graphics. It took me about 10 minutes to work out which way up and which way round to put it.

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gilljoy

I'd a very similar moment when I built my current PC.

got it built it would power on but nothing on the Screen, spent ages and ages trying to figure out what it was,

turned out I'd forgotten to plug in the 8pin ATX power supply to the CPU lmao

synthesis204

Not as bad as on my first build forgetting to put the screws in behind the mobo and almost screwing the mobo right onto the case.

Gee, that looks awfully flat...oh....shit....

Pandaman

I love how this is turning into the all-purpose "check out my dumbest computer-building mistake" thread. In that vein, I've got another couple random anecdotes from my past.

The first one was something I did way back when I didn't have the process for building up a new PC permanently ingrained in my skull. Basically, I spent something like six hours troubleshooting a PC I'd just built that would just not power on no matter what I did. Turned out that I had forgotten to plug in the jumper thingy that connects the power button to the motherboard. >_>

The other one comes from ye olde dayse when a friend of mine and I would work on our computers while they were laying in multiple pieces scattered all over a desk. This was also in the era when motherboards didn't have the little light on the indicating that they were receiving power and the CPUs were passively cooled. And video cards? What's a video card? Ha ha. Anyway, my friend was working on something and thought he had turned the system off, but found out otherwise when he tried to remove the 28.8k modem from the PCI (or was it ISA?) slot. Since there were no fans or anything else that moved or made noise it was a lot harder to tell that the thing was still on. So, as soon as he got the modem out there was a loud crack, a flash of blue light, and a nice 'n shiny new scorch mark on the motherboard where the power had arced. And lo, didst that 486 never POST again.