Brand new gtx 970, not working

[KylarK]

First build that I've ever done !

I assembled everything, last thing to do was plug in the msi frozr 970 - connected to monitor and started the machine - nothing. The monitor recognizes a connection but the screen just stays gray.

First thing I did was plug in a 6 pin connector in the GPU's 6 pin slot. Nothing GPU didn't turn on at all it seems. Afterwards I used the provided 6 to 8 pin adaptor and plugged in a cable in the gpu's 8 pin slot - the logo MSI on the GPU lit up. Next step was turning on the machine without the gpu plugged in to check if the motherboard is ok, upon pressing the power button on the power supply I heard a loud crackle which scared me(the two 6 pin cables were connected to the PSU but not the GPU), but I got into the Bios and even installed windows on my ssd. Then I plugged in cables in both connectors on the Graphics card and again the logo lit up but, the fans aren't spinning and no image on the monitor.

System:
Mobo - Gigabyte G1 Sniper M3
CPU - i5 3570k
HDD - Corsair 250 GB SSD
RAM - 16 GB XPG Kingston
**PSU** - I got this off a friend for free it's a Corsair 620W semi-modular.

Any ideas ? Could it be the MOBO GPU or PSU ? I don't have another power supply handy or a way of testing the gpu, any ideas.

 

[anti-duck]

So you have a 6 pin PCIe connector plugged into the 6 pin socket on the video card and then another 6 pin PCIe connector plugged in to the 6-8 pin adapted plugged into the 8 pin socket on the video card?

 

[cowboydude99]

I'm a bit confused.

You plugged in the cables to the GPU, but the GPU wasn't installed into the motherboard?

When you heard the loud crackling sound, where was the GPU and were the power cables attached?

 

[KylarK]

Anti-duck you are correct.

The GPU was installed when I plugged the cables in, the noise occured when switching the power supply on (the little switch on the PSU) before pressing the PC's power button and the GPU was not plugged in, the cables though were still plugged in (if that matters). I think the power supply might be the problem as it's not new.

 

[anti-duck]

You might just not be supplying your video card with enough power. I have the same video card and connected it the same way as you at first but I got no signal so I had to find a 6+2 pin PCIe cable to run directly from my PSU. My PSU also makes a crackling sound and a pop if I plug the kettle lead in with the power on and the switch on the PSU on. If you have some doubts about that PSU though, I wouldn't risk it.

 

[KylarK]

6+2 PCIe cables are 8 pin on the power supply`s end, right ? Is it safe if I use cables from another PSU with samepin config ?

 

[KylarK]

Ok, now GPU is running and loads up the Bios screen, fans start spinning etc. but I can't get into any of the menus. Either keyboard not recognized or something happens with the GPU, fans stop spinning in 10 seconds and that's it, after some time it goes into a black screen with flashing command line dash ? Any ideas, is the brand new GPU fucked or MB or .... I got 8 to 6+2 + 6 connector on a Silverstone Strider 500W PSU.