New build won't work, I think the PSU may be the problem...

[twistymcmarx]

Monitor (which definitely works and has been tested on another PC) won't detect any signal from new build. It's plugged via DVI into the GPU (and there is no onboard GPU on the motherboard to try). The case does not have an inbuilt speaker either so I can't use beeps to work out the problem. I have tried checking all the connectors and cables, swapping RAM in various different ways, etc. Thermal paste is all present and correct. I suspect the problem may be that the PSU does not have enough wattage to cope with the other components, but I'm not sure. The lights and fans all come on when it's turned on but no signal from the monitor.

Here are the components:

AMD Bulldozer FX-6100 Socket AM3+ 6 Core Processor (Black Edition) - 3.30GHz, 3.90GHz Turbo

Asus M5A78L/USB3 Motherboard (Socket AM3+, DDR3, 5200MT/S, ATX)

Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory

Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ( specifically the "Double Dissipation" tweaked edition: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-fx787acdfc[1] )

be quiet! BN181 Pure Power L8 530W CM Modular 80+ Bronze QUIET Power Supply

Lite-On iHOS104-06 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Drive

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (120mm)

Zalman Z9 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case

If anyone has any ideas/suggestions about what's wrong and any solutions, I'd be very grateful.

 

[Som3one]

530W might indeed be not enough.

If I were you, before doing anything else, I´d check every power cable. (And all the other cables, too, of course.)
Do the GPU fans start spinning, too?


Also, are you sure your motherboard doesn´t have some sort of failure indication? May it be status LEDs or one of those tiny speaker.

 

[dreamerz]

you've made sure to have both 6pin power cables are plugged in and the card is really properly seated?

 

[twistymcmarx]

530W might indeed be not enough.

If I were you, before doing anything else, I´d check every power cable. (And all the other cables, too, of course.)
Do the GPU fans start spinning, too?


Also, are you sure your motherboard doesn´t have some sort of failure indication? May it be status LEDs or one of those tiny speaker.

The cables have been checked and double checked quite a few times. The GPU fans are spinning. The only light I've seen on my motherboard is a little green one that comes on when I switch the PC on, but I assume that's just a power signal. I'm new to this and had lots of help from friends while choosing components and building, but I thought I had done enough research to get a decent idea of how everything should work.

 

[twistymcmarx]

you've made sure to have both 6pin power cables are plugged in and the card is really properly seated?

The card has one 6 pin and one 8 pin PCIe connector, if that's what you're referring to. I think the card is in properly and all the cables have been checked, what would I need to check to confirm this?

 

[dreamerz]

looking at the spec's it says it powered through 2 - 6 pin connectors. You have them both plugged in on the card right?

 

[twistymcmarx]

looking at the spec's it says it powered through 2 - 6 pin connectors. You have them both plugged in on the card right?

Their is an 8 pin and a 6 pin plugged into the card, the PSU PCIe cable had 2 8 pin connectors, each split into a 6 and a 2 if that makes sense. The card will only take an 8 and a 6, so one of the separate 2 pin bits isn't plugged in. I've heard that this shouldn't matter.

 

[Som3one]

Try to use two seperate power cords for each connector.

If that doesn´t help, try a min. configuration of your system and see what happens.

 

[dreamerz]

So you seperated the (6+2) pin and plugged it in, which should be fine. Or did you plug it in as 8 + 6 with the extra on side? looking at the manual you should be able to separate the extra 2 pins on the 8.

 

[twistymcmarx]

So you seperated the (6+2) pin and plugged it in, which should be fine. Or did you plug it in as 8 + 6 with the extra on side? looking at the manual you should be able to separate the extra 2 pins on the 8.

I plugged in an 8 and a 6, with 2 spare.

 

[dreamerz]

you should be able to seperate the 8 pin into a 6+2 and plug it in normally, leaving the 2 on the 8 out.

 

[twistymcmarx]

you should be able to seperate the 8 pin into a 6+2 and plug it in normally, leaving the 2 on the 8 out.

I've tried this as well. To be honest I'm close to giving up hope and using my build as an expensive paperweight...

 

[dreamerz]

Is there a pc you can swap the gpu with to see if the card is defective? since its a new build you should be able to rma.

 

[ko888]

For a system using a single AMD reference design Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition graphics card AMD specifies a minimum of a 500 Watt or greater system power supply. The power supply should also have a maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 28 Amps or greater and have at least two 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.

Total Power Supply Wattage is NOT the crucial factor in power supply selection!!! Sufficient Total Combined Continuous Power/Current Available on the +12V Rail(s) rated at 45°C - 50°C ambient temperature, is the most critical factor.

Overclocking of the CPU and/or GPU(s) may require an additional increase to the maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current ratings, recommended above, to meet the increase in power required for the overclock. The additional amount required will depend on the magnitude of the overclock being attempted.

The be quiet! Pure Power L8 530W CM (BN181) power supply unit, with its maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 40 Amps and with two (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors, is more than sufficient to power your system configuration with a single Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition graphics card.

If the power supply unit isn't defective it should be more than capable of powering your system configuration.

Get yourself a POST beep speaker and connect it to the motherboard's front panel speaker header (i.e. +5V & Speaker pins). If you don't hear the expected single beep indicating that everything has passed POST (i.e. Power On Self Test) then you know there is a problem. The single beep is usually heard just before the graphics card outputs a video signal to the monitor.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MOTHERBOARD-PC-CASE-SPEAKER-BUZZER-BIOS-BEEPS-/151111276247

There may be other POST beep codes that may give you an indication of what may be causing the problem.