Sapphire 4870 three red LEDs

[brewman76]

I am doing a new build with an Antec Sonata III case that included a 500W Earthwatts PSU (model EA-500D). I am pairing this with a Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L motherboard. I am trying to install a Sapphire HD 4870 w/ 1 GB vram. When I power up the system I do not have any display at all, and I have three red LED lights appearing, labeled D1601, D1602 and D1603. Googling this seems to indicate a power problem but I think my PSU is enough to power this card. The only other equipment connected to the PSU is an E8500 with the stock cooler, a DVD drive, a single hard drive, and one case fan.

My biggest question is how to connect this video card to the PSU. The power supply only has one PCI-E power plug. The Sapphire card came with two cables that appear to be adapters to connect the six pin connection of the card to the standard four pins of the PSU. I have tried using both cables and I have also tried using the PCI-e power cable from the PSU in one connection and the adapter cables that came with the card for the other connection. In both instances I do not have anything displaying on the screen (the light stays amber so the monitor never even "wakes up") and I have the three red LED lights.

Any insights?

 

[bandit79]

I had this same problem,it is definitely your Power Supply.There is probably not enough amps on the 12v rail to power the 4870.

 

[brewman76]

Thanks for your response. The problem was indeed not enough power but not because of a PSU problem. The problem was an improperly seated auxillary power connection. Once that was plugged in properly, everything worked great.

 

[Guest]

I'm having the same problem, how exactly did you fix it? please be very specific.

 

[brewman76]

For me it turned out there was no actual hardware problem. My motherboard has two power connections. The primary 24 pin power connection plus a 4 pin auxillary power connection. I was experiencing the above problems because the auxillary power was NOT plugged in. I think while assembling the computer I unplugged it and when I plugged it back in I hadn't plugged it in all the way.

My power supply is comfortably handling the E8500 and 4870 graphics card in my PC. Grand Theft Auto IV is playing great! I should note that contrary to what I had stated in my original post, the power supply does indeed have TWO PCI-E power connections and I did not need to use any of the adapters that came in the 4870 box. This might have also been contributing to my problems. Next time I assemble a PC I will keep the Jack Daniels in the cabinet until I've successfully POSTed!

 

[ahoyjmai]

I have similar symptoms with a similar setup.

My three red leds come on every time i boot, and flashes 3-4 times.
Each time it flashes, my computer power restarts, but then it proceeds to boot normally. I can play games in vista, but there seems to be a slight loss in performance.

I have a Asus Radeon 4870 DK TOP, a AMD X2 7750 Kuma, and a Antec Earthwatts 500W power supply.

Is this problem? I know the lights are supposed to flicker because the gpu is booting, but should my power be affected?

Thanks.

 

[ahoyjmai]

bump

 

[Gin Fushicho]

I have the same problem with the red LEDs , except My PSU is a corsair 750 Watt. The PCI-E connectors are in ALL the way. Please help me I dont understand whats wrong.

 

[AgentWorm]

I am also having the same problem with the red lights except mine turn on and stay on from the get go and I don't even see anything post. I have a brand new system that came in two days ago (3/18). The following is my system spec:

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit
SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V
nForce 790i Ultra SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA HD

Another issue I seem to have is that the USB keyboard and mouse dont' power up either. Is this a PSU problem? Yarr!

For the life of me I cannot figure out what the issue is. Now, grant it, I haven't built a new system in a long time, but for crying out loud, I should be able to do this.

Any help is greatly appreciated

 

[Gin Fushicho]

I am also having the same problem with the red lights except mine turn on and stay on from the get go and I don't even see anything post. I have a brand new system that came in two days ago (3/18). The following is my system spec:

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit
SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V
nForce 790i Ultra SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA HD

Another issue I seem to have is that the USB keyboard and mouse dont' power up either. Is this a PSU problem? Yarr!

For the life of me I cannot figure out what the issue is. Now, grant it, I haven't built a new system in a long time, but for crying out loud, I should be able to do this.

Any help is greatly appreciated

Well if the Keyboard and mouse arent working either its definitely a PSU problem. You probably dont have enough Amperage on your 12V rail , or its just not enough Wattage.

 

[keyter]

Well if the Keyboard and mouse arent working either its definitely a PSU problem. You probably dont have enough Amperage on your 12V rail , or its just not enough Wattage.

It may just be a faulty PSU, as that Corsair should have enough juice to power your rig, but rather searh for the online PSU calc and make sure you have enough wattage etc.

PS, it has a single 12V rail

 

[keyter]

Could it not be an Mobo issue?

 

[Gin Fushicho]

Could it not be an Mobo issue?

Very true , I figured out that my problems were a motherboard issue.

 

[sylwester]

MMMMMMMMK ya the 3 leds same prob mine stay lit i have upgraded to a 700 watt supply how would i find if my mother board cant handle it or is there a way to get er done make it work

 

[Gin Fushicho]

Its not that the motherboard isnt "handling it" , its that the motherboard is just bad. At least mine was , and make sure it doesnt need extra power from a floppy cable like mine did.

 

[Ryanmcstylin]

I am having a problem with this, not sure if it is the video card, the MoBo, or the PSU. My computer powers on for 5-10 seconds, then turns off. I have to turn off my PSU until the MoBo powers down completely, then I can try to boot again. My computer worked for a while, then I moved to a shitty house with a very old circuit, can power from the house be the problem? There is also a 3 pin plug for case fans that is not supplying enough power to the fan, I can tell because the light flickers, and the fan runs at variable speeds when it seems the computer tries to go through waves of boosted power to get POST. I built the comp myself, not experienced in this area by anymeans but i can handle my own. Any advice?

 

[Guest]

Well have one better than you guys... mine is HD 4870 1GB.. and when i boot for the first time of the day.. he starts the 3 led's (just referred in other posts) and after that the led D1601 (overheating led) just light up and the GPU fan goes to 100% Rotations... this happens with the computer boot for the first time...

What i have done after the led shoes up:
- open the card and see the GPU;
- clean the GPU and put on some thermal paste;
- Conect the card to other motherboard (continue to happen)

What i have done before this happens (that i remember):
- firmware and software updated...

So anyone have the same problem or have a solution? And going crazy with the f… computer… lol
By the way sorry my bad English.

 

[blade86sam]

well you're not the only one getting those leds to appear... i get them with my asus hd4870 dk 1gb...
and its been going on with 2 rigs, same card... doesn't happen often but annoying when it does... screen goes off n i have to force shutdown my pc... sigh

first rig:
asus hd4870 dk 1g
asus p5k64 ws ...later upgraded to 'asus rampage extreme'
ocz 700w psu

second (current rig):
asus hd4870 dk 1g (same card)
asus rampage II extreme
TT toughpower 850W

so if its the psu the problem... m i that unlucky to have 2 bad psus? or even 3 lemon mobos? lol...

i believe that it could the card itself... or im just that unlucky hehe