Stumped on power issue with new graphics card

Status
Not open for further replies.

millmuff

Distinguished
Oct 5, 2011
8
0
18,510
Hey all,

Been searching the forum to no avail so I'd thought I'd try my luck with a strange problem I've been having.

The issue started because I wanted to upgrade my video card for this season of great games. After checking out some specs and prices I decided on a PNY Geforce GTX 560 ti. Unfortunately the PSU I had in my Dell XPS 8000 was only a 350w, so this also caused me to run out and get a new PSU as well (OCZ 700w ModXstreamPro).

I first installed the new PSU to make sure everything was fine there, booted up and everything was happy. I then installed my new graphics card after sorting out the 6-pin pci power cords it came with. I was a little nervous because I'm new at this, but to my luck everything booted up fine. I installed the latest drivers and within the hour was playing the Battlefield 3 Beta and loving it. I played for about an hour and things ran cool and quiet before sitting and watching some tv for the rest of the night. When I went to bed the new PSU and graphics card had been in about 6 hours without any issues. However when I woke up my computer had shut down. I figured it was probably due to updates, etc, but unfortunately I couldn't power it back on.

After a day of work and speaking with tech support/colleagues everyone one agreed it was probably the PSU, very common they said. So thanks to NCIX where I bought the hardware I was able to get a new PSU no questions asked. Anxious I installed the new PSU assuming things would go back to normal, but nothing. So i started tracing my steps back, and here's what I've found:

a) My pc runs fine with the PSU and my old video card installed.
b) With the new video card installed, and power hooked up to BOTH 6-pin pci slots ( to +12v PSU 8-pin) I receive no input. I attempt to power up the pc and get no response at all.
c) With the new video card installed, and power hooked up to ONE of the 6-pin pci slots I receive 6 beeps upon attempting to start the system. From research I've found this is probably telling me I'm lacking power to the graphics card. These beep repeat for as long as I leave the unit powered. The interesting thing about this is the graphics card is receiving power, I know this because its fan starts working.

Could it be possible that one of the 6-pin pci slots on the graphics card doesn't work, causing me to not get enough power? But why wouldn't it act the same when one/both ar 6-pin pci slots are plugged in?. When I move the power from one to the other on the card I only get situation c) in the right hand slot. Does this mean the left slot is defective?

My last concern is that the card says it need a minimum 500w with a minimum 12v rating of 30 amps. I've been assured this several times, but my PSU is a 700w and both my 12v rails are rated at 25amps. Do these minimum requirements mean they need 30amps per pci slot or total (which in case I'd have 60).

I guess I've ruled out my PSU, but I still find it strange that everything worked fine for a handful of hours. It's also weird that while it doesn't work I can get power to the card with only using one of the 6-pin pci slots, but hooking up two does nothing.

I appreciate all the help and knowledge the forums have given me while reading through. Comments and tips greatly appreciated.
 
Solution
The fan on the card is one component and it does not mean that the card is fine. The PSU is adequate. Try a different card and check performance.

millmuff

Distinguished
Oct 5, 2011
8
0
18,510
Thanks King smp. RMA is def an option. Will probably be doing asap.

This feedback is invaluable to make sure I'm not going to create the same situation with a replacement.
 

millmuff

Distinguished
Oct 5, 2011
8
0
18,510
Just got off the phone with PNY (card manufacturer). They were very hesitant about there being an issue with the card. However when it was all said and done they recommended that I return it to try a new one.

I'm crossing my fingers that this will solve it, but since the first card worked for a while before things went hay wire I'm scared the same thing will happen with the new one.

Will update once I get the new card.
 

millmuff

Distinguished
Oct 5, 2011
8
0
18,510
Update - Got a replacement card from PNY. I was a little leary of the exact same thing happeneing again since there was really no difinitive answer or readon for the first issue.

Happy to say though that I've had the replacement card in for several days now with no issues at all. Looks like the card just shat the bed sometime during the night, who knows.

Thanks all for your help.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS