[MrSooty]

I recently became owner to a new graphics card: http://www.vtx3d.com...tures.asp?id=62

To fit it, I turned my pc off, flicked the power switch off at the back of my computer, unplugged my monitors, pulled my old card out (ATI Radeon 5770HD which still works after putting it back in), slotted the new card in, plugged my monitors in...

There are 2 6-pin slots for the power. I only used 1 6 pin block from my power supply and connected it to the card, thinking that providing less power surely won't break it? I have a 650W power supply (can't remember the model off the top of my head)

Ok, so everything was fitted in properly, and clicked into place (minus the extra power slot I failed to fill on my card).

I turn the power back on and I hear a pop. Nothing massive, just something like your speakers sometimes do when you power them up. No smoke, no markings on the card, can't see any obvious broken capacitors or whatever...

When I start my pc, the cards fan turns on (so I assume it works?), but the monitors don't get a signal from my card. I moved one of the monitors to connect to the mother board instead of the card just so I can see what I'm doing when the PC boots. I installed the disc that came with the card and nothing has made a difference.

Thinking I'd broken it, I took it all back out and put the old card back in, which still works completely fine.


Long story short; plugged in new graphics card, heard a pop, card fan comes on but the monitors arent getting the signal. Any suggestions/help? Thanks guys!

EDIT: I'm not actually home at the moment, I'm in work on my dinner break, so I can't test anything yet, but I can answer almost anything you need to know.

This post has been edited by MrSooty: 23 September 2011 - 04:16 AM

[Gavisann]

Plug it in properly? If it wants 2 PCI-E 6 pins, then connect them. Does the problem persist after you have all of the plugs connected?

[MrSooty]

Gavisann, on 23 September 2011 - 01:17 PM, said:

Plug it in properly? If it wants 2 PCI-E 6 pins, then connect them. Does the problem persist after you have all of the plugs connected?

I'm not home at the moment so I can't tell you right now. I'm more concerned at the popping noise it made.

Using this site: http://www.playtool....connectors.html

I have 1 6pin and 2 6pin+2s at my disposal without getting any extenders/converters. Is it safe to use the 6pin and a 6pin+2 (obviously without the extra 2 pins)?

[Gavisann]

Yes, you can use the 6+2.

As for the popping noise, if you think something was damaged, return it. Otherwise test the card, it might be fine.

[MrSooty]

Ok thanks. I'll use the 6+2 when I get home and see what happens. If it blows up, I know I'm doing something wrong!

Well that's the thing, I don't think anything was damaged because the first thing I thought when I heard it was "It's probably breaking in". Only after thinking did it occur to me that it might be broken.

I'll report back later with my findings!

[MrSooty]

Ye plugging in the additional power cable (the 6+2) seemed to fix it, thank you!

[modi123_1]

Who would have thunk plugging in the required power lines make it go! Hahaha.. I would watch out for any artifact'ing. "Pop" noises are rarely ever good. Did it smell like burn electronics? I could be a multitude of things from a capacitor, wiring, or some other bit blowing.

[Gavisann]

The popping could have been something as simple as a piece of plastic that the fan spun out.

To add on to what modi said, I would run a benchmark, such as FurMark, to burn-in and test the card. Look for artifacts, which are small, misplaced pixels. On a side note, be careful with Furmark, as far as I know, ATI has not added protection like Nvidia did, so watch out for overheating when benchmarking with FurMark.

[MrSooty]

The card is not performing very well at the moment. The drivers occasionally crash when I play a half decent game (Battlefield Bad Company 2 being the main culprit).

There was no odd smells or anything visually wrong with the card after the pop. As I said, it sounded like the pop speakers sometimes do when you turn them on. There were no artifacts that I could see (I've not been actively looking for any)...

I'll run FurMark when I get home then Thanks a lot for the help guys!