Help me get my graphics card working!

[GDS_Starfury]

Im sure he drools from everywhere I think.

[bob48]

..and some you wouldn't think.

I think....

[Huw the Poo]

Well the old GT240 works fine, so I guess I'll stick with it until I upgrade my PSU or possibly buy something like the 750Ti.

How come my old PC could run the 570 then?  Is it because the CPU was so low-powered that less than the reference wattage was required?

[GDS_Starfury]

what were the older pc's specs and its psu?

[Staggerwing]

Did you put the 570 back into the old rig just to see if the card was still good?

[Huw the Poo]

what were the older pc's specs and its psu?

Pentium D Dual Core 1.8GHz
460W PSU

Did you put the 570 back into the old rig just to see if the card was still good?

Nah I can't be arsed switching the PCs around right now, it's the weekend, I just wanted to play some games! :(  I might do it later in the week out of curiosity.

[endfire79]

what were the older pc's specs and its psu?

Pentium D Dual Core 1.8GHz
460W PSU

Did you put the 570 back into the old rig just to see if the card was still good?

Nah I can't be arsed switching the PCs around right now, it's the weekend, I just wanted to play some games! :(  I might do it later in the week out of curiosity.

The GTX 570 specs say it needs a 550W PSU, so that old PSU you had appears to be the limiting factor.  You can get a pretty decent brand name PSU 650 W or above for a good price online.  You don't necessarily need a whole new rig, but if you upgrade one day, you can bring it over to the new case of course. 

Good luck!

[Bison]

what were the older pc's specs and its psu?

Pentium D Dual Core 1.8GHz
460W PSU

Did you put the 570 back into the old rig just to see if the card was still good?

Nah I can't be arsed switching the PCs around right now, it's the weekend, I just wanted to play some games! :(  I might do it later in the week out of curiosity.

That's crazy because the new PSU has more umph.  I'd be leaning toward a fried card.

[Huw the Poo]

Well....I bought a new PSU in the end, 650W.  Mostly to power my GT 570 but also partially because the old PSU was loud.  The new one (a gold-rated XFX) has a hybrid fan mode so it's silent except under load.  My PC is on whenever I'm indoors so this is much better for the ears!

After much struggling, cursing and swearing I finally got the bloody thing installed, but my 570 still does not send output to my monitor!   

The fan spins so I'm convinced the card is powered, and this time I'm using both power connectors.  I just don't understand what's going on here.  Having said that, I did have trouble booting the PC at all for a while; UEFI complicated things a bit.  Now that I definitely have it working with UEFI enabled and the old GT 240 running, I will try just swapping the cards and doing nothing else.  That should work, but after spending half a day at this I'm too exhausted to bother right now.  I'm just glad the PC still works at all!

[bbmike]

Damn! Then it can only be one thing.

[Nefaro]

Dead video card (may have become that when not getting enough current)

.. or the PCI-E slot on the motherboard is defective.




Keep in mind that the power requirements of video cards may list Wattage, but it's more specific than that.  Your 12v rails that plug into it specifically require a minimum amount of sustainable Amps. 

Some power supplies may have a high-rated total amount of wattage (which is just a summary of the total), but that's divided up between multiple separate voltage "rails" (a line with multiple plugs sharing the same output).  Some PSUs have multiple 12v rails with lower supported Amps apiece, which can skew the overall Wattage rating of the PSU higher.  But each rail with a PCI-E power plugs needs to provide at least as many Amps as the video card requires, and preferably more.  That is what matters.

[Huw the Poo]

Well it's a pretty bloody expensive PSU and made by a company who support gamers, plus it was recommended by a friend who's hardcore into high-end gaming.  I'm sure the PSU is perfectly capable.  The fact that the fan on the card works fine gives me hope.  On Saturday I will try swapping it around again, now that I have a known good configuration.  I won't panic until then. ;)

Oh...if it was the PCI-E slot surely my GT 240 wouldn't work either?

[bbmike]

Well it's a pretty bloody expensive PSU and made by a company who support gamers, plus it was recommended by a friend who's hardcore into high-end gaming.  I'm sure the PSU is perfectly capable.  The fact that the fan on the card works fine gives me hope.  On Saturday I will try swapping it around again, now that I have a known good configuration.  I won't panic until then. ;)

Oh...if it was the PCI-E slot surely my GT 240 wouldn't work either?

Unless each card uses different signals on the PCI-E slot?

[steve58]

I'd try the GPU in a different PC (that also has a good PSU) if possible.  Maybe a friends??

[Nefaro]

Well it's a pretty bloody expensive PSU and made by a company who support gamers, plus it was recommended by a friend who's hardcore into high-end gaming.  I'm sure the PSU is perfectly capable.  The fact that the fan on the card works fine gives me hope.  On Saturday I will try swapping it around again, now that I have a known good configuration.  I won't panic until then. ;)

May be fine, I don't know the specs and Amp requirments so thought I'd clarify that Wattage isn't really the specific one to look at.

Oh...if it was the PCI-E slot surely my GT 240 wouldn't work either?

Probably not.  But the 240 may not use all the piplines available on the slot. 


In the end, the most likely case is that your video card is the problem.  The most expensive part, go figure.