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First Build: Computer won't start with graphics card plugged in.

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  • Computers
  • Systems
Last response: in Systems
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August 22, 2014 8:28:12 AM

I'm doing my first build and everything was going alright until I plugged in my GPU, and now it just powers on for a moment and then off again, leaving the power indicator light on the front panel on, but not running any other hardware. Unplugging the GPU lets it start up, but since my motherboard doesn't have any on-board video, it makes the computer unusable.

Plugging only one of the 6-pins into my card allows the computer to power on, but that still won't let it display anything so that really doesn't solve anything.

I've checked all of my connections and everything looks to be secure, so I'm kind of at my wit's end on this one. Need some help from someone more experienced than me.

Talked with some friends about it and they said that the PSU might not be providing enough power to run everything, but from what I've read, my parts shouldn't be getting anywhere near 600W. Could it be a faulty PSU?

Relevant Specs:

Mobo: Biostar TA970 ATX AM3+
CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5 GHz 6-Core with Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo 82.9 CSM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
PSU: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX
GPU: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 4GB Dual-X
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200 RPM

More about : build computer start graphics card plugged

August 22, 2014 8:53:55 AM

A number of things can cause a "no video output" problem. We have a troubleshooting checklist for this type of problem in the stickies at the top of the forum. I would start off with performing every step in the checklist. There is also a link to the checklist in my signature.
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August 22, 2014 1:00:54 PM

It's not a video output problem though, the power goes out completely on it except for the power indicator. All fans stop, components don't heat up, and I have to turn off the PSU before the power button will respond again. This only happens when the GPU is plugged in though.

I did read the stickied post before and nothing from there was helpful for my problem. The system speaker isn't producing any beeps at all, so I'm not sure how to react to that one, but everything else listed in the post seems in order.

These are all brand new parts, and my major problem is that I don't have a lot of spare money, so I'm not sure whether there's anything I could do to fix it or at the very least which component I should replace if one doesn't work together with the others.
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August 22, 2014 1:05:58 PM

Did you breadboard the system to rule out a short as the problem?

600W is more than enough for your system, but it's possible the PSU is faulty. Do you have another PSU you could use to test with?
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August 22, 2014 4:21:37 PM

I don't believe that I have the hardware available to breadboard it, and my understanding of how to do it is vague at best. And I'm afraid that I don't have another psu I could replace it with right now. Can I test the psu itself somehow to see if it's working correctly maybe? I could probably get something to measure its power output from a friend, but I'm not sure if that's safe to do with a power supply.
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