Just replaced power supply. No image on monitor. Not really any clue whats wrong.

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Abyss_of_Sorrow

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I just replaced my power supply as my last one stopped working out of nowhere. I made sure to carefully reconnect everything. I've only had the computer for 6 months. It was my first build. Everything went very well after I replaced a defective set of RAM. About two weeks ago my power supply seemed to fail. I was out of the room when it happened but when I returned I noticed that all lights in my computer were off. I pulled the PSU and tested it with the tester that came with it. The fan didn't spin or show any signs of power so I concluded it was definitely dead. I bought a newer nicer power supply and just installed it today.

After plugging everything up and getting the computer reassembled I turned the power switch on. All the lights started working again (case lights, graphics card lights, etc). All the fans started spinning (CPU, GPU, and case fans) just like they used to. But even after letting the computer sit idle for half an hour it never booted up. I immediately took the monitor to another computer to test it, and all that showed me was the monitor is working properly. I plugged the monitor directly into the motherboard, but that didn't change anything either. I've cut the computer off and on by hand to no avail. I've been going through the steps on the sticky here on this forum but no matter what I seem to try nothing is showing on the monitor. I didn't unplug anything but the power cables when I pulled the old PSU out, and the computer was working perfectly fine before it died. Can anyone help me please? I've had so much bad luck with this build that its very disheartening me.

Edit: Sorry. Missed linking my build out of frustration
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mPDHMp
 
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MarkW
Contact Sapphire, and tell them Newegg wont help you, and they are probably going to want to see an invoice showing the purchase date. But they should be willing to help you since the warranty is for 2 years, and you have had it for less than a quarter of the time. Also, be sure to tell them that a friend's video card was installed into the system, and that the system booted find with that card installed.

Your friend put his card into your system and it seems to still be working.

Any electronic device can fail at any time. It happens. Just like people can die at any time. People just do not have warranties that cover death. Video cards do.
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MarkW

MarkW

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When the old PSU died, it might have killed the video card in the process. Take it to a friends place and see if it works there. Because it might be a motherboard problem too.

Also, make sure the 8 Pin Motherboard power cable is firmly inserted. That is what supplies power to the PCIe slots.
 
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Abyss_of_Sorrow

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I just confirmed that the graphics card being inserted is what is failing boot. I'll explain the way my graphics card is wired just in case that helps anything. The new power supply didnt have a single VGA cable that could power the two 8-pin slots on the graphics card. I had to use two separate power cables, both of which are 6 pin+8 pin (the eight is a 6+2 pin). I'm not sure if that could be a problem here. All of the lights and fans on the graphics card cut on and work continuously with the way I have it wired. The cables were sturdily in the slots. Not sure if that helps anything or not.

I don't have anyone else near me to take my GPU to for testing. I live in the literal middle of nowhere. Really bad situation for that one.
 
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MarkW

MarkW

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Two 6+2 power cables are fine, as long as they are two different wires coming out of the power supply. Each individual wire is rated at 150 watts maximum. And it is common for them to have a 6 pin and a 6+2 pin on a single cable. When only 6 pins are used, they each provide 75 watts. So you can use a pair of 6 pin connectors from a single cable since that is still only 150 watts, but if you use 8 pins (6+2), then that is all you should use from that single cable.

I was going to suggest putting the card into another slot, but it looks like that motherboard only has one slot you can use. If there is a 8x slot, do try using that to see if it changes anything.
 
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Abyss_of_Sorrow

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Alright. So there shouldn't be anything wrong with the way its wired. There doesn't appear to be any PCI-E 8x slots on my motherboard. Hopefully I know what I'm talking about when I say that. I'm a bit confused about the motherboard slots.
 
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MarkW

MarkW

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I was looking at a pretty small picture of your motherboard, and it looked like the 2nd and 3rd slots were short, but I wasn't sure.

Without having a way to test out the video card somewhere, you are pretty much down to guessing which is bad... The motherboard or the video card. And trying to RMA one of them. Or even both. RMA's can take weeks. But that is the only process that will result in you having working hardware without buying new stuff.
 
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Abyss_of_Sorrow

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I asked one of my friends about this problem and he is going to let me borrow his graphics card. I'm assuming that if it works in my computer then my graphics card has died? I just find it odd that the lights and fans work on the graphics card yet it can still be fried.
 
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MarkW

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There are a lot of things involved on a video card. Even more on the motherboard itself.

If your friends video card works in your machine, then the suspicion does move to your video card.

Anytime a power supply dies, especially the cheap ones, there is a chance that other items in the system will be killed along with it. And its often a long, painful process to figure out exactly what was killed. There is a slight chance that if your friends video card does work in your system, that it could still be a problem with your motherboard. So while it may help to isolate down the problem, there might be issues with the motherboard still.

If your friends video card works in your system, get the video card replaced, but if after that there are still issues, then you might have to think about replacing the motherboard too.
 
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Abyss_of_Sorrow

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Well I just tested and returned his graphics card to him. My computer booted right up after installing his, and it was even a different brand. He was going to test mine in his system but the card would not fit in the drive bay. I'm guessing that there is nothing else really left to do at this point but replace the graphics card huh?
 
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MarkW

MarkW

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That would be my next move. The fact that his worked in your computer is pretty good news. It is not a 100% guarantee that another card will work, but there no other way to find out. I would say that it is most likely that replacing the video card will get things back to working.

Lets try one thing before you do that...

Turn your system on, and start rapidly tapping the F8 key. Lets see if you can get into Safe Mode with that video card...

If you can, select Safe Mode with Networking. Then download DDU (click the link below to get to the download site) and run it. It will offer you 3 choices. Select the top one that says "Recommended". Let it do its thing. Then reboot and see if your computer boots up normally after that.

If it does, download the latest video drivers for your card, and install them.

If none of this works, replace the card.

 
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Abyss_of_Sorrow

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I haven't had the chance to follow the steps you have provided me yet, but I do have a question. I have another person that has a computer that my graphics card should be able to fit into. They are a bit weary, as am I, about the "bad" graphics card messing up their computer system (Its rather expensive, so if there is that chance I'd rather not try it). Do you think I should skip testing the card in his system? I'm just trying to be cautious.
 
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MarkW

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Something is wrong somewhere. The only way to find out what is wrong is to try it somewhere else. I do not believe anything has damaged anything else. You might have a bad video card, or you might have a bad CPU or motherboard. Right now we simply do not know. Trying your video card in another computer should not damage anything. If I thought it would do that, I would not recommend doing it. I am trying best I can to figure out what the problem is, and find a solution to it, without destroying any computers in the process.

I always think about what I am going to suggest to someone, and I always myself if I would want someone to do that to me. If the answer is ever no, I do not suggest it. I've been working with computers for over 35 years now, and I have a pretty good idea what is possible and what is not.
 
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Abyss_of_Sorrow

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Just had the chance to do all of this. I didn't get far with it however. With the graphics card in the computer, it will not even boot far enough to access the BIOS menus. I have an LED mouse that only powers on when the computer successfully starts to boot (it lights up and works without the card in). When the graphics card is in it the mouse will not even light up. Its not booting at all with that card in it.
 
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Abyss_of_Sorrow

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I did that exact step yesterday with a friends card (decently high end card). The computer completely booted and worked as normal. After reinserting my card later the issue rearrives. It still works fine without any card in it as well.
 
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Abyss_of_Sorrow

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Unfortunately I have not. I don't have anyone around me that would be comfortable with it, and I don't like pushing people's buttons. If I do go through with buying a new graphics card you don't feel like it would be risky to the new card inserting it in the computer do you? I definitely wouldn't want to ruin a new card too. I sent an inquiry about an RMA to Sapphire, but from what I've heard I probably won't have much luck with it.
 
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MarkW

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How old is the sapphire card? If its under 3 years old, it should have a warranty on it.

RMA/Warranty
Sapphire VGA products carry a 2 year warranty* with all enquires carried out through your initial place of purchase. This can only be carried out by the original purchaser Please contact your Dealer/Reseller for Warranty / RMA service. They will require proof of purchase which includes the original invoice/documentation.

Remember this video card appears to have quit working when the power supply died. So if it is as dead as I think it might be, it will do no damage to any system. On the other hand, if it is not dead, it should just work. We need to know the answer to this because the problem might still be the motherboard. We just do not know yet.
 
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Abyss_of_Sorrow

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I'll see if I can get anyone else to test my card. I am not sure if I'll have any luck with it. I have attempted to contact sapphire directly, as the card is only 5 months old. I bought it from newegg but it seems they will not touch it after 30 days.
 
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