PC Peripherals Problem with either Corsair VX450 or HD4870! Please help to figure out.

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pretttt

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Hey Guys,

Sorry for the wall of words.....

my current system specs:
Core 2 Duo E4300 @ Stock
Intel DG965RY
3GB DDR2 (1x 2GB + 1x 1GB)
Powercolor HD4870 512 MB
2x Optical Drives
1x 250GB Seagate HDD
2x 120mm Fans
Corsair VX450
Dell S2209 22" Monitor
WeP 500VA UPS

Now the problem:
Since yesterday evening, when I turn ON my pc, I'm not getting continous display on my monitor. Sometimes I can see the Windows logon screen. Sometimes I can only get to the boot screen. Then suddenly the monitor goes into power saver mode (meaning it is not getting any signal from graphics card on the DVI port) and the graphics card fan runs at very high speed and gets noticeably louder.
This had happened once before during the weekend. I thought that maybe the card wasnt getting enough power, so yesterday morning I gave it a 12V rail of its own. (Note that the card drawing power off 1x 6Pin PCIe connector + 1x 4pin Molex->6Pin PCIe connectors. )
After this it was working fine and I was gaming all afternoon (SF4). But at night when I turned it ON again, the display was not coming.
Steps I did:
1) At first I thought maybe loose connection of the DVI cable. Checked and reconnected that.
2) Maybe 12V rail thru 4Pin Molex -> 6Pin PCIe is not giving enough juice. So I gave the card its own rail.
3) Next I thought maybe the optical drives are taking too much power and the VX450 cannot keep up, so I disconnected those.
4) Maybe the UPS is not supllying enough power to the VX450, so took it off the loop and connected the PC directly to the wall for sometime.

Now before u say the graphics card is gone, let me add that it seems fine. Because sometimes it gives proper display. I mean ideally I should test it on some other system, but problem is none of my friends have a PSU with the required connectors.

My temps were also reasonably fine 50-55C on idle and 65-70C Max on Gaming with Fallout 3. That is the graphically heaviest game I have on my system right now. With something like SF4 it wouldnt even reach 65C. So that cant be a reason for the fans freaking out.

For now I've gone back to my old 8600GT and my PC is working fine.

So now where is the problem? Why cant I get the 4870 to work with VX450?
My guess is that maybe the 6Pin PCIe is not ok or maybe the supply from VX450 is fluctuating wildly or something. Really a noob at all this. Please Help guys...
 
Seems very much like a problem with the GPU. I really don't think it's got to do with the PSU. Try GPU in another PC to be sure though.
 
pretttt said:
(Note that the card drawing power off 1x 6Pin PCIe connector + 1x 4pin Molex->6Pin PCIe connectors. )
Click to expand...

I think you should use 1x6pin PCIe + 2x4pin molex -> 1x6pin PCIe
 
c'mon guys!
any suggestions as to what might be wrong?
dont think its the gpu since if that was the case there would be no display at all. but in my case sometimes i do get a display only it doesnt last long enough. but anyways i have written to tirupati (powercolor distributor) for rma. i still suspect the pcie connector on the psu. is there any way to verify this?
 
Can you get into BIOS every time ?

Try resetting the BIOS by shortening the jumpers.

Also post your CPU temps.
 
1.try replacing GPU power cables.........especially molex to 6pin PCIe.
2.take a eraser and rub the contacts of the GPU.....
3.Open the heatsink/fan and clean it.

try these and get back
 
sumchamp said:
Can you get into BIOS every time ?
Click to expand...

Yea dude. Every time! It boots fine and windows also loads up fine. Only thing is that there is no display and loud fan noise from the card. I can make out that windows has loaded properly, since when I press the shutdown key on my keyboard, it shuts down perfectly.
Gowt1ham said:
1.try replacing GPU power cables.........especially molex to 6pin PCIe.
2.take a eraser and rub the contacts of the GPU.....
3.Open the heatsink/fan and clean it.
Click to expand...
1-->Dont get what u mean by the first one. Sorry! Do u mean to take it out and reconnect? If yes, then I've done that a number of times already. Infact, the first couple of times this actually did the trick and I was able to get display for 3-4 hrs, after which I shutdown the pc thinking everything was back to normal. But when I turned on the pc again in evening, same problem. Next what I want to try is to connect molex to 6pin to both the card's power connectors and see if that helps. If that works maybe I can say that the psu's 6pin pcie connector is having problem. But right now I have only one such molex to 6pin converter and to get a new one, I'll have to go to SP Road. And since I'm really sick with damn flu (& on sick leave from office), will have to wait atleast until weekend for that.

I'll try the 2nd thing. But I dont see any need to open the heatsink as it is still very new and doesnt have any dust on it yet!

oh yeah CPU temps:
at Idle:

at Load (Playing HD Video, didnt know what else to put. but it doesnt get higher than 62-63C):


Thanks....
 
^ Use OCCT and check ur load temps.

Temps seems to be on higher side.

Try taking temps without side panel of cabinet
 
pretttt said:
1-->Dont get what u mean by the first one. Sorry! Do u mean to take it out and reconnect? If yes, then I've done that a number of times already. Infact, the first couple of times this actually did the trick and I was able to get display for 3-4 hrs, after which I shutdown the pc thinking everything was back to normal. But when I turned on the pc again in evening, same problem. Next what I want to try is to connect molex to 6pin to both the card's power connectors and see if that helps. If that works maybe I can say that the psu's 6pin pcie connector is having problem. But right now I have only one such molex to 6pin converter and to get a new one, I'll have to go to SP Road. And since I'm really sick with damn flu (& on sick leave from office), will have to wait atleast until weekend for that.
Click to expand...
Get a new molex to 6 pin PCIe.......ask someone who owns high end corsair PSU........they get all sort of convertors bundled:). In SP road quality is very cheap and prices are high.

Btw: do u have common flu or Swine flu? Better take care if u have swine flu:D
 
Ok guys, some really bad news!

it seems that it was the graphics card that was screwed up all along.

yesterday night I had reconnected the 4870 after cleaning all the contacts and all that. Had some limited success and was able to log into windows, but after that again the same thing happened and lost the display. So I took it out and put back my 8600GT, hoping to post the result here. But guess what??!! Now there was no display from the 8600GT also!! So I guess the 4870 had now screwed up my PCIe slot also!!! :@ Till yesterday evening the 8600GT was working absolutely fine and atleast I could use the system decently. But now no display from that either. Hope nothing has happened to that!

So now I'm back to using the IGP! Thank god my mobo has an IGP! Now I know the value of having IGP:P

^ Use OCCT and check ur load temps.

Temps seems to be on higher side.
Click to expand...
yea will do that, but seems kinda pointless now since it seems the 4870 was the culprit all along. Also, it is the stock intel hsf, so are the temps too high for that also? btw, my cabinet is CM elite 330 which is kinda cramped.

Get a new molex to 6 pin PCIe.......ask someone who owns high end corsair PSU........they get all sort of convertors bundled. In SP road quality is very cheap and prices are high.
Click to expand...
None of my friends would ever shell out more that 1.5K for a PSU. U should've seen my friend's reaction when I told him I paid 4k for vx450! So SP Road is the only choice for me and even there after searching for more than hour, I found it at only 1 place and had to pay 100 bucks for it. I dont mind paying higher than that also if it'll be of good quality. Do u know any other place in B'lore where I can buy a good quality one? Dont mind buying from TE dealers also, but feel it is too small a thing and they might just laugh at me lol :ashamed:

Btw: do u have common flu or Swine flu? Better take care if u have swine flu
Click to expand...
Not sure dude, the doctor is saying I dont need to go for this checkup yet. But I've been on leave from office for almost a week now.

Your psu cant handle the 4870
Click to expand...
I've read VX450 can handle 4870 very well. That was why I bought it at the start of this year.
 
^ Dont get into conclusion that soon.

Have you tried your 4870 on other computer. Also as i suggested earlier, reset your BIOS and remove stock CPU heatsink and reapply thermal paste if its dry.
 
sumchamp said:
^ Dont get into conclusion that soon.

Have you tried your 4870 on other computer. Also as i suggested earlier, reset your BIOS and remove stock CPU heatsink and reapply thermal paste if its dry.
Click to expand...

Hmm yea but trying the card on any of my friends system would be a very risky thing to do. Wouldnt it? What if it actually does screw up their mobo too? I mean there is a risk isnt it?

But anyways none of my friends have a PSU with necessary output or connectors to run the thing.

I've started a RMA request with Tirupati and have sent them details like the Serial nummber and Invoice number. Hope I wont have too much problems with that. I mean let them test the card right? If nothing they'll atleast confirm if the card is working or not. If it is working, well and good.

Btw, I bought the card from Rahul from ITWares. I did not ask him, but he sources the card from the same distributors right? Should I get this details from him? I found the distributors name from Powercolor website.

About the Thermal paste I had applied a fresh coat of TX2 about a month back. Do I need to do that again? It is very time consuming:P
 
Hey sumchamp, I've downloaded the OCCT tool but not sure which test you want me to run. Shall I run the CPU OCCT Auto 1H test? Also, do I need to be around while the test is happening? Coz I need to go to the doctors now, so can I leave it on and go? Is there any risk of CPU overheating and exploding??
 
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