Hardware I think I ruined a graphics card

[Harsky]

A while back, I ordered an MSI 8600GT from ebuyer for my cousin (the version which had a very large cooling unit). Anyways, it worked on my PC and worked on his one... barely but nonetheless I thought it was within my budget for a decent graphics card so I went to ebay and bought one (but without the large cooling unit).

It arrived today. Plugged it in and it ran okay... for literally 30 seconds before it switched itself off and at that point I knew something went badly wrong. I guess I should've been lucky that it wasn't an 8800GT otherwise I really would crying but guessing that my card is now beyond repair, what should've been done to prevent this happening again?

Oh and somehow I have a feeling it's PSU related which is something I'm dreading since the idea of reconnecting everything makes me sad.

 

[Arkansaw]

Use the cooling unit?
replacing the PSU isn't nearly as troublesome as replacing the mainboard

 

[Harsky]

You know, I figure I might as well get a new PSU unit as well. But I'm lost in figuring out which unit I need. Any ideas?

 

[Extreme Coder]

So the PC doesn't turn on anymore?

 

[cubin']

It might not be ruined.

Yeah it sounds like a power supply issue.

What was your old graphics card? What are your system specs? Do you know how powerful your current PSU is?

 

[crkdshad]

Try using a power supply tester? They sell them at radioshack, etc.

 

[Arkansaw]

For the record, I have heard reports about 8800GT and 2x 500GB hard drives drawing more than 500W. These days, gfx cards are not the only components screaming for power.

 

[superrob]

How big is your power supply?

(the version which had a very large cooling unit).

It sounds like a big power eater.

 

[jumpman17]

Check your power supply. When I bought the GeForce 5200, it ran for 30 minutes, then my tower overheated and killed the power supply.

 

[Harsky]

So I went to my local PC store and bought a new PSU unit. It was a 570W one so it's literally double the watts of my previous one. Now, I plugged my 8600GT back into the PC... and still nothing. Absolutely nothing at all. Which is why I'm still using my old one albeit with at least an upgraded PSU so nothing is lost.

 

[Dirtie]

Was it a generic/crap brand PSU? Cos if so the wattage means absolutely ZILCH

 

[Harsky]

Was it a generic/crap brand PSU? Cos if so the wattage means absolutely ZILCH

Old PSU was an FSP Group PSU (ie one that came preinstalled in my PC that was bought by my dad from a PC store). New one is made by Trust and is this one

http://www.trust.com/products/product_detail.aspx?item=14888

 

[Harsky]

bump

 

[cenotaph]

For the record, I have heard reports about 8800GT and 2x 500GB hard drives drawing more than 500W. These days, gfx cards are not the only components screaming for power.

Hard drives do not draw a lot (relatively) of power.

Power usage depends very much on what operation the component in question is performing, especially in the case of things that are more mechanical in nature. The amount of power your HDD draws peaks when it's spinning up (hence why many server-/enterprise-grade controllers delay drive spin-up in order to ease the strain on your PSU when powering up) and gradually falls to much lower levels (a few hundred mA vesus 1A-2A) - you'll see an increase when writing/reading (but it's really minor).

So I went to my local PC store and bought a new PSU unit. It was a 570W one so it's literally double the watts of my previous one. Now, I plugged my 8600GT back into the PC... and still nothing. Absolutely nothing at all. Which is why I'm still using my old one albeit with at least an upgraded PSU so nothing is lost.

If there's no reaction whatsoever, I'd start troubleshooting the motherboard - your old PSU might have killed it.

 

[Harsky]

For the record, I have heard reports about 8800GT and 2x 500GB hard drives drawing more than 500W. These days, gfx cards are not the only components screaming for power.

Hard drives do not draw a lot (relatively) of power.

Power usage depends very much on what operation the component in question is performing, especially in the case of things that are more mechanical in nature. The amount of power your HDD draws peaks when it's spinning up (hence why many server-/enterprise-grade controllers delay drive spin-up in order to ease the strain on your PSU when powering up) and gradually falls to much lower levels (a few hundred mA vesus 1A-2A) - you'll see an increase when writing/reading (but it's really minor).

So I went to my local PC store and bought a new PSU unit. It was a 570W one so it's literally double the watts of my previous one. Now, I plugged my 8600GT back into the PC... and still nothing. Absolutely nothing at all. Which is why I'm still using my old one albeit with at least an upgraded PSU so nothing is lost.

If there's no reaction whatsoever, I'd start troubleshooting the motherboard - your old PSU might have killed it.

Can't see how the motherboard is responsible for this consider it's still working.

 

[cenotaph]

For the record, I have heard reports about 8800GT and 2x 500GB hard drives drawing more than 500W. These days, gfx cards are not the only components screaming for power.

Hard drives do not draw a lot (relatively) of power.

Power usage depends very much on what operation the component in question is performing, especially in the case of things that are more mechanical in nature. The amount of power your HDD draws peaks when it's spinning up (hence why many server-/enterprise-grade controllers delay drive spin-up in order to ease the strain on your PSU when powering up) and gradually falls to much lower levels (a few hundred mA vesus 1A-2A) - you'll see an increase when writing/reading (but it's really minor).

So I went to my local PC store and bought a new PSU unit. It was a 570W one so it's literally double the watts of my previous one. Now, I plugged my 8600GT back into the PC... and still nothing. Absolutely nothing at all. Which is why I'm still using my old one albeit with at least an upgraded PSU so nothing is lost.

If there's no reaction whatsoever, I'd start troubleshooting the motherboard - your old PSU might have killed it.

Impossible. Then how can I still be using it?

Forget what I posted, I didn't read your posts properly and missed out on some (vital) info.

Note to anyone who might be reading: this is what you get for having a short attention span.

 

[Harsky]

While I'm at it, I can't decide if the 570W they slapped on the box is just a cheap ruse and in truth, it isn't enough to run the card. I really don't want to risk getting another card and having the same thing happen.

 

[754boy]

While I'm at it, I can't decide if the 570W they slapped on the box is just a cheap ruse and in truth, it isn't enough to run the card. I really don't want to risk getting another card and having the same thing happen.

Its probably a cheap ruse. My PC case came with a claimed 600w PSU. Popped my 8600GT in there and nothing. So I checked the PSU to see if the +12v rails were providing enough juice......hell no, only 15A and the card's minimum requirement was 18A. Anyways, went out and bought a good 500w Ultra brand psu and it provides more than enough power.

 

[Harsky]

While I'm at it, I can't decide if the 570W they slapped on the box is just a cheap ruse and in truth, it isn't enough to run the card. I really don't want to risk getting another card and having the same thing happen.


Its probably a cheap ruse. My PC case came with a claimed 600w PSU. Popped my 8600GT in there and nothing. So I checked the PSU to see if the +12v rails were providing enough juice......hell no, only 15A and the card's minimum requirement was 18A. Anyways, went out and bought a good 500w Ultra brand psu and it provides more than enough power.

Hmm... I was confused when I was buying that I just grabbed the first one that came to sight. This is the exact specs for the PSU.

Something tells me I got the wrong one. Need to know since I'll be exchanging this as soon as possible.

 

[Dirtie]

Just do some searching on the net for the right brands, there's lots of guides and reviews out there.

Enermax, Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, etc. etc.
A well-known brand doesn't necessarily mean good though, some have fallen from grace in a big way (thermaltake for instance, though I think they're bringing out a new line which is half decent)

If you really really must go cheap, get a "Task" branded PSU - they're basically as good as you'll get in a budget PSU.