New vid card - pc won't power on

sara_dippity

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Hi, I just bought a Geforce 9500 GT and when I turn on the pc, the power lights don't turn on and no noises issue from the case. I have a Compaq (yes, I know. I'm sad about it too but nothing I can do.) The mother board is the original, but it now has a 450 G hard drive, a firewire card, new 500 w power supply, and I'm using a GEFORCE 8500 GT.

I've contacted the seller and may soon send the card back as defective, but before I do, is there another reason why the pc would fail to power on with the new card in? There are no connections for auxilary power that I can find on the card itself, and it seats well in the pcie slot.
 
Yeah, if the PC won't turn on at all, the the card is most likely faulty. If the replacement doesn't work, let us know.
 
Wow, I have that computer. It's not THAT bad, but the onboard graphics are HORRIBLE! I don't know why! I have a laptop with a geforce go 6150 chipset, and it can run circles around this thing! The LE in nvidia language must translate into misleading crap chipset! UGH! The processor is decent for web surfing and stuff though. I've never had an actual graphics card in it, so I can't say about gaming, but I would imagine it would be ok in some older games.
 
Yeah, I used to have a 6600LE...what a hunk of junk. I still have it, actually. It was taking the place of my 8800 while it was being RMA'd (the process took well over 3 months due to shipping mixups lol).
 
Yeah, I used to have a 6600LE...what a hunk of junk. I still have it, actually. It was taking the place of my 8800 while it was being RMA'd (the process took well over 3 months due to shipping mixups lol).

Yeah, I feel for ya. Thank god I'm getting my new comp parts in 3 days... I can't even play Counter Strike 1.6 on this thing! You would think that LE would mean it was somewhat better, but HECK no. Hope you get this 9500gt business sorted out btw ;)
 
you said you bought a new 500W power supply?
and if there is nothing running, it COULD be that the power supply is a doa. or am i wrong here guys?
well, dont sweat it, check it piece by piece. do you have an old card you can put in to just check if everything else works?
 
you said you bought a new 500W power supply?
and if there is nothing running, it COULD be that the power supply is a doa. or am i wrong here guys?
well, dont sweat it, check it piece by piece. do you have an old card you can put in to just check if everything else works?

It could well be DOA. I would start with the simple things. Make sure everything is plugged in properly then try to power it up. If that doesn't work, try a different outlet. If the computer is still not turning on, I would then proceed to testing parts. I would start with the PSU. Since you don't hear any noise when you attempt to turn on the computer, I'd say it's either of two things: the PSU, or the motherboard. Since it's really hard to test for a faulty motherboard, you test the PSU.

A faulty graphics card cannot prevent your computer from powering up. You would still hear fans spinning the the hard-drive clicking.
 
It could well be DOA. I would start with the simple things. Make sure everything is plugged in properly then try to power it up. If that doesn't work, try a different outlet. If the computer is still not turning on, I would then proceed to testing parts. I would start with the PSU. Since you don't hear any noise when you attempt to turn on the computer, I'd say it's either of two things: the PSU, or the motherboard. Since it's really hard to test for a faulty motherboard, you test the PSU.

A faulty graphics card cannot prevent your computer from powering up. You would still hear fans spinning the the hard-drive clicking.

This is what I think as well, although anything is possible. It just seemed to me that since he last installed the gpu, that would be a good place to start. Although you do have a point with the no-fan thing...
 
Thanks all, just wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking anything.

And yeah, every thing (including psu and motherboard) functions well when the new vid card isn't in, so that has to be it.

And GibsonSGKing, it does run most games I play okay with the 8500 GT in, but I play stuff like The Sims II and Diablo II. And I'm a she ;).

A faulty graphics card cannot prevent your computer from powering up. You would still hear fans spinning the the hard-drive clicking.

Wait, saw this too late. Yeah, that's kind of what I thought, but when I put the old card in, everything works fine. With the new card the power light doesn't come on, no fans, no hard drive noises, nada. But if I switch the card back, it's fine. Both graphics cards are pcie x16, so I don't know what could be failing if it's the motherboard. Wouldn't it still use the same paths on the bus?
 
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