[rshaffer61]

No problem and I'm glad I could help. Please let us know how everything works out as this may help someone in the future with the same issue.
Thank you for allowing me to assist you and for your patience through all this.

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hello I'm back. OK, so i bought a new psu. OCZ ModXStream-pro 700w modular 80 plus certified sli-ready. i hooked everything up, and powered on. Cpu turns on, all fans are turning (including gpu), but my monitor is blank. little orange light instead of blue.

At this point i should mention that this happened with my old power supply. At first my computer was crashing from overheating, as i've posted, and then one day my monitor was blank after i booted up my computer (my friends told me i shouldn't have even been turning it on once i knew the PSU was faulty, d'oh). So i figured the power supply broke down even more, maybe wasn't giving enough power to the video card or something. The store clerk from where i bought my new psu said that a faulty psu could damage other hardware if it was still being used (D'oh). Ok so this is where i figure maybe it broke my video card. No biggy i guess, since i'm planning on getting a new one. My question is how can i be sure? could it be something else. Like i said everything "sounds" fine when i boot my pc up, but my monitor is blank.

Now i don't know much at all about psu's, but could my problem at all be related to this main power connector on my new psu? (refer to screenshot)
as you can see one of the pins/wires isn't there.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

Edited by Soul Forge, 10 February 2010 - 08:33 PM.

[Soul Forge]

hello I'm back. OK, so i bought a new psu. OCZ ModXStream-pro 700w modular 80 plus certified sli-ready. i hooked everything up, and powered on. Cpu turns on, all fans are turning (including gpu), but my monitor is blank. little orange light instead of blue.

At this point i should mention that this happened with my old power supply. At first my computer was crashing from overheating, as i've posted, and then one day my monitor was blank after i booted up my computer (my friends told me i shouldn't have even been turning it on once i knew the PSU was faulty, d'oh). So i figured the power supply broke down even more, maybe wasn't giving enough power to the video card or something. The store clerk from where i bought my new psu said that a faulty psu could damage other hardware if it was still being used (D'oh). Ok so this is where i figure maybe it broke my video card. No biggy i guess, since i'm planning on getting a new one. My question is how can i be sure? could it be something else. Like i said everything "sounds" fine when i boot my pc up, but my monitor is blank.

Now i don't know much at all about psu's, but could my problem at all be related to this main power connector on my new psu? (refer to screenshot)
as you can see one of the pins/wires isn't there.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

Edited by Soul Forge, 10 February 2010 - 08:33 PM.

[rshaffer61]

Nope that is normal. Now have you tried a different monitor to verify it is the monitor or the video?
If you could try your monitor on a known working system that would verify it is in working order also.

[Soul Forge]

the monitor works for sure (i tried on a diff comp). Does this prove that thevideo card is faulty? What else can i do to make sure? out of curiosity, how come the power connector is missing a wire?

[rshaffer61]

Yep pretty much shows a bad video card.
Unless you have a hanging wire then the connector was never put in the connection. The wiring is decided by motherboard manufacturers and it is pretty standard now. The connection is there most likely to give it a completed look and nothing more.

[Soul Forge]

thanks again rshaffer. What do i need to know before getting a new v-card? my friends told me that the type of ram is important. I have 2g of ddr1 ram and they said that i should have at least ddr2 for newer cards (i'm not looking for the best or anything, just something around 100-120$). Also I'm pretty sure i have pci-e but not 100% sure (i do not have owner's manual btw)

I've also been hearing that nvidia cards are better at gaming while ati are better for graphic design. Now i do some modeling and general art design work on my pc so i am curious about these differences (as well as playing games). Could someone explain to me what these differences are and how they affect animation, modeling, etc.

Edited by Soul Forge, 11 February 2010 - 03:11 PM.

[mkau]

what make and model of computer do you have? We can check if the motherboard has a PCI-E slot on it or not. More importantly, when did you buy it? PCI-E came around in 04 or 05, I think. That being said, a $120 graphics card is usually a pretty darn nice one. I got one with 1GB of DDR2 VRAM (they have separate RAM on the card)for less than $60.

Also, Nvidia and ATI cards all work as well as one another. It all comes down to the stats of the GPU (Video card)

Edited by mkau, 11 February 2010 - 03:26 PM.

[rshaffer61]

I have a ATI based card in my new system but it really depends on your motherboard and what it will accept

[Soul Forge]

ok, i found out it's pci-express according to various sites. I have an hp pavilian media center : m7480n. The motherboard is P5LP-LE. According to this i have ddr2 RAM so, yay i guess. I wasn't 100% sure i had ddr1 to begin with.

so is all this knowledge enough for me to get a new video card?

[rshaffer61]

All you really have to worry about is pci express and most likely pci express 1.0
The amount of memory on the card is up to you really.
512 would be a good middle point i would suggest. Thats what I have on my card and it does everything i can ask of it.
The good thing i did see is your system is capable of 4 gigs max memory but on a win 98 system thats kind of overkill to be honest.

[Soul Forge]

thanks, i'll let you know how it goes after i bought and installed everything

[mkau]

^Rshaffer, it's XP.

Second, I have the same board, on an HP m7680y. Anything that's PCI express x16 will work pretty well (I'm actually on that computer as we speak). I have an EVGA Geforce 9500GT 1GB, and it works well for me. Not the fastest card ever, but it'll do.

[rshaffer61]

Good example mkau for the video card. I don't see a problem with the video card and the choices OP could use.
The memory you will be restricted to the 4 gigs and even then a 32 bit OS will only utilize 3.5 gigs anyway.

[Soul Forge]

What do you mean "The memory you will be restricted to the 4 gigs"? i only have 2. do i have to get 2 more?

[rshaffer61]

No I'm just passing along info. You are fine with the 2 gigs. All I was stating is that your
System is capable of having 4 gigs of memory.
A 32 bit OS will not utilize the full 4 gigs but only 3.5 gigs.
Just informnation for you in case you did in the future decide to increase your memory capacity.