graphics card Please help

[DogeOwner]

Hey guys,
I have a gtx970 with a msi z97 gaming 3 Motherboard, an Intel i7 4490 cpu and zalman zm600-TX 80plus 230v power supply.
My Pc was running for 4 years without problems, but when i turned it on yesterday, after i turned it on, one monitor wasnt getting any input signal so I had to unplug 1 monitor and plug then other one after it booted up, I used it for a while then both my monitors went black. I turned it off and did the same thing I got the message "please power down and connect the pcie cable to the graphics card" I turned it off and on and it worked fine last night until today. After i turned it on today I got the same message and it wouldnt turn on no matter what, I unplugged both monitors and the 6 and 8pin cables to the graphics card and plugged the back in with no luck, the message won't go away.

Can anyone help me?
Thanks in advance

[boggy77]

dead psu or dead gpu

[5x5]

Power supply fucked off. Hopefully it didn't kill anything else

[rnd42]

Where is that message coming from?

4 minutes ago, boggy77 said:

dead psu or dead gpu

I think you meant to say partially dead. Why would there be a message on the screen if the PSU is dead?

 

[HanZie82]

Seeing how hard it is to just kill part of the PSU, and the boot also needs that 12V i think it might be the GPU that has given up.

[5x5]

4 minutes ago, rnd42 said:

Where is that message coming from?

I think you meant to say partially dead. Why would there be a message on the screen if the PSU is dead?

 

 

Just now, HanZie82 said:

Seeing how hard it is to just kill part of the PSU, and the boot also needs that 12V i think it might be the GPU that has given up.

You've never had a PSU die, have you? It's perfectly feasible for the PCIe cables to be fucked and the 24-pin to still be functional.

[HanZie82]

4 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

 

You've never had a PSU die, have you? It's perfectly feasible for the PCIe cables to be fucked and the 24-pin to still be functional.

Ive got 30 years experience, what do you think.

[jaslion]

4 minutes ago, HanZie82 said:

Seeing how hard it is to just kill part of the PSU, and the boot also needs that 12V i think it might be the GPU that has given up.

I highly doubt that. It's most likely the pcie power rail that died. It's a bottom of the barrel unit so I would really not be surprised that it's either failed or failing and cannot deliver acceptable power.

[5x5]

1 minute ago, HanZie82 said:

Ive got 30 years experience, what do you think.

I think you're dead wrong and the experience matters not when all you can show for it is wrong information

[DogeOwner]

Any suggestions as to what I should do next?

[HanZie82]

Just now, 5x5 said:

I think you're dead wrong and the experience matters not when all you can show for it is wrong information

That is true. And we shall see, as i do not think im wrong.

[HanZie82]

Just now, DogeOwner said:

Any suggestions as to what I should do next?

If you have option to use other hardware to test?

[5x5]

Just now, HanZie82 said:

That is true. And we shall see, as i do not think im wrong.

To put it this way - a dead GPU cannot output a functional message about its power requirements. The only situations I can see that happening if the OP took pliers to the PCIe connectors and ripped them off.

[DogeOwner]

1 minute ago, HanZie82 said:

If you have option to use other hardware to test?

No it's the only desktop I own

[rnd42]

4 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

You've never had a PSU die, have you?

I have not, no. The oldest one I have here is some OEM 250 Watt Chinese PSU from a Toshiba PC. I think it's from early year 2000, so it's roughly 20 years old. I have not had any power issues with it. It's powering an old system and I don't play the latest games on it, so it's all fine.

 

The second oldest PSU I have here is a Corsair HX520 (made by Seasonic as I recall). This one is a modern, modular PSU rated at 520 Watt, and it's also made in China as I recall. It's from year 2010 I think, so about 10 years old. No problem.

11 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

It's perfectly feasible for the PCIe cables to be fucked and the 24-pin to still be functional.

That's too bad for the PCIe devices. But I don't see how that makes the PSU "dead". Also, if the cables are "fucked", and the PSU is modular you could try getting new cables for it. That should be fairly easy (and cheap) to replace on a modular PSU.

 

[5x5]

1 minute ago, rnd42 said:

I have not, no. The oldest one I have here is some OEM 250 Watt Chinese PSU from a Toshiba PC. I think it's from early year 2000, so it's roughly 20 years old. I have not had any power issues with it. It's powering an old system and I don't play the latest games on it, so it's all fine.

 

The second oldest PSU I have here is a Corsair HX520 (made by Seasonic as I recall). This one is a modern, modular PSU rated at 520 Watt, and it's also made in China as I recall. It's from year 2010 I think, so about 10 years old. No problem.

That's too bad for the PCIe devices. But I don't see how that makes the PSU "dead". Also, if the cables are "fucked", and the PSU is modular you could try getting new cables for it. That should be fairly easy (and cheap) to replace on a modular PSU.

 

Well, for one, that unit ain't modular. Also, the PCIe cables themselves may not be the issue but the joints or the daughterboard or rail that controls them. In any case, the PSU is damaged and a damaged unit is a fire hazard.

[jaslion]

Just now, 5x5 said:

Well, for one, that unit ain't modular. Also, the PCIe cables themselves may not be the issue but the joints or the daughterboard or rail that controls them. In any case, the PSU is damaged and a damaged unit is a fire hazard.

I very much second this. I've experienced many psu failures or problematic ones where they took a system with them or died or just stopped giving stable power and what not.

 

That and whilst testing a pc with a fsp unit it sparked and caused my artdesk to catch fire and lost a lot of stuff :p.

[5x5]

2 minutes ago, jaslion said:

I very much second this. I've experienced many psu failures or problematic ones where they took a system with them or died or just stopped giving stable power and what not.

 

That and whilst testing a pc with a fsp unit it sparked and caused my artdesk to catch fire and lost a lot of stuff :p.

Some cheaper units can have exploding caps and those are basically shrapnel - can cause serious injury.

[DogeOwner]

3 minutes ago, jaslion said:

I very much second this. I've experienced many psu failures or problematic ones where they took a system with them or died or just stopped giving stable power and what not.

 

That and whilst testing a pc with a fsp unit it sparked and caused my artdesk to catch fire and lost a lot of stuff :p.

Does that mean I'm not supposed to turn on my pc ever again until I replace the psu for safety?

[jaslion]

Just now, DogeOwner said:

Does that mean I'm not supposed to turn on my pc ever again until I replace the psu for safety?

Pretty much. Not that it's gonna do anything if you turn it on now either way. Do get a good quality unit this time around.

 

Aim for a b tier or higher 500w unit or up.

[rnd42]

Now that I think about it, I did have one PSU die on me many eons ago. It was rather my younger self who effectively killed it by the means of undervoltage. (Hey, what does this button do?) It effectively killed the motherboard as well. That's the only major PSU meltdown I can recollect.

 

[DogeOwner]

I forgot to mention that I noticed some fans were turning slower than usual

[jaslion]

2 minutes ago, DogeOwner said:

I forgot to mention that I noticed some fans were turning slower than usual

Probably related to the power issue the gpu has. So basically get a new good unit and call it a day.

[rnd42]

12 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

Well, for one, that unit ain't modular. Also, the PCIe cables themselves may not be the issue but the joints or the daughterboard or rail that controls them.

Daughterboard? The daughter of what mother? Rails controlling cables? To think that I thought of those as being passive components...

 

He should unplug and plug those PCIe cables to make sure they are well seated, but it seems like he has already done that, if so, he can skip that.

 

17 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

In any case, the PSU is damaged and a damaged unit is a fire hazard.

You're basing that on experience I guess. We can all do some troubleshooting, but you can't be absolutely sure of that until you do a function test on the PSU. It's not something most of us will be able to readily do. But I would second that, because it's easier, quicker and safer to just get a new PSU than play with fire.

 

[rnd42]

15 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Do get a good quality unit this time around.

Hey! What do you have against Zalman? This PSU is at least 4 years old! It's probably way past its warranty time by now. Not cool man. Not cool.