EVGA 7900GT OC killed my PC (or at least my PS)

[victurbo]

Got it yesterday, pulled my 6600gt, installed it, plugged in the aux power adapter, hit the power button and nada. No beeps, no fans nothing even indicating I have power connected but the lone unblinkng LED on my motherboard quietly observing the panicked look on my face.

Checked all connections, reseated card & tried again, nada.

Plugged 6600gt back in, tried power button, nada.

Stormed around the house, cursed the gods, kicked the dog, came back an hour later (with the 6600gt still plugged in) tried it, PC powers up and everythings fine.

Repeat the whole process again and get the exact same result, down to my pc not powering back up at all until I let it set for a while.

PC Specifics:
MB: Asus AN8-SLI Deluxe
Proc: A64 3200+
PS: Antec Neopower 480
Mem: Kingston HyperX 3500
HD: 74GB Raptor & 2 additional HD's
+ DVD writer and 3 - 120mm fans

The Neopower does have the dreaded "split rails" but has been rock solid so far.

Logically it's either the power supply or the card, has anyone had any issues with the neopower and these new more power hungry cards?

 

[BassBomb]

split rails are better than not, its definatley the psu , you need more watts when ur trying to push a high end video card along with 4 drives!

 

[dug777]

split rails are such a gimmick , give me a 30A+ single rail anyday

that said, it shouldn't have killed your PSU...that's not a particularly power hungry rig or card...

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

That 7900GT should not use more power than your 6600GT, in fact, it probably uses less power . . .

Unplug the auxiliary power connector and see if your system posts with the 7900GT. I was able to boot into windows and install drivers just fine without connecting the auxiliary power connector to my 7900GT . . .

 

[victurbo]

Did attempt to boot without the aux power connector and wouldn't even chirp let alone post.

the 6600gt doesn't have a aux power connector which is why I assumed it consumed less power than the 7900gt (despite the 90nm manufacturing process).

The wierd thing I'd never seen before was not being able to post after I returned everything to normal. It's like I had some sort of thermal overload protection internal to the power supply that needed to cool off before it would work. If I hadn't checked with a multimeter I'd have suspected my power button was bad or there was a loose connection.

 

[amheck]

why would you kick your dog over a computer part?

 

[Gadzookie]

you kn ow i heard that PSU has HUGE Problems with asus motherboards i would check that out

 

[mauri]

I also remember that ASUS motherboards have/had issues with that PSU. If I remember right (I'm not sure, I might be wrong) it was something about that the PSU doesn't give enough power to ASUS motherboards to "wake" it up. Maybe that limit was ecceeded by putting the molex to 7900GT, which draws more power from the PSU than the old 6600GT?

I remember that there were this problem with earlier revisions of NeoPower PSU and/or ASUS boards.

 

[Polish3d]

Originally posted by: amheck
why would you kick your dog over a computer part?

he's kidding

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

The 6600GT uses about 47W under load, and the 7900GT, from what I've seen, is only about 40W under load (stock) . . .

 

[fliguy84]

Originally posted by: amheck
why would you kick your dog over a computer part?

because his dog pissed on damn bloody PSU

 

[victurbo]

Was the PSU. Ran to the local hobby shop and overpaid for an ultra xconnect 2 550 as it was all they had, tossed it in and it booted up first try. Unfortunately while I was in the shop I dropped another 300$ on a new case, fans & heatsink.

Bloody expensive hobby....:laugh:

Thanks for the help all.

 

[firewolfsm]

Originally posted by: dug777
split rails are such a gimmick , give me a 30A+ single rail anyday

that said, it shouldn't have killed your PSU...that's not a particularly power hungry rig or card...

what about 35A slpit
mine

 

[Bull Dog]

Originally posted by: 1Dark1Sharigan1
That 7900GT should not use more power than your 6600GT, in fact, it probably uses less power . . .

Unplug the auxiliary power connector and see if your system posts with the 7900GT. I was able to boot into windows and install drivers just fine without connecting the auxiliary power connector to my 7900GT . . .

Originally posted by: 1Dark1Sharigan1
The 6600GT uses about 47W under load, and the 7900GT, from what I've seen, is only about 40W under load (stock) . . .

Bolded parts of the quotes are BULL /censored/! If the 7900GT really used that little power then nVIDIA would have made a PCB that didn't need external power.

 

[compnurd9]

I think it was just a defective PSU issue because i have a 7900 GT CO with a dual core cpu and 4 drives as well and i run fine with a antec 430 true power