Red Light Woes (hd4850)

[aviduser]

Good news is, I successfully built my first rig. Wish I did it a while back.

Bad news is, my gc isn't responding. The card gives off a red led, which from my understanding means either faulty power supply, or overheating issues. I doubt the card would overheat straight from booting. That would mean its the power supply.

However, I've tested the power supply/molar cables used to power the fans and they are fine. Thinking there was a short in the system I dissassembled the computer and installed everything out of the case. No dice.

I've really run out of ideas. Normally I would RMA the card but sadly is has an aftermarket HSF and I tossed the stock HSF.

System specs are.

Phenom II 940
Gigabyte MA790GP-DS4H
5 Gigs Ram
Corsair tx850 Psu
750GB Hitachi 7k1000
HD4850 w Arctic Cooling Twin Turbo

If I could afford it I would just go out and buy a gtx260. But sadly I can't as of right now.

*Note* When I power up the computer the fans do not spin, but when I shut down the system the fans spin briefly before losing power. The monitor displays no signal at any time.

My guess is it may be a short between the molex connector and the fans/4pin plug in on the gc.

Hopefully thats somewhat legible, I just want to get my new system up and running.

Any thoughts/advice is welcome, thanks.

[Skyllz]

I would unplug all fans, drives and only keep the power to the mobo and video card ot see what happens. Double check that any connectors/wires are not shorted anywhere.

[Eagle Eye]

Normally I would RMA the card but sadly is has an aftermarket HSF and I tossed the stock HSF.

Firstly, "Smacks aviduser in head" Yeah not sure what you were thinking and why you did that.

Who is the manufacturer?

5 Gigs Ram

Is that correct or a typo?

Did you just recently install the aftermarket cooler?

If you can afford to get another psu or have another one lying around you might consider that.

Regards,

EE

[ImmaPC]

adivuser, you should know that you NEVER toss the stock heatsink!

So...does the rest of the computer work except for the GPU? or does it all not work?

I would definitely test it with a new PSU before RMAing anything, or use a different video card if you have one lying around to test the PSU you have now.

[aviduser]

I guess I figured my warranty was shot anyway. Aftermarket cooler has been on for like 4months. Its a Diamond card, which I hear have non existant customer service.

I forgot to mention the card was working fine in the new build for 1 day.

Yes the computer has 5 gigs of ram. Alas I may go hunting for a 4pin fan to "trick" the card into thinking its the stock hsf.

[b1lk1]

I would pull all the ram out but 1 stick and start from there. ram is usually the first thing to die.

[Frank Encruncher]

your board is probably freezing on boot, which will leave the LED's lite up
It most likely your ram configuration causing the lock up
Try clearing CMOS and going to one stick

[aviduser]

Update* I installed my brothers 9600gt into my computer in hopes of editing the bios to allow onboard, fan powers up on his card, everything seems well. However I still get no video. I swapped monitors to see if thats the problem, and it isn't.

To clear the cmos I unplugged the power supply, ATX 12v and 24pin Mobo connectors. I then removed the battery for 2min, still no onboard.

I have yet to try 1 stick of ram ill go do that now...

[donimo]

seems like PSU so far...

[aviduser]

ok, so I tried 1 stick and nothing. I will try my other PSU later on, getting too frustrated right now...