New video card problem

[art]

Hi guys, I am a newbie and found this site brousing the web and thought it was the best place to post my problem.

Here is my system specs I have a problem with a graphics card installation.

Coolermaster Sileo 500 Case - *QUIET PC*
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 Motherboard
Intel® Core™ i7 950 3.06GHz
Corsair 750Watt PSU
Zalman CNPS10X Extreme Cooler - *QUIET PC*
Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz
1TB 7200RPM SATA II
1TB 7200RPM SATA II
22x DVD RW Black SATA
Internal Blu-ray Re-Writer Disc/DVD/CD Combo Drive
nVidia GeForce GTX 295 1792MB
Microsoft Windows® 7 Ultimate 64-bit
22" Widescreen TFT 1680x1050 5m/s Monitor
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium
802.11g WiFi PCI adapter
Internal Card Reader 26 in 1

I wanted to put my pc through my 42” tv and bought a hdmi cable. This cable stretched right round the room, however when I came to connect the cable my nVidia GeForce GTX 295 1792MB card did not have hdmi capabilities no hdmi socket on the back of the card and I thought it did! ( I am disabled and I could not look at the back of the pc because it is hard to get at it.)

I decided to get a new card with a hdmi socket on the back. I bought another card EXACTLY THE SAME MODEL and proceeded to fit it. Everything went fine until boot up. Nothing on the screen at all, it was totally black. The motherboard made a long beep and two short bleeps. Looking in the motherboard manual this meant there was a graphics problem. I took the card out and sent it back. I put my old card (same model) back in the pc making sure I connected the internal power cables and booted up. The same thing happened again with my old card which was working before!!

I had an old card (gforce 7300le) which I fit into the same pci express slot as I used for the new card and it worked ok. I sent for yet another nVidia GeForce GTX 295 1792MB card, it came today and I tried again with the same not working result, so the 7300le is back in!!

I am at my wits end, I have no idea why its done this with 3 cards yet my older card works, I can only think that its something I am missing, its not the pci express slot as my older card works fine.
It seems that my motherboard does not recognise the card, but I could be wrong...

Please help.... Thank You very much. I hope I have explained ok

[zburns]

This is a quick response based on something I just found. Here is the link: http://www.home-theater-automation-and-electronics.com/HDMIvsDVI.html Go to second para from bottom. The heading on the para is this: "A Warning about Cable length". This company that has the website is trying to sell cables so that is a 'minus'. However if you have a really long cable (longer than 15 feet) from the computer to the TV, at least according to this article, that could be a problem. I will try to find more references to this as a problem thru out the day. The article shows a copyright date 2003-2008 which probably means the article has not been updated since 2008; maybe the company is out of business. But there 'cable length' statement stands alone and is probably true. If so it can be easily verified.

[art]

Thanks zburns, but my problem is the video card....

[RickyTick]

My first thought is that maybe you didn't connect one of the power connectors to the video card. Double check both of the 8-pin and 6-pin connectors. Also double check the power connector from the psu to the motherboard.

[zburns]

Hi Art, let me know if you still have trouble. I have spent some more time on the problem but no point in going thru it if Ricky's suggestion solved it. (I thought I had deleted all the stuff below but I accidentally posted it -- better that I take it one step at a time)

The reason I gave you that link is that the company that wrote the article clearly stated problems 'with signal loss' on cables beyond 15 feet. One of their solutions was to use 'monster cable' (or whatever their name is). If you are transmitting a 'digital signal' and the data signals are not strong enough relative to the 'impedance' of the cable being used, then the TV set just does not respond to a 'signal strength' that is not at a minimum level -- caused by losses in the cable. There use of the name "Monster Cable" -- their 'forte' in High Fidelity Speaker Cables were cables that transmitted 'more of the analog signal' used for high quality hi fi stereo -- all has to do with losing signal strength due to resistance (correct word is impedance) -- they were saying that Monster Cable would have less impedance than 'the run of the mill' cheaper cables. 15 feet being the breaking point.

Electrically, signal loss in the cable from the computer to the TV can be one cause of the problem. Your old card may be working because it has higher output than the newer cards. What is not explained is why one card that did work has stopped working.

Ricky's suggestions are plausible, except that you would have had to make the same mistake several times -- that is not fully seating the same plug more than once. Or if you cannot see the plugs when you plug them in, and they have two screws either side to pull them in tight, maybe since you cannot see them, the plugs are not firmly seated and one or more connections are not being made.

I am writing this post 'on the fly' as you may probaby deduce. Take a look at this link on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI The article is very long and the first four or so paras do not tell you much. I suggest you look closely at paras for 'cables and extenders' -- these paras are about signal loss. Also, I point out that these are digital data streams or packets of digital data. These paras clearly say that cable length will take down a decent signal. Another important statement (this is mine) is that if any portion of you cable has be sharply bent or crushed, that should possibly be looked at as a cause until you can definitely rule it out.

Again, I am not saying, that the cables the cause; they are one of several possible causes. I looked thru your post several times this morning and could not reconcile in my mind the fact that one board worked and then stopped working.

[RickyTick]

I'm still thinking it's a power issue. The GTX295 is a power hog and requires 2 separate power connectors directly from the psu (an 8-pin and a 6-pin. The 7300LE is powered from the PCI slot ONLY.

[zburns]

Here are the specs from Invidia: Maximum Graphics Card Power (W) 289 W
Minimum Recommended System Power (W) 680 W
Supplementary Power Connectors 6-pin & 8-pin

I checked the Corsair web site, it has a 60 amp output on the single +12v rail - 720 usable watts. The inivida card should have an 8 pin and a 6 pin connector on the thin side of the card at the end of the card. There is a picture showing two power connectors on the "thin side", 6 pin and 8 pin. So the 8 pin corsair plug and cable from the psu should do the job. If this 8 pin plug is not plugged in, the card would not work. Either it would get no power or there would be a safety cutout circuit in the event of no power connector in one of the two (6 or 8 pin) card connectors. (Looking at the Corsair specs, I did not see a 6 pin cable/plug, only a 8 pin.)

Ricky seems to think the card takes both an 8 pin and a 6 pin power connector -- I am not sure. The Corsair specs only show an 8 pin (no 6 pin) but I will recheck. 289 watts on the +12 volt rail will pull 24 amps. Here is the Newegg spec on Corsair: 1 x Main connector (20+4Pin)
1 x 12V(4/8Pin)

The specs above do not state the Corsair part #; before Art does anything with what I am saying, I would like to know the part # of the Corsair Psu. The above info is for: Enthusiast Series™ TX750. I really need to know the part # just to be certain of what I am saying.

The Invidia spec on the power connectors on the side of the card specifies one 6 pin and one 8 pin but they say nothing about both having to be used; I think they mean for one or the other not both; again this is why I would like to know the Corsair part # . FYI, the corsair website does not identify the cable connector plugs very well -- maybe I just missed them but I looked at two (total) modular and non-modular 750 watt psus.

[RickyTick]

Here's a picture of the power connector to the GTX295.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-295-review-bfg/5

[zburns]

Hello! He is my favorite reviewer. I am not sure he got it right about using both plugs, maybe so. But the Invidia spec page says the max watts the card pulls is 289 which means 24 amps at +12volts. The electrical code (that governs UL) may let 24 amps and the molex connector slip by because of the enclosure and the short distance of the wire runs from the PSU to the card; what I just said is an educated guess.

Corsair has three versions of the 750 PSU and I cannot find anything on their site that 'clearly' spells out the cables and their connectors; if it is there, I missed it. There web site leaves something to be desired, no good on the connectors. I got my information from the specs on Newegg and that was very clear --1 x Main connector (20+4Pin) and 1 x 12V(4/8Pin); but I was using the Corsair 750 watt that popped up on google, the non modular version.

So that why I asked for the part # . But according to the Corsair spec, there is only 1 peripheral +12V and it is evidently 2-4 pins together to make an 8 pin. It will be easy to find out tomorrow. Like I say, the Newegg spec is clear, but the Corsair on the cables and plugs is not clear - my opinion.

[zburns]

I guess it will take a call to Corsair to ask about the ampere capacity of the eight pin plug -- or you would think Art has an installation user guide of some form that will clearly say if the two connectors both have to be used or is the 8 pin sufficient. The other connector is 6 pin which could simply mean that both 6 and 8 pins are used by various PSU manufacturers, and Invidia puts them both on the card to cover all bases. At any rate, a call to Corsair is in order.

[art]

Thanks everyone,

RickyTick understands what my problem is. I have not tried the HDMI link to my tv yet because I can not boot the PC with this card installed so I have to use my spare cheaper card.
However I thank you for the info about length of cable etc, etc, which was new info for me and I will certainly keep this in mind.
I will look at what RickTick's advice, get my son to get my tower out and check all connections inside and report back.

Thanks again been very helpfull

Update: Tried again checked the power cables and all was fine, did not connect the SPDIF (small) cable ( I have read that this will stop card from working if not connected properly) the card was seated ok but still got the beeps. put the older card back in and the pc boots no problem.
What I dont understand is why the original card worked fine and now that wont even work, so I now have 2 gtx295 cards that cause these beeps!