GTX 280 Red Light Issues

PrOdiGy1 · 13 Jun 2009 at 17:02

Hi all. Recently picked up a BFG GTX 280 OC on the MM but having some problems with it. Basically I am getting the red light on the card and cannot figure out why. I am under the impression that this is down to not enough power going to the card. Having previously looked around a bit, a few people are running a GTX 280 perfectly fine on the same power supply as me (Corsair HX520 even though it is slightly below the recommended wattage by BFG). None of my components are overclocked (shock horror!) and the only things not mentioned in my sig are a sound blaster xfi card and a couple of dvd drives.

The card itself requires both a 6 pin PCI-E connection and an 8 pin one. As some of you may know, my PSU does not have an 8 pin PCI-E connection, so I have been using the adaptor provided with the graphics card. This takes 2 regular 6 pin PCI-E connections and makes the 8 pin connection required by the card. Of course as the HX520 only has 2 6 pin PCI-E connectors, I am having to use a molex to 6 pin PCI-E adaptor. Is this the correct way to connect the card?

I have tried a different molex adaptor, messing around with the molex's to make sure they are actually connected to each other, unplugging all unnecessary components (including running off just 1 stick of ram) and removing the card and all connections and starting again (a few times) to no avail. The only cable i have not swapped out is the 6 to 8 pin adaptor.

I don't know if it is worth mentioning or it is just normal behaviour in these circumstances, but the card does spin up for a few seconds and has a green light, but then powers down and the red light appears. However, I do not get to the Post screen and my monitor does not receive any signal. I have put my old card back in and that still works, so the system is still functioning okay as far as i can see. Any ideas?

MeatLoaf · 13 Jun 2009 at 17:08

A red light normally does mean a lack of power. Have you tried the native pci-e power plug in both connectors? Or have you tried it with just the 2 6 pin plugs?

Does your mobo have a 2nd PCI-E x16 slot you could try the card in?

PrOdiGy1 · 13 Jun 2009 at 17:11

MeatLoaf said:
A red light normally does mean a lack of power. Have you tried the native pci-e power plug in both connectors? Or have you tried it with just the 2 6 pin plugs?

Sorry I am not entirely sure what you mean by the native pci-e power plug. Do you mean connecting directly from the PSU to the card?

Unfortunately my motherboard does not have another x16 slot.

MeatLoaf · 13 Jun 2009 at 17:32

Yes i used to have an 8800GTX with a psu that only had 1 pci-e psu plug. So i had to use that plus a 2 molex to pcie adaptor. However it would only boot if the 6 pin plug direct from the psu was in the left hand connector on the card and the 2x molex to 6pin was in the right.

If i swapped them over it didnt work. Strange really but its worth checking.

PrOdiGy1 · 13 Jun 2009 at 17:53

I don't think i can do that as the card requires 6 pin and 8 pin connectors, and i only have 2 6 pins coming from my PSU (these both go into the 8 pin adaptor). Unless you mean something else and I am missing something. Sorry for the ignorance if so

Sean_UK · 13 Jun 2009 at 18:41

PrOdiGy1 said:
I am under the impression that this is down to not enough power going to the card. Having previously looked around a bit, a few people are running a GTX 280 perfectly fine on the same power supply as me (Corsair HX520 even though it is slightly below the recommended wattage by BFG).

One of my brothers has a pc build is very similar to mine, except for 4GB memory and [email protected] with GTX 285 powerd via HX520, so unless yours is faulty I can't see how its causing power issues. Edit: Never mind just read your using 2x 6pin into 8pin

Contact Cosair, they will send you an 8 pin for your HX520, so long as you still have the reciept.

PrOdiGy1 · 13 Jun 2009 at 19:27

Sean_UK said:
One of my brothers has a pc build is very similar to mine, except for 4GB memory and [email protected] with GTX 285 powerd via HX520, so unless yours is faulty I can't see how its causing power issues. Edit: Never mind just read your using 2x 6pin into 8pin Contact Cosair, they will send you an 8 pin for your HX520, so long as you still have the reciept.

Hi Sean. Is that a direct 6 to 8 pin lead they send (something like this)? Looks like i will have to try and find the receipt though. Highly unlikely it still exists

Sasahara · 13 Jun 2009 at 19:35

If you use a 6-Pin PCI-E to 8-Pin PCI-E cable adaptor and both your 6-pin PCI-E plugs are on the same cable you shouldn't use the 2nd plug. Instead your better off using the 2x molex to PCI-E 6-pin adator for the 6-pin connecton.

Sean_UK · 13 Jun 2009 at 19:42

PrOdiGy1 said:
Is that a direct 6 to 8 pin lead they send

Nope, it's an actual Corsair 8pin PCI-E which plugs directly into PSU, none of this 6pin into 8pin malarkey, infact its the same one that comes with HX620. Iirc at some point in life the HX520 retail contents went from 2x6 pin to 1x6 pin + 1x8 pin included.

Senture · 13 Jun 2009 at 19:45

The above sounds like a very good idea. It seems like there's too much load on 1 rail for it to cope. See if you can move the molex to 6 pin connectors onto the other rail. If I remember correctly from my friend's build with the same PSU, there are markings on the PSU at what rail the connections are on.

thegoonden · 13 Jun 2009 at 22:43

Mine has been going red light for no reason I could see. Following some advice I found here, it seems the pins might be a teeny bit thinner than spec resulting in intermittent contact. To solve my problem (been 10 days since a crash now) I put a little bit of folded carboard between the two power connectors, pushing them outwards at an angle slightly, this keeps pin and socket in better contact. May be worth trying on yours, but remember, although the cardboard shim should push gently on the plugs. it must NOT put force on them, if you push too hard you will snap something and be up the proverbial creek in need of a paddle.
You could try just holdiing them initially of course, but be aware that once the card has shown the red light it cannot recover until the machine reboots, so you need to be holding them (stuff your little finger in between them a little, that should do it) when you power up.

PrOdiGy1 · 13 Jun 2009 at 23:14

thegoonden said:
To solve my problem (been 10 days since a crash now) I put a little bit of folded carboard between the two power connectors, pushing them outwards at an angle slightly, this keeps pin and socket in better contact.

I think i might need a diagram for this, not really sure what you mean!

Sean_UK said:
Nope, it's an actual Corsair 8pin PCI-E which plugs directly into PSU, none of this 6pin into 8pin malarkey, infact its the same one that comes with HX620. Iirc at some point in life the HX520 retail contents went from 2x6 pin to 1x6 pin + 1x8 pin included.

I have sent an email to the relevant person at corsair. Again i'll update on here with what happens (if anything!)

Senture said:
If I remember correctly from my friend's build with the same PSU, there are markings on the PSU at what rail the connections are on.

Hmmmm thanks I did not know this - can anyone confirm? I'll have to investigate a bit more tomorrow (Case is a bit difficult to see small markings on a PSU!) and report back.

Keep the advice coming guys!

Senture · 13 Jun 2009 at 23:20

PrOdiGy1 said:
Hmmmm thanks I did not know this - can anyone confirm? I'll have to investigate a bit more tomorrow (Case is a bit difficult to see small markings on a PSU!) and report back.

I know they're on my HX1000 for sure, but I'm quite sure I saw them on my friend's HX520.

PrOdiGy1 · 13 Jun 2009 at 23:32

Senture said:
I know they're on my HX1000 for sure, but I'm quite sure I saw them on my friend's HX520.

Sorry if I am being a bit of a pain, but whereabouts are they on your hx1000?

Senture · 14 Jun 2009 at 01:12

There's a lable directly above the connectors on my HX1000 that shows the black and blue layouts and 12V1 for the top set and 12V2 for the bottom, 1 and 2 define what rail it's on.

MrMoses · 14 Jun 2009 at 03:53

I dont Care!

Ati are Better than Crappy Nvidia

Nv overpriced , stutter etc etc

off point but true

PrOdiGy1 · 14 Jun 2009 at 08:54

MrMoses said:
I dont Care!

Ati are Better than Crappy Nvidia

Nv overpriced , stutter etc etc

off point but true

Thanks. I am actually switching directly from Ati because of well known problems and their cards and my TV.....

PrOdiGy1 · 14 Jun 2009 at 08:55

Senture said:
There's a lable directly above the connectors on my HX1000 that shows the black and blue layouts and 12V1 for the top set and 12V2 for the bottom, 1 and 2 define what rail it's on.

Cheers. I'll try and see if mine has something similar. Going to be a bit of a struggle though!

Just been doing some digging on the Corsair forums and while the label states the HX520 has triple rails, it only has one apparently so there is no way of switching. I certainly could not see any writing near the connectors either

Senture · 14 Jun 2009 at 09:13

Seems you are right. Their manual says there are 3 12v rails but no labling on the connectors. Try putting one of the pci-e connectors in a different socket.

PrOdiGy1 · 14 Jun 2009 at 09:28

Senture said:
Seems you are right. Their manual says there are 3 12v rails but no labling on the connectors. Try putting one of the pci-e connectors in a different socket.

Read my mind hehe! Just tried switching the PCI-E connectors around to no avail. I purchased another 2x molex to PCI-E to adaptor yesterday from ******s and have just tried that in place of each PCI-E cables and also tried from both ports on the PSU. Still doing the same - green status light for a second then goes red and turns off.

It is the fact that the card starts and then goes off that is puzzling me (status light going green for a bit then red). I forgot to replug one of the cables into the PSU earlier this morning and that time the light at the back just stayed red - this seems like what would happen if there was not enough power. When i put it back in again the regular symptoms showed (ie green to red light). Could this indicate something else?

Oops didnt mean to put the competitor on!