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Is my 6870 wired up right?

Soldato
Joined
20 Aug 2010
Posts
8,201
Basically i have this model psu
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-031-OC
and I have put the 1x6 pin pci e connector into my 6870, however as it comes with a 6 pin + 2, I thought it should work just connecting only 6 pins instead of 8, so I started it up and I got no output, however the graphics cards fan was really loud.All the fans are fine and everything is wired up correctly but it led me to believe it is supplying the rest of the 5v via extra two pins that I was not using. Am I right?, and I guess this can be an easy fix by getting a 8 pin converter to a 6 pin?

I was a bit worried that it might damaging the graphics card if it is not supplying all the voltage required, however I know that it is either the card that is not working, or it is the power set up wrong, I looked at that the specs on the side of the psu, and it said the total wattage for both of the outputs was 150w, and this is the required amount for the 6870.
 
could try a cmos reset?

took me some time to persuade my pc to accept a new card after using an IGP for a while, that seemed to do the trick.

Alternatively, if you're motherboard has an IGP, you could plug the video cable into that, if it boots then disable the IGP in the bios (might also want to set any priority option to the graphics card if theres such an option). Then shut down, swap the video cable back over to the card, turn it back on and pray :D
 
could try a cmos reset?

took me some time to persuade my pc to accept a new card after using an IGP for a while, that seemed to do the trick.

Alternatively, if you're motherboard has an IGP, you could plug the video cable into that, if it boots then disable the IGP in the bios (might want to set any priority to the graphics card if theres such an option). Then shut down, swap the video cable back over to the card, turn it back on and pray :D
Oh so it might have changed the priorities? and set the onboard as the default? Well it did sound really loud, maybe it is because this is my first mid range card?
On my old card I could not hear it above my other fans on my pc, and also I thought that the connection between the monitor might be dodgy because I am using a dvi to vga converter. I guess I shall try with hdmi on my tv.

I am still lost, I was pretty sure my power supply would work here are some calculations

5*25= 125w
3.3*25= 82.5w
Total=207.5
Total written on power supply: 150w


Can someone just please tell me how I should connect this up, I am completly lost, should I just use 1x 6 pin, and use only 6 pins from the 6pins + 2.
 
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Just use the connectors that fit the card.
If it's a 6 + 8 pin then use those connections.
If it's 6 + 6 pin then use those connections, i.e. not 6pin + 8pin
 
Yes I know that I need two 6 pins, but I have 6+2 and one 6 pin. Should I just use 6 pin from the 8 pin, will it supply the 75w that is needed? and do I need to connect the two cables in any certain order out of the two pci e connectors on my psu.


Edit: Monitor connect is dodgy just got it working via hdmi it boots !

Only worked for one boot, turned it off and it would not boot.
 
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Set it up like that, the thing is the fan spins, and it is really loud and then it defaults to onboard video but the fans carry on spinning, should I try a cmos reset?
 
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Try taking the card out and then putting it back in, make sure it is firmly in the PCI-E slot

Ok I will try that, already done that once though.Could it be effected by the fact I have another pci card in, should I take that out to make sure it is not effecting it?

It did actually post once through hdmi, however when I plugged up all my usb cables etc it did not post again.
 
You can try using the molex adapters that came with the card for one of the 6 pin connectors to see if that makes a difference.

Additionally you could try running with just the bare essentials connected to see if the card comes to life that way - ie just the hard disk and graphics card connected (no sound card, cd or dvd drives etc) to rule out power supply issues
 
What motherboard do you have and is it PCIe 2.0? I only ask because there were reports of people having not being able to run 5xxx cards on PCIe 1.0 boards. I wonder if the problem still exists with the new cards
 
I have an asus p5n73 am, think it has pci 2.
I have the graphics card boot priority set as the pcie card, I don`t think I can actually disable on board graphics, what I might do is boot into windows and see if it actully shows the graphics card in device manager.
 
Wow somehow it just booted to hdmi, really weird I was testing to see if I could boot into windows 7, went to the boot menu saying bla bla press f1 because booting had a problem last time, then switched off to remember to plug some stuff in and in suddenly booted via hdmi.
I think it might be because, I did not go to the bit where it was detecting the devices, I was just going to the logo screen and giving up if the fan was spinning at full blast, so it did not see my graphics card. I will let you guys know if it works :)
 
I have an asus p5n73 am, think it has pci 2.
I have the graphics card boot priority set as the pcie card, I don`t think I can actually disable on board graphics, what I might do is boot into windows and see if it actully shows the graphics card in device manager.

That is a nForce 610i board and Asus only specify it as a x16 slot with no version given. I suspect it may a v1.0 slot.

My friend had a similar board running an AMD processor and the BIOS only has an auto setting for onboard gpu with no full off setting.

Any way you can try a different card or try yours in another system?
 
That is a nForce 610i board and Asus only specify it as a x16 slot with no version given. I suspect it may a v1.0 slot.

My friend had a similar board running an AMD processor and the BIOS only has an auto setting for onboard gpu with no full off setting.

Any way you can try a different card or try yours in another system?
It has actually just booted via hdmi installing windows 7 right now,Umm it might be pci 1 though, so I might not get the extra bandwith. Will have a look when I can get on cpu z

Edit: It might be able to pci e 2 after bios update, I shall be replacing this board very soon and moving it into a htpc anyway so it does not really matter.
 
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Cool, glad it is working :). Nice to know the slot wasn't a problem afterall. Could be the onboard auto detection is a bit ropey (to use the technical term).

Let us know how it performs in game for you.
 
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