Computer won't start up properly after installing sound card

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I've just installed a new sound card (PCI-E) and when I power up my system the screens display is completely blank and the system fans seem to be stuck in a loop of powering up and then stopping.

I thought it was to do with the power connectors from the PSU to the sound card or GPU not being connected properly but I've checked the connections and they seem to be fine. I've also re-seated the sound card.

There are other parts of the computer being powered off the same line (not sure on the correct term) from the PSU. Is it possible that there's not enough power for all the components?

Also the new sound card is very close to the heat sink from the CPU above it and just above the GPU with only a few millimetres either side. Could that be causing a problem?
 
My first thought was the power supply. But then what sort of soundcard is capable of creating such a high load?

Try other connectors with less things on the same lead.
 
I presume you have tried it in a different slot ? A 650W psu would be fine for that setup in your sig assuming it is that one you are talking about.
 
I tried using a different connector from the PSU but it hasn't helped.
It's an asus xonar essence stx.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-005-AS&tool=3
I can't find out what the power consumption of the card is but I'm sure it's not a lot.


There's only one PCI-E slot that I can try because the GPU is taking up the rest of the space. It is the system in my sig.

According to this thread updating the bios will solve the problem so I'm going to give that a go.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18477176
 
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It won't be a psu problem (Assuming it hasn't suddenly developed a fault) as 650W is more than plenty for a i5-3570k and 7950.
I would try the card in one of the other pci-e slots. You could also try using the onboard graphics just to see if it boots and shows a display.
 
I removed the sound card and the computer booted up normally. I used q flash to update the bios to the latest version (F23b).

When I boot up now (still without the sound card installed) I can't get into windows and it attempts to run windows repair. I tried to use a restore point and it said it had been restored successfully but when I reboot it has the same problem.

Sometimes when the system boots up it says the MBR is missing. In the boot options my C: drive is listed as two different devices: one uefi and the other sata with the manufacturers name ( on SSD).

I'm going to try to fix the MBR through the command prompt on the windows repair program.

EDIT. I've tried that but I still can't get in to Windows. I'm not sure what to do now I just hope I don't have to reinstall windows.
 
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When I boot up the computer Windows starts loading and then I get a blue screen for a second and it goes into windows repair.
The boot order is always wrong when I turn on the computer and when I set it to boot from the drive with the windows installation on it says: Boot MGR missing.
I've tried following instructions to rebuild the BCD using the CMD that are listed here: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ht/rebuild-bcd-store-windows.htm
but it won't recognise the command at part 6 (attrib c:\boot\bcd -h -r -s).

Can anyone suggest how I can boot into the existing windows installation or will I have to re-install it again?
 
One GPU so you have a spare PCIE4X slot? Try that, it'll fit the slot fine. Had to put mine in a PCIE8X slot but it's fine there.
 
It could be that the bios flash has set the SATA mode to IDE as a default vs AHCI and this requires resetting in the bios.
 
nkata said:
It could be that the bios flash has set the SATA mode to IDE as a default vs AHCI and this requires resetting in the bios.
Click to expand...

Yes! I changed it back to AHCI and I'm back into windows.
Thanks a lot for the help everyone.

One GPU so you have a spare PCIE4X slot? Try that, it'll fit the slot fine. Had to put mine in a PCIE8X slot but it's fine there. Thanks Ripshod, I'll try one of the other slots where there's more space. I thought it had to be the pci-e x1 slot.
 
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A lot of people do. But you can, it just uses one lane out of the four. You can use any pci-e card in any matching slot or higher.

*edit* so long as it fits without a hammer ;)
 
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