x1900 power supply

B

benw27

New Member
Hi,
I have an ati all in wonder x1900 and its being a total bitch.

Ive built a new pc but havent had it running because i need the graphics card to run ( no onboard graphics)

neway, i plug it in, the pc powers up but the monitor doesnt pick up anything. two red lights are illuminated on the graphics card one is marked fault and the other power supply. well im presuming the fault is the power supply as I didnt have the additonal pci express power cable plugged into the back of the card.

The thing is the card didnt come with one of these cables and it said in the instruction manual that there wud be one attached to the card if required. Where i bought the card from said an adapter was included for the additonal pci express power (but it wasnt).

So i have gone and bought a 6pin pci express to 2 x 4pin standard power cable. Of the 6 wires that come from the 6pin pci express connector 3 go to each of the 2, 4pin standard power cables resulting in 3 pins on each of the 4pin standard power cables.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=46857&doy=9m9


I can plug one of the 4pin connectors in but the power supply doesnt like the other one at all.

Ive checked the wires and there not faulty, I also dont think there is a loose connection.

Ive tried connecting the connectors to different connectors and in different arrangements but it just wont work!!

I NEED HELP PLEEEEEASSSE

ati's helpline is always engaged!!

anyhelp would be sooo aprreciated :)
 
benw27 said:
I can plug one of the 4pin connectors in but the power supply doesnt like the other one at all.
Click to expand...

You're not meant to be able to lug another 4-pin molex connector into it, the second one act's as an adapter if you want to power something else ;)

What power supply do you have? ATi X1900's need alot of power to run.
 
Ha ok. you mite be right though im not sure. if it is to attach another component then why does it only have 3 pins rather than 4. I just checked and it ran a fan though.

Ive got a 550 watt psu.

Does anyone know if the ext power light and fault light should be on the whole time?

the external power light is always on the regardless of whether i have the additonal power plugged in.

omg this thing is so gay. the only item form usa to!
 
Your powersupply probably just doesn't have enough power. What brand is the PSU? Seeing it doesn't have a pci-express plug, its probably pretty old or pretty bad.
 
System Requiremnts:

450-Watt power supply or greater, 30 Amps on 12 volt rail recommended (assumes fully loaded system)
Power supply must support 6 pin PCI Express connector
Click to expand...
 
shit it lol.

i dont get the whole 'rail' mlarkey.

ive got 12v 16amps and 12v(little 2) 18 amps.

ghey fookin gay ness.

u reks this the problem then?
 
usually if such a video card doesnt get enough power, you see the message on the scren. anyhow, most likely it doesnt like the 2nd molex connector, because you connect the 2 seperate 12v rails together.
try putting the Grafic's card onto 1 'cable tree' and the rest of the pc to the 2nd 'tree'
(16 + 18 Apm is still more than the recommended 30 ;) and trust me.. if that casrd uses more then 18A.. something is certainly wrong :) )

edit: as said for Crappy PSU's.. if you have a too big load on a PSU, it might happen that it doesnt start up at all, but thats a different story :)
 
hey,

ye cheers 4 the comments archangel. you say i should only connect the graphics card to one tree of cables. Ive unplugged loads of other components, tried this, and it still doesnt work. :mad:

surely with this setup im using either just the 16A or 18A individually wen it recommends 30A.

I dont get it, blatantly 18A should be enough though shouldnt it? 30A is only the 'recommended' value.



As for buying a PSU I live in the UK and everything is a god dam rip off!

And i just rang ATI at 2am in the morning at it was still engaged... im am a little suspicious that they arent actually there. there ment to close a midnight
 
Rambo said:
You're not meant to be able to lug another 4-pin molex connector into it, the second one act's as an adapter if you want to power something else ;)
Click to expand...
Check your facts. The adaptor does indeed convert two molex connectors to a PCI-E power connector. The fact that both molex connectors on the adaptor are male (i.e. input) should be sufficient evidence of that.
http://www.directron.com/6pinpcie.html said:
This 6-Pin adapter cable for PCI-E converts two drive connectors to 6 pin PCI Express power connector.
Click to expand...

usually if such a video card doesnt get enough power, you see the message on the scren. anyhow, most likely it doesnt like the 2nd molex connector, because you connect the 2 seperate 12v rails together.
try putting the Grafic's card onto 1 'cable tree' and the rest of the pc to the 2nd 'tree'
Click to expand...
Typically with dual +12V rails one rail is responsible for powering the CPU and mobo, while the other is responsible for powering pretty much everything else. It's only with Tri and Quad rail PSUs that different cable trees are powered off different rails.

(16 + 18 Apm is still more than the recommended 30 and trust me.. if that casrd uses more then 18A.. something is certainly wrong )
Click to expand...
Assuming the PSU is capable of delivering the rated outputs. Many budget units aren't.

haha or not.

im not spendin 60 quid on a freekin psu!
Click to expand...
You don't mind spending a few hundred on a high end GPU, but won't spend more than 15 on a PSU to ensure that it runs reliably?

And i just rang ATI at 2am in the morning at it was still engaged... im am a little suspicious that they arent actually there. there ment to close a midnight
Click to expand...
Do they have an email support? They'll almost certainly tell you to try a more powerful PSU before they give you an RMA anyway.

with this setup im using either just the 16A or 18A individually wen it recommends 30A.
Click to expand...
The seperate rails get used for different purposes. Typically one rail powers the CPU and mobo, the other powers your VC, drives, fans, etc...

I dont get it, blatantly 18A should be enough though shouldnt it? 30A is only the 'recommended' value.
Click to expand...
For just the GPU, yes. But you're trying to power up an entire system.

It's most likely PSU related. Your best bet is to try a better PSU first.
 
cheers for the comments ceewi1.

Ive unplugged everthing else in the pc except the motherboard and tried plugging the GPU onto both rails. still i cant get it to run.

I dont understand why one of the molex connectors always works and the other 1 never does. Surely the amount of voltage and amps is distrubuted evenly through the 6pin pci express connector or is it not?

im pretty sure it is a power thing as the power flashes on but then is cut off for protection or something.

oh and i got my graphics card for £140 so it wasnt actually that high in price. im also a poor student!

p.s feel free to make donations to 'the boy with the PSU problem' via paypal at any time :)
 
did you check if both molex connectors are the same? i mean, all the cables on the same place in the connector? could be that the pci-e -> molex adapter isnt made well, and 2 cables are switched or so, so what you connect the 2nd molex, you create a shortage.

but.. does the pc boot up with just 1 molex connector connected?
if so, i can only suggest you run it like that for a wile and see if the card gets enough power under full load :) because on the 6800GT for example, it didnt matter if you connected the 2nd molex, unless you were going to overclock. ;)
 
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