video card suggestions

[Equinoxi]

Yeah I figured I just got the little more expensive stuffs that wasnt so neccesary. Could easily shave off couple hundred, but wth I just thought they were "cool" to have extra and if I ever need to expand itll be cake. I just cant wait to play FFXIV again, had major issues running it on my last system cause it was so outdated. Might make my toon on Besaid and Lindblum soon.

[origamikitsune]

I got involved with computers because, even thirty five years ago, my parents realized how important they would be, so they bought me one for my sixth birthday. The rest, as they say, is history.

[Equinoxi]

Yeah wish I invested into computers back then, I would be rich living off my stocks.

[ScipioCaesar]

Well I have all my parts got them all together...and am having problems. When I plug it in I have a red power light and a blue light that come on. But when I hit the pwr btton everything lights up for a split second and then dies. Also, my power supply has WAY too many wires I seriously have about five extras that I can't disconnct from the power supply or plug in anywhere and aare just laying around. I spent like eight hrs following exact step by step guides incant figure out what i did wrong

[origamikitsune]

Okay. Usually when there is an issue like that it something simple. The first thing that comes to mind and the easiest thing to mess up are the little cords going from the power and reset buttons to the motherboard (its actually usually the USB ones that get plugged in backwards, not the power/reset buttons themselves).

These cords are often tiny, poorly labeled, and easy to mix up. Second most common problem in this case, drawing too much power (I doubt this; your power supply was fine). Third (and this is fairly rare) is shorting out so the system is powering down. I'm going to give you some extra steps than are probably needed, just to make the trouble shooting process easier in case it isn't number issue #1

I am curious; does your computer beep at all, and if so, how many times? Is it rapid? Long? Normal sounding? Short and long? Etc.?

I would start as follows:

Unplug to power cords as follows:
...from your video card
...from your harrdrive
...from your DVD drive

Now, turn your computer on like normal. You will probably hear a series of beeps that sound abnormal; these beeps are probably telling you that your harddrive, etc., are unplugged.

If the computer does not turn off on its own, plug the video card in and try again. Then repeat with the CD/DVD, etc., until you find the issue.

If the system still turns off on its own, and it probably will, we want to look at the front-panel cords next. We want to unplug everything -except- the actual power button. Double and triple check the power button is plugged in right. Try again with turning the computer on. If the system turns on you want to one-by-one double check the front-panel cords. Start with the reset button. Then move on to sound if you have it. Then finish with the USB.

From there, plug the GPU back in, then the CD/DVD, then the harddrive. As you do this process the beeps on startup will likely change.

Now, if you get down to only having the power button plugged in and you STILL have issues, pop back on here and let us know. There's still lots we can help you sort out.

If you like, I will also be on g-talk. ewtuthill @ gmail . com and you are welcome to chat with me (just let me know who you are, so I don't ignore you! lol)

[ScipioCaesar]

I don't ever get any beeps no matter what's unplugged. When I turn the power supply on I get the red pwr light on the thingamajig above my gpu, and I get a blue light undr where it says pwr led. Now when I try to start up things light up fans whir for a split second and an orange ight comes on and stays on where it says led and mem_led. Also, when I hit the comp pwr button it only half starts the first time and does nothing on subsequent efforts, I have to turn the pwr supply pwr off then on again before I can get that initial response again. One last thing; where there are four connectors on the mb for pwr led, pwr on, reset, and HD led I only have three connectors, nothing for the pwr led slot. I also dunno where to connect the USB port on the back of the case, I got it on the mb but on the back idk which spot o plug it in

[origamikitsune]

Okay. First, the fact that you have to turn the power off by the switch isn't abnormal. Most modern motherboards are designed to do just that. Normal behavior.

Ok, not having internal USB next to your pwr led, pwr on and reset simplifies things. I'd suggest double checking as I suggest before. Unplug your hard drive, CD/DVD, Video card, etc. Also unplug USB from the motherboard if you have it plugged in. Then try again turning on/off (it probably won't fix anything). If it doesn't fix, unplug your pwr led, reset, and HD led. Double check your pwr on is plugged in right (the cords on my case were actually labeled backwards) and try again. Let us know what happens.

EDIT: Also, the fact that you get absolutely no beeps means we're probably on the right track. Those sounds (called post beeps among other things) don't usually happen if there is a power issue because there is no power to make the beeps (cause the system shuts down like yours).

[Coldfire]

Did you press the "clear cmos" button?
edit:
And is there a red number on the "debug led" thingie when it powers up?

[ScipioCaesar]

Nothing changing. Although now that orange light from before comes on once I turn the pwr supply pwr switch on and not just after the comp pwr switch. Also I can get the lights and whirs everytime I press the little red clear CMOS button after I've tried starting it once, but still nothing else

[ScipioCaesar]

From what I can see the only thing happening is the fans half-spinning and nothing else, no start up sounds or anything. The orange led 1 led_mem light goes off when I pree the clear CMOS button but for only as long as the button is impressed. Srsly dunno of anything I did wrong putting the thing together I just have no idea