Plugged in or not?

[CoW]8(0)]

Since many video cards require an external power source from the power supply, I was curious if there was any way to tell this source is working via software (I don't have my multimeter with me).

I believe the cable to my 6600GT might be broken.

 

[gtjr_ph]

if the power connector is an ordinary molex then test that to a hdd or dvd drive

 

[montypythizzle]

Or if it is PCI-E then it will tell you that the card is not receiving sufficient power, well at least it did when I forgot to plug in my 7800GT

 

[trek554]

Or if it is PCI-E then it will tell you that the card is not receiving sufficient power, well at least it did when I forgot to plug in my 7800GT

his 6600gt card is agp because the pci-e version did not use external power. there still should be a message to alert the user if the card is need getting the required external power.

 

[Captain Slow]

You'll get some sort of warning to let you know. I remember many moons ago, not plugging power into a 9800PRO, there was this red screen with a warning and the loudest beep I'd ever heard.

 

[silent-circuit]

Yeah, "BEEEEEEEP"..... You'll know it. Even if it doesn't do that the drivers will pop up some sort of message on Windows startup.

 

[CoW]8(0)]

Well I didn't get any beeps or messages in Windows when I completely disconnected the power connector.

What I did get was video display failure when I ran ATi Tool.

 

[silent-circuit]

Well I didn't get any beeps or messages in Windows when I completely disconnected the power connector.

What I did get was video display failure when I ran ATi Tool.

Well, there's your dead giveaway.

 

[CoW]8(0)]

Well it's not as informative as beeping or a Windows notification. ATi tool usually fails after a few seconds of running the 3D cube when its unplugged.

 

[silent-circuit]

True enough. It's odd there's no warning, really.

 

[killster1]

Well it's not as informative as beeping or a Windows notification. ATi tool usually fails after a few seconds of running the 3D cube when its unplugged.

so you been running it un plugged!?!? smart work