Problems with my new HD4890

F

flove

n00b
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
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11
Hi all,
Not sure If I should post this in the PSU section, anyway here goes ;)

First specs:
Corsair 520hx 18A@12v rail x3/ 40A total
Ga-X38-DQ6 mobo
4 x 1gb 800mhz DDR2 (4-4-4-11) @ 2.05v
Q6600 G0 @ 3.4ghz @ 1.36v with Tuniq Tower120
Antec P182B with 3x Antec Tri-Cool 120mm
1x WD Raptor 74gb, 3x Seagate 500gb barracuda 7200.11
Samsung sata DWD+-rw
Sapphire Radeon 4890 Vapor-x
3 devices in usb (g5,g15,x360 controller wireless receiver)
SB X-Fi Xtreme Music
(everything is installed correctly)

and now to the problem.
After installing my new 4890 I've been having problems,
First, one of my HD's broke which I thought was pretty odd since I didn't touch them at all.(totally f.ed up, cant see it in bios in any of my 3 comps)

Second, when booting up the computer there is a 50% chance I will get picture on my display.
Either the GPU fan will spin at full speed and I get no picture, Windows will boot up normally I can hear the starting sound and all.
Or Everything will boot up just fine and GPU fan is not spinning at full speed.

So, Could it be that my PSU(2 years old) is starting to fail(and took one of my HD's with it) and that's why Im having a problem booting up.
Or could there be something wrong with the GPU (weird that it would boot 50% of the time with no problems :))

I keep hearing people say that 520hx could power a nuclear plant so that's why I'm having hard time thinking that it could be the problem.

Should I go get new PSU (thinking about corsair 850tx, modular seems pretty useless since im pretty much using all the cables anyway)
and then experience the same booting problems and end up throwing my computer from the balcony or would it fix everything,

What do you think?

Thanks
 
the HX 520 shouldn't have a bit of issues with your setup, and if it did, it would more likely be during heavy gaming/something else that runs the temps up for a long period of time, not startup (not to say startup is low draw or anything)

the disk failing is likely just bad luck, and ironic that it happened at the same time (disks do fail from time to time), with that disk removed, does it boot more stable?

secondarily, with the 4890 removed and whatever you used to have installed (or some basic PCI card) does it boot normally?

have you tried with the Q6600 clocked back to stock, or at least closer to stock?
 
Your PSU should be able to handle that GPU.
Are you using he latest BIOS on your Mobo?
What happens if you pop in your previous GPU?
Have you tried clocking your CPU back to normal and see what happens?
What have you tried so far?
 
wow, thanks for fast answers & suggestions!

I got the latest bios in my mobo.
Removing the failed HD didn't affect the booting (still 50% chance to get full fan at gpu and no picture). Trying to boot up with the failed HD just takes ages to get to windows (5min~), but that happened with all my 3 computers, probably because they try to access the disk but fail.

Going to try with stock voltages and then with my old gpu (8800 gts512 g92)

Thanks again!

#update,
Same thing with stock voltages, 50% chance to get GPU fan at full and no picture.
No problems starting up with old GPU
 
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I would say your power supply is on it's way out regardless of what brand and wattage it is.
 
RADEoN said:
I would say your power supply is on it's way out regardless of what brand and wattage it is.
Click to expand...

You got any suggestions what to get? I've been looking at 850tx, wish it didn't have the useless floppy power cables though.
 
From the explaination you give, I'd say there are several things to investigate.

1) the 4890 requires at least a 500-550W PSU, given all else you have, you are red-lining your PSU.
2) the GPU itself may have problems. I'd run it through some test program and make sure it's OK.
3) check your RAM for completeness-sake.
4) the HDD failure is odd.....how old was it?? It may just be a stroke of bad luck there.

Does the GPU work OK in one of your other computers??
If you got a beefier PSU from somewhere......does the system still misbehave??

Unless you are planning more beefier requirements......and you don't mind non-modular cables..........this is a great PSU.......I have it on my son's computer......OC'd Q6600,GTX 260 OC,4GB 1066 Corsair RAM, on ASUS 680i MB.......:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
 
magoo said:
From the explaination you give, I'd say there are several things to investigate.

1) the 4890 requires at least a 500-550W PSU, given all else you have, you are red-lining your PSU.
2) the GPU itself may have problems. I'd run it through some test program and make sure it's OK.
3) check your RAM for completeness-sake.
4) the HDD failure is odd.....how old was it?? It may just be a stroke of bad luck there.

Does the GPU work OK in one of your other computers??
If you got a beefier PSU from somewhere......oes the system still misbehave??
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply,
2) no errors in furmark & passmark burnintest
3) no errors with RAM
4) my newest HD, about 4-5months old (barracuda 7200.11)

Unfornatunately my other computers are just for work and have PSUs less than 450w and I have no access to beefier ones. Only option is to go out and buy one, which I guess I'll be doing soon :(
 
honestly, send the card back to the retailer and make them replace it, shouldn't cost you more than ~$10 on shipping, if the replacement gives you the same issues, then you're "red-lining" your PSU, and you can go buy a new one
 
I ran a 4890 on a very similar setup to yours (same PSU, same CPU, same motherboard and amount of RAM) and it was just fine. I am now running a GTX 275 on that same setup and, even with it's higher load power usage, it is also fine. It's possible the PSU is going bad, but I doubt if you are pushing it too hard.
 
My PowerColor 4890 1GB only uses about 280 - 300 watts at full load.
Using an Enermax EF495P-VE, 485w. No problems at all.
 
Try disconnecting every power from HD's (except for OS) and dvd drive, and fans(use as little power as possible) , and see how well it powers up then.

Also, try plugging that dead hd only to see if it starts back up.

Any burn marks on the vid card or mobo?
 
magoo said:
Here's the power consumption for the [H] test of the PowerColor 4890 card that is essentially equivalent to your new GPU...http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTY2MSw4LCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA== a stripped down open board set-up I'm sure......and it draws 420 W......that only leaves you 100W in your current PSU......pretty much too close for comfort......
a new PSU would be a good idea.
Click to expand...
That power draw is from the wall so efficiency is not factored in. Considering that, the actual DC load is around 350W assuming the Kill-A-Watt is measuring correctly. 350W is a 67% load, which is easily within the HX520's capabilities. Plus, that 420W number was with the card heavily overclocked and running at full load. At stock speeds, power draw was 384W from the wall which translates to about 315W DC load, which is only 61% of the PSU's output capacity. And the OP's issues were occurring at boot, during which time both the CPU and GPU are under barely if any load, so the power consumption at that time would be significantly lower.

Basically, unless the HX520 is failing, power is definitely not the issue. Getting another PSU to troubleshoot with is certainly a good idea, but you could probably pull one of the 450W PSUs from one of your other systems (assuming they are quality units and not generic or crappy ones) and use that to test with. I suggest that you don't jump the gun and buy a new PSU until you've isolated the real problem.
 
Zero82z said:
That power draw is from the wall so efficiency is not factored in. Considering that, the actual DC load is around 350W assuming the Kill-A-Watt is measuring correctly. 350W is a 67% load, which is easily within the HX520's capabilities. Plus, that 420W number was with the card heavily overclocked and running at full load. At stock speeds, power draw was 384W from the wall which translates to about 315W DC load, which is only 61% of the PSU's output capacity. And the OP's issues were occurring at boot, during which time both the CPU and GPU are under barely if any load, so the power consumption at that time would be significantly lower.

Basically, unless the HX520 is failing, power is definitely not the issue. Getting another PSU to troubleshoot with is certainly a good idea, but you could probably pull one of the 450W PSUs from one of your other systems (assuming they are quality units and not generic or crappy ones) and use that to test with. I suggest that you don't jump the gun and buy a new PSU until you've isolated the real problem.
Click to expand...

50% of the time he can boot and run.......I'm assuming there is a problem that occurred sometime earlier when he was up and running.
If he got to full draw on his computer he could have very well damaged something.
I've looked around trying to find the amperage the GPU requires, but I can't find the figure anywhere......it could be that the GPU and some other component are on the same 12V rail and their combined amperage is too much draw???? I'm going to keep searching for that answer.

I think the only way to know for sure what the problem is, would be to take the whole box apart, put the MB out on the bench, and run barebones, gradually adding components until you see the problem. Using a different PSU would be the best way to test, as well.

So far we know that the GPU passes testing as does the RAM. Could be the MB but I doubt that, corrupt OS???? doesn't seem likely...........leaves the PSU.:D
 
me0w0w said:
Try disconnecting every power from HD's (except for OS) and dvd drive, and fans(use as little power as possible) , and see how well it powers up then.

Also, try plugging that dead hd only to see if it starts back up.

Any burn marks on the vid card or mobo?
Click to expand...

did you try this? disconnect everything (fans, hdds, sound card, all usbs except the kb). just leave mb, ram, cpu, gpu. if it boots up a few times in a row, plug the os hhd in and boot to windows and stress test it.
 
no burn marks anywhere.

Also tried booting up without hd's/fans/dvd/nothing in usb, still the same gamble with booting up.

Oh and the peak amp draw for 4890 should be around 26 if I remember right.

While reading other forums i discovered 2 dudes with same problem as me, their rigs:

Asus M2N-VM
Amd athlon 64x2 +5000 2,6ghz
Samsung 500gb hd
Corsair 550W power
Sapphire 4890 vapor-x 1gb
DDR2 667 3Gb ram

and

Abit IP35 Pro
C2D E8400
2x2GB
Nexus 500W
1xHDD
Sapphire 4890 vapor-x 1gb

they also just bought their vapor-x
,maybe it's just a bad batch or you really need a quality 600w psu to start the card with no problems, which I find hard to believe :(
But it's weird that everyone with these problems has 550w psu or less
 
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magoo said:
I've looked around trying to find the amperage the GPU requires, but I can't find the figure anywhere......
Click to expand...
10A: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd4890_6.html#sect0
magoo said:
it could be that the GPU and some other component are on the same 12V rail and their combined amperage is too much draw????
Click to expand...
The HX520 is a single-rail PSU with no OCP. There is no chance of his system overdrawing power considering his max requirements are still considerably lower than his total PSU capacity.
flove said:
Oh and the peak amp draw for 4890 should be around 26 if I remember right.
Click to expand...
Not even close. The 4890 has a TDP of 190W which is about 16A, but its actual power usage is really about 10A. Either way, your PSU is still easily powerful enough. I have a system fairly similar to yours that probably consumes more power (my CPU is more overclocked and I have a 4870 which consumes more power than the 4890), and it all runs off an HX520 without a single power problem since day one. Like I said, unless the PSU is faulty, power is not the issue here.
 
Zero82z said:
10A: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd4890_6.html#sect0.
Click to expand...

But peak start-up power draw is something Xbit never measures, but I wish they would (they only report measures within windows). We have no idea how much power this rig wants, if only for a split-second during start-up.

I'd say it's a toss-up between power and possibly faulty GPU. Go to Best Buy and buy a 600w+ power supply, and see if that fixes your problem. If it doesn't, take the test supply back within 14 days, and RMA your card.
 
defaultluser said:
But peak start-up power draw is something Xbit never measures, but I wish they would (they only report measures within windows). We have no idea how much power this rig wants, if only for a split-second during start-up.
Click to expand...
The card's start-up power draw is probably not as much as its full-load draw, but even if it is, the HX520 as well as all other quality PSUs are designed to handle fast transient loads, so that would not damage the PSU.
 
defaultluser said:
But peak start-up power draw is something Xbit never measures, but I wish they would (they only report measures within windows). We have no idea how much power this rig wants, if only for a split-second during start-up.

I'd say it's a toss-up between power and possibly faulty GPU. Go to Best Buy and buy a 600w+ power supply, and see if that fixes your problem. If it doesn't, take the test supply back within 14 days, and RMA your card.
Click to expand...

Gonna grab tx850 tomorrow for testing, also going to get my broken HD replaced. Really hoping that PSU is the problem and not the GPU since there is no stock on that GPU (to get a quick replacement).
Wish there was a Bestbuy in Finland but verkkokauppa.com is a close substitute ;)
I'll tell you how it goes.

Raap said:
Have you tried simply reseating the card?
Click to expand...
Trust me, I've tried :(

Thank you all for taking the time to answer!
 
Now that I think about it, I did have similar symptoms with my 9800GX2. I'd start the computer, but I'd get no picture and the GPU fan wouldn't slow down. Eventually, after checking the PSU and everything else, I found out that the SLI bridge between the two PCBs in the GX2 was loose. Once I fixed it, it worked just like new. Obviously that couldn't be the case here, but I guess my point is that it's most likely your card there's something wrong with.
 
Bought corsair tx850 for testing, same thing, no picture everytime.
What's weird is that it seemed to work more often with the new psu, like 9/10 I would get a picture, but with old PSU it was more like 4/10, well beats me.:confused:

Conclusion being that GPU is most likely faulty :mad:
 
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