hardware issues - video card/PSU

I need to vent here for a minute so please bare with be as I explain trhe issue.

So I'm working on this machine, an intel board on an i7. Now the PSU is 600w but the video card is a Nivida Quadro 4000; which I believe the minimum requirements is 600w....

This particular machine is used for intense CAD programs.

When you turn on the machine, you get no signal from the video card (though sometimes when the computer is off for a while you get a signal)

My thoughts are that the PSU isn't powerful enough for this particular card and it damaged the video card. What I would do would be to get a new higher PSU and also replace the video card...but I get looked at by my collueges like I'm speaking latin.

I thought this was all basic computing stuff here??

am I crazy?

 

Hi

No, you're not crazy. What's the brand and specific model of the PSU?

From Nvidia's spec page on that GPU, the video card itself draws up to 142W of power.

The reason I ask exactly what PSU was in the system is that the better brands of PSUs tend to not damage hardware (Antec and Corsair are a few of the top brands).

Personally, I would recommend a 750W PSU for the system.

 

The PSU is a stock, some brand called "sparkle power inc".

 

Alright, so the computer is a commercially built system? If so, many brands of commercially built computers use proprietary power supplies with special connectors. If this is the case, a regular power supply won't work, and connecting one could potentially ruin the motherboard or worse.

Again, assuming it is a commercially built computer, you will have to get a power supply from the computer manufacturer (and they don't always have higher wattage PSUs available). However, if the system came with the video card, the system's power supply should have been adequate for all of the computer's components.

If this system is a custom build, any commercially available power supply should do the trick. Again, better brands of power supplies are always a better choice. Newegg.com is a good source for buying regular power supplies.

 

it's a custom build machine.

The customer purchased the video card seperately

 

Okay, we can work with that!

I would recommend getting a new power supply first, and seeing if the card works then. If not, then replacing the card would be the next step.

This is the power supply I would recommend:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ntec_750w_power_supply-_-17-371-026-_-Product

 

thanks.

feels like whatever I say here at work falls on deaf ears...

 

I assume you don't work with hardware savvy people, then!

You can forward this information to your co-workers:

The power supply is the most important component of a computer. The quality of a power supply is paramount, because if you overload a cheap PSU, it can surge power to all of the hardware components it's connected to, mainly the motherboard and graphics cards. Since RAM (and other components) is (and are) connected to the motherboard, it can damage those things as well. Higher quality PSUs have circuitry designed to protect hardware, even if the power supply is overloaded or fails. Higher quality PSUs also don't always self-destruct when overloaded.


Unfortunately, since that computer has a cheap PSU in it, the chances that it damaged the graphics card are high. We can only hope that it didn't. One troubleshooting step you can try is running the computer without the graphics card in. Will it start up then? Another important thing is to use a surge protector. Power surges, especially with cheap PSUs, are a recipe for hardware replacement.