Gigabyte Radeon 6850 without extra power - burns PCI Express slot?

[Axonn]

Hello everybody.

Is it possible that a PCI Express 2.1 graphic card burns the PCI Express (1.0) slot because I forgot to connect the 6 pin extra power connector? It worked fine for 2 days but then I pulled it out to install a new CPU and when I put it back in, I forgot to give it the extra power. Now, the fans have stopped spinning, regardless if I give it power or not. Also, my motherboard has stopped POST-ing, with the new video card OR the old video card. I think I destroyed my Mobo. I should mention that I also forgot to update the BIOS when I installed a new CPU which wasn't supported by the current BIOS (E6600 went out, E8500 went in).

(slight repost of my topic in Mobos Forum, forgive me, but I'm rather desperate and I'm facing 2 issues on 2 separate fronts so that's why I *rephrased* my question here as well).

 

[Silverforce11]

Its possible you've killed your MB. I'm shocked it ran fine for 2 days without the 6 pin. MB specs has 75W output from the pcie slot.

 

[Axonn]

Oh, no, the 6 pin was connected during the 2 days. I only forgot to connect it for about 2 minutes today, when working at the CPU.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I don't think so. I've started up a couple PC's on accident without the extra power connectors. It didn't affect them but I did turn off the power as soon as it happened.

 

[GaiaHunter]

So what CPU is on the MB?

Any chance you can also test another PSU just in case?

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

Usually cards that are not plugged in will beep and refuse to power up.

There are 6850's that actually do not need external power to run so you should be fine as long as you don't try to play a game or overclock it.

 

[Deanodarlo]

You mention two issues here - the Graphics card and not updating the bios for the CPU.

If you are trying to post with an unsupported CPU, then that is much more likely to cause the problem than the graphics card damaging anything without the PCI-E connector.

Normally, cards just beep and post stops at the VGA check until you plug the lead back in.

Also, PCI-E 2.1 cards can have issues on PCI-E 1.0 boards, like slow post or boot loop and strange performance. Usually require a bios update to fix (my HTPC gigabyte board needed one sent from customer service).

The fact that it's completely dead however doesn't sound good, I'd at least expect some life when powering up. Did you put the CMOS jumper back to normal, not left it on reset?

 

[Axonn]

Deanodarlo: there IS life when I push the power button: everything starts spinning. But no POST. The new video card didn't beep or show any signs of activity on the monitor.

GaiaHunter: I now put back my E6600 CPU. So, practically, the computer is back in its old configuration. Old video card, old CPU. Nothing works ::- (.

 

[Deanodarlo]

Damn, that's not good Axonn.

All you can do is double check and reseat everything, reset the CMOS with the plug removed, check for any shorting or grounding issues, loose cables, try posting with CPU and RAM only and see what beeps or codes you get out of the motherboard (should be VGA error without card)...

Then finally add your old card, try, then the new one. This is when PC building becomes a right pain in the backside.

 

[Axonn]

I moved the video card onto the 2nd video slot (I got 2), same result: no POST, no nothing.

Removing the video card COMPLETELY and also removing all hard drives, so boot only with CPU + RAM results in the same no POST and no error codes, no beeps, no nothing. It's kaput.

 

[GaiaHunter]

Did you already clear the CMOS?

 

[Axonn]

Yes. In more ways than 1. Power, battery, jumper ::- ). Tried all combinations ::- (.

 

[GaiaHunter]

It seems bad MB then.

Let it rest a few hours - maybe a miracle happens.

 

[Axonn]

First thing tomorrow, I will go to the Church, buy holy water and sprinkle on it. Maybe a miracle does happen.

Oh well... i5 + PZ68Pro here I come.

 

[Axonn]

OMG. My mobo is back. Amazingly, I did a last-ditch effort to make it work, and all of the sudden, it started beeping when I put inside it the NEW CPU (unsupported by BIOS). Together with my girlfriend looking on the Forums about BIOS error codes, we managed to restore the computer to operation with the OLD CPU. Now I'm going to update the BIOS. And another interesting fact: the newest BIOS on ASUS site actually says that it fixes some hangs at POST. Bugs. Maybe this was one of them. Jesus...

 

[lehtv]

Wow. Jesus saves :thumbsup:

 

[Deanodarlo]

HAPPY DANCE!!!

You must send me some of that water. Hope it all goes smooth from now on.