Problems installing Windows Vista x64 on new pc

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: chess9
Jonny may be on to something. You might have a bad rail. Switch SATA power cords; and make sure the HD is working properly. Also, is the fan working fine on the 4850? It shouldn't overheat that quickly. Maybe 30 minutes, but just in the early stages of an install? Is the 4850 a new retail card? Have you tried it on another computer?

-Robert

All drive connectors (Molex and SATA) are generally on the same rail.

His Thermaltake only has two +12V rails. One is just for the CPU (4-pin connector) and everything else is on the second.

Bad connector? Ok... sure. But the way it's acting I would suspect the SATA controller's not recognized by Vista and to try one of the other color connectors.

 

[chess9]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU

Originally posted by: chess9
Jonny may be on to something. You might have a bad rail. Switch SATA power cords; and make sure the HD is working properly. Also, is the fan working fine on the 4850? It shouldn't overheat that quickly. Maybe 30 minutes, but just in the early stages of an install? Is the 4850 a new retail card? Have you tried it on another computer?

-Robert

All drive connectors (Molex and SATA) are generally on the same rail.

His Thermaltake only has two +12V rails. One is just for the CPU (4-pin connector) and everything else is on the second.

Bad connector? Ok... sure. But the way it's acting I would suspect the SATA controller's not recognized by Vista and to try one of the other color connectors.

Oh, duh! Thanx for that lesson.

-Robert

 

[DWk]

So.... disregard everything.... I found the reason why the card is overheating.... probably because the fan is NOT turning lol...

I'm assuming this narrows the problem down to the following:
1. Lack of enough power
2. Card is dead

Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[Denithor]

Faulty card, can you return it for exchange? That would also explain why Vista won't load beyond a certain point, GPU shuts down and the lights go off.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Right. "Lack of power" isn't going to keep the fan from spinning. The fans take minimal power. It's a bad card.

 

[DWk]

Ouch... what I was hoping wasn't

Replacement... oh boy... I'll talk to VisionTek and see what they can do since getting the card back to the US is very expensive

That said, I'll follow along that path for now. However, I do not have high hopes.

On another thought if that doesn't work... what if I get a cooler and replace the stock one?

 

[Davegod]

i'm still a bit sceptical, I would expect that if the fan is the problem that it would not go from working > not working. there would be a middle stage where you get artefacts, speckling etc which would clearly identify the video card is overheating.

have you tried running Linux off a CD? http://www.ubuntu.com/

tbh also if power was an issue I would expect either the LED on the board or one on the motherboard would be giving out clues. IIRC some of these cards, provided they get the right power through PCIE on the motherboard, will underclock the card and throw up a message saying to plug the psu in (not that I'm going to unplug my card to check...).

Not to be insulting or anything, it's an easy miss, you did try swapping the DVI connector that the monitor is plugged into?

 

[DWk]

As a matter of fact, I did miss out plugging in the connector at first, but yes, when turning on the computer I got the message to plug in the power supply connector to the card.

As for swapping the DVI connector, yes I did. I tried both ones

 

[DWk]

Ok, so I'm thinking of trying to cool the computer with external componentes to try to see if only the fan is the one that doesn't work. This way, a cooler will actually be a good investment.

What ideas do you have to cool the computer?

 

[DWk]

Well, this thread's problem should be over

First of all, let me thank you all for your extensive help. Not only have I learned a lot, but I'm grateful of knowing Anandtech has always had people willing to help with one's issues, no strings attached. I know there's no words that will properly compensate for that, but I offer my utmost respect and forever commitment of helping you back if I ever get the chance

Second, going back to the matter itselft, it seemed that the video card's fan just needed a little "push" to get rolling. I had never had that problem before (with video cards or CPUs), but a few colleagues suggested that.... and lo and behold... the card is now running

I was able to install Windows Vista Ultimate x64 without any problem after fixing this, and am currently running it without any problem. Now that I don't see any problem booting or with the installation, I want to test the hardware to ensure it's working properly. As that topic doesn't directly relate to this thread, I opened a new one, and you're more than welcome to join in and give your take in this new thread.

Again, many thanks - I truly appreciate it.

Leksi