Blank screen....

[Scum bucket]

I just installed a new graphics card and power supply, when I turn on my comp my screen says entering power saving mode. I can't do anything to get out of it. What did I do wrong..

[chazus]

Does the new video card have its power cables plugged in? What video card? What PSU?

Does the motherboard have both the 24pin AND 4/8 pin power?

[Scum bucket]

Every thing looks to be plugged in and it's a gtx 550 Ti, and yes the mother board has all pins plugged, every thing seems to be working, fans and no odds sounds. And 750 watt

[Electromatt]

Did you have an older video card? Plug that in instead and see if you have the same problem.

[Scum bucket]

No, there was no video card to remove when I bought the tower.

[Sauril77]

Sleep mode means it is not getting a signal from the computer.

1. Start by going back to the old setup if you can and make sure it still works there to validate the system is still working. (If this does not work remove the ram from the system and turn it on. Most mainboards will have a beeping error code when the ram is not installed. If you do not hear a beeping it may mean the motherboard has gone bad.)

2. Then switch out the power supply to see if that is working with the motherboard.

3. After that then swap in the video card and see if it is working.

Depending on how far you get in troubleshooting will determine where the problem lies.

If the enitre old setup works and switching out the power supply fails. Then I would say replace the power supply or make sure the pin out is the same. If it is not a custom built job in the first place you may not be ble to switch any power supply into the computer. Some manufactures use different pin outs for the connectors.

If the power supply works and not the video card double check the specifications on your new video card and make sure it is compatible with your setup. If it is then replace the card.

[Electromatt]

No, there was no video card to remove when I bought the tower.

So you're going from onboard video to a video card. Ok.

Going through a simple checklist:
-power to motherboard
-power to video card
-video cable from video card to monitor. I use (if your looking at the back of the PC) the port on the left, but I don't think it matters...

good advice

Or do this.

[Scum bucket]

I should mention that just once my screen came on and I got to the desk top. Then I put the video card cd in to install drivers but a message came up, and once I exited it went back to sleep mode

[Sauril77]

No, there was no video card to remove when I bought the tower.

Was it integrated video or are you just bying pieces from someone else? Some integrated video boards will not jsut switch over to a new card wihtout a BIOS change. It may very well be the system is still working just still displaying on the old connector and waiting for a system settings change to work on the new video card connector.

[Electromatt]

I should mention that just once my screen came on and I got to the desk top. Then I put the video card cd in to install drivers but a message came up, and once I exited it went back to sleep mode

Does the screen come on during startup? POST/BIOS etc....

[chazus]

What actual brand/model PSU is it? For a 550ti you shouldnt need a better one.



Uhm. Out of curiousity... looking at old posts... You've had the 550ti for almost half a year. But you said you "just" installed it and it didn't work. Clarify, please?

[Sauril77]

I should mention that just once my screen came on and I got to the desk top. Then I put the video card cd in to install drivers but a message came up, and once I exited it went back to sleep mode

Ok differenet scenario with that information. Sounds like system settings then. If the Display setting are set to something the monitor can not handle then it will go blank and not display the screen.

Did you get to the display porperties and did you change the slide setting for the display resolution at all? If so you did you go all the way to the right or did you actually pick a numerical seetting? IE a 19 inch LCD panel should be 1440 x 900. If windows did not recognise your monitor it may have given you settings that would not work like 1600 x 900 for the maximun settting which your monitor would not be able to handle.

If that is the case. Reboot the computer (Just use the reset button or if Windows XP try Alt-F4 and press S then R and then Enter). The BIOS screens should still post if the video is working and press (keep tapping it until the menu appears) the F8 (function 8) key before Windows boots to get the Windows' boot options menu. Choose safe mode. It will load your computer with a minimal resolution setting and you will be able to change it to a supported setting and reboot. That would solve an incorrect resolutoin setting.

If no vidoe at all now. Go back to the hardware troubleshooting posted earlier.

[Scum bucket]

Ok, I installed my gtx 550 ti card in my old tower and it worked fine, that was about half a year ago, I got a new tower a few days ago and now blank screen. I just took out the video card, but I left the power supply in, and my screen works. So I do not believe it is my power supply, but rather something to do with the graphics card. Antec is the power supply 750 watt. And as soon as I turn on the screen it says right away entering power saving mode when I have the gtx 550 ti card in, but right now it starts up just fine with out the gtx 550 ti card in but with the 750 watt power supply.

[chazus]

Just to make sure... You are plugging the monitor into the card itself, and not the onboard motherboard video port, correct?

[Electromatt]

Just to make sure... You are plugging the monitor into the card itself, and not the onboard motherboard video port, correct?

I just took out the video card, but I left the power supply in, and my screen works.

sounds like he's using the onboard video...

[Scum bucket]

Yes I did plug the monitor into the video card.

[Electromatt]

Does the power supply have a separate power connector for the video card? Or are you using the Molex adapter?

[Scum bucket]

The power supply has a PCI-E that I plug into the video card.

[chazus]

Go into BIOS and make sure the PCI-E port is actually enabled.