Graphics Computer only boots on its side

Hi,

I had a TRUE delivered last weekend for my rig (details in sig) and spent a good few hours both installing the heatsink through taking the mobo off and also re-wiring the job lot due to a lack of need for my fan controller and many excess wires.

On the back off that my rig has developed a strange problem that my noob knowledge can't get around. Upon reboot everything seems to work fine except for the HD4870 that has flashing red lights which seem to indicate lack of power. This means that I get no visuals until I turn my rig on its side.

This probably sounds like a wiring issue or connection problem somewhere but I've been through everything many times and can't find a reason for this. I can boot it up on its side then sit it upright and everything works fine which confuses me.

After asking the IT specialist at my work, he suggested that my new wiring may be too taught, therefore causing issues but I've cut all the ties around the two 6 pin connectors from the PSU as to get rid of that problem yet the issue still persists. Therefore advoce would be welcome.

Ta

 

Is the graphics card properly seated in the PCI slot? Try pulling it out and re-seating it.

 

+1

Could also be the weight of the card breaking the contact of the slot solder points to the mobo's traces. Not good.

 

I've tried re-seating it twice but to no avail. In fairness I haven't put it in the other PCI slot available yet as it means losing the wireless network card.

 

Another IT trick you can try is using a good quality white eraser on the cards contact points to remove any film on them that can come from the PCB's protective coating that weeps when the card gets hot.

 

What exactly did you do during this rewiring? Did you take the pin connectors apart and redo them or did you just start cutting wires from your psu? clues?

 

All very simple really, just taking the fan controller out and a removing a few fans. Then just tidied up all the cables. Didn't do anything technical.

 

wow I'm stumped. The only thing i can think of is that maybe one wire got pulled too tight and the pin is sorta loose. (like if you don't crimp a molex pin nice or u just get a shoddy psu with bad wiring)
I think my only suggestions would be to try a different PSU and/or take a good close look at the pins and contacts on the pci-e power cable and the card itself.

 

The most important thing here is to closely pay attention to what changes between a horizontal and vertical position in terms of cables, cards and whether anything is kind of loose at all.

Then again, this system could also just be haunted

 

Can you clarify here? Your gfx card is plugged into a PCI-E slot, NOT a PCI slot? It shouldn't be possible to fit, but here you are talking about using a PCI slot that has a wifi card in it!

 

lol yeah I didn't want to get into this one.. probably grounding issue though I'd take it out the case and see if it boots off the table- you might have a loose screw rolling around behind the mb or something similar

even turn it upside down might fall out

 

Yeah sorry, to clarify it's seated in a PCI-e (x16) and losing the wifi would be because it sits in the way because of the 4870 being a dual slot card. It's got me stumped to be honest as everything thunders along perfectly in a vertical position, ONCE it's booted on it's side, bloody heavy too!

 

This has got me thinking; could it possibly have anything to do with the cpu? If you installed that new (fairly big and heavy) heatsink on it.. is it possible that the cpu isn't seated all the way? That when it's sitting vertically it's pulling out a bit and on it's side the weight from the heatsink is pushing it in just enough to get it going? It's a longshot, but try reseating the cpu and making sure everything is nice and secure.

 

Have you tried cleaning all the sockets etc with some compressed air ? Maybe a minor dust problem, plus a minor contact point variation between vertical horizontal, are combining to make one big problem

 

Could you try giving the TRUE a bit of support.

For example, with my HR-03GT on my 8800GT, I've got some cables ties that go from the corner of the graphics card up to a support bar in the case, without these the card sags quite a bit due to the weight of the HR-03. I have no idea what happens if the ties aren't present as I've never run without them.

I'd try supporting the TRUE a bit, see if that helps.

 

^^ That

I have a TRUE 120 Black, and it weights *LOT*. You may actually be bending the board slightly.

 

I'd like to thank everyone for their suggestions. Some great advice from Cerberus90 and Landy_Ed, when I held up the TRUE on boot, it worked fine. I need to find a decent way of strapping it up now, I'm thinking fishing line may be the best option.

Thanks again though, don't know what I'd do without Bit-Tech!

 

Plastic, have you actually used all possible standoffs to secure the board to the case? That may actually be enough to achieve it. I have a P5Q Pro and Antec P182 case, and while I don't think I'm getting the temps I should be I'm not suffering the same symptoms as you, though if I were only using 4 screws & standoffs I think I probably would be.

 

Yeah, I think there's something like 11 or 12 standoffs all in place. I have considered ditching the TRUE for a Titan Fenrir which would eleviate the problem but a) more cost b) the TRUE has dropped my overclocked temps by around 10c over the AC7 I had previously and c) the TRUE black looks ace!

 

I have the TRUE in two of my rig's with two fans on one is also in a cm stacker case and yes the TRUE's are heavy but I have never had that problem I would try useing all 12 standoffs first.
A strong elastic band would work for support.