New graphics card, can't get a signal

[glevy7]

Alright so yesterday my graphics card died in the computer I built myself. I figured that it'd be an easy enough fix. I went out and got a Radeon HD 5770 to replace the dead card (a GeForce GTX 275). I took the old card out and put the new one in fine and when I turned the system on, the fan was spinning on the graphics card. However, when I looked at my monitor I was getting a "no signal" message. I tried another cord and it was still saying "no signal." I've researched this and I've seen two things: 1. Potential driver conflicts because I never uninstalled the old drivers and 2. Something about disabling my onboard graphs. Neither of these are helpful to me though because my monitor isn't even registering my computer. If anyone has any advice please let me know, this is so frustrating because it seemed like an easy fix.

I also tried another monitor. When I turn the monitor on it says "D-sub...power saving mode" then goes blank. It's able to confirm which port the cord is plugged into, but for some reason can't get any picture. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[mailpup]

You didn't forget to connect the external 6 pin PCI-E power plug to the graphics card did you?

 

[glevy7]

No, everything appears to be connected.

 

[dividebyzero]

So, to recap...You can't see the BIOS POST sequence. i.e. absolutely no signal before the OS loads?
First troubleshooting question would be...why did the GTX 275 fail ? Did you manage to track down the problem? GTX 275's aren't known for high failure rates and the card should not be that old. I ask as a board or power supply failure could be an avenue worth investigating.

Secondly, assuming that the GTX died of natural causes, is the HD 5770 a reference card? i.e. does it look to be the same as the initial launch versions -standard boxy shroud with fanblower, and if so, what brand ?

 

[mailpup]

Try pulling out the graphics card and reseat it in the slot. Are you sure the graphics card is the problem? It could be the power supply despite fans working. Can you test the graphics card in another PC and put a spare PSU in your PC to test it?

Edit: dividebyzero beat me to it.

 

[glevy7]

My monitor is not getting a signal at all, so it just remains at a black screen. My system boots up fine, I just can't see it. The first thing that happened when my card failed was that my monitor went out. It lost connection. Then my computer turned off. I tried to turn it back on and it worked, but I noticed the fan in my graphics card wasn't spinning. After trying the graphics card with another power supply in a different build, it still wouldn't spin so I assumed a dead graphics card.

I don't know what you mean by reference card. I ran out to Best Buy and picked up an XFX Radeon HD 5770. I can't post the Newegg link because I don't have five posts, but if you type in that name on Newegg it's the Juniper XT one.

 

[dividebyzero]

This one , yes it's a reference design.
I would definitely get the power supply tested, if nothing else, just to rule it out of the equation.
Was the GTX 275 covered by warranty? and if so, was the claim paid out?
On the face of it, it sounds like you have had a card go bad, followed by a DOA. While not entirely unknown, the chances of that happening are quite slim. The one thing that does point to this though is that HD 5770's with the reference design do seem to have a high DOA/failure rate...whether that's entirely due to BIOS voltage settings and faulty VRAM chips (both seem to contribute) or because the model is extremely popular and has been produced in very large qualtity (hence a small percentage still represents a lot of cards) I can't really say. What I can tell you is that I have had to return over a dozen of these cards myself, and had to reflash the BIOS in at least that many again, although as I have been recommending these cards for the builds/upgrades I put together the number of troublefree cards I've installed is in the order of 60+.