I broke something~ Help please :/

[tkdromeo]

So, i got my brand new 8800 GT OC 512...that card is gigantic. took up most of the case, I had a really hard time putting it in. And i popped 2 wires by accident....Now it only starts up one out of 2-3 times, and then after about 2-3 minutes the monitor just goes into power save, says can't read a signal.

i was able to install the drivers in the safe mode, in istalled windows vista 32 bit as it said i wasn't configured or something for 64 bit, and it still gives trouble...help!

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...&cp=1&id=1188559785167

This is the computer i have ^^^^

This is what happened. I don't have photoshop on this comp so here's what i could show.

This is how big the card is...see

This is one of the wires, and the dots are where they are supposed to be.

it lets me do a system restore and it works for that, i don't know why it doesn't work other times....

 

[clickynext]

If you can take a clear picture of exactly where the wire comes from, and what the connector on the end looks like, it might be easier to help you.

 

[taltamir]

where did you buy it from? try returning/replacing it and claiming it came this way... they might just let you do it...
Raise a fuss...
If it is not immidiatly visible that something might be broken then don't even mention it, just say it "never worked"

Only if they don't, then try to fix it... If there is some soldering marks on it you will never get your warranty on it...

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: taltamir
where did you buy it from? try returning/replacing it and claiming it came this way... they might just let you do it...
Raise a fuss...
If it is not immidiatly visible that something might be broken then don't even mention it, just say it "never worked"

Only if they don't, then try to fix it... If there is some soldering marks on it you will never get your warranty on it...

Cause that's how we should teach people to behave. Lie, con, steal. Gotcha.
How about, lets see if we can get this guy up and running first. Plan?

 

[MonKENy]

did they break at solder points? your pictures are uhhh horrible to put it bluntly. not only are they blurry but they are dark and far away so there is no detail. Try posting better pics, but if its just solder points go to your local radio shack and buy a 40watt Soldering iron and re solder the connections. just be careful not to burn the board. I recently re-soldered a few connections on my VC. and if you dont need the iron after that simply return it when your done. just make sure you dont screw it up at all. and when they ask why your returning it tell them it wasnt what you needed and didnt work right. oh and save your receipt.

 

[tkdromeo]

I will try to take better pics when i come back home, and yes they were broken at solder points. I should be able to get new pics up in an hour and a half or so. Sorry about the lousy pictures. Thank you for the responses. I'd rather not return it but get it working instead.


ps. how do i know if i have vista 32 bit or 64 bit? I'm not being able to find anywhere on the box or the inside...

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: taltamir
where did you buy it from? try returning/replacing it and claiming it came this way... they might just let you do it...
Raise a fuss...
If it is not immidiatly visible that something might be broken then don't even mention it, just say it "never worked"

Only if they don't, then try to fix it... If there is some soldering marks on it you will never get your warranty on it...

Cause that's how we should teach people to behave. Lie, con, steal. Gotcha.
How about, lets see if we can get this guy up and running first. Plan?

Not exactly. But I work at warranty and let me tell you, costs are cut left and right on durability KNOWING that customers are gonna break it easily. And then they ARE given replacement parts as warranty... The reason I mentioned the "tell them it came this way" is because the guys at the STORE might not know it (and the store just ships it back to manufacturer at the manufacturer's cost)... I know that when someone calls us and says "we broke" we always give them a replacement, because it is always the exact same parts that they break, the ones we skimp on the costs of... The cost cutting and replacing the few broken parts are STILL worth it to the company at the end of the day... And the customer that calls and says "I broke it" and is given a replacement at no charge is now a loyal customer for the future...

Now of course, they could completely try to screw you... and make parts that easily break and NOT provide any support for people to whom it happens...

But try honesty FIRST... call the MANFUCATURER (not the store) and tell them it broke plugging it in and see what happens... they might surprise you.

Oh, and its not just the company I work for too, my buddy snapped off his SATA plug on two raptors at once from WD and they replaced them... They knew it was bad, thats why they were making those special WD SATA plugs that don't snap as easily.

 

[MonKENy]

if you want to try keeping it then the only option you have is to re-solder.

 

[tno]

Those pics have me confused. Were the wires on your new 8800GT or connected to something on the case of the computer. From the pics it almost looks like you have a PCB of some sort over the cooling fan and that's where this wire broke off. Is anything else different about your computer (ie fans not working, lights not coming on)? When you say it only comes on one out of 2-3 times do you mean that the computer will start to spool up less than half the time when the power button is hit or do you mean that when you turn the computer on it'll freeze or crash more than half the time? It sounds like you could have two things going on, a hardware issue or a software issue. Either way, you should be careful about doing repairs on something currently under warrant if you're inexperienced, a botched repair could really ruin your warranty. Let's see some better pictures and get some more details.

tno

 

[hans007]

it looks a lot more like he broke something not on the video card.

that is a pretty long wire, and i seriously doubt it is part of the video card .

 

[tkdromeo]

Ok, i'm back home now and i picked up a soldering iron. Here's what i got so far.

The wire is like tno and hans said. It's connected to something on the case of a computer, right above the cooling fan. I posted some pictures. It's the best i can do. My digital camera is out of battery and radio shack is closed now, so my phone is all i got.

And the computer spools all the time, but the monitor doesn't turn on, and if i restart or let the computer turn off a screen if i don't use it for like 15 min, it doesn't turn back on.

So...here's some pics. I'm not sure i remember where each of the wires was on the points, but...they both go up towards the CD drive and the multimedia area with all the card readers.

My tools!
http://i29.photobucket.com/alb...romansamurai/photo.jpg

Soldering points
http://i29.photobucket.com/alb...ansamurai/photo2-1.jpg

Bigger image
http://i29.photobucket.com/alb...ansamurai/photo3-1.jpg

The end of one of the wires
http://i29.photobucket.com/alb...omansamurai/photo4.jpg

Full image
http://i29.photobucket.com/alb...omansamurai/photo5.jpg

Thanks again all for help!

 

[MonKENy]

hmmm this stink, its still to hard to see anything in those pics. what do the 2 wires that broke lead into? I would say try heating up the two points and letting the wires re-solder and see if that helps. if not then you probably have an VC issue itself. you may have to wipe the old card and install the drivers for the new one before you install the card.

 

[Narse]

Originally posted by: tkdromeo
Ok, i'm back home now and i picked up a soldering iron. Here's what i got so far.

The wire is like tno and hans said. It's connected to something on the case of a computer, right above the cooling fan. I posted some pictures. It's the best i can do. My digital camera is out of battery and radio shack is closed now, so my phone is all i got.

And the computer spools all the time, but the monitor doesn't turn on, and if i restart or let the computer turn off a screen if i don't use it for like 15 min, it doesn't turn back on.

So...here's some pics. I'm not sure i remember where each of the wires was on the points, but...they both go up towards the CD drive and the multimedia area with all the card readers.

My tools!
http://i29.photobucket.com/alb...romansamurai/photo.jpg

Soldering points
http://i29.photobucket.com/alb...ansamurai/photo2-1.jpg

Bigger image
http://i29.photobucket.com/alb...ansamurai/photo3-1.jpg

The end of one of the wires
http://i29.photobucket.com/alb...omansamurai/photo4.jpg

Full image
http://i29.photobucket.com/alb...omansamurai/photo5.jpg

Thanks again all for help!

Those pics are still horrid. But its definatly not a cable to the vid card, looks like it runs to the front panel. Reminds me of a wirelless lan antena from the little detail I can get from the pics.

 

[taltamir]

wait so you have two wires comming off your MOTHERBOARD that go to the front of the case and were broken off? thats plain bizzare, motherboard connections are usually not soldered on... you can try removing the OTHER one... maybe completely disconnecting it will solve the problem... but I am not too sure about that recommendation since the pictures are still too horrible to tell what it is. You need a well lit area and an HD video camera really, film us an explanation...

But just to get clear on it, you are saying NOTHING happened to the video card itself? only to the motherboard?

Since its something in the mobo/chasis that broke and it came from dell (and not your breand new video card) I would say returns /warrenty are probably out of the question... (especially since all the makers of whole systems, like dell and hp will try to screw you out of warranty, even if it is their fault for building something rickety... even if you didn't even snap anything...)

But if it is just the mobo then maybe you should try disconnecting it completely from whatever is on the front... and if it doesn't work replace it with a different mobo... asus is best... gigabyte and msi are also very good.

 

[tkdromeo]

Originally posted by: Narse
Those pics are still horrid. But its definatly not a cable to the vid card, looks like it runs to the front panel. Reminds me of a wirelless lan antena from the little detail I can get from the pics.

I know and i'm sorry but that's all i can do atm. And yes, there is a wireless lan antenna on the front of the computer, but it's on the bottom and the wires run to the top.

Anyway i did the soldering thing and put them back on, it didn't change anything. I was able to restart however and the monitor didn't go black for a moment... The monitor just goes black and looses signal whenever it feels like it. Sometimes after 5 min, sometimes just as the computer is starting up. Then i have to usually reboot 2-3 times...

 

[tkdromeo]

Originally posted by: taltamir
wait so you have two wires comming off your MOTHERBOARD that go to the front of the case and were broken off? thats plain bizzare, motherboard connections are usually not soldered on... you can try removing the OTHER one... maybe completely disconnecting it will solve the problem... but I am not too sure about that recommendation since the pictures are still too horrible to tell what it is. You need a well lit area and an HD video camera really, film us an explanation...

But just to get clear on it, you are saying NOTHING happened to the video card itself? only to the motherboard?

Since its something in the mobo/chasis that broke and it came from dell (and not your breand new video card) I would say returns /warrenty are probably out of the question... (especially since all the makers of whole systems, like dell and hp will try to screw you out of warranty, even if it is their fault for building something rickety... even if you didn't even snap anything...)

But if it is just the mobo then maybe you should try disconnecting it completely from whatever is on the front... and if it doesn't work replace it with a different mobo... asus is best... gigabyte and msi are also very good.

Again, sorry for the pics, my camera is broken so i had to use my phone. :/

And yes, it broke off something on the computer. Not the card. I'll post another pic in a sec.

 

[tkdromeo]

Well, just went black again, took 3 restarts before the computer booted up. It was making alot of noise but not turning on...


There's the pic btw of the reattached wires. Maybe it's not what's causing the problem, but i don't know what to do. I really appreciate everyone trying to help me. I'm clueless.

http://i29.photobucket.com/alb...omansamurai/photo6.jpg

 

[taltamir]

saying "it broke off the computer' is quite... confusing... "the computer" is a collection of parts... WHAT in the computer did it break off of? the case? the motherboard? what?

Did you try completely removing it?

What is your computer exactly?

 

[schneiderguy]

Are you using the stock power supply that came with the HP? It's probably not enough power for the 8800gt

 

[tkdromeo]

I posted what broke off, the wires, as well as pictures. And now that you mention it Schneiderguy...you could be right. if that's the case, how do i fix that....i don't know if i can replace the power supply on my own.

It just went down again, I launched Hellgate London to see if it would work, and it did for a few minutes, but then the monitor just lost signal and shut down, but everything still was playing. I could hear the music from the game on my speakers.

 

[robisbell]

well, you may have cross soldered the wires and the card may be grounding out on something.

 

[tkdromeo]

*bangs head against on the desk*

 

[MonKENy]

wow this sucks, im sorry dude sounds like a huge pain in the ass. were are you located?

As far as the power supply its super easy to replace. they are pretty standard as far as connections go.

if the cable you soldered go to multimedia points then I doubt that is the issue. have you tried removing the new VC and using the old one again?

 

[hans007]

that looks like, a grounding wire especially given how thick it is and the shape of th end. they usually just get mounted ot the steel part of the case with a screw (especialyl with that end that look like a metal circlt). some cases have them and also some power supplies. they usually just attach to the case.

not sure what kind of a computer that is, but that circuit board might be a fan controller or some sort of rear port thing. are those ports for the back?

 

[Pez D Spencer]

I'm not trying to be an ass, but it looks like Helen Keller put that computer together. Can someone say wire management? How can anything breathe in there? That is hands down the crappiest assembly job I've ever witnessed. Amazing. Simply amazing. They're charging 1200 bucks for that? I hope you have insurance 'cause that thing is liable to burst into flames.

I say take the whole PC back and get a refund. Then read a book and build your own. You'd save hundreds and run a much smaller chance of burning down your house. I know this probably doesn't help matters but I'm blown away and couldn't resist commenting.

It's one thing to mark a computer up 75% - 100%, but another to charge so much and produce such poor workmanship. Sorry to keep going on and on, but I'm totally in awe at the unbelieveably shitty job HP did. Alienware might overcharge for their PC's but at least they don't produce crap like that.

Here's what my PC looks like inside:

http://i21.tinypic.com/30a6h47.jpg
http://i23.tinypic.com/2itli5l.jpg
http://i21.tinypic.com/33wlag3.jpg