Member Avatar for A1pheus

Intel LGA1155 DDR3 1600 ATX BOXDH77KC
Corsair Vengeance Blue 16 GB DDR3 SDRAM Dual Channel Memory Kit CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B
Intel i7-3370 Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155 BX80637I73770
GeForce GTX 550 Ti
Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit
Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE 22X SATA DVDRW Drive
Antec 9 Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

I have a Samsung 32 inch HDTV I like to use as a monitor. When I plug in the hdmi cable directly into the motherboard, I can see the video without a problem. When I try to download the video card's driver however, both with the cd, and trying manual installation, I get the error "The graphics driver could not find compatable graphics hardware." I opened up my pc and realize that the video card is not getting power from the 6-unit pci connection to the power supply. After plugging that into the video card, and making sure the video card is well in place, I try starting up the computer. The computer starts, but I do not get any video when I plug it into the motherboard, or the video card. When I remove the power to the video card via the pci cable, I can see video using the hdmi cable, but only when it is connected to the motherboard. Please help me, why is it that I cannot see anything when the video card is powered by the pci cable?

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Dani AI

Generated

Short summary of the situation: reports the system uses the motherboard HDMI when the GTX 550 Ti has no 6‑pin power connected. Once the card’s 6‑pin PCIe power is plugged in the machine produces no video from either the motherboard or the card, and the Nvidia installer returns "The graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware." That symptom set almost always points to a hardware/power or initialization problem (the OS cannot see the card), not a driver incompatibility alone.

Recommended diagnostic checklist (in order)

  • Confirm the connector is a true 6‑pin PCIe power cable from the Corsair PSU (not a Molex->6pin or SATA->6pin adapter). The PCIe plug has a small latch and six square pins; adapters and improvised wiring are common failure points.
  • With the system off and unplugged, reseat the card and make sure the 6‑pin mates fully. Inspect the cable ends for bent pins or damage.
  • Power on and observe the card: do the fans spin or any LEDs light when the 6‑pin is connected? No signs of life usually mean power/cable or a dead card.
  • Swap the PCIe power cable for another cable from the same PSU (or try a different PCIe connector if modular). If available, test the card in a different, known‑good PC or test a known‑good GPU in this PC to isolate PSU vs card.
  • Enter BIOS setup (as suggested) and set initial display to PEG/PCIe or enable both IGD and PCIe so a fallback is visible. Clear CMOS if BIOS settings appear stuck.
  • Once the OS can see the card (Device Manager shows an Nvidia adapter), install the correct driver. The installer error seen here is a consequence of the card not being enumerated.

Most likely causes: wrong/adapter cable or bad modular lead, faulty GPU, or a PSU issue. Address power/cabling and device detection first; if the card shows no power or fails in another machine it is likely defective and should be RMA/replaced. ’s PCIe question is correct (this is a PCIe card) and ’s driver-check advice applies only after hardware is confirmed working.

Recommended Answers

All 4 Replies

Member Avatar for ajay.motah

is it an agp card or pci express?

Member Avatar for A1pheus

pci

Member Avatar for BOSDOT

reseat your card ... and go in bios select GPU at pcie , save , boot and then plug cable to your card

Member Avatar for Best Hosting

Do you have been check it your driver version and compatibility?

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