Unresponsive Dedicated Graphics Card

[A Weary Exile]

I recently purchased a new desktop (http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-K330B-77472AU-Desktop-Black/dp/B005NHQZOK) and a new graphics card (Asus GTX 550 ti) and it's not working even after I've installed it into the expansion slot. The desktop comes with an integrated graphics card so I tried disabling that and scanning for hardware changes, came up with nothing. It won't let me install the drivers because it doesn't recognize the card. There's a wire that came with the card, I can plug it in to the side of the card but nowhere inside the actual computer so I have no idea what to do with it. The fan runs while the computer is on, but the computer doesn't recognize the card.

I'm set on returning it and buying another one (If I can get my damn printer to work again) but I thought I'd come here and see what you lot have to say about it.

 

[Vonnis]

That card needs a 6 pin connection to your PSU. That's probably what that wire is (or rather, I'm guessing the wire is a converter for molex to 6 pin). Check your PSU cables for a 6 pin power connector, stick it in the card, and see if it works then.

 

[A Weary Exile]

That card needs a 6 pin connection to your PSU. That's probably what that wire is (or rather, I'm guessing the wire is a converter for molex to 6 pin). Check your PSU cables for a 6 pin power connector, stick it in the card, and see if it works then.

There's a spot that looks like it might receive the other end of the wire, but it's too short to reach. :l

 

[Vonnis]

There's a spot that looks like it might receive the other end of the wire, but it's too short to reach. :l

What does this spot look like? Is it something on the motherboard or a cable coming from your power supply? If the wire is what I think it is, it should be the latter, and the reason it doesn't reach the PSU cable would be that the PSU cables are tied to the case for cable management as these cables are pretty long, and having them snake all over the case hinders airflow.
Any chance of taking and posting some pics of the card's connection, the wire, and any visible ends from your PSU cables?

 

[A Weary Exile]

What does this spot look like? Is it something on the motherboard or a cable coming from your power supply?

It's on the motherboard next to the integrated card. There are two orange, rectangular slots with an L-shaped section of plastic in the center.

If the wire is what I think it is, it should be the latter, and the reason it doesn't reach the PSU cable would be that the PSU cables are tied to the case for cable management as these cables are pretty long, and having them snake all over the case hinders airflow.
Any chance of taking and posting some pics of the card's connection, the wire, and any visible ends from your PSU cables?

I would provide pics, but I don't have a camera that functions well enough.

 

[Vonnis]

L-shaped sounds like SATA ports, your GPU has no business connecting to those. Do they look like this?

What your card needs is one of these babies:

If you can't find one of those on your PSU (which would be odd, but it might just be tucked away) you can use a molex to pcie connector, this is what I was assuming the wire you mentioned is. Here's what that looks like:

The black end goes into your graphics card, with both white parts connecting to similar looking (but female) plugs on the PSU. These may have a different colour but that doesn't matter.

 

[A Weary Exile]

*Snip*

The last pic is the exact same wire as the one I have, but there's nowhere to plug it in. :l

 

[A Weary Exile]

Found a hidden wire that can take the other end of that wire, only now the monitor won't turn on. >_<

EDIT: Plugging that wire in apparently caused damage of some sort and the computer had to do a start up repair. Still couldn't get it to pick up the card even with a new hardware scan.

EDIT 2: This hidden wire says "P7" on the top if that helps.

 

[Vonnis]

Found a hidden wire that can take the other end of that wire, only now the monitor won't turn on. >_<

EDIT: Plugging that wire in apparently caused damage of some sort and the computer had to do a start up repair. Still couldn't get it to pick up the card even with a new hardware scan.

EDIT 2: This hidden wire says "P7" on the top if that helps.

Did you plug both white ends into your PSU? If you only plugged in one of them it won't work as it can only get 50% of the power it needs.
By monitor not powering on, do you mean that literally or does it power on but doesn't get a signal? Anything going on in the pc really shouldn't be stopping a monitor from powering on, signal or not.

 

[A Weary Exile]

Found a hidden wire that can take the other end of that wire, only now the monitor won't turn on. >_<

EDIT: Plugging that wire in apparently caused damage of some sort and the computer had to do a start up repair. Still couldn't get it to pick up the card even with a new hardware scan.

EDIT 2: This hidden wire says "P7" on the top if that helps.

Did you plug both white ends into your PSU? If you only plugged in one of them it won't work as it can only get 50% of the power it needs.
By monitor not powering on, do you mean that literally or does it power on but doesn't get a signal? Anything going on in the pc really shouldn't be stopping a monitor from powering on, signal or not.

There's no room to plug in both, one of the ends takes up the whole slot.

And the monitor will come on for a second, but will refuse to function afterwards.

 

[Vonnis]

There's no room to plug in both, one of the ends takes up the whole slot.

And the monitor will come on for a second, but will refuse to function afterwards.

Each end is supposed to take up one slot, the point is you need two slots so you can attach both white ends of that wire. As you can see there part that goes into your graphics card has 6 pins, and the white molex connections use 3 pins each. If only one of them is plugged in your card will not be able to get enough power to function. Unless you have a lot of other things plugged in there should be at least one more of those connections available on your PSU cables, probably hidden away somewhere. If you only have the one molex connection, and you're sure there's no proper pci-e power connector, I'm afraid there's no way to get that card running in your system without getting a new PSU. Do have another thorough look though; even a 10 yearold (unused) packard bell pc I have lying around has several molex connections free after plugging everything in.

I have to admit I have no idea what's going on with the monitor, I've never seen one just turning off like that. All it should do is go into standy if it doesn't get a signal. Do you have another pc or laptop you can test it on to see if it works normally with that?