I upgraded my graphics card from a GTX 1070 Ti to an RX 9060 XT. The system powered on for roughly one second after the installation, then shut down. It briefly entered an on-and-off cycle, and after I switched the power supply off, the computer became completely unresponsive—no fans, lights, or reaction to the power button.
I reinstalled the GTX 1070 Ti, but that made no difference. My system has an ASRock B450M A/C motherboard, Ryzen 5 5500, two 8GB DDR4-3200 modules, and an Intel ATX 12V GP650 Bronze power supply. I have reseated both graphics cards, checked the 24-pin, CPU 8-pin, and PCIe power connections, tried different outlets, verified the front-panel connectors, and reseated or swapped the RAM.
The RX 9060 XT should use a similar amount of power to the old card—around 180W—so I'm unsure why the system would suddenly become totally dead. Does this sound like a failed power supply, motherboard damage, or something else?
3 Answers
Test the PSU separately using the manufacturer’s proper jumper or paperclip procedure, with the power disconnected from the PC and the correct pins identified. An even safer option is testing with a known-good replacement PSU. If the replacement brings back fans or LEDs, the original PSU has failed.
It’s still worth inspecting the motherboard, GPU slot, and connectors for damage caused during installation. Make sure no cable is loose or plugged into the wrong socket, and try starting the board outside the case with only the CPU, one RAM stick, and PSU connected. However, because there are no lights or fan movement at all, the PSU is a more likely first failure than a problem with the graphics card itself.
The power supply is the main suspect, especially since the computer briefly started and then became completely dead. The wattage rating alone isn’t enough; this particular GP650 appears to be a low-quality generic unit. Replace or test it with a reputable PSU before assuming the motherboard is damaged. A quality 650W model should be sufficient for this hardware.
The new GPU’s total wattage probably isn’t the issue. A defective or poor-quality PSU can fail during startup even when the system’s calculated power draw is below its rated capacity.
The system initially powered on for a few seconds and then repeatedly shut off before I turned the PSU switch off. After that, it stopped responding completely, even with the original graphics card installed.