Replaced bad GTX960 card with a used one I bought from Amazon. Now on startup I'm getting a message to "Power down and connect the PCIe power cable(s) for this graphics card". Is it more likely the cable itself? or something on the new, used card I just installed?

bdary
Hi and Welcome to the Forums...
 
Did you connect the 6 pin power cable/plug from your PSU to your GPU?

The card I took out did not have such cable.
The cable I was making reference to is the one that runs to monitor.

bdary

K4GAP

bdary
Hi and Welcome to the Forums...
 
Did you connect the 6 pin power cable/plug from your PSU to your GPU?

The card I took out did not have such cable.

Look at your new card.  Do you see that it has a 6 pin power plug on it?  The cable needed would be supplied with your PSU, not the GPU.
 
What's the model number of your new GPU?

It is a EVGA Geforce GTX 960

bdary
Some 960's have a 6 pin power plug, some have an 8 pin.  Whichever model yours is would need to have this connected from the power supply to your GPU.  EVGA made several 960 models, so without the model number, I wouldn't know if yours is a 6 or an 8 pin.

Where the cable would go if there was one is a 6 pin block. The only other markings are in photo below .....
 
Edited to remove serial number

I edited your post to remove the serial number sticker. The power supply will need to be connected to the 6 or 8 pin connector on the side of the card; it looks like this (this is an 8 pin, but you get the idea): 

*face palm..* this happens.. exactly what part nunber is your power supply.. if you have a tech guru friend, I highly suggest you buy him a beer or a small bottle of his favorite drink, and have him do this. Not to be mean, but you do not have the experience for this.

Power supply unit = psu, has cables coming out and running behind the motherboard tray to hide them. The power supply is directly below everytjing you posted in the last picture. Take the back panel off of your case to see more wires, as they are hodden to keep a nest appearance.

Motherboard = the last thing you posted a picture of. That wasnt a power supply and doesnt help see what you need. I highly suggest getting someone that knows what they are looking at to spend less than 2 minutes helping you.

Last edit... dont let them "just fix it" for you. Have them show you around and help you with this. This is a great time to learn. Since it would seem someone else built this for you, or you bought it prebuilt, it would be best to learn about this before going forward. It will help you more than you can imagine. If you would like us to help you, we can link videos for you.

If your system was prebuilt, check the box it came in for extra cables.

What ST means is that there should be a cable there; it will need to go from your power supply to your graphics card. The graphics card requires at least a 6 pin power connector to be plugged in to function correctly; the cable may be sitting in the bottom of the case, or it may be routed around and hidden on the back. Either way, you will need to find a cable that says either PCIE or VGA, and connect it to your video card. If your power supply doesn't have any of these, you will likely need a new PSU. 

Scarlet-Tech
No, it wouldnt be showing. Why would they leave a wire dangling that doesnt have a use? Think about that.

It is either in the box the system came in, or behind the motherboard tray.

That was kind of my point. There were no wires before removing the old gpu. If there were, they would be showing in the photo because they would have been attached to the side of card where it would be showing in photo. Make any sense?

Thanks guys for all the help. Sorry about all the frustration.

K4GAP
Thanks guys for all the help. Sorry about all the frustration.

You're welcome and no worries.  Just trying to get you squared away...

K4GAP

Scarlet-Tech
No, it wouldnt be showing. Why would they leave a wire dangling that doesnt have a use? Think about that.

It is either in the box the system came in, or behind the motherboard tray.

That was kind of my point. There were no wires before removing the old gpu. If there were, they would be showing in the photo because they would have been attached to the side of card where it would be showing in photo. Make any sense?

Regardless if the old GPU card had external power or was just powered by the PCIe socket on your MB.
 
The new GPU does require an external power source as they draw around 170 Watts and the PCIe slot in MB  does not provide that much power.
 

TechPowerUP - (excerpt below and photo above)
"Power delivery requires a single 8-pin PCI-Express power connector. This configuration is specified for up to 225 W power draw."
 
This Must be connected to the PSU with a PCI power cable for the Video card  to work

K4GAP

bdary

K4GAP
Thanks guys for all the help. Sorry about all the frustration.

You're welcome and no worries.  Just trying to get you squared away...

My tech guru buddy is on his way here. He is bringing some extra parts with him. One of which is a bigger card. A GTX 970. Will my small CPU i5-4690 run that GTX 970 ? Do I need to make this a separate post?

Your cpu will definitely fun the 970 or 960. The 970 will require two of the cables you need..

As for the wire, if it is anywhere, it is hidden to keep a neat appearance. They would never leave a wire dangling out just because a future graphics card may need it. Again, it would be at the bottom of the case, or routed behind the motherboard. It would NOT be exposed just hanging out waiting for parts to be added.

Since the OP stated he was replacing a bad 960 then the PCIE power cable should be there unless it came out somehow and thats why he replaced it. 

Let us know how you progress. If you still need more assistance we are here for you.