One word, Hubris.

So, I got a new video card after a long time. I got a GTX550 Ti from a Afox. It's a very nice mid-range card and its just priced right.The hubris part comes when I installed the damn thing.

Just so you know, I haven't tinkered with my desktop for a long time. And for that long time, I always thought I know "the" shit when it comes to hardware. "I know what I'm doing, motherfucker!", I always thought to myself. The universe was about to bitch-slap me seven ways to Tuesday.

The 12v source I forgot to plug-in

So, open the box, skipped the instructions, removed my old video card (its a XFX HD4650 - it has served me well) and dropped in my new card. Got the new drivers, didn't use the driver it came with and the restarted my box, no problem.

Ohhhh, I felt good, godlike even. Then it happen, none of my games would play. WTF! No just play, it even crashed my whole box. Tried it twice just to make sure, then got on the internet for some answers.

1. Hacked games config file - didn't take
2. Downgraded driver - fail
3. Moved card to another slot (got a SLI-ready motherboard) - also failed

I started to believe that I got a bad card until I stumbled into this hardware forum which from the looks of it was mostly Chinese. This guy basically said, "Hey asshole, did you plug in the 12v source?" He was right, I was an asshole, I didn't know that the new cards needed a 12v source. I always thought they all draw power from the PCI-E rail.

Moral is "READ THE GODDAMN MANUAL".