I Installed a New Graphics Card............But... It's Causing Some Really Wierd Stuff

[captaincranky]

I have an Ivy Bridge based machine (Z77 Gigabyte board / Core i3-3225 CPU). The rig was running fine & dandy on the Intel 4400 integrated graphics.

Today I installed an EVGA 750 ti video card. Now the machine has a protracted boot into Windows. I sits on the BIOS screen over a minute. Access to the BIOS itself is unavailable during this period.

After the machine eventually boots, (which may or may not be helped by me hammering on the "delete" key), the system appears to be working fine.

Here's what I've done to troubleshoot the issue thus far. Swapped out the SSD, ( installed recently), with the original HDD (600GB WB "Velocirqptor") The OS (Windows 7), was migrated onto the SSD, thus both "copies" of Windows show as being activated. This produced no improvement.

The DVD drive had an issue with the tray cycling mechanism. Thinking this could possibly be interfering with its detection at boot, I replaced it. Again, no improvement.

I disabled the on board graphics, and on the WD HDD, I also uninstalled the Intel graphics drivers. Again, no improvement.

When I yank the video card, the machine boots normally.

There is little to no static in my house now, and I wore a wrist strap when installing the card. So I doubt very much if the card was damaged from ESD.

Before I forget, I also attached a PS-2 keyboard to the machine, to rule out USB 3.0 drivers for input not being available at POST.

As fate would have it, this video card came with a rebate, so I had to send the SKU barcode panel to claim it. No matter, I suppose, wer're at the 30 return limit as of today.

Anybody have any ideas as to what's up with this thing?

 

[bazz2004]

Any chance it needs an additional power connector or that your PSU isn't quite up to the job?

 

[captaincranky]

Any chance it needs an additional power connector or that your PSU isn't quite up to the job?

Well....(tentatively))...... no.

The card is the EVGA 750 ti SC ("Super Clocked") Here's the page at Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487024 The only one of the 3 cards which requires a PCI-E 6 pin connector is the "FTW" model. (That's the center "click me box", the card with the twin fan cooler).

The PSU is an Antec EA-430D "Earthwatts". (430 watts) Allegedly, a GTX 750 will run on a 300 watt PSU (!) This Antec is a few years old (*), but low time and never strained. It has dual 12V rails, but specs at 20+ amps on each. I remember considering installing this PSU in this computer as "ironic", as the i3-3225 only has a TDP of 54 watts. The PSU voltages check out OK, between BIOS readings and System Information for Windows (SIW).

I suppose, as I have a fresh Antec EA-380 laying around, I could try that. But, the 380 watter has less than 20A each, on dual 12V rails.

I checked in BIOS and the PCI-E gen is set for "auto", so the PCI-E slots should be good to go for this PCI-E 3.0 video card.

This seems to leave me at either the motherboard BIOS needs flashing, or I've got a bad video card. The board's BIOS is "F-9" (OEM, never flashed) dated at May, 2012.

Have you ever run across an incompatible mobo BIOS and graphics card? (Assuming PCI-E same generation pairing)

(*) Given the date of the motherboard BIOS, (05-2012) the PSU can't be in service 4 full years yet, maybe as short as 3 years, and used very intermittently.

 

[The Owl]

Your probably under powered think of what else is running / connected other thing is the actual power connections are all Plug's in I.e. no spare left unconnected I went to a friend who is reasonably hardware wise but because his card had a 8 and 6 plug sockets he thought it was a "either or" job WRONG some of the better cards need all supplied

 

[Cycloid Torus]

An extra power connector may be hiding on the back edge - under the fan shroud. Only 60 watts so there may be none...

Is there anything in BIOS which needs to be 'enabled' in addition to disabling internal graphics?

 

[red1776]

Well....(tentatively))...... no.

The card is the EVGA 750 ti SC ("Super Clocked") Here's the page at Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487024 The only one of the 3 cards which requires a PCI-E 6 pin connector is the "FTW" model. (That's the center "click me box", the card with the twin fan cooler).

The PSU is an Antec EA-430D "Earthwatts". (430 watts) Allegedly, a GTX 750 will run on a 300 watt PSU (!) This Antec is a few years old (*), but low time and never strained. It has dual 12V rails, but specs at 20+ amps on each. I remember considering installing this PSU in this computer as "ironic", as the i3-3225 only has a TDP of 54 watts. The PSU voltages check out OK, between BIOS readings and System Information for Windows (SIW).

I suppose, as I have a fresh Antec EA-380 laying around, I could try that. But, the 380 watter has less than 20A each, on dual 12V rails.

I checked in BIOS and the PCI-E gen is set for "auto", so the PCI-E slots should be good to go for this PCI-E 3.0 video card.

This seems to leave me at either the motherboard BIOS needs flashing, or I've got a bad video card. The board's BIOS is "F-9" (OEM, never flashed) dated at May, 2012.

Have you ever run across an incompatible mobo BIOS and graphics card? (Assuming PCI-E same generation pairing)

(*) Given the date of the motherboard BIOS, (05-2012) the PSU can't be in service 4 full years yet, maybe as short as 3 years, and used very intermittently.

I would flash to latest BIOS for starters.
http://www.evga.com/support/download/

I also would invest in a single rail PSU of 500W if I was you...

 

[red1776]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...27&gclid=CJmsxIX9i8sCFYT2MgodrLUImw&gclsrc=ds

 

[Cycloid Torus]

@captaincranky
I think your PSU is probably ok... 60 watts for 750 card, 55 for CPU, 35 for motherboard, 10@ for storage - 30, 10@ for memory - 20 *** that totals 200 watts. Your 430 PSU should be plenty.

However, I doubt you actually have 20amps on each 12v rail (that would be 480 watts in 12v alone), check again and you might want to find manuals to be sure. There might be a power (booster) connector from PSU to motherboard that you have missed.

Also, DO look through BIOS for something which needs to be enabled to make external PCIe v3 card work - in addition to turning off the on-board video. I have had to find these on other boards - and find reading the manual is much easier.

Flashing BIOS? Maybe, but not first - and only if you have stable electronics & supply from wall outlet. Look in motherboard manual as many newer motherboards have on-board capability for this.

 

[captaincranky]

An extra power connector may be hiding on the back edge - under the fan shroud. Only 60 watts so there may be none...

Is there anything in BIOS which needs to be 'enabled' in addition to disabling internal graphics?

No, the 750 ti reference or EVGA "Super Clocked" model does not have, nor does it need a PCI-E 6 pin plug. The trouble with checking BIOS is, I simply can't get into BIOS with the card installed....

@captaincranky
I think your PSU is probably ok... 60 watts for 750 card, 55 for CPU, 35 for motherboard, 10@ for storage - 30, 10@ for memory - 20 *** that totals 200 watts. Your 430 PSU should be plenty.

I doubt you actually have 20amps on each 12v rail (that would be 480 watts in 12v alone), check again and you might want to find manuals to be sure. There might be a power (booster) connector from PSU to motherboard that you have missed..

You're quite correct, if you total the rails on the 430D, you come up with an answer of 480 watts, not 430 watts.

However, it's expected that you can't load all the rails to full power all the time. So the numbers attached to individual rails, are merely the maximum current which ca be drawn from each rail, individually. There isn't a conflict in the power rating of the supply, just in our perception of what it means. BTW, I've actually done that calculation myself, so I know where you're coming from.

But yes, assuming it's working correctly, 430 watts is probably double what the system will draw.

Moving along, "watts" equals, volts times amperes. So, at 12 volts, 60 watts equals a draw of only 5 amperes. (*)
The Nvidia GTX 750 ti is likely a card that wouldn't be the first choice for those of you who are hard core gamers. So your perception of its power needs may be a bit skewed. Reading some of the reviews, people are stuffing this card into quad core systems (!!), with PSUs of only 300 to 350 watts (!!), and having good luck doing so.

(*) We need to divide instead of multiply when going backwards from watts to amps or volts, so we use the known values. 60 watts divided by 12 volts equals 5 amperes.

I didn't mention this before, but with the card in place, I get 3 (minimum) separate POST beeps (single beep), before the system boots into Windows. Not a 3 beep signal, but a single POST beep, a pause of about 30 seconds, and again, and again before it finally decides to display, "Starting Windows".


@Cycloid Torus The last time I tried to flash a BIOS, I destroyed the board, tuening the process into a "comedy of errors" along the way.

I may be able to flash this successfully, as Gigabyte boards have "dual BIOS". (Or so it says on the boxes).

Thanks for everybody's input, it's much appreciated. I'l keep you posted about, "what happened then" (y)

 

[Cycloid Torus]

I wasn't clear. I think you can access and check the BIOS and do necessary changes with the GTX 750 out of the slot.

The BIOS change is effective after you save...something like..

The manual for your board should explain more fully - see page 50 - there is also a troubleshooting section at page 95 - if you lost the manual you can download a pdf from Gigabyte (check the rev level of your board - there are 3 different ones)

IF BIOS is 'good', then you need to consider possibility that the new graphics card is not.

See http://www.evga.com/support/manuals/files/EVGA_Graphics_Manual_English.pdf pages 7 and 8.

 

[captaincranky]

I wasn't clear. I think you can access and check the BIOS and do necessary changes with the GTX 750 out of the slot.

The BIOS change is effective after you save...something like..

OK. Internal graphics are set to "auto". Should I try killing them altogether? ("disable")
PCI-E buss speed is set to "auto" (Which should start at 3.0 and work backwards from there)
PCI-E slot width is set to "auto" (Which should start at PCI-E x16 and work backwards from there.

IF BIOS is 'good', then you need to consider possibility that the new graphics card is not. .

Oh trust me, I've already considered the possibility, nay verily, the irony of that. Why should I expect it to be good, since I've already cut the SKU panel out of the box and mailed it in for the rebate, and today is the 32nd day since I purchased it?

FWIW, thissy here board has itself one o' them thar fancy "UEFI" BIOS, a 3D jobbie.

EDIT: Although, since I get 3 separate POST beeps, I wonder if the board could be cycling through the VGA choices before it boots?

 

[Cycloid Torus]

AWARD BIOS - POST - beep code: one long and two short (total of three) => video error; cannot initialize screen

Since BIOS is all set to "auto", it should have worked. Since it did not, it is likely that either the PCIe slot has a problem (test with a known good video card) or the new video card has a problem (test on another system).

EVGA and Gigabyte may have more specific support.

 

[captaincranky]

AWARD BIOS - POST - beep code: one long and two short (total of three) => video error; cannot initialize screen

Since BIOS is all set to "auto", it should have worked. Since it did not, it is likely that either the PCIe slot has a problem (test with a known good video card) or the new video card has a problem (test on another system).

EVGA and Gigabyte may have more specific support.

Just got finished doing this:

1: Set the onboard video to "disabled
2: Installed th GTX-750.......beep,........beep no video.
3: Pulled the card
4: Fired the turd up, and obviously got no vid output whatsoever.
5: This UEFI BIOS SUCKS.........BIG TIME!
(The cursor walks around the screen, the change setting boxes disappear before you get the mouse cursor to them, and even if you manage to catch the box, you can't change the setting. I couldn't coax the Video setting back to "auto".
6: Luckily, I had an ancient Nvidia 8400 in an old computer
7: After trying to fire the machine up with the card half seated, I pushed it all the way into the socket and I got add-in card video....yay!
8: Still couldn't reset the video in BIOS to "auto"
9: I managed to catch the "load optimized defaults" box with the mouse as it walked across the screen, and clicked on it.as it was about to disappear.

10: After spending $100.00 on the GTX 750, why am I so damned grateful to have the onboard video working again?

To the upside, I don't think I actually broke anything. Although, that "3D" BIOS is pure undiluted crap.

Anyway, many thanks again for your help! (y)

 

[Cycloid Torus]

"why am I so damned grateful to .." because (like me) you hate pain.

Since the 8400 works (test it out a bit), it means the GTX is an RMA candidate.

Ouch.