PCIe slot suddenly not working

[gazzer]

Equpiment involved:

Biostar Geforce 6100-M9 Motherboard
Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTS GPU
Another old crappy known working GPU

Yesterday I came home from university with all my stuff, including my PC. When I got back, I set everything back up as normal, and the screen did not show. First thing I did was check all my cables were in right, and after it still did not work, I opened up my case and resat the GPU - still no luck.

I took out the 8800 and put in my old graphics card that I know works into the slot and still got nothing. I then plugged in to my onboard graphics and the screen showed up.

Now that I can actually see the screen, I checked the BIOS for any changes, such as maybe disabling the PCIe slot, or changing it to the onboard graphics, but nothing had changed.

The weird thing is that I then changed it so that it used the onboard graphics by default, and plugged the 8800 back in, and still didn't get the screen up. It seems to be that whenever something is in the PCIe slot, the screen doesn't display.

I took the 8800 back out, and booted up into windows using onboard graphics. I updated my chipset drivers, and also flashed the BIOS with the latest firmware I could find for the motherboard - still got the same problems.

So any ideas guys?

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

You can try testing your PSU, perhaps it's in the early stages of failure.

If that checks out okay, with no sudden changes and no other symptoms you might want to consider RMAing the motherboard.

 

[gazzer]

How do I test the PSU? Is it just a case of replacing it with a known working one and seeing if that solves the problem?

Maybe something else worth noting is that my PC had been randomly crashing mid-game (mostly CSS) and sometimes when using Reaper (audio-editing software) before this happened...

I really hope I don't need to RMA the motherboard I don't want to miss weeks of Easter with no decent PC to use!

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

The crashes are probably either the cause of a faulty PSU or poor heat dissipation if you don't get a BSOD or anything. You can buy various tools to test your PSU, but yeah, just getting a replacement will do (borrow one if need be).

 

[gazzer]

Ok thanks, I'll see if that sorts the problem

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Good luck and hopefully your motherboard is fine .

 

[boy_from_MK]

i think the psu is the problem 100% here! How much W is your PSU?Cause the 8th series require some additionall power...Because if you have 500 or 400 watt,for sometimes it will be ok,but one day(like this now) the 8800 has had enough-she wants more.So,i hope this is the answer to your problem!Check my rig,that PSU is enough.

 

[boy_from_MK]

mine is Sonic(so that means overclocked ) card

 

[gazzer]

Well mine is a 450W PSU, so I should think that's enough. But I do have 2 HD's and some extra case fans, so that might be (altogether) drawing too much power.

I'll have a bash at trying a new PSU, and see what happens

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

It's not so much that your PSU's specifications can't meet your PC's power requirements, it's that your PSU may potentially be defective.

 

[gazzer]

I understood that point Zeno, just I was also addressing boy_from_MK's point

Either way, looks like new PSU time for me lol

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

You could always borrow one from another PC for 10 minutes before you go and spend the cash.

 

[Tedster]

while I doubt it is your PSU, to test a PSU you will need TWO tools - a PSU tester (available at an electronics shop) AND a multimeter.

The tester draws a load in order to provide an accurate reading to the multimeter.
It will also indicate which rails are in or out of tolerance.

It really looks like you have developed a bad slot. If you used a known working card to test the slot and you got nothing, the slot is bad. That's the normal way to troubleshoot. It is possible you are not getting PSU juice to the video card through the cable. Try checking the power cable to the video card. Again you will need a multimeter.

 

[gazzer]

Hey again guys

Just an update, I got a new PSU and it hasn't solved the problem. Still, if something is plugged in to the PCIe slot, the screen doesn't come up, whether it be my 8800 or my old GPU, even if the BIOS is set to run in onboard graphics.

Any more ideas before I resort to getting a new motherboard?

 

[gazzer]

Hey again guys

Just an update, I got a new PSU and it hasn't solved the problem. Still, if something is plugged in to the PCIe slot, the screen doesn't come up, whether it be my 8800 or my old GPU, even if the BIOS is set to run in onboard graphics.

Any more ideas before I resort to getting a new motherboard?

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Negative, I'd replace the motherboard next.

 

[gazzer]

noooooooooooooo

thanks for your help guys, I'll let you know when I get the new board haha.

any ideas of what mobo to get? i've never needed to buy a new one before

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

What CPU/RAM are you using? The Biostar 6100-M9 appears to be a socket 939 motherboard. They aren't exactly easy to come by these days. I'll look around for a bit but, you might have to resort to eBay or replacing the motherboard/CPU/RAM.

*Edit*

I don't see any on ZipZoomFly, Newegg or TigerDirect. The prices for a 939 on eBay are pretty high. You might as well just replace the RAM and CPU as well unless you can find a 939 elsewhere.

*Edit*

Biostar TF7025-M2 $69.99
Athlon 64 X2 4000+ $55.99
Crucial Ballistix 2 x 1024MB DDR2 800MHz $28.99
Total (before shipping and after rebates): $154.97

 

[gazzer]

Thanks for all your help zeno

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

You're welcome, and hopefully that setup suits you well . Good luck!

 

[exphius]

Im having the same problem. Identical actually.

mine started having this problem when i went to install my new graphics card. I had it all working and was playing wow on it for a few hours before i went to bed.
The next day when i turned on my pc, no display untill I plugged into my onboard vga slot.
and everything the one guy mentioned since is exactly what is happening to me and done eveything in bios n all that good stuff.


One thing i have to add though is, after a few hours of just adjusting bios and other setting and then placing them back i managed to get my card working again.
This didnt last to long since after i updated my drivers for it again and reset it was right back in the same boat.

anymore insight or clues to whatelse I/we cando?

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

You're better off starting your own thread.

Monitor the temperature of your new VPU, perhaps it's overheating. Is your PSU decent enough to handle the extra load?

 

[exphius]

yea i been playing with my old video cards for a while now. When i actually can get a picture through a video card it seems to work just fine for a little while. For example 10 minutes ago i put my 8600gt card back in and plugged my monitor into it after uninstaling the drivers from "onboard". It worked, but after i shut my computer down and turned it back on... no video until i plugged my monitor back into onboard.

Also note on the very few occasions i do get it working. its very random about when or how i relose the display again. Like sometimes i can restart and/or shutdown/startup my computer and it will be fine. Also i havent found out how i even restored the display in the fist place.. it seems completely random all togethor. O i apologies if i didnt quite answer your question, the answer to them is yes and everything is in check.


It seems im kinda left with the idea of having to leave my pc on at all times unless at any givin reset i have to go through ALOT!! of time of tryin to fix it.