No display after upgrading to GTX 460

[grinny]

G.SKILL 4GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
ASRock A780GXE/128M AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G ATX AMD Motherboard
BFG Tech ES SERIES ES-800 800W Continuous
AMD Phenom 9850 BLACK EDITION 2.5GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Processor
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA
MSI N460GTX Hawk Talon Attack GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
Western Digital - Caviar Black 1TB Internal Serial ATA Hard Drive

Long story, I been working on this problem now for a couple of days. And have gotten no where. This system had a 9800gt pcie gpu until last week when I started getting crashes to desktop in 3d games, and artifacts in 3d apps and on desktop. So I bought the gtx460. My PSU had ample supply and amps to run it.
Upon installing the new card I now do not get a display at a fresh boot up. Meaning, when the system is down and I power it up for the first time. I hear the post beep, then hear windows sounds as it has loaded, but no image. If I reboot the system at this time it will then show the splash screen and post beep, then windows as normal. But if I shut down and fresh start I get no display.

I have done a ton of things to pinpoint my problem:

Swapped out pcie slots, I have 2
swapped dvi connectors on card
reseated the card
tried a different monitor
reset the bios
updated the bios
ran memtest x86
tried a windows repair-not needed
tried several drivers
tried other set of pcie plug ins from psu
And tested the voltages with system running on 12v rails=good and 5v=good
Then pulled PSU from machine and tested voltages across all 24 pins. All are within limits.
Then I swapped this gtx 460 into a second pc and it worked fine, boots with display after being shut down. No issues.
I tried the 460 from another machine which works fine into the problem machine, and it too had no display after a fresh start, only after a reboot. So it acted the same way as my card.
I installed my failing 9800 gt and the system acted normal. Would boot with display after being powered down. AKA normal! lol
My temps seem to be good with cpu and with gpu.
The 460 seems to play well in 3d apps with no apparent issues.
I looked at the mobo for any failing capacitors and nothing out of place there

So I am guesing its a mobo problem or a glitchy PSU. Any thing else I should be looking at? I am stumped.

 

[grinny]

It is not the PSU...
Just put in a a brand new Corsair 600 watt with 48 amp rail max. And the system booted fine at the first try after install of PSU. Then as soon as I shut it down and try and cold start it I get no video signal. Like I have mentioned previously. As long as I have the 9800 gt card in the slot it will show video signal at cold start.

Anyone? Im now totally stumped.

 

[grinny]

Hooked up a loaner monitor to my on board plug, booted system from cold start. And actually got a screen this time. With the on board hooked up. I went into device mangler and disabled the onboard video, then uninstalled drivers. Shut down, restarted into bios and disabled the onboard there, set the main display to pcie and saved/exit. System gave me a display after a cold start then. But as soon as I remove the second monitor I have no display at cold start again.
I am on to something. Hope, And I hope this helps others as well.

 

[grinny]

LOL! I feel like I am writing a novel here.
Whats new:

I pulled my terabyte drive and popped in my old sata 75 gig raptor. Installed a fresh copy of win 7 64 bit. with basic drivers only via. windows. I still have the same problem. Back to the proverbial drawing board...

I have discovered that I can shut the power off to my power strip for a moment and then when I try a cold start it will actually boot with a video signal! OMG! another twist in the plot.

I think im going crazy...

 

[mailpup]

After shutting down Windows normally, try shutting off the power via the switch at the back of the power supply instead or if there is no switch, pull out the plug at the PSU end. After a minute or so plug it back in and see if it will start.

I once had a Gigabyte board that I had to shut off in this manner otherwise it wouldn't always boot. After replacing the P35 chipset motherboard with a newer P45 motherboard the problem disappeared permanently.

 

[grinny]

Ya I will definitely give this a try. Seemed only time I got a good boot was when I had the case open poking around inside. This of course was by removing power at case. I will start this habit and see what comes of it. Thanks for the reply mailpup.

I hesitate to buy a replacement board at this time. Mainly due to its getting hard to find a am2+ mobo and its ddr2 is dated now. I would much rather save up for a DDR3 setup. So if this works out then im good with that result until then.

I just played BFBC2 and Supcom most the day with card settings at high and did not get any issues what so ever. I also went and reinstalled drivers on chipset. Retracing my tracks.

 

[mailpup]

Yeah, I used that workaround for a long time before I finally decided to replace the motherboard. So if it works for you, you can probably do it until you are ready to build a brand new system.

 

[grinny]

I tried to solve the issue. But apparently its not fixable with this current setup, so a work around will suffice until later.

I don't know of anything else to try. I bow to the electronic forces for which have defeated me...



Just to let you know, by switching off the power strip for a few seconds before starting the machine I now boot first try with screens. So its working this way. Done it several times now.

Has to be a mobo incompatibility issue with 460. This I can handle until later.

 

[mailpup]

You could be right but I kind of think it's really the motherboard itself. Just an opinion.

 

[grinny]

Ya, I tend to agree. either way its true this mobo dont likey my 460. Capacitor leaking or just bad board. Upgrades are great! Love em.