New Video Card Won't Boot

Okay all you techies out there: here's the problem, let's see if y'all can figure it out for me:

One of my sons decided he wanted to upgrade his computer's graphic card. He currently has a nVidia GeForce GTX 650, 1 gb RAM.

His motherboard is a Gigabyte 2AC8, with a AMD FX6100 six core CPU.

He bought a nVidia GeForce GTX 970 4 gb RAM. When he got it, he realized right away that he'd goofed because the new card takes two 6 pin power connectors. So he upgraded his power supply, but when he plugged the card in, screen was blank and the computer would not boot.

Called me, I suggested it might have been DOA (happens sometimes), told him to send it back, but then realized with a AMD CPU he'd be better off with a AMD product.

So he exchanged the GeForce GTX 970 for a Radeon Diamond R9-290, 4 gb RAM (these are MONSTER sized cards, hehehe).

However, get got the same result: blank screen.

So I went over tonight and looked. First thing I thought of was his power supply but it's 850 watts, and all the connectors are hooked up fine. The card itself is not dead, the fans spin up a minute or so after turning on the computer. If we put his old card in, it boots up just fine.

So I took a closer look at his computer motherboard, and realized that the FX6100 might not be good enough for the card he's trying to use, so we're thinking of upgrading his motherboard and CPU to at least a FX6300 (like I have).

Any thoughts? Think his new card is just not compatible with his old MB and CPU?

It's possible if the computer has on-board video built onto the motherboard it's trying (in BIOS) to use that.

a reply to: eriktheawful

His power supply is DEFINATELY not the problem!

I am thinking as you are. Mother board!

BTW! Thanks for the Diablo video of you and your family playing! I bought the PS3 version that covers the Diablo 3 and the expansion for $30! Haven't got it yet, but waiting!

Taking a wild guess, but maybe the ddr#? ram of the gfx card isn't compatible.

Also, cpu brand doesn't have any effect on what brand of gfx card you buy. I would have stuck with the nvidia.

originally posted by: Elton
It's possible if the computer has on-board video built onto the motherboard it's trying (in BIOS) to use that.

That's what I was thinking. He'd have to go into the BIOS and manually set the primary video as the slot rather than the onboard. Or he could just hook up both onboard and slot to two monitors if there is onboard video.

Cheers - Dave

originally posted by: Elton
It's possible if the computer has on-board video built onto the motherboard it's trying (in BIOS) to use that.

I agree with Elton. There should be a setting in the bios referring to the initial display and the options should be something like (Onboard, VGA, PCI-E)

The card is compatible with the motherboard...when people say the CPU might not be fast enough for the Video Card they mean that the CPU might end up being slight bottleneck in the system when it comes to FPS because the GPU can perform better with a more powerful partnered CPU and the less capable of the two will hinder the priors performance...the card will work either way.

*If the video card isn't dead and is meant for the port ie.) PCI-E, AGP, etc. then it will work and display video, it just might not be running as efficiently as it could otherwise.

a reply to: Epirus

It's more than likely bios options. Plug in the new card except for video. Instead plug your monitor into your on board video. If it posts, and windows boots, check your hardware manager. The card should still be detected. IF it's not, it might be a bios setting, call the manufacturer or google it. Common problem.


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Their are multiple things that can result in the symptom of video not displaying.
Fault memory is one of them and I dont mean the memory on the video card.
How much ram do you have and can you start swapping it around or removing it to eliminate it as a culprit?

Also like others have said GPU and CPU\MB have nothing to do with each other.

His mother board has NO intergrated video. Completely dependent upon having a card in it.

might want to check to make sure the card is in the right PCI slot if the board has more then one. Its obviously getting power so that part of the card is good. check the simple stuff first

a reply to: eriktheawful

I don't think its the mother board. FIRST make sure you are not hooked up to the onboard graphics slot and hook up to the card. Second, check that its not the monitor. third, put the graphics card in a known working computer. I'm sure we have some forths and fifths but I hope I can help a little

He isn't trying to run dual video cards is he? If he is, the cards have to be the same and have a patch that goes between them.

a reply to: eriktheawful

When the new card is in it doesnt post and shuts down?

a reply to: Bovah2

Both his old card and the new card use GDDR5 memory.

a reply to: Variable

Nope. Nothing appears on the monitor at all. All the fans spin up, HD spins up, just nothing is sent to the monitor.

Again: his MB does NOT have a built on graphics.

I'm thinking of upgrading his MB to a Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 and his CPU to a AMD FX 8350 8 core cpu.

850w should be plenty and it's a new psu so we should be able to rule that out. The cpu shouldn't be a factor. There's no onboard video with that mobo so that's not an issue. The slot is known to work because it boots with the old card. Finally, it's not posting at all so that's not a driver issue.

The card might be doa (it does happen) or it could be something funky with the mobo. Has he tried flashing the mobo's BIOS to the latest version?

a reply to: eriktheawful

Tried resetting mobo to factory defaults? Maybe he was tweaking it.

Not trying to run dual cards.

There is NO intergrated onboard video with his MB.

His new card tested fine in my computer.

Just saw that you tested it on your machine and its fine.

Focus on the memory on the MB..

A bad chip can , has and will continue to present as a machine powering on but not displaying any video.
Can you remove your memory to try and isolate ?

originally posted by: theantediluvian
850w should be plenty and it's a new psu so we should be able to rule that out. The cpu shouldn't be a factor. There's no onboard video with that mobo so that's not an issue. The slot is known to work because it boots with the old card. Finally, it's not posting at all so that's not a driver issue.

The card might be doa (it does happen) or it could be something funky with the mobo. Has he tried flashing the mobo's BIOS to the latest version?

Ahhhhhhhh!!!!

Now here is something I was pondering: Is his BIOS having an issue with the new card? That is something I've not looked at yet.