XFX Radeon R9 280X DD Black OC 3GB GPU with an MSI P67A-C45 B3 mother board

[kevstah]

ORIGINAL SYSTEM:
XFX 850w PSU http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/XFX-PRO-850-W-Power-Supply-Review/1205/1
MSI P67a-c45 (B3) motherboard
Intel core I5 2500k chip
Over 8gb of ram (have removed down to 8gb for testing purposes, so only identical RAM sticks are in there)
Nvidia GTX260 BFG edition 1gb graphics card
120gig SSD drive
Windows7 ultimate

PROBLEM:
Computer runs fine until I input the new graphics card in, an XFX radeon R9 280x DD OC edition, where it runs the boot check beeps (about 5 or so quick beeps and then a higher pitched beep to confirm all good) but then it doesn’t get past POST, so I cannot enter the BIOS. Just sits on a black screen with a flashing white underscore (cursor) in the top left.

TRIED FIXES:
I have tried a different power supply, does the same on both.
Tried removing all bootable devices and just leaving in the CD drive or just the HDD and other options… none worked, still not getting to BIOS.
Tried clearing CMOS by removing battery on the mother board – doesn’t solve it and actually meant I had to reinstall windows when I replaced the old graphics card in there.
Tried updating the BIOS – tried the method described in the post here (https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=175274.0) but after several flash attempts and it saying it has successfully updated the BIOS, it still says I have the same BIOS version on re-entry to windows.

I guess it can’t be the PSU as that works on different set-ups and does boot the computer. It can’t be what everyone says it should be (an incorrect boot sequence) as I have definitely set the boot sequence correctly and tried unplugging devices as stated above. I can only think it is either the BIOS version being too old or the card being faulty. I need to test with the latest BIOS but can’t get it to update properly… suggestions anyone?

 

[Neverrazor]

try testing your card on a friend computer ??

 

[XennoTech]

well, you've swapped everything INTO your computer to try and fix the issue and no go. time to swap OUT! move that video card to another computer that works and see if the same issue persists. if so, you have your culprit.

if you can still boot up with your gtx260 but NOT the r9 280x, that should be a big indicator on where to look. swapping out a graphics card *usually* doesnt require any additional configuration. maybe a 6pin power cord or 2, but beyond that, its pretty much plug it in, boot up and install drivers, reboot once or twice (YMMV) and enjoy new video card goodness!

 

[kevstah]

yeah, thought of that, I did ask one friend and he replied with "what?! no way man, dont you mess my computer up too!"

Will see if anyone else is willing. or if we have any test machines here at work.

I was just under the thinking that the only thing that I haven't ruled out on my machine was the compatability of my mobo and the gpu. so by updating the BIOS on my mobo to the latest version I know that there is nothing more I can do to that to make the card run and therefor move on to test the card itself.

The BIOS just doesnt want to update as explained in the MSI forum here:
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=175274.0
Hopefully someone there can reply with a reason as to why it is staying on version 1.9 of the bios and not upgrading to the 5.4 version even though it says it has completed successfully...

Oh another note, I do know that the graphics card fans do power up and spin for the time the computer is sitting on a black screen with flashing cursor...

 

[XennoTech]

yeah, thought of that, I did ask one friend and he replied with "what?! no way man, dont you mess my computer up too!"

Will see if anyone else is willing. or if we have any test machines here at work.

I was just under the thinking that the only thing that I haven't ruled out on my machine was the compatability of my mobo and the gpu. so by updating the BIOS on my mobo to the latest version I know that there is nothing more I can do to that to make the card run and therefor move on to test the card itself.

The BIOS just doesnt want to update as explained in the MSI forum here:
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=175274.0
Hopefully someone there can reply with a reason as to why it is staying on version 1.9 of the bios and not upgrading to the 5.4 version even though it says it has completed successfully...

Oh another note, I do know that the graphics card fans do power up and spin for the time the computer is sitting on a black screen with flashing cursor...

i can only think of one thing that MIGHT cause this: is the power cord plugged into the video card (if one is required)? a lack of power will cause something similar. i know when i once forgot to plug in the 2 x 6 pin power cords to my 660ti, it wouldnt boot, stayed at a black screen and the vid card fan was on.

 

[kevstah]

hmm, I thought that originally. I had an alpine 750w PSU when I had my nvideo gtx260 bfg. that PSU didn't have the require cables or amount of spare cables for converters to plug in, so had a converter with only one 4 pin in. plugged the new GPU on that system and it did the black screen with flashing cursor thing. so bought a new PSU thta had the correct cables, a power color or power cool 850w psu (a cheap one) and it still did the black screen thing. I read up and people were saying go for a more expensive one to get the better average run speed of the psu. but bought the XFX one and it is still doing the black screen problem... not having much luck finding a friend willing to let me plug my new GPU in. and still waiting for a reply on the msi forum about the BIOS update....

 

[XennoTech]

honestly, sounds like the video card is dead. does the system still POST with the old video card in? does the system POST with onboard video (if you have it)?

 

[kevstah]

ah ha! the problem is fixed! i managed to update the bios of the MSI mobo properly using the msi forum tool from the original link. it turned out the bios update file the guy had attached to the forum post was different to the one listed on the msi site. it had an extra bit in it apparently. link the the other thread that fixed this was:

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=175274.0

Cheers for your help though!