Problem getting graphics card to work with MB

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
N

northspoon

Honorable
Jan 14, 2014
11
0
10,510
Hi,

I have just finished building my new PC. Here is the spec:

Asus Z87 Pro motherboard
Intel i7 4770K
Corsair Vengence 16GB DDR3 RAM
Noctua NH-U12S CPU cooler
Samsung 256GB SSD
WD Black 2TB
Coolermaster case with 2 chassis fans
Plextor BD/DVD writer
Be Quiet Dark Power Pro 650W PSU
Windows 7 Pro x64

Everything works great (using Intel 4600 GPU) until I try to install my new graphics card. MSI R9 270X 2GB.

This card has 2x6 pin power connectors and my PSU should be sufficient for this card. But I can't get it to work properly.

It sometimes won't go past the BIOS stage. I get a message about the "memory address being insufficient due to Intel Thunderbolt resource consumption". I don't have Thunderbolt on this MB. If it does get to Windows the screen goes black after a short while and the message says "driver stopped working, but has since re-started". Windows then keeps locking up forcing a hard shut down.

I have tried this card in another PC and it works. I have tried an older AMD 5750 in this new PC and that works. I have tried earlier drivers.

I have tried different power cables, PCIe slots. I have run Memtest, which passed.

Something is very wrong, but what? Support @ Asus is less than helpful, saying the MB might be faulty. But why should it work OK with another VGA card?

Any advice welcome....don't know what to do next?
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
E

Erhebus

Honorable
Jan 30, 2014
4
0
10,510
Hi Northspoon,

You should start by resetting BIOS to default, and/or update BIOS.

Unplug the graphics card meanwhile and use the integrated graphics while you do this.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

northspoon

Honorable
Jan 14, 2014
11
0
10,510
Hi Erhebus,

Yes the BIOS is the latest 1707 for the Asus Z87 Pro, and it is in default. All drivers are up to date including Windows 7 updates.

The error message about Thunderbolt (?) told me to disable unused controllers such as SATA/LAN/Wi-FI/Thunderbolt. Well as I said, this MB doesn't have Thunderbolt, but I tried earlier disabling LAN and Wi-FI. I need the SATA controller. It made no difference

At the moment I don't know if the MB or PSU or graphics card might be to blame. It seems odd to me that the MSI R9 270X will work in my old PC, and that the older AMD 5750 will work in this new PC.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Bee_Dee_3_Dee

Bee_Dee_3_Dee

Honorable
Dec 2, 2013
168
0
10,760
1. Be sure to change "Windows Update" default settings. Use, "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them".

2. Without (AMD or nVidia) PCI-E vid card physically installed, uninstall AMD and nVidia drivers from Windows control panel. Restart after each uninstall.

3. Use Display Driver Uninstaller Download version 10.2.0 to uninstall AMD and nVidia drivers.

4. Check to see if Intel Chip-set drivers are properly installed:
A. Open Device Manager.
B. From View, select "devices by connection".
C. Expand the "...System" section. (mine says "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System".)
D. Expand the "PCI bus" section.
E. Check to see if the Intel devices are using Intel drivers by opening the Properties for each Intel device and checking the Driver Tab and reading the Driver Provider.
F. Attempt to update any Intel devices with Microsoft drivers by using the Update Driver button. Use the Disc that came with Motherboard or DL the latest from Intel. Note: a small percentage of Intel devices DO use Microsoft drivers, but the majority of Intel devices should be using Intel drivers.
G. Restart PC after any updates.
H. Download the latest Video drivers from the manufacturer's website. Don't use older drivers or the disc that came with the video card. (Slightly older drivers may lack one or more recent fixes implemented in the latest drivers.)

5. Go into BIOS and in Advanced Features find something like, "Init Display First". Change it to "PCI-E". Save and Exit and boot into windows. If all seems AOK shut down. Then physically install ur new PCI-E video card and boot into windows and install the latest video drivers for the card.



 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

northspoon

Honorable
Jan 14, 2014
11
0
10,510
Hi Bee_Dee_3_Dee

Thank you for the detailed description.

I never use automatic updates to anything on my PC, everything is manual including notifications.

I followed your instructions and this is the progress so far:

I used the utility you mentioned to un-install the AMD drivers in Safe Mode.

I then checked in Device Manager for the Intel entries.

All of them said they were working normally and those that had drivers said they were the latest.

There were a couple of entries such as "Intel(R) 4th Gen Core processor DRAM Controller- 0C00" that said, under the driver tab, that "No driver files are required or have been loaded for this device". I hope this is normal?

I then completed items 4, F,G H.

I set the BIOS as described, re-booted, Windows loaded. Then I installed the MSI R9 270X card.

When I switched on, the BIOS made repeated "bleeps", the fans on the VGA card stopped and I waited. The fans started eventually and then I then got the same message from American Megatrends about "The memory address is insufficient due to Intel Thunderbolt resource consumption" It asked me to enter BIOS and disable unused contollers.

I ignored this and re-booted and Windows has now opened with the default VGA driver.

I will now try the latest AMD driver and post back. The last time I did do this, it started to lock up Windows.

Should I use the Express install of the Catalyst Control Center, or should I pick and choose what is installed? .
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Bee_Dee_3_Dee

Bee_Dee_3_Dee

Honorable
Dec 2, 2013
168
0
10,760


Cool. np.

Is the 270x card very large in comparison to the other cards that have worked?

If it is, noticeable larger, then maybe it is not getting properly seated. Check to be sure, when it is in, that everything seems to line up and the card is well seated .

IDK anything about AMD drivers. everything i mentioned so far is basic stuff for both AMD and nVidia. it's good ur Intel drivers seem properly installed. Sometimes ppl get by with older Intel drivers or with some Microsoft drivers and that is not good in the long run.

As far as unused controllers, it may mean Storage related (Hard drives). And it also could mean any unused devices. (Disable anything ur not using like if u have a Parallel Port, 15-pin COM ports, etc.) Most motherboards have at least two Storage controllers. A Thunderbolt port(s) may also be considered a storage port too. Be sure u don't have one and if u do disable it.

And the new Video card is brand new never used?

If yes, then in a perfect world u would definitely test it in another PC that sits around to test Hardware.

Read all the NE reviews that ppl wrote: (i like starting with the oldest.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131979&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=100&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

Hopefully someone will mention they have the same Vid card as urs.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

northspoon

Honorable
Jan 14, 2014
11
0
10,510
Well back to square one again. The PC seemed to be booting OK with default Windows VGA driver. I applied the latest AMD driver and that seemed to work briefly. Then I got repeated black screens followed by the Desktop window telling me that the AMD driver had stopped but restarted. Then Windows froze completely and I had to do a hard shut down.

When rebooting I got the same BIOS message about memory adress being insufficient.

Since everything is brand new, I am not sure which bit to return as faulty. I could just end up with the same problem again. It shouldn't be a problem to add a VGA card should it?

There doesn't seem to be anything I could disable in the BIOS that I can do without.

I suppose I was hoping someone reading this might have the same MB and / or graphics card to let me know if this has happen to them.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, the new MSI graphics card works in my older pC and that the older HD 5750 will work in my new PC, so there is nothing in common to say what might be at fault.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Bee_Dee_3_Dee

Bee_Dee_3_Dee

Honorable
Dec 2, 2013
168
0
10,760


I overlooked u saying that the new card worked in an older PC. It's good for the obvious reason- the vid card is not completely DOA. But it could still be vid drivers or one of many other things.

Try using Event Viewer. It should give additional info that could be used to google an answer:
A. Type "Event Viewer" in the start menu to access it. (Right click and send a shortcut to Desktop.)
B. I believe by default in "Custom Views" there's an "Administrative Events". If it is not there, hopefully u can successfully Google how to add it.
C. In the "Windows Logs" using "System", "Setup" and "Application" entries, in that order, are the most helpful.
D. SRY FOR ALL CAPS BUT, DO NOT WORRY ABOUT ALL THE ENDLESS ERROR STUFF. Ignore all things but for that which pertains to this Vid Card not working problem that ur having. Because, EV lists too much and it is NOT very logical or user friendly. It simply keeps track of everything that happens and u can't make the endless errors listed in EV go away and make EV perfect. But it should give u some Keywords to Google.

Many times EV has helped me by providing a specific Keywords and Googling it/ them has led to solutions. EV can be crazy at 1st and takes some time to figure out. But it is one of the best sources of info when problem solving.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

northspoon

Honorable
Jan 14, 2014
11
0
10,510
I have decided to RMA the graphics card....might be the wrong move, but have to start somewhere. The PC works fine with an older card.

The Event Viewer warning/error messages all pointed to AMD/ATI driver and other things I didn't understand.

Thanks for all the input guys, much appreciated.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

Bart Jansen

Honorable
Feb 8, 2014
5
0
10,510


I'm experiencing the exact same situation with a similar setup:
Asus Z87-A
Intel i5 4670k
GeForce 770GTX
Nexus 8500 (=850W).

And I did the exact same thing that you did by RMAing my card, thinking that that was causing the issue, and I got a brand new replacement but I'm still experiencing the same Thunderbolt POST error you were having, even though my motherboard is not supplied with Thunderbolt either:
photo1.jpg


So I hate to break it to you, but your RMA will probably also result in this same issue, unless I got 2 DOA's in a row hehe ;)

Sometimes I'm able to bypass this error but, like in your case, my Windows environment gets really unstable upon installing the appropriate graphics drivers, sometimes resulting in screens like this:
photo2.jpg


Since we both have this issue, even though our graphics cards and their drivers are totally unrelated (AMD vs NVIDIA), I'm thinking it has something to do with the motherboard..

Can anyone help us towards a solution?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Bee_Dee_3_Dee

Bee_Dee_3_Dee

Honorable
Dec 2, 2013
168
0
10,760


Imo a much much better board with the same chip-set and in the same price-range is the GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-OC (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128594)

And if u ever go Gigabyte, the official support forum is, http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte/.

I'm only mentioning the Gigabyte MOBO as being superior because the support forum at TweakTown dot com. And also because the Gigabyte board got the Tom's Hardware's Best Of Computex 2013 Award.

Gigabyte has been better the past six or more years at support and until u master the basics of OCing ur better off with Gigabyte's support at TweakTown dot com. Even after getting a handle on all the basics of OCing the Gigabyte products are better when it comes to support at TweakTown forum. The most advanced things can be overcome as a result of the excellent support there.

Never buy a MOBO based on brand. A Gaming MOBO should be purchased based on Chip-set, support and cost. Chip-set is the heart of the board. Support proves that the product is backed by the maker when it comes to the purchaser being happy. Cost can trump support if it is cheap enough. But it is rare due to the fact that the price would have to be 1/2 as much to validate overlooking support.

ASUS is a great company so don't get me wrong. It's just that in this case, and based on Tom'sHardware, Gigabyte's board with the same chip-set and in the same price-range is better due to their support at TweakTown dot com. ASUS has cornered the market for the past decade based on great products, trending and most of all, disposable income. But never buy ASUS because it is ASUS. Or anything based on a brand name. Chip-set is the key factor in a MOBO and NOT being able to say, "I have an ASUS MOBO". What ppl should say (in this example) is, "I have an Intel socket LGA1150 with a Z87 chip-set, MOBO".

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

northspoon

Honorable
Jan 14, 2014
11
0
10,510


Well that is not good news, as I have RMA'd the AMD card for a nVidia card. I did get my system to work with an old HD 5750, but could that be because it is a PCIe 2 card? Perhaps the problem is with the bandwidth of the PCIe 3 slot?

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

northspoon

Honorable
Jan 14, 2014
11
0
10,510


I didn't choose Asus simply by name, but by specs. I had previously built an older PC with an Asus MB and it worked very well. I needed a 1150 socket PC now and read many reviews. I didn't see a bad review of the Asus Z87 Pro.

I don't use my PC for gaming (never played a game in my life!!), but I wanted to have the option for overclocking for video render work.

I have found out the hard way now just how bad Asus Tech Support can be, with no real reply to my questions, just quoting the manual which I have already read.

Since I seem to be getting this BIOS error message about Thunderbolt (which I don't have on this MB), I wonder if Asus has messed up with the latest BIOS 1707 which seems to cover many of their Z87 boards, some which have Thunderbolt?

If this problem still carries on with my replacement VGA card next week, I will have to consider RMA on the MB and get another brand.

BTW, the Gigabyte board you linked to, doesn't have Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, which is something I thought useful......but not if it is going to use up resources.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

Bart Jansen

Honorable
Feb 8, 2014
5
0
10,510


This does seem to have something to do with it together with the latest 1707 bios causing the thunderbolt errors..

I reverted back to 1602 and this got rid of the thunderbolt error, still a graphics driver that's crashing and recovering though..

This got me thinking and I reverted further back to bios 1207 and this actually seems to work pretty stable, however the 770gtx seems to be running at 2.0 and sometimes 1.1 like you were suggesting..

This of course isn't an ideal solution plus that an outdated bios isn't ideal either..

I also read somewhere that the Realtek GBE Ethernet driver could cause for conflicts so I'll look into that..
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

northspoon

Honorable
Jan 14, 2014
11
0
10,510
That GBE ethernet shares the same resources with the PCIe x16 slot, so you might be on to something there

I should receive my new VGA card today, so I will post how I get on later.

UPDATE:

Just got my replacement VGA card, the MSI GTX 660 this time, and it works :bounce:

Not sure what was wrong with the previous set up....driver or AMD card or simply compatibility.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

Bart Jansen

Honorable
Feb 8, 2014
5
0
10,510


I finally figured out what was causing the problems (for me at least). I updated back to the most recent BIOS (1707) and forced PCIEX to run @ 2.0 and everything seems to be working perfectly fine. This also explains why the graphics card did work in an older system, cause the older system simply didn’t support PCIEX3.0, and for this same reason it worked with an older BIOS.

The question that remains is whether it’s a faulty graphics card (two DOA’s in a row) or a faulty (PCIEX3.0 lane) motherboard, and since this is a fairly new technology I don’t have a replacement for either one laying around to find out the easy way..

I’m really curious whether your 660GTX is running @PCIEX3.0 or 2.0, northspoon.. if it's running @3.0 it's most likely another dead graphics card for me..

Does anyone think it could have something to do with the CPU being slightly miss-seated? Since PCIEX 3.0 is also a bit CPU dependent?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

northspoon

Honorable
Jan 14, 2014
11
0
10,510
Well after all this, it seems it was a faulty motherboard. I RMAd the Asus Z87 Pro and got the replacement today. All working fine now.

Thank you for everyone's input. It was really a difficult one to track down.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom