Acer M3985 upgrade with 750ti - Boot problem on BIOS

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O

omuh

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May 31, 2014
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I just bought an EVGA GTX 750ti to upgrade the GT640 I have on my Acer3985 (with i7 3770, 2x4Gb RAM, 300W PSU).
I made sure to buy a model that was in the range of my PSU and took the EVGA 02G-P4-3751-KR. No 6pin required and 300W minimum.

The first surprise was to read on the box that it needed 400W and 20Amp on the 12V+ rail but I tried it anyway (I sent an email to EVGA to know what are the actual minimum requirements).
The computer didn't boot and got stuck on BIOS. I got 3 bips every 30sec or so (after the first normal bip), could see the ACER splash screen but after that, black screen with the white "_" cursor.

I saw here and there that it could be fixed by disabling "Security BIOS" or by enabling "Launch CSM" but neither of those options are available on my BIOS.
I then tried to remove the "quiet boot" to check what was going on and even though I got the same 3 bips every 30secs, the computer started afterward. I was able to test the card, install the drivers and everything was fine except for the strange boot with BIOS stuck for more than a minute.
I realized that while the BIOS was stuck, I could only see the American Megatrends logo but nothing else, no text. I tried going into the BIOS with that setup and landed on a black screen.
So I think the boot delay might be due to the BIOS having another display than the card as default and trying to use it in loop, then when the OS starts the card works. Of course, no option in my BIOS to change the default display output...

I still don't understand why the "quiet boot" makes the OS boot possible when disabled.

So I'm left with 2 possibilities :
- the PSU is insufficient (I did a quick Furmark test and everything was fine at 100% load though)
- the BIOS is missing options to avoid the strange boot but I could use the card if I can deal with it at each startup (and no access to the BIOS).

What do you think ? Do you see another option or solution ?

PS : there is a newer BIOS version but it won't change the options in it according to other posts (nothing newer than 2012 anyway).
PPS : this thread pretty much shows someone else having the exact same problem but with others PC/GPU. But the BIOS options are pretty much the same as mine : http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/11/558749824211499896/

Thanks in advance !
 
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Solution
hang-the-9
I would not run that card long with your power supply even if it boots. A 300 watt GOOD power supply may run a 750 ti fine, depending on the rest of the system power use. A power supply from an Acer system is pretty much guaranteed to be at least a second tier unit if not worse.

Update the BIOS first, and check ACER and EVGA support for the beep issue.
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

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Mar 25, 2010
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I would not run that card long with your power supply even if it boots. A 300 watt GOOD power supply may run a 750 ti fine, depending on the rest of the system power use. A power supply from an Acer system is pretty much guaranteed to be at least a second tier unit if not worse.

Update the BIOS first, and check ACER and EVGA support for the beep issue.
 
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O

omuh

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May 31, 2014
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Thanks for the answer.

I just received an email from EVGA stating that 300W was fine (and I also saw tests showing that the card run fine with 300W. My PSU is a 300W 80+ bronze).
ACER doesn't provide support for modifications (unless I want to send them the computer for them to charge me ^^)
The only BIOS update for this rig unfortunately doesn't provide more options.

I saw other threads of people having the same problem with the same BIOS options and no solution was found even though the card can work but with this long boot time in the BIOS and the inability to access BIOS (and I don't want to risk having an unstable setup).
At this point, I pretty sure the problem is that the BIOS tries to boot with integrated graphics and loops until windows starts and use the dedicated GPU (that would also explain the inability to access BIOS as the computer is still using the integrated graphics). So I guess I'm stuck with those specs because of a limited motherboard and BIOS options.

I will return the card and never make the mistake to buy an OEM system again.
It's time to learn and buid a PC myself :)
 
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

Titan
Mar 25, 2010
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1,081
152,940


Building a PC Is great, but it's not so much an issue of getting a pre-built system. It's what model you get. A good quality computer from DELL (their XPS series) or the higher end HP or Lenovo systems are good to build on if needed. My main system is an HP workstation that I added a few yr old gaming video card to, runs great. It's only when people try to upgrade lower end systems that they run into trouble with. They are cheap for a reason, smaller cases, cheaper power supplies, maybe some custom motherboard connectors and sizes, etc... It's easy to sell a system that screams 3,000 GIG CPU and 4 trillion RAM!!!! to sell stuff as long as the people buying it only know that big numbers in CPU and RAM are good and nothing else about what goes into the computer.
 
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O

omuh

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May 31, 2014
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4,510
I have indeed had previous pre-built system that I managed to upgrade without any issue but those were nonames (so basically parts I could have bought myself but already assembled). So the case and motherboards were pretty standard.
My Acer is everything but that as the mobo isn't even an ATX standard (maybe a micro-ATX, not sure), the case is custom with little room and the PSU pretty basic. The GT640 in it isn't even a proper 640 as it's a 640 144 shaders which is bit inferior (of course that wasn't mentioned on the computer details when I bought it...)

Thanks for the discussion anyway.
I already saw a few stickies in the system section that might be very handy when I built my own.
Hopefully, I won't have the create another thread with another weird issue :p
 
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