GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-UD4H Not detecting Radeon 4870

[watchforice]

I have recently purchased a new system:

GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-UD4H 790GX
SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 - Not the X2
2x2GB G.Skill DDR2 800 RAM
500GB Seagate 32mb cache HDD
650 Watt Coolermaster PSU
AMD AM2 Brisbane 5600+ 2.9Ghz CPU

Issue:

Only onboard video is detected. Have attempted some BIOS modifications, but I am new to Gigabyte and it has not helped. I have found 1 other mention of a 4870 "X2" not being detected by default on this same motherboard. But this person said they were able to get it to work, after tinkering with the BIOS.

This is not my first system build. However, it is the first motherboard I have purchased that has onboard video.
I would appriciate any assistance with this matter.

EDIT: Okay, so I have done some more researching. My issue seems to deal with power I don't understand how I could not have enough power for this card.

I get the flashing red LEDs when I power up my system. Which I have come to find out means the video card is not getting enough power. I find this impossible to believe though.

Here are the specs:

Model RS-650-ACAA-A1
Type ATX Form Factor 12V V2.3 / SSI Standard EPS 12V V2.91
Dimension (W / H / D) Standard ATX 150 x 86 x 140mm
Input Voltage 90~264V (Auto Range)
Input Current 10A @ 115 Vac / 5A @ 230 Vac
Input Frequency Range 47~63 Hz
PFC Active PFC (0.99)
Power Good Signal 100~500 ms
Hold Up Time >17ms
Efficiency 84%(130W) / 84%(325W) / 81%(650W)
MTBF >100,000 hrs
Protection OVP / UVP / OTP / OCP / OLP / OPP / SCP
Output Capacity 650 Watts Continuous
Max. Output Capacity 780 Watts
Operation Temperature 0~40℃ (Normal Input Voltage)
Safety Nemko / TUV / cUL / CE / BSMI / FCC / CCC / CCC / C-tick / GOST
Fan 120 mm fan with intelligent speed controller
Certification nVIDIA SLI / 80 Plus
Connector M/B 24 Pin x 1
CPU 4 Pin x 1
CPU 8 Pin x 1
PCI-E 6 Pin x 2
4 Pin Peripheral x 5
SATA x 6
4 Pin Floppy x 1

Any Ideas? Everything else seems to work fine. I have read plenty of reviews where people have used this PSU with much more power hungry systems. Even seen SLI with it.

 

[Mondoman]

Your PS should have enough power, but it's not a great quality brand, so it might be partially defective.
However, take a look in the BIOS -- there should be a setting for which graphics becomes the default graphics PCIExpress, PCI, internal, etc. Pick the setting that makes the PCIExpress the first choice. I'd also deactivate the internal graphics if possible in the BIOS.

 

[jitpublisher]

Your board should automatically find the GPU you have installed and initialize it first. If it does not, there is an order in the BIOS you can change for which/where to look for the GPU first, onboard or the slot. You can change the settings there if you need to. You do have the PCIe power connector plugged in to the card?

You should have plently of PSU, no worries there UNLESS it is defective.
Not a top of the line/generally recommended brand.........could be a possibility.

 

[watchforice]

Your PS should have enough power, but it's not a great quality brand, so it might be partially defective.
However, take a look in the BIOS -- there should be a setting for which graphics becomes the default graphics PCIExpress, PCI, internal, etc. Pick the setting that makes the PCIExpress the first choice. I'd also deactivate the internal graphics if possible in the BIOS.

This PSU is certified to use with in SLI applications. I am thinking that the PSU is not the culprit here. If I am reading the specs right, the PSU supports 19 amps on each of the 3 12 volt rails. It seems to power everthing else without a hitch. I even tried the 4 pin molex -> 6 pin PCI-E converters to see if that would solve it. No help. I have done several combonations with setting "Init First" to PEG(PCI Express Graphics maybe?), which my manual says enables the top PCI-E x16 slot, and then disabled the on-board graphics. When ever I do this my system goes into a fast reboot cycle that seems to stop after a minute or so. Still no display with these settings and no boot. Onboard works fine and every other function with the motherboard seems to be working as well. I have re-seated the card multiple times, and have unplugged and plugged in all power connectors. The only thing that will not function is the PCI-E card.

I am having a friend test my card in his machine later today to see if he can get it to work. Any other suggestions? Like hooking it to a car battery or something?

 

[bilbat]

Mondoman had it:
go to BIOS' "Advanced BIOS Features" page (page 45 of your manual) - set "Internal Graphics Mode" to "Disabled";
set "Init Display First" to PEG (assuming you've got it in the x16 slot);
should be good to go...

 

[eeluk]

The BIOS option is: Init Display First : PEG

I have same mobo and same card.


Should be green lights on video card. DO you have Both 6-pin connectors hooked up to the card?

 

[watchforice]

Mondoman had it:
go to BIOS' "Advanced BIOS Features" page (page 45 of your manual) - set "Internal Graphics Mode" to "Disabled";
set "Init Display First" to PEG (assuming you've got it in the x16 slot);
should be good to go...

Yeah, that is the correct procedure to get the motherboard to default to the PCI-E card. But when I disable the onboard video and set Init Display First to PEG, the computer just sits there and reboots itself. Nothing like staring at a blank screen listening to the HDD actuator arm swing back and forth as the system reboots every couple of seconds.

My biggest problem is I have limitted ability to troubleshoot the issue myself, as I do not own another PCI-E compatable motherboard. I also do not have another PCI-E video card. Although, I have a half dozen Radeon AGP cards lying around . Thus, I am to rely on a good friend of mine to do some troubleshooting for me.

I'll update when I find out whether or not card functions inside a different system.

 

[watchforice]

The BIOS option is: Init Display First : PEG

I have same mobo and same card.


Should be green lights on video card. DO you have Both 6-pin connectors hooked up to the card?

Yes, both connectors were securely hooked to the card. As mentioned earlier, I also tried the 4 pin molex converter cables that came with the card, and still nothing.

eeluk: could you post the model of you PSU and specs of your system?

 

[eeluk]

Yes, both connectors were securely hooked to the card. As mentioned earlier, I also tried the 4 pin molex converter cables that came with the card, and still nothing.

eeluk: could you post the model of you PSU and specs of your system?

GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-UD4H AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Phenom II X4 940

SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
(2nd one was delivered today, not hooked up yet!)

XIGMATEK MC NRP-MC651 650W ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V Ver. 2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

 

[watchforice]

Update: Video card has been tested and works great.

Does anyone think a BIOS flash might correct the issue?

 

[eeluk]

I just added a 2nd card and there is no problem at all in recognizing these cards for our motherboards.

It doesn't really matter which INIT DISPLAY setting or whether the onboard is turned off or not. My motherboard works perfectly with my video card. And we have the same everything. Except for Power Supplies....

How did you test the card to see it working great?

 

[eeluk]

There is a new (3/17/09) BIOS, but it does not change anything with the video, I don't think

It does allow ganged vs unganged memory. and it fixed some sound issues....

 

[razinni]

Same problem here with only a slightly different configuration. I can easily duplicate it.

1. Let the system sit a while, power it up and video works fine.
2. As soon as the fan kicks in on the video card I lose all video.



I'm letting it sit running for a while but I doubt that will improve anything.

Question is this a Radeon issue or a Gigabyte?

thanks

 

[bilbat]

Please post your GPU & PSU model numbers - this sounds like a 'collapsing power rail' problem; we'll need to figure out what is all being supplied by the rail that feeds your graphics card's power connector...

 

[rob sherratt]

I had a similar problem - I just replaced my motherboard with Gigabyte EP35-DS4, fitted my Radeon 3870 x32, fitted the 3 GB SDRAm from my old motherboard and Core 2 Duo processor, new HD. Powered on and nothing! No output from the Radeon 3870 at all. The system kept cycling like it was trying to reboot, then shut itself down, then reboot.

I eventually traced the problem by removing two Crucial BallistiX RAM modules leaving the system with just 2 GB of slow memory.

The system then booted up fine, turned out there was no fault in the Radeon 3870 or the BIOS at all.

Hope this might help others,

Rob Sherratt

 

[bilbat]

Now ya see here son, this is what we call a dead thread, it died as no one was interested or no one had info for it, or the author found the info and decided to let the thread die.

So we buried it, gave it a funeral and let it lie in peace.

Now what ya have done here is Necrothreaded it back into the living realm, disturbing its grave and its peace! Why boy, why? The poor thread has suffered enough! Let it rest!!

Having an odd number of DIMMs (unless you have a tri-channel socket 1366 platform) is just asking for trouble - and all GB boards need manual adjustment of the northbridge (MCH) voltage to accommodate more than two DIMMs...

 

[rob sherratt]

Hi bilbat,

Thanks for your reply and especially the info about GB motherboards needing manual adjustment of NB voltage. Sorry that the thread was dead before I found it, but the issue was still very live for me before discovering the RAM problem. I didn't have an odd number of DIMM's - I had a pair of 500 MB and a pair of 250 MB (now retired), but maybe that's just as bad? Please could you give me the thread reference where your quote came from?

Also since I want to upgrade my RAM to 8GB ready for Windows 7 64, do you have any recommendations of spec. of RAM that will work out of the box with a GB EP35-DS4 motherboard? Also should I do any "tweaks" in the BIOS before fitting the RAM?

I have reflashed the Award BIOS to version F7, it was F2 when I took the motherboard out of the box.

Many thanks,
Rob

 

[bilbat]

A large number of people here on the forum (including myself ) have had very good luck with G.Skill F2-8500CL5D:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231144
The trick to getting four DIMMs to work is to boot up with two installed, do the "Load Optimized Defaults" from the BIOS, save and reboot, and then 'bump up' the MCH voltage (usually, a tenth of a volt will do it - rarely, a tenth and a half...), save, exit, boot one more time - then power down and install the other two sticks.

I didn't have an odd number of DIMM's - I had a pair of 500 MB and a pair of 250 MB (now retired), but maybe that's just as bad? Please could you give me the thread reference where your quote came from?

Not so much from any particular thread - just a lot of experience , both here and at TweakTown... Components are running at such godawful speeds these days that every little thing either contributes - or offers an impediment. To make 'everybody equal', the board designers use 'meanders' on the RAM channels/slots: obviously, the slots closest to the northbridge (or CPU, in 1156/1366 sockets and newer AMDs) would have shorter signal paths, and when you're looking at timings in picoseconds, you don't want signals arriving at different times - so the closer slot signal paths are 'wiggled around' to make them as close to the same length (and capacitance, and resistance, and inductance) as the further ones. Likewise, when you use differing DIMMs on the channels, you present them with varying termination loading - again, varying capacitance, resistance, and inductance - so you're just 'asking' to have your data arrive at its endpoint somewhat 'skewed' - in addition to which, the timing parameters have, then, to be the 'least common denominator' (kind of like TV! ) - they have to accomodate the slowest DIMM in the array, and sometimes, even slower, to make up for that skew... The newer northbridges, if you're interested in spending a couple days 'tweaking', actually have 'per channel' (and sometimes, even 'per DIMM') adjustments to sub-timings, termination voltages, and signal 'window skews', to allow you to 'squeeze' that last iota of performance out of your board, and tweak each DIMM to the Nth degree - but it's a huge amount of work, takes nearly infinite patience (and organization), and really doesn't make sufficient difference to the overall performance of the system for it to really be worth the effort involved!