ATI HD 5850 no display

[jimboy77]

Hi all,

I am going nuts over this problem. I am far from an expert but I should know enough to build my own PC...

So, last week I built one and it works fine until I plug in the graphics card which gives me no display whatsoever. I have seen similar threads on forums but none of them seem to be exactly the same as my problem.

CPU: AMD AM3 Phenom II 965 Black
M/B: ASUS M4A88TD-M EVO USB3
RAM: 4GB DDR-3 1333
PSU: Coolermaster Extreme Power Plus 650 Watt
O/S: Win 7 64 Bit

Graphics: Gigabyte 1GB HD 5850

1) I built the system and ran all the driver updates from the enclosed disc. I changed the BIOS graphics boot to check PCI-E first.

2) As soon as I plug power into my 5850 I get no display at all. No boot up visuals or anything. I know it is booting up because I can hear it and all the lights are on. Also, the fans are moving on the card. In this situation, even if I plug the vga cable into the internal card slot I get no display.

3) I power off and disconnect the power to the card. Reboot and I have my display back on the internal card again. I spend a lot of time trying to update drivers and checking anything I can think of.

4) Give up, go back to shop. They test the 5850 and it is fine. They check out my PC and upgrade the BIOS which is a step I missed. Apparently 5850 works fine now.

5) I get home and fire up the PC and the 5850 works. Awesome!! So I think I wonder if they have updated it to the latest driver?

6) I go to the AMD/ATI site and run the Catalyst utility to update the drivers. Halfway through this process, the monitor goes blank. The PC is still on, just no freaking display again. Cr@p.

7) Unplug power from 5850, fire up the trusty internal VGA. Download the latest BIOS from the ASUS site and flash it. Check 5850 again. Nothing.

I am going insane!! It's so frustrating knowing it was working and now it's not again!! The only idea I have now is from a friend who suggested bumping the voltage to the card up slightly. I'm not 100% sure how to do this though, the BIOS has a few power options and I'm not sure which one runs to the PCI-E slot or how much I should tweak it. It doesn't really seem like that would be the problem to me either.

Please help, I would really appreciate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!

 

[elbert]

The only things I can think of is your video card bios is old predating the black screen fix or this card being factory OC'ed and uses Gigabytes own bios has conflicts with ATI drivers. I suggest updating your video card to the latest bios and using only gigabytes drivers for a while for testing purposes.
http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3354#bios
http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3354#driver

You may also want to use drive sweeper to remove all old GPU drivers. Then shut down and install the 5850. Make sure the PCI-E power connector is firmly connected to the card and the card is well seated in the slot. Load windows normally and install the gigabyte drivers from the link above.

 

[jimboy77]

Thanks a lot for the reply, but I have a couple of questions.

Firstly, I'm not sure which bios to use from that page. The most recent one has an older bios number..

Secondly, how can I update the drivers and bios on my card when I can't get a display if it is plugged in? Can I sort of pre-install the drivers somehow before plugging in the card?

 

[jimboy77]

Ok, so just because I had nothing better to do before I go to work, I ran the above driver package without uninstalling anything and now the card works...

Weird. I am not going to touch any of the drivers again unless I have to!!

I'm still not convinced it's fixed properly though...I'm expecting it to not work again next time I turn it on..

Anyway, thanks heaps for the help, hopefully I won't be back with more 5850 issues!

 

[jimboy77]

Eight hours later, get home from work, turn on PC. No display.

WTF?!!?!?!?!?

This is really killing me.

 

[amirgtr]

Wow...sucks major man. Are you sure the power supply is enough for everything you got in your PC? This happened to me when I had a weaker power supply.

Or maybe the power cables going to the VGA are loose? I know it's the kinda thing you'd never imagine you'd miss out, but it happens from time to time. Happened to me a few days ago.

I'm looking forward to see your problem fixed and knowing what fixed it.

 

[jimboy77]

Yeah - I've given up again. I'm not 100% sure but I think the PSU is ok. I took it back to the shop and they are going to test a different card and run some tests on the motherboard i think.

Hopefully they can fix it, preferably tomorrow and not next week.. I'll post the outcome.

 

[elbert]

Thanks a lot for the reply, but I have a couple of questions.

Firstly, I'm not sure which bios to use from that page. The most recent one has an older bios number..

Secondly, how can I update the drivers and bios on my card when I can't get a display if it is plugged in? Can I sort of pre-install the drivers somehow before plugging in the card?

I see you have returned the GPU but for future upgrade purchases Ill answer your questions. On the bios look at the dates and get the newest for a simple rule of thumb. The process for the video card is:
Uninstall your currently GPU's drivers. (may want to run drive sweeper.)
Shutdown system and install new video card.
Windows starts up and it will use generic drivers.
Install your GPU's bios.
Install your GPU's drivers.

Eight hours later, get home from work, turn on PC. No display.

WTF?!!?!?!?!?

This is really killing me.

There could be many causes for this. If the computer is returned as working and this occurs try turn off the computer and check if your DVI cable is connected firmly. With any luck the shop will find if you have a bad DVI cable, PSU, or the video card is malfunctioning. Good luck and ill check back in a day or so in case you need help.

 

[jimboy77]

Hi Elbert, thanks for the reply. I'm still waiting on the shop to get back to me but the problem is I can't even get a display up to allow me to install drivers when the card is installed.

The first time I booted up I had installed the card and there was no display. I also tried what you suggested when I had more time. I uninstalled the card, used drive sweeper to remove all GPU drivers and then reinstalled the card. Again, no display.

When they plugged it in at the shop yesterday the display was working but then died during boot up. So i think it's looking like not a driver problem but an inconsistent fault in either the card or the motherboard maybe.

Cheers,
James

 

[jimboy77]

Ok - some closure. I should have updated this post.

Turns out, it was something stupid after all. The cable I was running from the card to my TV was a VGA to DVI cable and I was using a DVI-VGA converter plug on the back of the graphics card. I did try to use HDMI initially but I couldn't figure out how to set the HDMI input up on my TV as the option to select it was greyed out.

I didn't think the cable was the issue because as I said, sometimes I would get a picture and then other times I wouldn't. Also, the DVI>VGA converter came in the graphics card box so you would think it would do the job...

I guess the cable was just pushed to the limit by the card and occasionally worked but most of the time couldn't handle it.

After switching graphics cards AND replacing my ASUS motherboard with a Gigiabyte one, only for the problem to still happen, I realised it HAD to be something to do with my TV or the cable. I finally figured out how to set the HDMI input on my TV (this was far from obvious btw) and suddenly there we go, perfect picture.

Thanks for all the responses, glad the problem is finally sorted. I have been happily racing F1 cars in my lounge room for the last few days

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey