Crossfire 5770- One card don't display!

[DentMan06]

Hello guys... I'm in desperate need of some help. I'm at a loss of ideas at this point.

System:
AMD X4 955BE
ASrock 870 Extreme3 mobo
4GB OCZ Obsidian DDR3
Two ATI HD 5770
700w Tagan BZ Series Turbo power supply
1TB Caviar Black 7200rpm

Issue:

I have a 5770 that is, as displayed on the card, Revision 1. My roommate gave it to me in a trade for my two 8800s since my mobo didn't support SLI. At this point, I purchased a brand new 5770 of the same brand and model in the hopes to Crossfire them. This new card, as displayed on it, was Revision 4. This is the only difference in the two cards that I can observe.

If I plug the old card in, it works PERFECTLY. However, if I take the original 5770 out and put the new one in, no display will show. However, the fan runs at max speed constantly.

So we figured it could be a bad card, right? Well, I threw the new 5770 into my sister's rig and it worked PERFECTLY.

What we've tried:
-Swapping both cards into opposite PCIe slots.
-Checking BIOS for settings that would effect card... none.
-Updated drivers, flashed BIOS, etc.

Additionally, if we plug both cards in, Windows 7 only recognizes the original 5770! It won't even recognize that there's another card plugged in.

My power supply can easily handle two 8800GTX cards AND Windows 7 detected both of those cards when I threw them both in to troubleshoot and see if they would both be recognized.


All in all, we're stumped. I've even purchased a NEW motherboard. I upgraded from the ASUS M4A79XTD EVO to the ASrock 870 Extreme3. BOTH mobos would not detect the new 5770... yet it works on my sister's rig (which is Intel i7).

 

[OvrClkr]

Why did you remove one card to install the new one when it is obvious that you should have left the first card alone and installed the newer one in the second slot? You need to read the sticky's before you post, this would have saved you tons of time

1. Download the latest AMD drivers INCLUDING the "CrossfireX App Profiles" and save to desktop.

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/radeon-win7-64.aspx

2. Download driver-sweeper and make sure ALL files related to nvidia/physX/AMD/CCC/ATI are completely wiped out (DO NOT REMOVE YOUR AUDIO DRIVERS/REALTEK/CREATIVE etc..)

http://www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/

3. Turn PC off and install both 5770's + bridge + PCIE-power cable on both cards and re-boot.

4. Install the drivers that you saved to your desktop, reboot.

5. Done.

Also make sure both cards are enabled in GPU-Z

 

[DentMan06]

When I first bought the new card, I plugged it into the second PICe slot. Wasn't recognized in Windows 7 through CCC, Device Manager, or CPU-Z. I did read the stickies.

Used driver cleaner before after the issue happened. I will follow your instructions step by step just for good measure. I'll keep you posted.

 

[OvrClkr]

When I first bought the new card, I plugged it into the second PICe slot. Wasn't recognized in Windows 7 through CCC, Device Manager, or CPU-Z. I did read the stickies.

Used driver cleaner before after the issue happened. I will follow your instructions step by step just for good measure. I'll keep you posted.

well that was not posted as you said :

if I take the original 5770 out and put the new one in, no display will show.

there was nothing saying that you had put that new card in the second slot from the get-go. If the card works fine on a different PC then it's most likely user error unless the mobo is at fault which I highly doubt. Next time you create a thread I advise you to post EVERYTHING you did so we can at least get a better idea of what steps you took beforehand.

 

[DentMan06]

Look, although I do appreciate and value your input, a little humility would not hurt. In my first post, I posted everything I could think of. If I left out ONE thing, I don't think it's too detrimental to the point that we can avoid sarcasm and move on.

With that said, I followed your steps one at a time and still no luck. And although you said "if it works in another machine, it must be user error," I'd rather you explain to me how it MUST be user error. It won't get detected or display output video on two different mobos, one brand new? I reformatted last night (since I installed the new mobo) and still not detected or displaying. Not to mention, "user error" would not explain why one card works and the other doesn't in my machine, though they are the same model card AND both cards were detected on my last mobo when I put two 8800s in to make sure the PCIe slot was good.

BIOS updated, chipset updated. Still no luck. We just can't figure out why it would work in the Intel rig and not this one. If it is something easy and simple, I'd gladly take the hit to my pride if that meant it will make it work lol

Thanks for your input.

 

[OvrClkr]

Well its kinda obvious that its user error when the card works fine on a different mobo. And for the record i was not trying to be sarcastic, just giving you advice on what/whatnot to do.

Check your Bios, the Asrock website says that there is an option in the Bios to enable CF (Change the Graphics adapter from PCI to PCI-Express) and from single card to dual card config.

If you are using more than one monitor make sure that the cable/cables are connected to the first card.

 

[OvrClkr]

From Techpoweup website :

"Either the company seems to have jumped the specifications of the 870 by adding external PCI-Express lane switching that gives it proper CrossFire capability, or that the 870 will indeed support 2-way CrossFire with its lone PCI-Express 2.0 x16 link split into two x8 links between the two cards, leaving no room for a "890X" chipset."

So the switch is either in the Bios or on the mobo itself.

 

[DentMan06]

Okay guys... so I returned the card to NewEgg and ordered a 5850 instead and it worked PERFECTLY. No need to mess with BIOS or do anything.

Again... we tried EVERYTHING. If it was user error then I should would have loved to see you fix it. But new (different card with the 5850) worked as soon as I plugged it in? Yep... user error.

So, I called up XFX and was asking about issues with it. I told him how it worked on an two Intel systems and not on my AMD system. He said they HAVE had cards before where the chipset had an issue switching between AMD and Intel systems.

That would make sense as to why it wouldn't detect on mine but it would on my two Intel PCs. That, coupled with him saying there have been a lot of driver issues (which was causing all the vertical line crashes) leads me to believe it was just a faulty card.

Told ya so. And btw... that 5850 screams.

Thanks for all your input guys. Looks like I was doomed from the start.