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XFX Radeon HD 5670 will not even boot!

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Hi. I read the Tom's Best GFX Card for the money, and decided on the Radeon HD 5670 to upgrade my aging computer. I was going to use the template, but I think it will be easier for me to just wing it.

Firstly, this is an old computer. Compaq SR1830NX:

MOBO: Asus A8AE-LE

I have added two 1G sticks of G.skill RAM, for a total of 3Gs including the two 512 factory sticks. The ram is compatible, and recognized by my operating system.

No longer running the Factory installed WinXP MCE, instead reformatted with Win XP SP2, but have since done all windows updates and am running SP3. Reinstalled all drivers.

I installed the Radeon HD 5670 and the computer would not start. It would power on, but no booting happened at all, not even a splash screen. It was suggested that I replace the PSU, so I did. I upgraded to an Antec 620W, more than double the Wattage of the factory PSU (300W), and I was very excited to start using my new card.. Hoping to run games like Civilization 5, Starcraft 2 (currently not runnable with my system), and Counterstrike: Source (which my onboard GFX processor runs adequately)

Had the same exact problems as with the old PSU when I tried to boot.

Felt like a moron when I realized I should probably change the Primary Display Adapter setting in the BIOS to PCI-E. Unfortunately, this also did not fix the issue.

Is this card not compatible with my system? I still have a week or so to RMA. Is the card faulty? If not, which card would you suggest I go for instead?

Thanks in advance! :) 

EDIT: Sorry, forgot to mention, the current GFX Processor is the factory, ATI Radeon Xpress 200. It has outperformed my original expectations, but unfortunately it is simply too old to keep up with today's games.

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Graphics card Master

I couldn't find your exact mobo model on the ASUS website but it looks like you have a really old Socket 939 board or something similar. These almost certainly use PCI-Express 1.0. Most Radeon HD 5670 cards use the PCI-Express 2.1 standard. PCI-Express 2.1 is known to have compatibility issues with PCI-Express 1.0 boards. You can try looking at either Compaq or ASUS' website and see if you can find a BIOS update that would allow you to use a PCI-E 2.1 video card. If there is no BIOS update available, you're going to have to RMA your card and look for a model that uses PCI-Express 2.0.
Graphics card Master

^+1
Nice job Supernova1138
100 percent agree

Only thing I would add
is I would look at the GT 240 GDDR5 or the HD 4670 DDR3
between the two the 240 is faster

240 GDDR5 would put the OP at about the same performance level of the HD 5670
it is 2.0
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gt_240_us....

this is HD 46xx series specs
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-rad...

also the 240 is at a good price now on Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


Dont be fooled by some of the HD 5xxx saying PCIe 2.0
some of the manafacturers label them that way but the HD 5xxx series is all
2.1 from all reviews and articles
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king smp said:

also the 240 is at a good price now on Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


Thanks for your reply. Coincidentally I bought the HD 5670 from newegg. Think they will let me return it for credit? I have kept all original packaging and documentation. Card has not been damaged.

Also Supernova1138, I tried looking for a BIOS update after I read your post, and I did find one, however it said nothing about solving issues with PCI-E compatibility, and was just for some unrelated solutions when upgrading to Vista, which I am not. Thanks for your reply though. :) 

I will probably go for the GT 240 then, since I got the original card from newegg, and it's faster. :p 
Graphics card Master

Newegg customer service is well known to be great
as long as you have all original packaging and receipt
they should take care of you especially since you only want
to exchange

will have to pay return shipping costs though
Graphics card Master

just make sure the GT 240 is GDDR5
if it is a choice between DDR3 1gb or GDDR5 512mb
take the GDDR5
memory speed,latency and bandwidth are more important
than memory size on a card like that

Graphics card Master

I learned with my HD 5670 which is a DX 11 card to not
expect much from low to midrange cards in reference to DX11 performance
For example I have Metro 2033 which has options for DX9 DX10 and DX11
with DX11 the best I can do at DX11 is 1280x1024 very high settings
link to Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B13Sk0VjJk

that is my C2D 3ghz with OCd HD 5670 doing DX11
to be honest it isnt the greatest even at that lowered resolution
I usually play DX10 at 1920x1080 high setting
which is best balance between eyecandy and performance

If you want to do DX11
a HD 6770 or GTX 560 is minimal
and your system cannot support a card like that

To play DX11 decently a system upgrade is called
new CPU/Mobo/ram/psu etc

playing high level graphics gaming on a computer is a very expensive and demanding
on the system

I consider my rig a light duty gaming rig
really minimal specs
it is meant as an office and multimedia system

gaming systems for modern games are on another tech level

OK! and I was wrong about Civ 5, it recommends DX 9.x and the card you suggested supports DX 10.x.

Thanks very much, you have been a great help, I will try that card and see if my luck doesn't change!!!!
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