Help with Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z/Gen 3 mobo and first boot

adderall

Honorable
Jan 23, 2013
6
0
10,510
I have a build with the Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z/Gen 3 and an HD Radeon 7970. The HD Radeon 7970 has a DVI output and I have a monitor that only supports VGA and DVI. I'm trying to do my first boot and haven't installed the OS on the HD or anything yet, but I can't get anything to display on the screen. I assume this is because the motherboard doesn't have the drivers for the HD Radeon 7970 and is trying to use onboard graphics. Am I going to need to buy an HDMI to vGA or DVI cable just to set up the PC or is it likely something else is wrong? When I boot up, the manual mentions hearing diagnostic beeps but I hear nothing. Power is clearly flowing to all components as everything powers on (all fans are running, harddrive platters are spinning, etc).

*I'm guessing that until the bios is set up that the mobo can't instantly recognise the GPU and use it as the video display? The last time I set up a PC, I can't remember if I had this problem but I know the motherboard came with a VGA output so I didn't have to worry over this triviality...

Help?

I dont know if it matters, but the other components attached to the mobo are G.SKILL Ripjaws X 2 x 4 GB sticks, i7-3770k, coolermaster hyper 212+ cooler, and a WD caviar green HD

Edit: I also checked with another monitor and it's the same issue, that I don't get any signal from the GPU showing up at all.
 

adderall

Honorable
Jan 23, 2013
6
0
10,510
As I said in my post, I already have a supported CPU (i7-3770k). But if I can't see the BIOS on the display, how am I even supposed to do that?

I am worried you missed this point in your earlier responses... my CPU is certainly one of the supported ones.
 
If you check the CPU Support List from the link above, it is mentioned that
Core i7-3770K (3.5G,L3:8M,iGPU,4C,HT,77W,rev.E1) ALL 3203
In other words, the CPU is supported since BIOS 3203.
Now, you can verify the board's BIOS version (on the board there's a barcode sticker - the last 4 digits stand for the original BIOS version).
If the board's BIOS version is older than 3203, the system would not POST and you need a CPU supported since 0402 BIOS version, or so. I hope I was clear.
 

adderall

Honorable
Jan 23, 2013
6
0
10,510
I can confirm that my board's BIOS version is 3203 (i.e. I did open the case and check that the last four numbers match this as you suggested to do), so the CPU should be supported, correct?

Edit: I thought for a moment perhaps the GPU is not 100% aligned in the pci-e slot but it is definitely so...
 


In this case remove the graphics card and use the onboard HDMI port or try borrowing a graphics card. See if the system does POST this way.
It might be a graphics card compatibility issue.
 

adderall

Honorable
Jan 23, 2013
6
0
10,510


OK, thank you. This is specifically what I was asking whether an HDMI to DVI cable would be a workable solution so I appreciate the feedback. Thank you.
 

blackmancer

Distinguished
Nov 29, 2008
429
0
18,810
this is probably a silly question, but the power is plugged into the video card? and what psu are you running btw. don't mean to insult you :p. if you remove the video card and start the machine (from your posts it sounds like there is no OS installed etc) do you hear the DVD drive spinning up?
 

adderall

Honorable
Jan 23, 2013
6
0
10,510


I don't have a DVD drive, but the Hard drive platters are spinning. The GPU has power, its onboard fan and LED are coming on just fine. I have a 500W PSU which is fine for the components - I have tried removing the video card from the machine, however, I don't have an HDMI plug, and I only have VGA and DVI capable monitors here in my house. I am going to go out and get an HDMI to VGA/DVI cable and see if things are coming up just fine.