Problems Installing PowerColor Radeon HD 5450

MrFU

Honorable
Feb 21, 2012
4
0
10,510
I am trying to upgrade my old computer so I bought a PowerColor Radeon HD 5450 thinking it would be easy to install but I have run into problems. I am trying to install it on my old Gateway 420GR, I have upgraded to a 500W PSU.

What I did was uninstall the onboard graphics card drivers from device manager then rebooted. I then Inserted the video card into the PCIE slot.

The problem is that when I connect the video card to the PCIE slot I get no video signal (not even the bios). The mouse and keyboard don't light up either.

I removed the card and I was able to get a signal through the onboard VGA input.

Any help installing this card would be greatly appreciated!
 
Solution
According to your link the Radeon HD 5450 you selected is a PCI-e 2.1 card.

Based on the Gateway link, the computer's PCI-e slot is version 1.0.


There is a known incompatibility issue with sticking a PCI-e 2.1 card into a PCI-e 1.0 (and 1.1) slot. It is not very common, but it has been reported before. It seems you have that issue.

It could also be that the video card is bad, but the only way to truly test it is by installing it in a computer with a PCI-e 2.0 slot. If the HD 5450 works in that case, then that means your Gateway PC definitely cannot use a PCI-e 2.1 card. That means if you want to stick with a Radeon card, then you must look out for one that is a PCI-e 2.0 card. Or you can simply choose any nVidia card since they...
According to your link the Radeon HD 5450 you selected is a PCI-e 2.1 card.

Based on the Gateway link, the computer's PCI-e slot is version 1.0.


There is a known incompatibility issue with sticking a PCI-e 2.1 card into a PCI-e 1.0 (and 1.1) slot. It is not very common, but it has been reported before. It seems you have that issue.

It could also be that the video card is bad, but the only way to truly test it is by installing it in a computer with a PCI-e 2.0 slot. If the HD 5450 works in that case, then that means your Gateway PC definitely cannot use a PCI-e 2.1 card. That means if you want to stick with a Radeon card, then you must look out for one that is a PCI-e 2.0 card. Or you can simply choose any nVidia card since they never adopted the PCI-e 2.1 standard for their cards.
 
Solution

MrFU

Honorable
Feb 21, 2012
4
0
10,510
I was unaware of this issue. Thanks for the info I am unable to try the card on another PC so I will have to cut my loses and look for a new card. I will definitely look into a nVidia card.

Thank You
 

naumanj

Honorable
Nov 15, 2013
6
0
10,510
Let me share with you my experience of installation of an HD 5450, I am not really a computer expert but enjoyed the whole experience. i got a lot of help from the web threads on the topic, and ultimately it now works.

I faced the same problem as yours, after installing the card in the PCIe slot, system won't boot..only the power light was what there was. I tried and tried for several times..again installing the card thinking it isn't seated properly but no use.
Then studying the problem on web on this topic I went ahead and decided to update BIOS of my system;
Lenovo Core 2 duo with Q35 chipset and an original BIOS version of 2007.
Now the problem here seems is that the card HD 5450 is a 2010 release and the board / BIOS is 2007, which is not supporting the card.
Ok now how to update the BIOS, let me brief on the procedure;
1. go to the manufacturer site, like I visited Lenovo
2. you should know the make, model no. of your system, BIOS version installed. (be very careful on this, because if you selected the wrong model BIOS upgrade will give error as was the case with me but I overcame it)
3. Have a Rewritable CD or a DVD drive on your computer.
4. get a writable CD disk which you will be needing for booting purpose.
5. go to the manufacturers website and search for the BIOS update driver file with a .iso and not the .exe one, of your system model.
6. Once you have located the file with .iso, download the file, get your writable CD ready in the CD drive. The program
will prompt you to burn it onto the CD.
7. you now have a bootable CD with the latest BIOS.
8.There will also be a readme.txt file, kindly go through that also as it describes the procedure on how to upgrade BIOS.
9.Now you have to shutdown your system with the bootable CD in the Drive and restart it making sure in the setup (which comes by pressing either the F12 or Ctrl+S key at startup) that CD drive comes first in sequence so that the system
reads the CD as soon it starts.
10. BIOS upgrade takes 2-3 minutes, and system should not be turned off during that time.
11. BIOS upgrade successful will be flashed once its done....restart your system after that.
12. Shutdown system, Install the HD 5450.....hopefully the system will now detect the card....install its drivers and enjoy.

Regards