Trying to install a SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6850 PCI-E 2.1 card on GF8200A

[TTwo]

Hey,

So my Radeon HD 4850 was starting to be insufficient for my gaming purposes so I researched and ordered a Radeon HD 6850. It's PCI-E 2.1, but my GF8200A motherboard does support PCI-E 2.0 and from my understanding I thought it would work -- maybe with a BIOS update, although I have the latest one. Also my power supply is a Zu-550w -- and, again, as I understand, the 6-pin should be sufficient to power the 6850.

So, I unplugged the old card and attempted to install the new one without uninstalling the drivers first. Computer turned on, but the screen was blank. The card also didn't light up, which I suspect it does when it's working. So I put the old card in and that still worked. Then I uninstalled the graphics drivers -- there's an on-board video card on my motherboard, so I believe it feeds through when the drivers aren't installed. So that was okay.

The problem that I have now is, when I was installing the drivers for the new card, the power went out -- not as a result of insufficient power but as a result of the cable coming lose. I believe the display drivers were installed, but I don't know that for certain as it was in the middle of the installation and there is a whole bunch of software that was being installed with it. If I plug in the 4850, it lights up -- the 6850 does not. My monitor receives no signal now regardless of which card is plugged in, and if I try to connect via the old VGA motherboard connection, I am still getting no signal.

Does anyone know if this card is compatible with my motherboard? And is there a way to reset the BIOS and get the monitor to recognize the on-board graphics card? (I can't find my manual at the moment.)

I'm running 64-bit Windows 7. Let me know if there is anything else you need. Thanks.

 

[clutchc]

That card should be perfectly compatible with your board. Although there has been reports of certain PCIe2.1 cards not playing nice with 1.0 boards. But you should be OK with a 2.0 board. What is it that 'lights up'? There's no lights on the card. And what cable came loose?

When all is working well, Windows 7 should default to its generic driver if the proper driver is not installed. Same with using the integrated graphics. If the power outage occured during the driver installation, it probably corrupted the driver. Try removing the discrete card from the slot and then try booting with the integrated graphics.

 

[TTwo]

Hi clutchc,

Thank you for responding.

That card should be perfectly compatible with your board. Although there has been reports of certain PCIe2.1 cards not playing nice with 1.0 boards. But you should be OK with a 2.0 board. What is it that 'lights up'? There's no lights on the card. And what cable came loose?

The 4850 has four red LEDs on the card's board -- they light up if it is plugged into the computer when I start it up. The cable that came lose was the 24-pin power connector (from the motherboard).

When all is working well, Windows 7 should default to its generic driver if the proper driver is not installed. Same with using the integrated graphics. If the power outage occured during the driver installation, it probably corrupted the driver. Try removing the discrete card from the slot and then try booting with the integrated graphics.

I tried removing the card and booting without it. No dice. The monitor does not seem to be receiving a signal from the VGA port. I also found the manual for my mobo and cleared the CMOS with the jumpers. Still nothing.

 

[clutchc]

First, the easy part; the Sapphire HD 6850 you show has no lighted LEDs. I have used that card on several builds. So don't look for lights to come on when installed. But the fan should spin as soon as the motherboard has power.

Having the 24 pin motherboard cable come loose in the middle of a driver install is something that doesn't happen very often. In fact, this is the first time I've heard of it. So, I'm kinda flying blind here. If you can't get a display with the card removed and the monitor connected to the motherboard video, something is amiss with the board. You say you are connected to the VGA port. That usually refers to the 'blue' analog D-Sub port. Can you use the HDMI port on that board?

If all else fails, I would try disconnecting all components from the motherboard including the 24 pin and 4 pin power connectors. Let the board sit for a few minutes. Try resetting the BIOS again by removing the battery and using the CLR CMOS jumper.

 

[TTwo]

First, the easy part; the Sapphire HD 6850 you show has no lighted LEDs. I have used that card on several builds. So don't look for lights to come on when installed. But the fan should spin as soon as the motherboard has power.

Having the 24 pin motherboard cable come loose in the middle of a driver install is something that doesn't happen very often. In fact, this is the first time I've heard of it. So, I'm kinda flying blind here. If you can't get a display with the card removed and the monitor connected to the motherboard video, something is amiss with the board. You say you are connected to the VGA port. That usually refers to the 'blue' analog D-Sub port. Can you use the HDMI port on that board?

If all else fails, I would try disconnecting all components from the motherboard including the 24 pin and 4 pin power connectors. Let the board sit for a few minutes. Try resetting the BIOS again by removing the battery and using the CLR CMOS jumper.

Hey clutchc,

I tried the HDMI port, too; no luck. Removing the battery did seem to work for a while, but it turns out there was another issue at hand. I bought a power supply, thinking mine was sort of going, but as I was about to replace it I noticed I'd switched my original power supply to 230 instead of 115 -- which was causing things to be difficult; stuff kept turning off. I switched it back and it booted up okay, installed the card, started up, Win7 installed the driver. I installed the AMD software and now it's working. Yay! Happy.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[TTwo]

Best answer selected by TTwo.

 

[clutchc]

LOL... You plugged your PSU in to a 115V circuit, but had it set for 230V? No wonder! As you found out, that definetly won't work. Was that an accident, or did you do that on purpose?

I guess that is something I will have to remember to have folks check when they have probs.