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Display keeps reverting back to onboard graphics

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Let me start off by explaining my situation. I built my first rig about 6 months ago now and it has worked flawlessly for me aside from a few minor hiccups. I'm running an i5 3570k CPU on an Asus P8Z77V-PRO Motherboard with a HIS IceQ Radeon 7850 GPU.

This problem originally occured a month or so back, and I was able to correct the issue. My display kept reverting back to my onboard graphics card and I was able to find the option in the BIOS to make my primary display run off of the PCI-E option. The rig worked fine after that....

..Until last week before I was leaving for a business trip, I wanted to get some gaming in. But the same problem happened again when I booted the rig up, my display had reverted back to my onboard graphics card. And no matter how many times I had gone to the BIOS and changed the option to PCI-E, it would always boot using the onboard. The GPU fan would spin, so I disconnected the PSU and tried reseating my graphics card; even blew out the PCI-E port with canned air and nothing seemed to work. Needless to say I didn't get any gaming in that day and I left for a week.

On Sunday morning after being gone, I thought I'd try to see if my rig was still having the same issue. Miraculously it booted using the GPU and I got my use out of it, playing for the majority of my day. I kept an eye on my temps throughout the day and nothing seemed to catch me offguard, none of my core temps went over 41 degrees C. I shut down the rig, watched some football, and came back to it a few hours later. I was on it for about an hour when during my game, my rig all of a sudden blue screened. This was the first time that I ever got that on this rig, so I got a little nervous. Sure enough after rebooting, again my display reverted back to my onboard graphics card. Checked my GPU and the fan is spinning, went back into the BIOS, changed the graphic configuration to PCI-E; wash, rinse, repeat and I still could never get the rig to boot up on my GPU. Did this probably about 10-12 times; ended up getting frustrated and went to bed.

Next morning, I took work off. Kept trying to get the rig to use my GPU as it's primary display and still had no luck. As soon as I opened the case I noticed something odd, a dead spider sat on the bottom of my case. After removing the spider carcass and cleaning the case up a little, again I took out my GPU and examined it, cleaned the PCI-E slot with canned air and reseated it back in the PCI-E slot on my mobo. Tried booting again and still no luck. After doing a little research, I decided to try to reset my CMOS on the motherboard. I unplugged all of my PSU connections, waited a little bit and tried resetting my CMOS. Put the rig back together, and tried it again with of course no change.

I know the first thing someone's going to say is try a new GPU, but I do not have another graphics card. This was my first build, so I don't have any spare components. And I don't want to go buy a new GPU if that isn't my problem even if that's what it looks like it points to. But it seems to be getting power because the fan spins with no problems. Thought I'd come to the experts, hopefully someone has some insight how to fix this issue because it's starting to get frustrating. :heink: 

Thanks in advance.

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Graphics card Authority

Let me just say something first and I'm not trying to tell you it is your graphics card. But when a card is having these kinds of issues..It can either be the motherboards connection loosely to the PCI-e pins on the card or the chip itself is malfunctioning. But when it is the graphics cards fault. Sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet and RMA it. Thats right RMA...Not buy a whole new one. I always tell people to RMA their card if its some issue like this. Now if the chip was fried or something then I know RMA won't do you any good and you MUST buy a new. So you have cleared the CMOS but still does this. I might would research your motherboard and see if anyone has had a similar issue. If others have, then you want to RMA your motherboard first and explain to ASUS what the issue is. Now maybe someone else here can point directly to the problem but, thatd be what i'd do first. Your rig may have anywhere from 2-3 weeks down time because ASUS can either be fast or slow about RMA process.

PS: Try not to disable the onboard graphics trying to fix it your self because you will need to reset the cmos if your motherboard doesn't recognize the PCI-e graphics card. You can try that before you fill out a RMA form. Yes i know I know, you don't wanna hear this. But we all have to RMA something in our lifetime.

Well I don't want to RMA one or the other if one of them isn't my problem.

I just went and talked to one of the guys in my IT department and he was kind enough to lend me a spare graphics card they had. Granted it looks like it's just a basic Dell card, but atleast I'll be able to narrow my problem to either the PCI-E connector on my motherboard or my GPU itself unless the card he gave me is bad.

Whichever it ends up being, I will end up getting an RMA for one of them. When it comes to RMAing, I was always under the impression that the component had to still be under some type of warranty for the manufacturer to repair/replace it.

Also I was scowering the interweb for people who have had similar problems, but this seems to be a rare occurence. I kind of find it odd that either of these components would just randomly stop working after working for so long without any problems.

Well nevertheless, I've actually got a spare card I will try when I get home from work that'll hopefully narrow my issue down to either my GPU or the PCI-E connector on my mobo.

Thanks for your insight and if anyone has had a similar problem with either of these components I'd like to hear about how you approached it and what ended up being the issue.
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Sure enough the graphics card I was given isn't compatible and is much too small and won't fit in my motherboard unless I remove my MB from my case.

Hopefully when the IT guys get in this morning, they'll have a larger video card that'll be able to fit in my motherboard. I know he said he had a personal spare he'd be willing to let me borrow, but I don't know if he's going to let me use it over the weekend.

And I never registered my motherboard or my GPU because I just didn't feel the need to, but I may be regretting it now. Can I still RMA a component even though the warranty has most likely expired?

Well that stinks, I'm going to try to register my components, but it's probably too late because I purchased them just about six months ago. I think the not registering thing has just become a habit I've grown accustomed to over time because I never register anything if I don't have to. Mostly because my mailbox always fills up with promotions and ads the manufacturers end up sending me.

I got paid today so I'm tempted to buy a new graphics card, but if it ends up being my PCI-E connector on my MB I'll be pretty disappointed. The IT guys are in a meeting this morning, so it looks like I won't be able to get another spare graphics card today. I don't really have any other options because I don't have a spare motherboard or a spare GPU.

I wish one of the people who contributed to the 100+ views on this topic, someone had experienced a similar problem with this type of motherboard or graphics card. But alas I guess not, time to go search for my reciepts. :cry: 
Graphics card Authority

Well depends on the warranty policy. Some manufactures have a same period of time warranty at their competitor but may not require them to have registered the part just so long as they have the info from the receipt or the SN on the part. But bottom line, if its your motherboard You can buy a motherboard for cheaper than you can a whole new graphics card. It just may not be the same thing you had before

Well I wasn't able to get in touch with my IT guy yesterday because of conflicting schedules, but he confirmed that he had given me the wrong type of video card once I talked t him this morning. He gave me a PCI graphics card. I was able to meet up with him this morning and he gave me a NVIDIA Geforce 8400GS he's going to let me use over the weekend. So hopefully now I'll be able to narrow my issue down to one component this evening when I get out of work.

I also found my reciept for my motherboard last night, but I got pretty busy and never ended up getting a chance to call Asus or microcenter. And I still have my Newegg information for my GPU. I didn't try to RMA either part yet because I wanted to confirm which component is suspected to be the issue before going to try to RMA either of them. I don't know how long microcenter's warranties usually last, but I've definitely passed that 90 day mark for sure.

Since I got paid yesterday, money's not an issue for me at the moment, but I don't want to go shell out $200-250 if I don't need to. The weekend is an ideal time for me to go into the city to hit up the microcenter if I have to because there is much less traffic. Even if I have to purchase some new component, atleast I'll be able to have my rig back up and running my the end of the weekend.
Graphics card Authority

Yes. and thats what we want for you. To get your computer back up and running. Even if you do have to get a new Component. I will help you make your decision once you test everything and determine what the issue is
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