GPU works in one system but not another

[LaytonJnr]

Hello,

A friend of mine had built a custom PC a couple of days ago, however the GPU (R9 270X 4GB) was not working in their system - booting the PC would result in no output to the monitor (via HDMI). The fans spin and the LEDs indicating the graphics card has power are on. The only way they could actually use the computer to install Windows etc. was to disconnect the graphics card and use the motherboard's onboard graphics.

Just for reference, their specs - AMD FX 8350, ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3

I had a spare GPU lying around (HD 5850) that I let them borrow, which worked in their computer, so the motherboard's PCIe x16 slot is working. I then tested their GPU (R9 270X) in my system (left, in System Specs), and it also worked fine (displayed output, present in Device Manager), so the graphics card is not broken.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find anything particularly useful via a Google search to sort this problem. I have already suggested a BIOS update for their mobo, but that didn't solve the issue. They cannot enter the BIOS whilst the graphics card is connected as there is no output to the monitor. The drivers that were attempted at installing (which could only be done whilst the graphics card was disconnected) caused the computer to crash (not surprised with the GPU not actually in the system).

So to recap:

- The R9 270X does not work in their system, but the HD 5850 does.
- Both the R9 270X and the HD 5850 work in my system

Any ideas to what the issue could be?

Thanks,

Layton

 

[95Viper]

What is the make and model of their PSU?

Edit:

Did they get an UEFI card?

Quote from Sapphire site:

Motherboards that contain earlier version of UEFI must be updated to the latest version or have the UEFI option turned off, otherwise, the graphics card will boot in legacy mode, or in some cases, not boot at all. Please refer to your motherboard userguide for BIOS update instruction.

 

[LaytonJnr]

What is the make and model of their PSU?

Edit:

Did they get an UEFI card?

Quote from Sapphire site:

Their PSU is an XFX Pro 750W XXX edition. I believe it is a UEFI card (ASUS R9 270X TOP), however the quote suggests updating the UEFI BIOS of the mobo, of which there is no separate update for on the ASUS website.

Layton

 

[lukart]

Did you try to update his mobo bios?

 

[Steevo]

That is a 95W board, and the 8350 may pull too much current from the PCIe slot with the 270, or the board may not support the PCIe spec the card is seeing the 8350 is showing as capable of due to chipset and hardware limitation of the board.

 

[LaytonJnr]

Did you try to update his mobo bios?

I had suggested updating the mobo BIOS to them (I mentioned it earlier), and I believe they had done that.

That is a 95W board, and the 8350 may pull too much current from the PCIe slot with the 270, or the board may not support the PCIe spec the card is seeing the 8350 is showing as capable of due to chipset and hardware limitation of the board.

According to the ASUS website, the board can take up to 140W CPUs, and the 8350 has a 125W TDP. If it had been me, I would've gone for one of the AMD 9-series chipsets, as I agree that the motherboard is weaker. But in theory it should be compatible, but maybe too much current is being drawn. Although the HD 5850 does draw quite a bit...

Layton

 

[RCoon]

Is it using a fresh windows install, or an existing one? If it's an existing install, he'll need to wipe all AMD drivers clean, and thoroughly.
Also, in BIOS, there should be a number of PCI-E options, including whether to default to the iGPU or not. Obviously after a BIOS update and disabling the UEFI options, fiddle with those.

 

[ne6togadno]

try with another hdmi cable