odd compatibility issue (Graphics Card + Motherboard)

[Argyr]

Hello,
I recently sold my perfectly functional good old MSI GTX 750 Ti to a person and after a few days he called me that it's producing a black screen with no POST.

The card worked perfectly fine in his fathers (older) PC, so it's not the card. The buyer is hinting at a possible buyback which I absolutely don't want to happen.

What could be the reason behind a perfectly functional card refusing to work in his setup? He did a clean install of windows during troubleshooting, to no avail.

motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3
CPU: FX-6100
RAM: 8Gb DDR3 1600
PSU: Chieftec 500w (smart)

his dad has an even older setup and the card is working fine there. They also tried removing CMOS battery to no avail.

Any advice would be highly appreciated, thanks!

 

[Jetster]

VGA cable plugged into the wrong D-sub port

 

[Argyr]

VGA cable plugged into the wrong D-sub port

you mean the classic iGPU mistake? The father and son duo are not exactly masterful PC builders, but they know things like CMOS battery so I don't think its that.

Really weird guy he was jabbering about some sort of error message and "freeze" issue before POST, this would mean that the cabling is OK
thanks for your response!

 

[Massdeth]

It could be a few things but if the error isnt following the card to the other pc then yeah its user error/settings issue. Error before psot boot could be a bent cpu pin or bad voltage setup in the bios for ram and cpu and its throwing errors. Without specific parts its very hard to tell ya more. Have them Isopropyl alcohol clean the gold fingers on the card, gently cause they do get tarnished and collect films.This is why after awhile a pull out and reinsert a couple times scratches them up enough to make the contact it needs. Make sure they are catching the pci-e lock on the slot with the cards catch, that way you know the seating is proper. What psu, and how old/used and abused is it, are they using in the problem rig and does it have the specs to run this card? 750ti is probably 150 watt max card rite? Then when that cleared up clear cmos so the rig must look for and setup for all the hardware again, that way its not referencing any old configs. Although, they will have to set there bios parameters up again, but the auto boot config is enough to make the card work and get you off the hook. Let us know what happens.

 

[Argyr]

It could be a few things but if the error isnt following the card to the other pc then yeah its user error/settings issue. Error before psot boot could be a bent cpu pin or bad voltage setup in the bios for ram and cpu and its throwing errors. Without specific parts its very hard to tell ya more. Have them Isopropyl alcohol clean the gold fingers on the card, gently cause they do get tarnished and collect films.This is why after awhile a pull out and reinsert a couple times scratches them up enough to make the contact it needs. Make sure they are catching the pci-e lock on the slot with the cards catch, that way you know the seating is proper. What psu, and how old/used and abused is it, are they using in the problem rig and does it have the specs to run this card? 750ti is probably 150 watt max card rite? Then when that cleared up clear cmos so the rig must look for and setup for all the hardware again, that way its not referencing any old configs. Although, they will have to set there bios parameters up again, but the auto boot config is enough to make the card work and get you off the hook. Let us know what happens.

I forgot to mention that he is upgrading from some HD44xx AMD card, which is working perfectly fine in his rig, so I guess the slot is working properly. The PSU too is working fine with the old card. I inserted-reinserted the card maybe 4 times during its 6 years, I don't know how many times they inserted it, but the gold fingers shouldn't scratch that bad after a less than dozen reinserts, but I may be wrong.

I will forward this info to the buyer, thank you very much

 

[rtwjunkie]

I forgot to mention that he is upgrading from some HD44xx AMD card, which is working perfectly fine in his rig, so I guess the slot is working properly. The PSU too is working fine with the old card. I inserted-reinserted the card maybe 4 times during its 6 years, I don't know how many times they inserted it, but the gold fingers shouldn't scratch that bad after a less than dozen reinserts, but I may be wrong.

I will forward this info to the buyer, thank you very much

Ooof. Did he uninstall the AMD drivers first? I’ve encountered strange behavior like this with these steps (not uninstalling AMD before NVIDIA) myself several times on older systems.

 

[Argyr]

Ooof. Did he uninstall the AMD drivers first?

Of course not. When he called me this was the first thing I asked him to do.
The card didn't work in neither of their PC's, but after I told him to uninstall the damn drivers first, the card started working in his dad's rig. So they didn't brick the card. But it still doesn't work in his PC (where they did a complete Windows reinstall after I told them to remove AMD drivers)

 

[aQi]

Update the bios of the motherboard first (must)

check for power issues with the system maybe that needs to be addressed.

 

[Massdeth]

Of course not. When he called me this was the first thing I asked him to do.
The card didn't work in neither of their PC's, but after I told him to uninstall the damn drivers first, the card started working in his dad's rig. So they didn't brick the card. But it still doesn't work in his PC (where they did a complete Windows reinstall after I told them to remove AMD drivers)

Ok, well tbh, your off the hook really. The card works when installed correctly in a system, whos system isnt really your concern. If you want to be nice and help them get the card working in another computer then thats great but dont feel like you have done anything wrong here. These type people are why we have pro component trouble shooters and pc shops. Reinstalling windows etc.... is not really necessary, now they got to be stuck doing updates,having apps forced on them,got to rework all the power settings in windows, app settings, and a million other setups etc... while trying to shutdown all the windows telemetry from taking over your machine, dont forget to uninstall geforce expierence or it will ruin your setups, etc... If you dont know what your doing it can be easily borked with one setting or app. DO NOT update any bios on any machine or card when they are unstable or malfunctioning or you WILL brick them. Plus these guys dont sound like they should be touching bios updates anyway, they get impatient and it stays on a screen too long they may reset the pc and brick it that way too.

 

[Argyr]

Ok, well tbh, your off the hook really. The card works when installed correctly in a system, whos system isnt really your concern. If you want to be nice and help them get the card working in another computer then thats great but dont feel like you have done anything wrong here. These type people are why we have pro component trouble shooters and pc shops. Reinstalling windows etc.... is not really necessary, now they got to be stuck doing updates,having apps forced on them,got to rework all the power settings in windows, app settings, and a million other setups etc... while trying to shutdown all the windows telemetry from taking over your machine, dont forget to uninstall geforce expierence or it will ruin your setups, etc... If you dont know what your doing it can be easily borked with one setting or app. DO NOT update any bios on any machine or card when they are unstable or malfunctioning or you WILL brick them. Plus these guys dont sound like they should be touching bios updates anyway, they get impatient and it stays on a screen too long they may reset the pc and brick it that way too.

And I sent him a link to DDU and a short guide on how to do it properly in safe mode and they went ahead and reinstalled windows.
I'm trying to help them because I don't want to be an asshole and he knows where I live, but no way am I taking back that card.

I should have waited 20 years and sell the card to collectors instead Mint box, no missing accessories and generally well kept card. I really loved that poor card, took good care of it and it ended up in an abusive home

Anyway, thanks for your input!

 

[Bill_Bright]

PSU: Chieftec 500w (smart)

I certainly would try a different PSU. The fact it works with a different card is not proof it is not the problem. When troubleshooting electronics, ensuring you are supplying good, clean and stable power is always a first step.

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

Chieftec Smart is a passable offering made of entry-level CWT platform, not a stellar PSU by any means, but not ticking time bomb either.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Chieftec Smart is a passable offering made of entry-level CWT platform, not a stellar PSU by any means, but not ticking time bomb either.

I didn't say anything about the brand or model of the PSU. Until Man can create perfection 100% of time, even the most reliable model from the most reputable maker can occasionally have a unit that fails to meet specs, or fails prematurely.

So my advice remains,

When troubleshooting electronics, ensuring you are supplying good, clean and stable power is always a first step.

The OP needs to swap in another, known good supply to see if the problem remains, or goes away.

 

[Argyr]

I certainly would try a different PSU. The fact it works with a different card is not proof it is not the problem. When troubleshooting electronics, ensuring you are supplying good, clean and stable power is always a first step.

I didn't say anything about the brand or model of the PSU. Until Man can create perfection 100% of time, even the most reliable model from the most reputable maker can occasionally have a unit that fails to meet specs, or fails prematurely.

So my advice remains, The OP needs to swap in another, known good supply to see if the problem remains, or goes away.

Would have never thought that a PSU works fine with one low-end videocard while doesn't with another. Totally fits into the mysterious, often supernatural nature of PC hardware trouble

Thanks, will forward this to the buyer

 

[Bill_Bright]

Would have never thought that a PSU works fine with one low-end videocard while doesn't with another.

No two cards, even if the exact same model number are identical. And remember, no two power supplies are either. The ATX standard allows for ±5% tolerances in the voltages. This means one supply can output 11.4VAC on the 12V rail and another supply output 12.6 on its 12V rail and both supplies would be considered compliant with the industry standard. But that does not mean the attached devices are that tolerant - even if they are supposed to be.

Plus, other anomalies affect component stability. Insufficient ripple suppression, for example, by the PSU (either by poor design or faulty component) can certainly affect a component too.

Totally fits into the mysterious, often supernatural nature of PC hardware trouble

It applies to "all" electronics and definitely is not limited to PC hardware. In fact, back in my military radio maintenance days, we used to call it "FM". But that was not for "frequency modulation" but for a certain type of magic!

Still, standard electronics (not just computers) troubleshooting starts at the wall. Is it plugged in? Is it turned on? Is the supplied power good, clean and stable?