Video Card - What To Buy?

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Kalah
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Re:

Unread postby Kalah » 27 Feb 2016, 11:47

Pol wrote:You don't need installation CD, just look here for drivers.
Doesn't work. The system does not know there is a video card in the slot.
Pol wrote:What do you have as an output from your monitor?
Standard VGA cable connected to the card via plug adapter.
Pol wrote:Sometimes, rarely, you need to go to your motherboard bios and allow the card from here. In bios setup there is choice like gpu: 'use onboard|use PCI|auto detect'
Will try that now - it does seem that the system does not register that I have placed a new card in the slot. Trying to change Primary Graphics Adapter to VGI instead of PCI express.
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Pol » 27 Feb 2016, 12:46

Magic with BIOS is easy. You may either switch to PCI express, reboot, on the motherboard (if you have it), again switch to PCI express and again reboot. Or just save bios settings, reset it (battery out, cmos pins disarche, with knife, just connect them), load the settings back.

I assume that you have just this one in PC, the old one is out?
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Kalah » 27 Feb 2016, 13:11

I switched slots; the new video card now is in the PCIe3 slot rather than the PCIe2 slot (which is where the old one was located). Still no change; the PC simply does not realize that there is a card there. I'm looking in the UEFI now, and the "system browser" says the card slot on the motherboard is empty. It just doesn't know there's a card there.
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Pol » 28 Feb 2016, 08:49

Proceed with bios reset then. Also (before) ensure yourself that card is well seated, plug it out and in. Sure it should be in PCIEx3 slot and the old one must be out.

http://www.wikihow.com/Reset-Your-BIOS

Method #3, you may not have three pins and jumper but only two pins, the principle is the same. Check your MB manual.

Don't forget to backup your bios settings before, VGA option should be chosen auto.
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Kalah » 28 Feb 2016, 12:19

OK, I'll try that. I don't normally have access to BIOS, only advanced options; I have Win10 with a UEFI mobo:
If you are using Windows 8 with a UEFI motherboard, you may not have access to a traditional BIOS screen and instead will need to use the Advanced Boot menu.
I'll try using the menus to reset to factory settings from within the UEFI.
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Pol » 28 Feb 2016, 12:30

Well, you don't need to reset bios just the cmos jumper on motherboard (when battery is removed).

But it could be simpler to try it just with re-setting bios before and saving/restoring the configuration.
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Kalah » 28 Feb 2016, 12:58

Tried removing the battery, that didn't work. Trying to find the jumper now.

The guide doesn't say I should remove the CMOS battery before moving the jumper... do I move the jumper and leave the battery in?
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Pol » 28 Feb 2016, 13:02

You need to do both. Because CMOS will forget its settings only if battery is out, and remaining energy is discharged over pins. (Or you would need to wait, unknown to me how, much longer. )

Edit1
I checked the linked guide and they use more complicated approach. This is not necessary.

FIRST - When in Windows uninstall existing graphic driver, in some cases it's necessary to use cleaner.
1 - Go to bios, switch to Primary Graphics Adapter: Auto select
2 - Save bios settings and export them on usb or hdd C:/ (usually possible but not all boards support that facility)
3 - Switch off computer, locate switch on PSU and switch it off.
4 - Open case, remove battery, discharge by connecting required pins (check manual which are the right one, often there's jumper) How long to discharge? 5-10sec
5 - Return battery, switch on PSU, switch on PC, when booting up go to bios and load saved settings, afterward it will autorestart. In this moment you should have just one card in the computer, connected to monitor. If you see the bios it's working. If not you are troubled.
6 - Install new driver from Windows.
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Kalah » 28 Feb 2016, 13:12

OK, so I reset the BIOS using the methods above.

The GPU is still not detected. :cry:
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Pol » 28 Feb 2016, 13:24

See update above.

After you swapped your cards, do you see pc booting up, can you access bios? If so, you are using new card and it's OK on this level.
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Kalah » 28 Feb 2016, 13:36

There is no "auto select". When entering the ASRock UEFI setup utility to set "Primary Graphics Adapter", I can choose between "onboard", "PCI Express" and "PCI".

Should I delete the whole NVIDIA folder from C: ?
Pol wrote:After you swapped your cards, do you see pc booting up, can you access bios? If so, you are using new card and it's OK on this level.
The PC seems to be running on the motherboard's internal graphics: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600. I guess it's defaulting to that when it can't find a card in the PCIe slots. This is why I can use the PC, just not with the new card.
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Pol » 28 Feb 2016, 14:05

Choose "PCI Express"

Should I delete the whole NVIDIA folder from C: ?

Nope, there will be uninstaller. Control Panels > Add/Remove programs, search for Nvidia. There will be installer and if you will click to run in, it will ask you if you wish to uninstall.

Or this:
http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/dis ... nload.html

But such solutiont is usually not necessary.
Kalah wrote:The PC seems to be running on the motherboard's internal graphics: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600. I guess it's defaulting to that when it can't find a card in the PCIe slots. This is why I can use the PC, just not with the new card.
This is strange.

Your monitor should be connected to output from the new card only. In fact visibly. I assume that you have some VGA-DVI-I reduction (in box)?

If not you will need one.

You can't connect vga cable to vga connector on PC which is not part of a new cards. Because in that case you are using only the integrated Intel VGA.
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Kalah » 28 Feb 2016, 14:14

Pol wrote:Your monitor should be connected to output from the new card only. In fact visibly. I assume that you have some VGA-DVI-I reduction (in box)?
Yes, there was an adapter in the box with the new video card. I connect it to the new card, and connect this card to the monitor via VGA cable. The result is black screen. Cannot enter BIOS or do anything because there is no picture to see what I'm doing. The only way to get a picture on the screen (which I need to see what I'm doing when entering BIOS), is to move the VGA cable away from the new card and connect it to the onboard VGA.

But this is all secondary. The problem cannot be the cable, since the UEFI tells me there is not even a card in the PCIe slot.
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Kalah » 28 Feb 2016, 14:43

OK, maybe this could be the solution ... that the video card is not getting enough power...? I checked this topic and they say that both the 6-pin and the 8-pin power plugs should be connected. I have only the 8-pin connected, since there was only one cable; I don't have another one.
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Pol » 28 Feb 2016, 16:22

That could be, in that case you will need an adapter.

There exists also V adaptor, so from 2x ATXV12 connectors to one 6 pin.

Apparently this MSI vs that EVGA are different in power connectors. EVGA have 2x6pin, with power adapters included. As for MSI is evidently not the same.
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Kalah » 28 Feb 2016, 16:57

Yeah, that's why I was confused. The GPU arrived with a DVI/VGA adapter and a power cable (6-pin to 8-pin) adapter included, but no extra power cables .Nor did the web shop say anything about needing an extra cable. Since my old card required only a single power cable, I assumed this one did too.

One problem is that my power supply doesn't have any free slots, so I'll have to take power from one of the cables already in use. Meaning I'll have to buy one of these puppies, connect it to the PSU and have that same cable power both 1/2 of the GPU and something else I'll try to buy quality so there isn't too much power going through the cable, to reduce the chance of overheating. I'm not sure drawing all the GPU's power through a single cable is a good idea.

I really hope this solves it, but even if it does, I guess it's time to think about buying a new power supply too... I'll put it on my "future to-buy" list.
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Pol » 28 Feb 2016, 19:18

If you have one rail, then it doesn't matter, from what cable you are drawing it.

If you have two rails, then use V and connect it to both rails.

So you can do that ugly thing with your clear conscience.

Rails. :-D
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Kalah » 01 Mar 2016, 11:34

Well this sucks .... I bought a cable to see if the power thing is the problem, but the cable doesn't fit. Niiice ... :disagree:
I ordered a different cable (molex to PCIe) to see if that works any better.
The integrated GUP is pretty good, though, it runs The Witcher without difficulty (and W2 with slight problems).
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Kalah » 03 Mar 2016, 15:27

OK, the new power cable arrived today, so I finally got the card to work. :applause: It is now running with 2 power cables; one dedicated directly from the PSU and one cable it shares with the DVD-drive. That will work quite well, I think, because I haredly ever use the drive and certainly not while I'm running a game at full tilt.
Here's the procedure:
  • Set onboard GPU as standard in BIOS (UEFI). Connect VGA cable to onboard card, not the new card.
    Install card in chassis, connect both 6-pin and 8-pin power connections.
    Use CD-ROM to install driver (this time, there was no hiccups; it found the driver right away).
    Restart PC and enter BIOS (UEFI). Set PCI-E as standard GPU. Reboot and connect VGA cable to new card.
Now to test it ... :)
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Re: Video Card - What To Buy?

Unread postby Kalah » 06 Mar 2016, 16:19

It's working beauuutifully! :)

Incidentally, does anybody want my old card? It's outdated for the most new high-end games (like XCOM2), but it has served me well and manages most games quite nicely. It played Heroes VII OK and I had no problems running XCOM 1, the X series or The Witcher 1 on it.
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