GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 Video Issue - No Picture from discrete Graphics Card

[JJordan]

I finally have my computer together and running; And now running cool with a Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus cooler installed (dropped my temps from 80-90 degrress C under Prime 95 full load to 45 degrees, but I digress).

Here is my setup:
GABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 MB
Intel 2500k CPU
1 TB WD SATA III Hard Drive
Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory
OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W Modular Power Supply (OCZ500MXSP)
Random DVD-RW-DL
Running 5 Case Fans (3 on the case and 2 on the CPU Cooler)
HIS Raedon HD 5770 Video Card

As noted above, I finally got it running cool last night and went to add my video card to the system. I had been just using the onboard GPU through the HDMI connection until I could get the right CPU Cooler and get temps I thought were okay even without overclocking. I turned it off, added the card, connected the DVI connection to it (HDMI unpluged) and turned it on and - NOTHING on the video. Computer beeps, loads windows (you hear it load), is apparently running, but no video. Video Card has power as the fan was turning. It works in my old system. I turned it off, moved back to the built in HDMI connection - and now no video from it either. Shut down, took out the 5770 video card, turned it on and had picture. I went into BIOS and found a setting for selecting first GPU to boot and selected PCIe 16x. Put card back in. Again no picture. But then, to get back to any video with the built in GPU through the HDMI I had to reset the MB....

What am I doing wrong or missing on this board ?

 

[Puppies04]

Don't mean to offend you but I have to ask, are you 100% sure the card was fully into the pci-e slot? Just because the fans spin up doesn't mean it is fully inserted. Next thing I would try is a different slot on the mobo.

 

[Rvenger]

Same EXACT thing happened to my ASrock Z68 Extreme 3. It drove me nuts into thinking I had a bad card or PCIe slot. I even cleared the cmos and it didn't work!

I put the card into the 2nd PCI-E slot, then it booted. Switched back to the first slot and then it worked. Strange but that was my solution.

 

[JJordan]

Don't mean to offend you but I have to ask, are you 100% sure the card was fully into the pci-e slot? Just because the fans spin up doesn't mean it is fully inserted. Next thing I would try is a different slot on the mobo.

No Offense taken. I believe I pushed it in as far as it would go, but that is a good point. I will try again and see if I can better seat it in. Will Also try the x8 Slot.

 

[jellowiggler]

Also be sure to unplug your monitor from power. Sometimes displays need a reset too.

Also try hitting source button on the display to get to the dvi input.

 

[JJordan]

Have tried all above. Had to reset MB after trying card in x8 PCIe Slot. Updated BIOS from v6 to newest v8 just in case. No change. I think i will try pulling old PCIe card from another computer to try. I just wonder if there is someting in the BIOS I need to do or change.

 

[Rvenger]

Maybe a hard reset will do. Remove the CMOS battery for a day.

 

[scottsman]

Hey JJordan,

I have just put my computer together (no OS installed yet), with similar specs to yours:

Intel i5 2500k CPU
Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3R MB
Patriot Pyro 60GB SSD
8GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance RAM
Corsair TX750 V2 PSU
EVGA GTX 560Ti

I am having the same problem you are it seems. I am able to get a display from the onboard hdmi, but if i try to use the graphics card to power the monitor it doesn't pick up a signal.

I have also tried both pci-e slots, a couple monitors, both plugs on the graphics card, and also a second graphics card which was an ASUS GTX 295. All of these attempts failed to get any sort of display.

Because neither of the graphics cards worked it seems as though it would be a motherboard issue. Hopefully I didn't seat the graphics cards poorly 4 times I haven't had time to update the bios

I'm planning on swinging by the store I bought the parts at to see if they have any suggestions or if they will help debug/fix the problem. If I find out anything I'll pass it on.

 

[JJordan]

I submitted a support request to Gigabyte. Unfortunately I am a few days too late to return to NewEgg . Likewise if I hear anythng I will post it. Thanks. I will see abut a hard reset - - don't you (1) unplug (2) pull battery, (3) hold power on button in for a few seconds. And do you also short out the reset pins on the board ?

 

[alfa147x]

Force the bios to use the PCIE card card. Have you tried another card in it's place?

 

[Rvenger]

I submitted a support request to Gigabyte. Unfortunately I am a few days too late to return to NewEgg . Likewise if I hear anythng I will post it. Thanks. I will see abut a hard reset - - don't you (1) unplug (2) pull battery, (3) hold power on button in for a few seconds. And do you also short out the reset pins on the board ?

unplug the computer, pull the battery. let computer sit for 24 hours. then put battery back in, plug in and boot up.

 

[alfa147x]

unplug the computer, pull the battery. let computer sit for 24 hours. then put battery back in, plug in and boot up.

Don't need to wait 24 hours. That is super over-kill

 

[Rvenger]

Don't need to wait 24 hours. That is super over-kill

Call me crazy but it worked on an Asus mobo I had.

 

[mechBgon]

JJordan, a couple questions:

1. if you tried a different video card, how'd that go?

2. the card's auxiliary power is hooked up to your PSU, and it's on one of the red PCI-E power cables, plugged into the PSU's red jack, is that correct?

 

[scottsman]

I wen't back to the computer store and the only thing they suggested I could try would be to go into the bios and set the 'init display first' to 'pcie x16' and plug in the graphics card to that slot. Then ensure that the hdmi cable connected to the motherboard was disconnected.

This didn't work for me.

I also tried setting the 'Onboard VGA' setting to 'Enable if no ext PEG', which i believe should turn off the onboard graphics if there is a pci express graphics plugged in. I thought that this would indicate whether or not the motherboard is detecting the graphics card at all. On boot the I still didn't have an output from the graphics card and the onboard graphics was still working through the hdmi port. I guess that seems to indicate that the motherboard isn't seening my graphics card.

I think I'm goining to take it into the store tomorrow and see if they can deduce anything. But it just sounds like a dud motherboard to me at the moment.

 

[JJordan]

Scottsman: I also tried what you did last night but for me it caused the video card to display. I am not sure if it is a problem with the motherboard, or a video conflict, or what, but I got it working last night by making two changes in the BIOS after doing the full reset (pull the battery etc). As you note, under the Advanced Bios Features Tab there are two settings titled "Init Display First" and "Onboard VGA". I set the Init Display First to PCIE x16" and set the Onboard VGA to "Enable if no Ext PEG". I don't think you should have to change these settigns to make the external card work, but it is now working and of course onboard VGA is disabled. This is from the motherboard manual on these two settings:

Init Display First
Specifies the first initiation of the monitor display from the installed PCI graphics card or the PCI Express graphics card or the onboard graphics.
PCI Sets the PCI graphics card as the first display. (Default)
Onboard Sets the onboard graphics as the first display.
PCIE x16 Sets the PCI Express graphics card on the PCIEX16 slot as the first display.
PCIE x8 Sets the PCI Express graphics card on the PCIEX8 slot as the first display.
Onboard VGA
Enables or disables the onboard graphics function.
Auto
Always activates the onboard graphics, whether or not a PCI Express graphics card is installed.
If you wish to set up a dual-display configuration, set this item to Always Enable. (Default)
Enable If No Ext PEG
Activates the onboard graphics only when no PCI Express graphics card is installed.
Always Enable
Always activates the onboard graphics, whether or not a PCI Express graphics card is installed. If you wish to set up a dual-display configuration, set this item to Always Enable.

 

[Rvenger]

Scottsman: I also tried what you did last night but for me it caused the video card to display. I am not sure if it is a problem with the motherboard, or a video conflict, or what, but I got it working last night by making two changes in the BIOS after doing the full reset (pull the battery etc). As you note, under the Advanced Bios Features Tab there are two settings titled "Init Display First" and "Onboard VGA". I set the Init Display First to PCIE x16" and set the Onboard VGA to "Enable if not Ext PEG". I don't think you should have to change these settigns to make the external card work, but it is now working and of course onboard VGA is disabled. This is from the motherboard manual on these two settings:

Pulling the battery worked?

 

[JJordan]

No, changing the BIOS settings as above worked. Pulling battery reset it all but no video. After resetting and no video I changed BIOS settings and got video.

 

[Rvenger]

Glad you got it working.

 

[scottsman]

Hey, good news! it works!

I took my computer into the shop, explained the problem, and the first thing he thought it might be was a bent pin in the cpu socket. One of my pin's was bent and actually under another pin. I must have not put the cpu in straight down, or adjusted it slightly after seating it. He straightened the pin while reseting the bios. He hooked it up and the graphics card now displays. wooo!

Cheers JJordan for starting this post, and thank you everyone who commented I'm glad both of our computers are now working.

Cya