5870 problem [POSSIBLY SOLVED]

[Jay85]

I THINK I MAY HAVE SOLVED IT!

Okay so reading from my other thread i did those tests and i got results finally! My computer does post by the way, i can hear it logging into windows everytime, was just not getting display so i can safely say my computer is posting but with no display from monitor.


It's good news and bad news i suppose but i could also do with some more advice on this matter with anyone thats good with Memory?


So this is what i did:

a) I uninstalled my old graphics drivers for the 5670 and then uninstalled the 4200 onboard vga via device manager and rebooted.

b) Back into windows again and ran drive cleaner and wiped all ATI drivers from my computer period!

c) Okay so powered off, reset CMOS via jumper and cleared everything system dates and anything that was there is cleared.

d) Installed my 5870 and booted up but still nothing on screen! Damn!

e) Okay time for a ram check, took out 4 gigs of ram from A1 and A2 slots and fired her up! Still nothing! So tried again and WOLLAH! it booted up with normal fan speed, it didn't even go full speed it just stabilised straight away! Installed drivers by itself via the web and then asked me to reboot.

f) So i rebooted, and omg nothing again the fan just screams at me! So by now im thinking what the hell is going on here. Is it the RAM or is it my CORSAIR power supply? Because i can safely say my motherboard is fine and its between the RAM and PSU now.

g) So finaly test, i took out my cheapo 750W Evo labs crap psu and hooked everything up using the molex to 6 pin connectors cos this doesn't have enough 6 pins, all plugged in and ready to go. Fired her up AND OMG IT POSTS AND I GET DISPLAY AND EVERYTHING!! baring in mind i still only have 4 gigs or 2 sticks of ram in here. I thought to cancel any chances or coincidences i rebooted 3 times and all 3 times it displayed perfectly! But the psu was whining and squealing abit. The psu was probably barely pumping out 450w hence the whining and struggling?

h) So to try and eliminate the fact that it could be my ram i stuck in all 4 sticks of ram i.e. 8 gigs and fired her up and nothing, the fan just spins at full kick but my computer is still posting, just no display from the 5870 cos i can hear the windows log in sound.

i) Took 2 gigs out or 1 stick and fired her up again and it seems to be going okay for about 3 seconds because the fan is spinning at normal speeds but then after 3 seconds its like its given up and the fan goes to max speed with no display again. Took out 4 gigs of ram and left 4 gigs in and it runs no probs but like i said psu is squealing and whining abit.



CONCLUSION:

Is it true that this card the 5870 only runs with 4 gigs of ram? But if so why would the 5870 try and post at normal fan speeds but then give up half way? This points to not enough power being provided by the psu hence trying to power up but then unable to and the fan hitting max speed.

If its not the memory then it has to be the psu, i have 7 years warranty on this corair unit and it is modular so which leads me to believe that even though the 24 pin and 4 pin motherboard connectors are working aswel as the 4 pin peripheral connectors are working doesn't mean there is sufficient power being delivered to the 2 x 6 pin connectors.



If you was in my situation now, what would you do? RMA the psu to corsair and ask them to check it out? Get another psu and hope it works with the new psu although im not sure what to get now if i do take this route. Or leave it down to the memory configurations that it just won't post with 8 gigs or 6 gigs and only on 4 gigs?

I have to ask though, how much wattage does memory actually take? And has anyone else ever experienced this sort of problem?


Thank you for reading and i hope this helps other people out, i just wish i did more research before i made my purchase.

Jay

 

[Jay85]

I forgot to mention that i disabled onboard VGA via the bios from UMA to disabled. Not sure if that did any good.

Memory buffer is still set to above 4G's though. I have the option to set it to below 4G's... i dont actually know what that means though.

 

[Jay85]

Im not comfortable with using the paperclip thing on the 24 pin, so i dont think i could go through with doing that.

The cheap psu seems to power the card everytime though without a problem, yes it squeals abit but non the less it powers it 4 gigs of ram in. If i put another stick of ram in, then it "attempts" to power the card but then fails and the 5870 fan just spins at max BUT the computer still posts because i can hear the windows log in sound.

 

[Jay85]

And just incase anyone thinks i didn't do the test, i took pictures as proof. I know you guys are sick of hearing about this but though i'd show you what i did with the cheapo psu.


All wired up with 4 gigs of ram in

Windows start up logo with display:

And im in! drivers installed automatically by windows 7:

 

[Jay85]

Yup, sounds like your PSU is really struggling. Squealing is not a good sign! If that goes bang it can quite easily take out a number of other components.

I'd dump that no-name effort and grab a decent brand PSU. A 600W corsair would be more than ample.

Hey mark don't forget i had the corsair 650 modular in before i tested with the cheapo psu and the corsair wouldn't even power the card. It did power once when i first removed 4 gigs or ram or 2 sticks but then after rebooting it did nothing again. It's pointing more and more to the corsair psu being faulty.

 

[Jay85]

yep, id just try to get another corsair if i were you wouldnt hurt to go for a 750 or 850 to be future proof

Might go for the 850 just incase . It's just weird how the corsair right now is powering my rig but as soon as i plug in the pci power connectors to the card it's like its not giving enough power through the cables. Could it be possible that i have faulty cables or pci slots on my psu so its not providing the maximum amount of power?

Could it be your bios needing update I had a problem with my 5770 with my asrock p45 mob all posts but no monitor

Dismiss my rambling didn't look @ the picture close enough lol

I updated my bios already, its the latest at the moment 2201 with the Asus M4A785T-M.

Ah right, I get what you've done now.

In that case yup, the Corsair looks faulty. Time to get an RMA request in

RMA time then i guess! Least i'll get a brand new one if indeed the psu is faulty. OR i could just send this psu to another forum member whos willing to give it a bash and see if the psu will work with their graphics cards that use 2 x 6 pins.

 

[Jay85]

Have you tried using the Corsair, but doing what you've done with the el-cheepo, i.e. using the molex adaptors.

Would give you an indication as to whether it is the PCI-E Power connectors that are dodgy, or the entire PSU.

You could also try combo's in case it's just one of the PCI-E cables that is dodgy.

I tried with the molex adapters on the corsair and that was still a no go, the fan on the 5870 would just power up and scream but i think my computer at that time would still post, just nothing on display because it seems like the card isn't getting enough power.

I tried combo's aswel with both the molex to 6 pin and 6 pin pci but still no go for it. It works fine though when i use my el cheapo psu, just not the corsair.

 

[Jay85]

Well i rang the place where i got it from s**n and they confidently told me to bring in the psu along with the receipts etc and they will test it on the spot and if it is faulty they will replace it free of charge under warranty.

Fingers crossed.

 

[Jay85]

Worth a try, I just got my 5870 and it was screaming at me when i put power to it, so i cahnged my PCI-E and now its fine

Changed cables you mean? Thats the thing though, i tried powering it with the molex to 6pin adapters but the fan still screams at me.

Starting to think that the whole psu is borked but its still maintaining to run my low powered rig at minimal but just not when you stick a great big graphics card to it.

 

[Jay85]

also download CCC from ATI and run those. not the ones Win7 gives you to download.

then get a new PSU and RAM and away you go

I'll do one thing at a time, psu first and if thats a no go then that leaves the RAM so i'll get that replaced.

good to hear i hope you get it sorted because i know how frustrating it is to have a problem like this

It's a nightmare, think i've grown some white hairs.

 

[Jay85]

I have noticed my psu running fairly hot though even at idle now. I can feel the heat and the fan isn't spinning up to compensate.

 

[Jay85]

Right to elimate for things I tried firing up the 5870 with my corsair again and out of 6 tries it managed todisplay twice! Now this is using the molex to 6 pin comnectors and so far the pci 6pins have managed to fire it up twice and so has the molex to 6 pin. BUT as soon as I reboot, there is no display again. Its asif there is not enough power being delivered quick enough. On my cheapo psu that I tried it firedup everytime without fail. Also the card will only fire up if I turn it off at the mains and wait for the mobo light to dissappear. Switch it back on and it sometimes fires up though not always

 

[Jay85]

And btw this was booted up with the full 8 gigs of ram.

Motherboard has the latest bios update already so that can't be it.

 

[Jay85]

Was it your psu or card at fault?

 

[Jay85]

Guys my computer is posting, its not like its not getting past the post stage. It's just like it seems there isnt enough power going around to the graphics card.

I have the 5870 booted up right now and running with the corsair but as soon as i reboot it will have no display again! I have to turn off the power and wait for the mother board light to go out and wait about 2-3 mins then power back on and wollah we have display again. Surely its a power thing and not memory timings?


I changed my DRAM and memory clock settings, it was set to Manual by default at 400mhz?? so i set it to Auto and left the voltages alone because i've done no research with that as of yet.


The RAM i am using is Crucial Ram 1333hz. Not sure what serial number etc as i need to take one out to find out.

What i dont get is, if i use my cheapo psu and not my corsair it will fire up everytime with 4 gigs of ram but if i add another 2 gigs it struggles to power up then gives up. If i have 8 gigs of ram in it doesnt fire up the display at all and just sets the graphics fan to max as in no power sorta thing.

Any ideas?

 

[Jay85]

oh and is set my PCIe speed to 101 and it did nothing either, changing the memory DRAM from 400mhz to auto did nothing either. I have yet to change the memory voltage.

 

[Jay85]

I am running crysis right now on enthusiast with full AA x8 at 50fps! amazing! Everything is running fine but like i said as soon as i reboot it will have no display and graphics fan will spin at full. The computer will post and load windows though, just no display.

Starting to think it might be memory voltage... currently set to auto or 1.5v by default.

Upload pictures soon...

 

[Jay85]

Hope this helps...


BTW i'd like to thank everyone who has helped me with this since day 1. I greatly appreciate it, beers on me if i ever meet you guys.

 

[Jay85]

Hi vince, i have flashed my bios to the latest 2201 and it hasn't resolved the matter at all.

I did another little test tonight, i figured that my corsair psu would only run the graphics card if i turn off the power supply and pull out the cord wait about 3-5 mins and wait for motherboard light to go out then replug the power cord to the psu and turn it on and it will power the 5870. Sometimes the fan spins up fast then slows down, sometimes it just spins up to idle speeds and stays that way throughout until i start playing crysis or something.

I also tried this exact same method with my PCI 6 pin cables and i got no display on post, the fans just spin at max BUT my computer is still posting and logging into windows like usual, its just i can't see it because of no display but i can hear the windows sound.


What does this tell me?


If my board is undervolting then surely it wouldn't post and go into windows even if the graphics card isn't displaying?


Finally, what should i up my crucial ram to? You're stating 2.2v for you ddr2 so should i try 2.1v? Do i do this via bios and setting the overvoltage to 2.1v?

 

[Jay85]

Dont have a different dvi cable to test with but i have tested both ports. Can't use the hdmi ports because the monitor has no hdmi in.

I have tested with a cheaper Evo labs 750W power supply and that fires up the card everytime without fail, but the power supply does whine and squeal a lil bit as though it is struggling to deliver the power.

What does that say?