First build in years / problems

embers

embers

embers

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Joined
5 Jul 2005
Posts
31
Location
London
Hey guys, I built my pc today and it was running fine, temps were fine and had no problems for 2 or 3 hours. But that all changed when I updated the bios to the latest version and had windows updates waiting to be installed via restart. I restart and I get BSOD......so I thought it was either the bios update or windows update causing it so I try to restore windows, restart and I've got crazy graphics corruption/screen flickering. Restart and my computer turns on but no signal on my screen. Tried the IGP eventually after formatting windows and it works again but whenever I put my graphics card in, black screen/no signal. Any ideas? I tried DVI/VGA and HDMI and still the same.

Things I've learnt whilst building this pc: Windows Repair still sucks, ASUS bios' sucks cause I cant downgrade to previous versions so I have no way of knowing if its the graphics card that's died or just a bad bios update.

Specs:

Goods Shipped:
£94.99 x 1 - IIyama Prolite E2273HDS 22" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black
£70.79 x 1 - MSI HD 6850 "Dual Fan Edition" 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
£47.49 x 1 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gbs 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002)
£46.66 x 1 - Intel Pentium G840 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail
£34.00 x 1 - Asus P8H61-M LEUSB3 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 MicroATX Motherboard
£26.66 x 1 - OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply
£24.99 x 1 - Xigmatek Asgard II Midi Tower Case - Black
£24.99 x 1 - OcUK Value 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Low-Voltage Dual Channel Kit
£12.49 x 1 - Samsung SH-S222BBBEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£5.82 x 1 - OcUK Value 150Mbps Wireless-N USB Adapter
£4.16 x 1 - OcUK USB Keyboard - Black
£0.00 x 1 - MSI Grenade Screwdriver Set

Hope this makes sense, tiredness getting to me :o THanks
 
freddie64 said:
Did you clear CMOS and load optimised defaults after you updated bios?

Was there any reason to update bios?
Click to expand...

The only reason being is that it said it would improve system stability and performance. :o Don't fix what ain't broken eh?

I tried clearing cmos and had the bios battery removed for 5 mins but still get the same no signal ****.

I don't have another pc to test if its the graphics card that's busted but its running now using IGP and I'm still using the latest Asus bios and I have just finished updating windows.

Don't know what to do now. Should I RMA the graphics card?
 
Are all cables plugs and everything properly inserted. Obvious I know but the amount of problems i've fixed for people just by pushing the plug in properly...
 
mp260767 said:
is the power connection fitted solid in the gfx card, and is it seated properly ?
Click to expand...

I just checked and the plastic clips that hold the graphics card in place (tool-less design) aren't holding the graphics card in place properly, it looks to me like the plastic clips aren't strong enough to hold this card in place.

There doesn't seem to be a way to take off these clips without breaking them though. Tempted to just break them off and put a screw in. MAybe I should have got the 6850 single fan gfx card cause the dual fans + heatsink on this one seem too heavy for the card as it's not sitting completely straight in the motherboard, although its somewhat secure, just doesn't look right. Anyone had experience with my case/gfx card combo?


EDIT:Nvm just unscrewed the back plate of the clips.........So I put 2 screws in and it was more secure but still getting no signal to monitor.
 
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if you have the space put the case on its side so the gfx card is sitting vertical rather than horizontal and see if that helps matters.

if that works , could always use cable ties/screws etc to support the card, not a neat way to do things but if it works......
 
mp260767 said:
if you have the space put the case on its side so the gfx card is sitting vertical rather than horizontal and see if that helps matters.

if that works , could always use cable ties/screws etc to support the card, not a neat way to do things but if it works......
Click to expand...

I turned the case round so the gfx card was vertical and its the same. Although the card is much more secure now with the screws rather than the clips. I think the damage is done and will have to RMA cause I've tried mostly everything. This was my first build in awhile and I wasn't completely confident with building it (took me hours) and have no spare components to test with, but my reasonings being: no signal to graphics card, had graphics corruption/flickering in windows. This would point to a damaged gfx card?

I got this build yesterday from ocuk, how do I go about sending the graphics card back? I've never RMA'd computer stuff.

GFX: MSI HD 6850 "Dual Fan Edition" 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
 
get in touch with the shop, think they still use the webnote system, they'll provide an RMA number, which will need to be displayed on the outside packaging when you send it back.

make sure you package it well/safely and remember to use recorded/special delivery so you have names , time, date of when its delivered.
 
mp260767 said:
get in touch with the shop, think they still use the webnote system, they'll provide an RMA number, which will need to be displayed on the outside packaging when you send it back.

make sure you package it well/safely and remember to use recorded/special delivery so you have names , time, date of when its delivered.
Click to expand...

Cheers will do. I'm getting 1 short beep at post but no signal from the 6850 and I read somewhere that this means that the post is successful although I'm not entirely sure what that means.
 
far as i'm aware that means its not detected any issues as it tries to start up, in your case its saying it can see the gfx card and hasnt picked up a problem with it being recognised.
 
on my bios its in Advanced - northbridge config
option for the primary graphics adaptor with 3 settings 1 onboard 2 pci-express 3 pci
set it @ pci- express and save and exit (dont forget to change monitor to the card)
 
freddie64 said:
In bios, go to

Advanced - System Agent Configuration - Initiate Graphic Adapter [PEG/iGPU].

Make sure [PEG/iGPU] is selected.
Click to expand...

I did that and there are some similar settings where I changed the graphics to pci-express but it doesn't save the settings and reverts back to auto. I also found out that whilst having the 6850 in I can actually boot into Windows but still get no signal.
 
embers said:
I did that and there are some similar settings where I changed the graphics to pci-express but it doesn't save the settings and reverts back to auto. I also found out that whilst having the 6850 in I can actually boot into Windows but still get no signal.
Click to expand...

I'm still attempting to fix this cause I'm not sure if my gfx card is actually dead. I can boot into windows with my graphics card connected and can get a signal if I connect through vga straight into the motherboard. I managed to install the latest ATI drivers and my 6850 shows up in device manager but when I try to connect via vga/dvi to the graphics card I'm getting no signal. Could this mean the gfx card is broke, or faulty pci-e slot? I have no idea...anyone?


edit: I selected igpu as primary display in the bios to be able to have the gfx card connected and get into windows. I tried setting to PCI-e and still get no signal.
 
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I tried reseating the heatsink on the gfx card just to see what would happen and it actually has a signal now, although...

img00391d.jpg


Same corruption from what I had before and now it stays on a black screen after the windows logo screen. Does this mean that it's definitely the gfx card that is faulty?
 
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