Graphics card install get a frozen BIOS screen

[spungos]

So I currently have this system: mobo: A75F-M2 (Micro ATX) CPU: AMD A8-3870K APU with integrated Radeon Graphics Ram: 8GB (2x4) DDR3 SSD: 500 GB Samsung PS: 400W OS: Win10 Pro 64bit BluRay CD drive

For everyday web browsing, word processing and the occasional CS:GO this system is fine. It's fast and it works. Only problem is, I've had an itch lately to play some newer games that need something a little more powerful in the GPU department. I went out the other day and splurged on a Zotac (ZT-P10510A-10L) GTX 1050 Ti (4GB) and plugged it into my PCIe slot. If you're not familiar with this card it does not have a power connector, it is supposed to power straight off the motherboard. Anyway, I get the card in, hook my monitor via HDMI cable straight to the new card and fire it up. The fan on the card spins, it displays the BIOS boot screen on my display, but it won't go past it to start windows. If you hit F2 or Delete to go into BIOS it starts loading but never goes into the BIOS menu. If I take the card out and boot everything works fine. This motherboard is from 2011/2012 timeframe and ECS has not released a BIOS update since 2012 so flashing a new version has not fixed the issue. Any advice on my next step would be much appreciated. I know that buying a new mobo and CPU may end up being my best option but I would like to avoid if at all possible because it would require a new RAM purchase and I'm already annoyed at paying inflated prices for this GPU.

 

[Barty1884]

It sounds like you're ok until you go to enter Windows, at which point drivers are loading.

I'd expect at least part of the problem to stem from the fact your have an AMD Graphics driver installed (for the onboard A8) and Windows detects an Nvidia GPU.

I'm not 100% sure if you can remove *only* the GPU driver portion for the A8, but if it's possible, DDU should help you do this.
http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

The "400W" Samsung PSU may or may not be sufficient - just because it says 400W, doesn't mean it can truly do this.
Also, OEM boards do not always implement the full 75W through the PCIe slot.... so there's a slim chance that that's the problem.

Can you post either the model number/spec of the PSU, or a picture of it?

 

[spungos]

It sounds like you're ok until you go to enter Windows, at which point drivers are loading.

I'd expect at least part of the problem to stem from the fact your have an AMD Graphics driver installed (for the onboard A8) and Windows detects an Nvidia GPU.

I'm not 100% sure if you can remove *only* the GPU driver portion for the A8, but if it's possible, DDU should help you do this.
http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

The "400W" Samsung PSU may or may not be sufficient - just because it says 400W, doesn't mean it can truly do this.
Also, OEM boards do not always implement the full 75W through the PCIe slot.... so there's a slim chance that that's the problem.

Can you post either the model number/spec of the PSU, or a picture of it?

I wouldn't say it's ok until it enters Windows, it seems like it doesn't even get past the BIOS screen. I get the initial American Megathreads screen and that's where it freezes.

Also, I'm sorry, I built this system a while ago. The power supply is actually an Antec NSK2480 380W power supply. I had the same thought about not having enough power available so I unplugged my CD drive and another HDD I had running to free up some Ws but I'm having the same issue. I've also run a power supply calculator for the components I have and it's coming up with about 200-250 W required, so I think the 380W rated supply I have should be enough.

I did consider that the motherboard is not able to supply 75W through the PCIe slot, but I'm not familiar enough with the board's capabilities to say that for sure. When I bought the card I ran it through the PC Parts picker compatibility guide and it said it was compatible.

I will try to uninstall the AMD drivers for the APU (integrated graphics) and see if that does anything.

 

[Barty1884]

After the splash screen, you're typically entering Windows.

Spamming the Del or F2 keys should still allow you to enter the BIOS (I would expect), prior to Windows loading..... but there's probably a very short window to do so.

As for the PSU, disconnecting a DVD drive or HDD etc is negligible, as they'll be idle most of the time anyway. You might have saved 10W total AND, IIRC, opticals and HDDs use the 5V rail anyway. So there's no 12V Rail 'savings' which is required by the GPU.

Whether the PSU can adequately power the rig is irrelevant if the PCIe slot is not implemented to allow the full 75W through it.... not saying that's the case in this scenario, but it's a possibility - ECS have had some non-standard implementations in the past.

 

[spungos]

After the splash screen, you're typically entering Windows.

Spamming the Del or F2 keys should still allow you to enter the BIOS (I would expect), prior to Windows loading..... but there's probably a very short window to do so.

As for the PSU, disconnecting a DVD drive or HDD etc is negligible, as they'll be idle most of the time anyway. You might have saved 10W total AND, IIRC, opticals and HDDs use the 5V rail anyway. So there's no 12V Rail 'savings' which is required by the GPU.

Whether the PSU can adequately power the rig is irrelevant if the PCIe slot is not implemented to allow the full 75W through it.... not saying that's the case in this scenario, but it's a possibility - ECS have had some non-standard implementations in the past.

Yea, I've tried to get into BIOS by spamming. It will saying "loading..." but the menu will never load.

I tried that uninstall utility you suggested and it definitely uninstalled all of my AMD Graphics drivers. After I shut down the computer following the driver uninstall, I put the graphics card in and powered up. Still getting the same result.

Is there anyway I could confirm it's the power off the motherboard issue that's causing this? I feel like it is but I just didn't know if I could get some specs from ECS that would verify this theory. I think when this board was made most cards were powered off a separate cable.

Is there a 1050 Ti in production that uses a separate power cable?

UPDATE: I may have just fried my motherboard. I saw on other forums they suggested resetting the CMOS. I did this by moving the jumper from 1-2 to 2-3 and then back. When I started it up with the card in, the boot screen said something about the CMOS configuration but would freeze like normal. I took out the graphics card and I could get into the BIOS menu this time. I reset the defaults and made sure the boot priority was on my SSD with Win10. When I saved and exited the computer attempted to boot but I'm now getting a windows loading screen and then an error message for Inaccessible Boot Device. I tried removing the CMOS battery for a while, putting it back in then booting, to not avail.

 

[spungos]

I got the computer working again, just without the new GPU. I’m out of ideas.