GTX 970 - I can't boot!

[Sinnmeister]

Hi guys,

Just purchased a brand new Gigabyte GTX 970 and a new PSU that is capable of powering it (confirmed at Canada Computers) but I can boot into windows.

I can boot just fine with my older previous GPU so the problem isn't with the PC.

I can see the first screen / logo and it stays there for a while. I hear a beep every 30 seconds and after a while I see a black screen with a blinking line / underscore at the top left.

It does not go past this.

Sometimes I see nothing at all when I power it on, just a black screen and the keyboard / mouse are not responsive. The first thing I mentioned is the most common.

I tried updating the bios, resetting the bios settings to default but nothing seems to work.

 

[dsr07mm]

Do you have already installed drivers ? Try booting into safemode and use ddu cleaner.

 

[madmatt30]

Rest of PC specs??

 

[Sinnmeister]

I tried to install the drivers that came with the GTX 970 but it says that the card has to be active
(I can only install drivers when I'm in Windows but I can't boot up with the 970)

Specs:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3450 CPU @ 3.10GHz
Ram: 16gb
64-bit OS
Windows 7 Ultimate (SP1)

The brand new PSU I got:
COOLER MASTER Model #: RS-550-PCAR-N1
The guys at Canada Computers said it can power the Gigabyte GTX 970 I got.

I also tried un-installing my current video driver (for my older card) and so the screen was, of course, in a strange, small resolution - I did a shut down, plugged in the 970 and still had the same problem.

 

[madmatt30]

Its your motherboard model more than anything else mate that we need??

If you're not sure use cpu-z to find it.

 

[Sinnmeister]

Will try using DDU Cleaner in safe mode now and then I'll shut down and try to boot up with the new GPU.
I'll post results soon.

 

[Sinnmeister]

No luck, now I don't even see the logo screen at the start, it's black from boot.

Here's the exact PC model:
Gateway DX4860
Not sure how to find the exact motherboard model but it's an Acer motherboard.

 

[Sinnmeister]

When I use the 8-pin and the 6-pin I'm back to seeing the logo, then blinking line.

 

[madmatt30]

Cpu-z will show your exact motherboard model

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

 

[Sinnmeister]

Okay checking now will post shortly.

 

[Sinnmeister]

Mobo: Acer Aspire M3970
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. P03-A3 (04/18/2012)

 

[junkeymonkey]

'' Gateway DX4860 ''

more then likely that card is not compatible with it , may not be your deal but something to ponder on that and prebuilts

some models of store bought computers [dell.hp,acer,ect..] may come with a ''locked or fixed'' bios and may not allow you to change certain hardware as a video card.. this is done to protect them from undue warranty claims and refunds .this is not done to hurt you but to protect them. you really need to see if that upgrade has been proven to work in your model first before you invest money in it .. there are a lot of these threads here at toms to look at some models will allow upgrades and some dont.. and a lot of guys here say ya ya ya when is really no no no...it would be sad you spent $200 on a card that wount post after you installed it as most find out. then get told its your psu and you spend more and end up right back where you are now, but its up to you good luck..


you got to know the the boards in these computers are not like the ones we use to do custom builds witch are open to upgrading with in the boards compatibly . the bios is custom made for there design and just for the parts they authorize to be used on there computers there only guaranteed to work as is out of the box as you bought it ,..


also these boards do not have to meet atx standards and there pci-e slot power may not do the required 75w needed for most higher end cards and can be limited to say 45 or 60w that is all thats needed with the low end factory oem cards that it may of shipped with

maybe like this statement from evga some time ago as well

Warning:
ATTENTION HP PAVILION USERS WITH DESKTOPS MADE IN 12012 OR EARLIER. These graphics card will not post on many of the older HP Pavilion desktops (Specifically the ones that still use the Chicago Motherboard) because the card is incompatible with their very outdated bios.

things aint so plug and play anymore

''Same problem here. EVGA 970 and the Gigabyte 970 both didn't work with updated bios for this motherboard. I don't know about you but I'm looking for a nice replacement motherboard''

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2536020/gateway-dx4860-motherboard-compatible-gtx-970.html

if your gateway don't have a uefi bios your chances are slim for any 900 card to now work

 

[Sinnmeister]

Junkey, I've seen this exact answer of yours copied and pasted on multiple GTX 970 threads and I do appreciate the information, although it shows you have not actually looked into my case in particular at all.
Of course it could be a compatibility issue. If you think about it, it could be anything lol.
I spent $500 on the card and about $80 on the PSU so yes, it would suck if I can't figure this out.
Been trying all day and I'm fairly certain it's a conflict with the BIOS.

Do you guys think upgrading to Windows 8 or Windows 10 may allow me to play with the BIOS settings or something to enable compatibility with this card?

Or if you have any ideas based on the info I've released, let me know.

 

[junkeymonkey]

well joine the club its just how it is with oprebuilts ? ya, I looked at it

the cards not compatible with it or the board don't/ cant supply full 75w to the slot see it all the time .. maybe you get it goind but ..... so many try and cant

that one guy said he had one working but he's the only one I seen looking it up that has and you see the guy tried 2 brands of 970's and fail..


and why I say you got to do your homework first before you buy so now your not out as you maybe now

good luck

you buy you try and now you cry

where did you see this worked out 100% ??? did you find sites saying all's well before you invested in all that ??

and why you took 4 posts down just to get that part out from you whan asked system specs... you had that gut feeling


I do hope you get it to work and prove me wrong all that can do is help the next gateway guy out

[gtx 960 ]

evga tech-- '' You might be able to use the 960. Your board will need to support UEFI, otherwise, your PC might get stuck on the boot screen with an error code. You should check with Gateway support to see if there's a BIOS update for your board.''


[another guy]

'' was kind of looking at that motherboard as a problem. I remember it was a big deal when the GTX 960 came out because most HP machines from that time period could not support the 960 because the BIOS was incampariable. As it turns out your gateway product does not have UEFI support, nor can you upgrade the BIOS as you must have a Gateway product that came with Windows 8 preinstalled from the factory.

But you can always decide to get a new motherboard if you are comfortable changing the CPU.

http://forums.evga.com/GTX-960-m2370668.aspx

 

[Sinnmeister]

If you check this link, you'll see the under compatible GPU, the GTX 970 is listed:
http://www.userbenchmark.com/System/Acer-Aspire-M3970/4966

Also, to clarify, I do not get any errors whatsoever, as one of the guys you quoted described.
I've done some digging and there are several posts with the exact problem I'm facing, with the blinking
line, the beeps, etc. - some of these guys have newer PCs with newer motherboards and they are still
experiencing the same set of issues as I am.

That + the fact that my the GPU is allegedly compatible with my mobo must mean that the
problem is elsewhere and may be fixable.

I'm going to try a fresh re-install of Windows and then do all of the Windows updates.
Maybe Windows 10.

Do you think this could resolve any issues not related to the mobo (or even if they are)?

 

[Sinnmeister]

I could be wrong because I have the Gigabyte GTX 970. But that shouldn't matter, I was told the only real difference between the several 970 models is the cooling systems, etc.

 

[junkeymonkey]

maybe but then maybe the acer has a different bios than whats used on the gateway ?? and why its a acer and your a gateway ?

then 10 on that old thing ?? your a glutton for punishment and look up NVidia driver issues with 10. ??


thing is I try to catch guys in advance on this stuff so they can take a deeper look ''before they buy ''

food for thought

http://community.acer.com/t5/Veriton/Aspire-m3970-and-GTX-970/td-p/321834

 

[madmatt30]

What I've seen after some digging is a mass of results where the 970 (or at least some variations of it including the g1) is incompatible on that board.
I've then found results where people do infact have the evga acx sc 970 running on it fine.

Is there some difference in those cards at low level??
I wouldn't have thought so but it is entirely possible.

I have 2 970s here that have been running on an old amibios board with no uefi support here so it can work.

Installing windows afresh will not help here, the card is not initialising at a hardware level on boot - software has nothing to do with it, this is 100% an hardware issue.

 

[junkeymonkey]

each card may have a slightly different v-bios that could affect weather it works or not - I also see whaere say a MSI card worked fine but then a say evga card would not on a certain board

900 cards are funny look how many did not work on dells xps 8700 until dell released that new A-10 bios for them or guys with older z68 board 900 cards had lots of issues with at start ..

thing is you rolled the dice and came up snake eyes on this deal


and why we do custom builds and not deal with proprietary prebuilts , bit even with that theres still a slight risk just not so great of ....

also for what I see if your s did not come from the factory with the win-8 package that has the uefi bios it seems fat chance on any 900 card to work anyway ??