Intel iCore7-2600(non K version) No display when using graphics with additional ATX power

James Hatton

Honorable
Aug 27, 2013
4
0
10,510
Hi,

This is my first post here.

I'm a fairly avid system builder, long time lurker of these forums and would have to say that this is the first issue I have had in years that hasn't be solved through a simple search of here, other forums or the entire internet for that matter.

I followed the guide posted in the stickies PERFORM THESE STEPS before posting about POST/boot/no video problems! and also How to ask for troubleshooting help V2

I have pretty much exhausted all options so all I have left now is to ask the question and provide you all with as much info as I can remember initially in a hope that one of you fellow PC builders may be able to assist me or possibly even solve the issue I have? and then fill in the gaps with any additional info you may require that I have forgotten? :)
I will do my best, so here goes.

Build DetailsClick to expand
Has exact details of components installed and links to the products
The tower case is a The Antec® Nine Hundred II
Board is an Intel BCZ6810H.86A with bios number 0021 and has a board version of 0401 (in't not 0402) I will at a later date be upgrading later to 0028.
Note: I am aware of the issues that these boards are said to have but fingers crossed as most have not caused too many issues yet?
RAM consists of Corsair Vengeance® Pro Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1600MHz C9 Code CMY16GX3M2A1600C9B
CPU is as mentioned is an Intel® Core™ i7-2600 8M Cache,3.80 GHz
Graphics (have tried various and will explain further) is hoped to be Gigabyte GV-R726XOC-2GD Radeon R7 260X GPU
PSU is an Antec EarthWatts 650W
Note I have tested a brand new CoolerMaster Thunder 700W
HDD I'll list these although they are irrelevant to the problem, OS Drive is an Intel 330 SSD, and various other drives all of various sizes and brands (not currently attached but worked with previous graphics card) if that is any help? I try to include extra info for anybodies judgement for any future foreseeable issues?
Additional notes: This has historical & contextual information relating to the build components
The CPU is the only original part from my friend's older system which was a HP Pavilion P7-1010A, which I managed to convince him not to buy another PC like that again from an unnamed local retailer. He has since seen the light and understands and values the performance that can be gained from a custom system build for a fraction of the cost. Anyway moving along, related to this is the graphics card that came with this original PC was actually an Geforce GT440 X16 PCIe Video Card 657107-001 aka nVidia P1062 that looks similar to this
Basically the CPU is the only non-new item in this build, however there was nothing to suggest that this actually needed changing and was still good? CPUs are not a cheap item either so in a way we kind of built the rest of the rig around the CPU. In hindsight we possibly should have ditched the CPU and gone with something in the LGA1150 range instead of sticking with the 1155?
My personal experience having a iCore 1150 CPU and ASUS board compared to this setup is that it has been drama free and everything just works?? Anyway...
Computer Usage Experts will want to know this and will click the spoiler to know
Typically used for photo processing (hence upgrading graphics is high on the agenda)
Home media in Hi-Def
Moderate Gaming - WoW, Dragon Age Inquisition, Farcry etc
Symtoms
In the old rig using the crappy HP motherboard the same problem (topic title) persisted and possibly contributed a small amount to the reasons for doing this build.
Others factors contributed such as the HPs inability to utilise any good quality RAM and that the system clock settings could not be changed what so ever. It was locked down.

Now with the new system, we are still stuck with not being able to upgrade the graphics card?
Some newer nVidia cards work initially, but after a subsequent reboot and updating of the drivers they no longer work?
Testing
Yes I actually did some testing of my own, please read this before replying
Ok so showing my testing and results may help explain better what I wrote above.
Below I've listed the cards that I have tried on the old and new setup with relatively similar results, which is leading me to think that this issue processor related, although I could be wrong if someone would care to enlighten me :) I will be your student and all ears!


Old HP MB same Intel iCore7-2600 CPU

XML:
Card                                       Type        Powered     Initial result   After reboot
Geforce GT440 X16              NVIDIA      NO              YES              YES
Gigabyte GeForce 9500GT   NVIDIA     NO              YES               YES
ASUS GeForce GTS 250       NVIDIA     YES            YES               NO
Gigabyte GV-N210SL            NVIDIA     NO              YES               YES
Geforce GTX295                   NVIDIA     YES             YES              NO
ASUS GTX760                       NVIDIA     YES             YES              NO

Notes:
All cards with additional power to the graphics card had major issues upon initial boot and refused to function after drivers were updated. They would only display on the basic Windows display drivers before WinSat update etc. After completing the update to the correct driver version to match the card (all tested previously on my own PC) the colouration would turn pink and green and sometimes display large block like fragments and the PC would either BSOD or if the user rebooted at this point or by request from the nVidia update installation utility the screen went completely blank. The computer would boot and but not display anything to the screen and would post as normal with no error beeps? Shutting down the PC and swapping the powered card out for a non-powered card and the PC would boot again, drivers would need to be updated and the display would return to normal

New Intel MB same Intel iCore7-2600 CPU

XML:
Card                                       Type        Powered      Initial result   After reboot
Geforce GT440 X16              NVIDIA       NO              YES              YES
Gigabyte GeForce 9500GT   NVIDIA       NO              YES              YES
ASUS GeForce GTS 250       NVIDIA      YES             NO                 N/A
Gigabyte GV-N210SL            NVIDIA       NO              YES               YES
Geforce GTX295                   NVIDIA       YES             NO                N/A
ASUS GTX760                       NVIDIA      YES              YES              N/A
Gigabyte GV-R726XOC        RADEON   YES              NO                N/A

Due to the fact that with the old MB the display did work to some degree before rebooting I figured this could have been an nVidia thing and so decided to try a brand new Radeon card but have the same results as any powered nVidia card.
Note I have not tried a non-powered Radeon card yet as I don't have one on hand but I would almost bet money that it would display at least in the bios or until I got into the OS and did a driver change/update from nVidia drivers
Summary This is for the n00bs and the people with a short attention span that struggle reading the details
If you have a question relating to the following, please go through my post and read the things you haven't bothered to read.
Any graphics cards with additional ATX power completely refused to display from the getgo, no entering into the BIOS, zip, nada, nothing! Resetting bios or pressing the back to bios button did absolutely nothing.
Again the computer would seem boot but with a black screen and would sequence through post (making the typical sounds like a normal boot sequence) and still produce no error beeps? Shutting down the PC and swapping the powered card out for a non-powered card, the PC would boot as per normal.

Possible Solutions?
These are thoughts based on theory....not fact; CPU firmware update relating to bios updating
Updating the bios to version 0028. I had read somewhere that the firmware on the CPU chip it's self could be at an older version that doesn't support advanced graphics and that updating the bios could possibly also update firmware version on the chip automatically?
Is this true? This is something that I am not all that clued up on and thought that if anything this would only relate to inbuilt graphics and not external graphics card? But also who would think that a graphics card with additional power cause these types of issues?
Recommendations
The CPU works perfectly otherwise so would seem a waste to just throw it away, however if this is not a problem that can easily be solved I am happy to throw the thing back into his old MB and rebuild his old HP with the standard nVidia graphics card and sell it off really cheap! Say good ridins and put the small amount of cash towards getting my mate a new CPU.
On that note, what would peoples recommendations be for the best *value* LGA1155 CPU to suit the rig he's got?
Any further questions or recommendations?
Should I be posting this elsewhere to gain additional feedback? i.e. Other forums or different sections within this forum?
 
Solution
LGA 1155
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/NzvkdC
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/NzvkdC/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B75M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($66.74 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $346.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-02 19:02 EST-0500

LGA 1150
[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vtM223) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vtM223/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor
(http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74790) ($286.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard...
OMG! Have you heard that less is more? I fell asleep before I got to the symptoms, lol! Isn't there a million character limit to posting here?

Sounds like if you want to keep this CPU & motherboard combo you should use a GTX 750 Ti, otherwise get a new CPU & motherboard. This stuff is too old to spend a lot of time trying to fix it, move on. I don't know how many will read thru this novel to offer a suggestion.
 

James Hatton

Honorable
Aug 27, 2013
4
0
10,510


I actually suffer with a condition known as narcolepsy so can most definitely relate how you feel wanting to falling asleep all the time.

Unlike most other people I don't live on net and value my time and others so I'm not the type to write a short post and have experts pry the rest of the info out of me so that they can share their expertise and help ME!

No I don't want to keep the CPU if it is the cause? This gear is brand new with exception of the CPU. The facts are there if you bothered to read it. The graphics card is a Radeon card (also in the facts & details) and I am not looking for advice on a new graphics card combo as there is nothing wrong with any of the cards tested nor the one chosen. If I wanted recommendations on the most top of the line card out at the moment I would read the reviews and or posts in the general section. Please read the details or save your breath.



Already have. Please read the post



I have tried with ALL drives not attached....it doesn't display anything but a blank screen and makes no beeps from the internal speaker.

I will again re-iterate



Read item 17 from PERFORM THESE STEPS before posting about POST/boot/no video problems!



This is a very high level question obviously not aimed at either of the two responses. There are moderators that post larger posts than I in the stickies section that a full of great valuable information, that nearly nobody reads or follows. I forget that people these days have small attention span and are not uses to reading much more than a few lines of a twitter status.
Should I edit the OP just so it is more suitable for the general users on here?
 

James Hatton

Honorable
Aug 27, 2013
4
0
10,510

@Saga Lout , Yes you are right :( I need to apologise, sorry I was out of line. I shouldn't become frustrated, nor offended about the sleep remark. Neither member was aware so I shouldn't have even said it. I will edit my post. Sorry Saga Lout, and sorry littleleo & i7Baby.
@i7Baby,
Thanks, I guess this is as puzzling for you as it is to me? Well be prepared to be more puzzled! The Intel DZ68 actually comes factory with an onboard 'piezoelectric' speaker. However I didn't take my observation as the answer; I looked for the obvious pins on the board? I was unable to find any other allocation for internal speaker? Typically they are found not far away from most MB front panel pins. Further reading settled my thoughts
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/20248/eng/DZ68BC_TechProdSpec08.pdf
4 Error Messages and Beep Codes
4.1 Speaker
The board-mounted speaker provides audible error code (beep code) information
during POST.
For information about Refer to
The location of the onboard speaker Figure 1, page 13
intel-dz68bc-motherboard_3.jpg
Regarding bios type AMI or IBM the answer is neither. It appears to be an Intel proprietary "unbranded" bios aside from the Intel symbol on the splash screen. Even my ASUS has an Intel symbol on the boot splash screen of similar size. So I am not sure? It could even be some flavour of a more common brand of bios? Which raises the question of if we should consider doing modifications to it? Seeing as though the cost of shipping it back to the USA from Aust would be ridiculous!
The purchase price new was $2 less than the shipping cost (it was still more than a 3rd cheaper than a locally purchased item)

Any additional thoughts or help would be greatly appreciate. I am beat and have nothing I can even theorize to discuss other than the random post I read on the web sometime ago that was along the lines of the CPU chip has an inbuilt firmware version that is directly related to bios version or more so functionality (as board version(s) mean nothing between manufacturers); that updating the bios could somehow "unlock" some form of graphics functionality that may have been locked down by the manufacturer i.e HP.
It's not unusual for HP to do stuff like this so it doesn't seem far fetched considering, however I would have thought that any type of restrictions to graphics relating to processor were more likely to be intel inbuilt graphics and not external graphics?
 
Sometimes things just don't work together as we hoped perhaps you should try another motherboard. I'm more incline to think that is the issue than the CPU, and JH if you have already tried it I'm sorry I'm mentioning it. I'm not able to get thru all your post with out overlooking or forgetting something. Anyway good luck with your system.
 

James Hatton

Honorable
Aug 27, 2013
4
0
10,510


Yeah I kinda knew it was the CPU hence my investigation. And yeah man tell me about it....it was hard enough for me to compile the post without forgetting and overlooking something sheeeesh!




Not sure if you got it or not but maybe click the spoiler in my OP where it has my testing to see what I wrote?

I was getting the same results with the previous motherboard. So I know its not related to the motherboard. The CPU is the only common denominator here. I knew this. I was hoping that someone could suggest a way of fixing it? OR if not able to suggest a fix then offer some advice on upgrading the CPU and retaining the existing motherboard. I know Intel have not had a very good run of luck with this particular range, however we have not seemed to experience anything major enough for me to warrant changing boards as well as CPUs.

What is the best value LGA1155 around these days? Anything that I should be looking out for with regards to defects or issues with a specific version(s)?
 
LGA 1155
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/NzvkdC
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/NzvkdC/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B75M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($66.74 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $346.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-02 19:02 EST-0500

LGA 1150
[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vtM223) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vtM223/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor
(http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74790) ($286.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard :Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
(http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gah97md3h) ($81.99 @ Directron)
Total $368.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-02 19:04 EST-0500
 
Solution