is a vga switch card mandatory for a M4A89GTD PRO without a GPU

[optimusprime619]

Hi I had a setup of an M4A89GTD PRO with a HD 5770(EAH 5770) in one of my pci-e slots while the VGA switch card held the other. Few days ago my GPU gave in and I've been using my machine without a gpu.
Recently my had trouble booting and some basic trouble shooting helped put my ram and hard disk in the clear. A local vendor who inspected my machine reports that the trouble was due to the VGA switch card being shorted out and using a gpu with its dvi booted the machine. According to him the motherboard is not capable of functioning properly without either a gpu or a proper VGA card which I find hard to believe or validate since the specs sheet state that the purpose of the card is to fill in the slot and assist the single GPU running in 16x. Would like to know if the vga card is either mandatory or vestigial and if it's possible to buy one such vga switch card for replacement (the vendor says they are not sold individually).

 

[Petrossa]

Hi there

As far as that board is concerned, it certainly is not necessary to have a discrete display card inserted. You should be able to happily run off the onboard only.
You are correct that inserting a display card would work in tandem with the on board and give it a boost.

 

[Calvin7]

With VGA Slot Card in top GREY slot the Blue PCIe slot runs at X16.
With video card in BLUE PCIe slot, no Slot Card, video card runs at X8.
Dual video cards in GREY and BLUE slots, both run at X8.

VGA Slot card is out of stock at ASUS EStore. May no longer be available.

You should examine the Switch Card for any burn marks indicating a short circuit.

 

[optimusprime619]

Hi there

As far as that board is concerned, it certainly is not necessary to have a discrete display card inserted. You should be able to happily run off the onboard only.
You are correct that inserting a display card would work in tandem with the on board and give it a boost.

Thanks for the response and confirming the same. I now have to backtrack the previous vendor's troubleshooting result and find a solid root cause and a fix.

 

[optimusprime619]

With VGA Slot Card in top GREY slot the Blue PCIe slot runs at X16.
With video card in BLUE PCIe slot, no Slot Card, video card runs at X8.
Dual video cards in GREY and BLUE slots, both run at X8.

VGA Slot card is out of stock at ASUS EStore. May no longer be available.

You should examine the Switch Card for any burn marks indicating a short circuit.

Thanks for the response, I'm unable to find any visible burn marks or smell the fried chip which puts the vendor's diagnosis in question, removing the switch card should have fixed the problem in that case but it did not. Anyhow I'm trying to check what he said by borrowing a GPU and using it. These things are really hard to come by where I live, so I'll post a follow-up once I get things done.