Question Lenovo workstation with RX 480, no video at all.

[nabru50]

Hi,

I have the following PC:

Lenovo ThinkStation E30

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1225
RAM: 12 GB DDR3 Unbuffered Non-ECC
PSU: EVGA 600B
SSD: SanDisk X300s 256GB

I've been using an EVGA nVidia 750Ti and its been working great. The integrated graphics are also working when I don't have a GPU plugged in. I also have a Sapphire Nitro RX480 8GB that I'd like to use instead, but it won't display any video.

I have performed all basic troubleshooting steps I can think of (4pin CPU, 24pin motherboard, 8pin PCIe plugs are all snug, PSU is switched on, etc). There is only one PCIe slot and the 750Ti works fine in it. When the RX 480 is plugged in, the integrated graphics and the RX 480 will not output anything (but integrated works without a GPU). I've tried DisplayPort, HDMI, and DVI. The BIOS is set to automatically choose PCIe graphics if it is detected. The only signs of life I can get are when the Display port is plugged in to the RX 480, my monitor will come on (blue power LED instead of orange) but it will just say No Input. I know the RX 480 works because it is plugged in to my Mac Pro that I am typing this post with (it is a PC graphics card, not a Mac edition).

The only thing I can think of is that the CPU/Mobo/Chipset is just too old and just not compatible, but I've never heard of this before. In fact, the computer I have it plugged into right now is even older. So if anyone has any experience with that, I'd appreciate any feedback. Money is kind of tight so I don't really want to upgrade anything unless I have to.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

It could be that the motherboard is bios only and the card is uefi only.

 

[nabru50]

It could be that the motherboard is bios only and the card is uefi only.

Heres the site for my PC:

https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/...eries-workstations/thinkstation-e30/downloads

Since it talks about UEFI in the download, I imagine it is not just a legacy BIOS. But when I boot into the BIOS, there is no place to choose Legacy/UEFI mode like I'm used to. Either way, It looks like this version is slightly newer than the version I have so I'm going to update it and see if it will work.

Edit: I found a place in the BIOS where you can choose to boot UEFI/Legacy. I changed it to UEFI but it didn't make a difference.

There is a switch on the RX 480, I've tried both positions and they both don't fix the issue (I think it is used for the GPU BIOS to have 2 different performance modes).

One last thing: With the RX 480 installed, the PC will not even try to boot into Windows at all. It will turn on, the lights and fans will come on (the GPU light and fans come on too), but the HDD light will not flash like it is booting. Pressing the power button shortly will shut it down, just like if Windows didn't boot.