MSI B150 Gaming M3 has GPU problem in the PCI x16 slot

[Johnny_Bobcat]

So I upgraded my wife's PC with the following parts, all new:

MSI B150 Gaming M3 motherboard
I5 - 6400 CPU
Kingston DDR4 2133 2x4 GB
and added a new 120gb SSD as the boot disk (replaced an older mushkin 120gb SSD)

Using Win 7 pro 64 bit with SP1

Used her existing XFX 750w PSU and a Gigabyte R9 280 that we bought in the spring and she's been using ever since.

I installed the GPU in the PCI x16 slot like normal and everything fired up like a champ, but when it came time to install the AMD drivers - the new crimson version (/eyeroll) - they would not install. Kept saying there was an error, so after some troubleshoot I checked in the device manager and it showed the R9 200 series with error code 43. I was also unable to launch a number of games to try to test things out, notably the blizzard launcher, tho most steam games seemed ok.

More troubleshooting, tried the usual stuff, uninstalling the device (both in the device manager and physically, reseating the card and checking all connections) clearing out the old drivers, trying to scan for new hardware - nothing would clear the error. I even used DDU Display Driver Uninstaller a couple times to try to fully clean out any remnants as I read those can be an issue. I updated the BIOS, and got the latest AMD drivers included in the windows updates. The BIOS settings are all fine, onboard is disabled, and the PEG setting is enabled.

But something weirder happened after uninstalling the device and drivers with display manager one time, the card disappeared completely and wouldn't re-appear again, I only got "standard vga adapter" displayed. I'm assuming this is because I wiped out the windows (or intel, w/e) drivers.

After more reading I tried swapping the card to the PCI x4 slot, as the board has 2 for SLI/xfire and the card displays normally there with no error messages. However, I still can't install any AMD drivers with the card in either slot. Games and fullscreen video seem to run fine in the PCI x4 slot with generic windows drivers, but going back to the PCI x16 gives nothing but error messages.

I don't have a PC that I can readily recheck her R9 280 card, but considering it was working with her old components on the same day as her new build was completed I highly doubt the card is the issue, however I can get my hands on an old HD 4870 to test with.

In the meantime, trying to self diagnose this isn't getting me anywhere so I'm looking for some solutions beyond the obvious. Read that a bad PCI slot can be either board or CPU, so trying to figure out which to RMA.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Did you fresh install the OS after installing these new parts or clone your old SSD?

 

[Johnny_Bobcat]

Did you fresh install the OS after installing these new parts or clone your old SSD?

It was a fresh install.

I've been stress testing the thing for the past 4 hours, running full screen vids and ran the FFXIV benchmark utility a couple times on max settings and it's running fine - it's just that I'm using the PCI x4 slot with no AMD drivers...which isn't cool.

 

[superninja12]

then rma the board

 

[Johnny_Bobcat]

Well it was a long and sordid story of PC part failure.

First, I RMA'd the first motherboard. I tested with a 4870 first and it didn't work either so I sent the board back.

Got the 2nd board and it wouldn't boot, kept telling me that the CPU was knackered with those LED error lights on the board.

So I RMA'd the CPU and sent the 2nd board with it - just in case it was the board again. I wanted to start from scratch. The store did confirm that both the board AND the CPU were hooped, for whatever reason.

Third board and CPU worked, but this time the card went all screwy again, wouldn't take drivers and eventually stopped being recognized by the system. I put in my old nvidia 8800 GT akimbo to test and it loaded and ran fine. So I put in an RMA for the card.

That's currently where I'm at with it...been 6 months since I bought the original parts, still haven't used it yet lol.