Need advice on ASrock z68 Gen 3 Mobo

[eox08]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157263

That's the mobo I bought last week. I have a Nvidia 260 GTX card that I am trying to use. I have 3 pci express x 16 slots (even though it has 2 3.0 slots as well for future upgrades). Now my problem is, when I put the video card in the very top slot i'll get "no signal" on my monitor..then same thing when i change it and put it in the middle slot..but when I get it in the 3rd (or bottom) slot I get video..However..the manual states that when using 1 card it should be in the top slot? Seems like everything is okay and all but the problem is that bottom slot is right where all my front side usb plugins and power switch plug ins are..And that dadgum nvidia 260 gtx is one fat bertha. I have been using my Nvidia 9600 card to test and see if by chance it's my gtx 260 card. Well my gtx 260 card works in my last mobo still as does the 9600 so it rules it out. Everything would be fine and dandy I believe if i could just get my 260 card in that bottom slot..but those friggin usb front side plug and power switch stick up to high so I am trying to use my other slots..can some one help?!

 

[phishy714]

Yeah that's a bit weird. The only thing I can think of is that your GTX 260 has an older pci-e connection, like 1.0 or 1.whatever because its an older card. This would make it not compatible with the new 3.0 slots. Looking at the only one on neweggg, though, it says its a pci-e 2.0, which means that it is compatible with the 3.0.

Did you update the drivers for the gtx 260 as well as fully install all the drivers the board came with?

 

[eox08]

Yeah..I have..here is the frustration..my mobo has an HDMI out (which luckily i have a cable for that..thank you xbox 360 for inspiring me to get it) which saved me when I booted up for the first time. I just saw "No signal"..so i plugged in the hdmi cable and boom there's signal..So I went to my desktop and looked under device manager to see if my 260 card was being read. Well no luck. So I turned the computer off, took the 260 card out and put in my older 9600gt card in. Still no reading. So i turned the computer off and moved it down to the other slot and same thing. So then I moved it to the last bottom pci express slot and had video from my 9500 gt. Got to the desktop and all of the sudden my 9500 gt was being read and everything. So coast was clear right? I was just simply going to swap that card out for my newer 260 card..well all was dandy till I realized my card was hitting my front side connections for usb and firewire..Can't get my card to go all the way down in the slot so I am back at square one for that 260 card.


Here is my 2 video cards I am using

PNY Nvidia Geforce 260 - http://www3.pny.com/font-color999999GTX-260-CORE-216-896MB-PCIe-20font-P2809C396.aspx

EVGA Nvidia 9500 gt - http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=512-P3-N954-TR&family=GeForce%209%20Series%20Family

 

[phishy714]

ok.. the fact that you could plug in the video from your motherboard while having the graphics card plugged in tells me what might be going on.

Most of the time, you have to disable your on board graphics (motherboard) to be able to use your graphics card on there. I have had experiences in different motherboards where I don't disable the onboard graphics and I just plug the video card in and it works fine. Other boards, I have noticed that same thing where it won't work and I don't get any signal from it because the motherboard is "programed" to use the onboard graphics and nothing else.

I am going to get that exact same mobo soon.. well the p67 extreme4 gen 3.. so it might be that you need to disable the onboard graphics to be able to to use your video cards. I have never played with that board, nor that bios, so I honestly couldn't tell you where the option is in the bios, but look for it and look for a way to disable onboard graphics.. hopefully that is what is messing you up.

 

[eox08]

Sweet okay when I get off work in about 3 hours I'll start trying all of that out. Also does it really matter which slot I plug my video card in? I have 3 pciexpress slots and i was hoping I could use the very top pcie slot instead of the bottom..since my 260 card is so big the other front side usb plugins don't allow a full connection of my 260 card. Wasn't sure if when using just 1 graphics card if it has to be in the top middle or bottom pci express slot. Thank you as well for all your help. I will try and disable the on board video when i get home. I will keep this updated till I get a solution figured out!

 

[phishy714]

Yes it does matter actually. The top slot is usually the primary slot. What happens is that each slot, depending on the mobo of course, runs at a different "speed" as you might call it.

The top slot usually runs at the fastest speed available, that is, in pci-1 x16 mode. Other slots usually run slower. This matters because in an dual card setup, both cards can't run at that x16 speed.. unless you get a mobo that supports that (over $300 boards). Therefore, the second slot usually runs at x8 and then x4 for the third(if there is a third).

So in short, yeah it matters alot which slot it goes in. You ALWAYS want to put your primary card in the top slot.

 

[Tom Wire]

So have you ever figured out your problem. I have the exact same thing going on with my new build. I have a Sapphire HD 6950 on an Asrock z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Mobo. Its only working on the bottom pcie slot (x4 lane) which is a real bummer. Pretty much makes the really nice video card notso nice. The card works great on other machines, so its not the problem.

If I put the card on the top slot, no video at all.
I can connect to onboard graphics though.

If I connect to onboard graphics, HD audio works just fine.
If I have my card in 4x lane, no HD audio as well.

I just got the board to take advantage of the z68, and I can RMA and get another one, which I think Im going to do, prolly not an asrock. It seems that asrock has compatibility issues all over.

 

[eox08]

Actually Tom I had to do the same thing..I never got it fixed..I settled with putting it in the bottom slot. I really wish someone could explain what is going on? Let me know if you find a fix and i'll do the same

 

[iam2thecrowe]

update the motherboard BIOS/Firmware.

 

[eox08]

has this fixed it for you? I am about to try...