No display - Help needed for LGA1155 H61 Build

rakesh_toms

Distinguished
Jan 6, 2012
26
0
18,530
I am on a upgrade project for my gaming rig.

Currently I have AMD Phenom II X4 945 running on Biostar 785G motherboard, 4 GB Adata 1600 DDR3, 320 GB WD HDD and Gigabyte Windforce GTX 670. Monitor is an LG 1600 X 900. The power supply is Corsair AS 450 W. Except that the build is underpowered for CPU heavy games like Crisis 3 I do not have any issues with this rig.

The new build is based on Core i5 2400 (Sandy Bridge) running on Asus P8H61 ML X R2.0 motherboard with Crucial Ballistix Sports 8 GB DDR3. Rest of the components are all same as current build. I know its not the latest and greatest parts but I am practically getting the processor for free and an used motherboard dirt cheap.

Now the problem - I will not get anything on the monitor when connecting the GTX 670 via DVI port. I can hear the computer booting up just fine. Display works fine thru VGA port when using inbuild Intel HD 2000 graphics. I changed the primary display in BIOS to PCIE but that setting wont stick, will change back to auto. I am able to save all other BIOS changes. Because I am sure all other components are working fine from the previous build I exchanged the motherboard under warranty (3 months left) and got a different one from ASUS. But exactly the same issue! So I got skeptical if it is the motherboard. Loaned an old Intel DH61WW motherboard from a friend and used the same processor and other parts from current build. Got the same issue again. No display from GTX 670, but in build graphics works file. In the intel motherboard also tried to change the primary graphics to PCIE but it will revert back to Auto. Thinking something is wrong with my graphics card I put it back in the AMD platform, tested it thoroughly and updated to latest VBIOS. All success. But it will still not display anything on the Sandy bridge build. I RMA ed the Asus motherboard another time and got a replacement (third ASUS motherboard of same model) but the issue persists in that also. BTW I updated all motherboards to the latest BIOS and still no go.

The common factor across these builds which I cannot test separately is the Core I5 2400 processor. Is there a chance that something is wrong with the processor with its PCI E 16x lanes that it cannot detect an external graphics card? There are no visible physical damages to the processor and its contacts and sockets are fine in all motherboards.
 
I already updated the BIOS on each motherboard to latest, no go! I may have to try another graphics card but don't have a spare. But keep in mind I could already confirm the GTX 670 is in perfect working condition (on AMD build). What are the odds that GTX 670 is not compatible with sandy bridge or H61 chipset or something like that?! Or the processor's PCIE lanes are broke, although there is no physical damage? Is something like that possible at all?
 
Does the Windows 8 ready UEFI BIOS on the motherboard cause any issues, I mean can Fast boot, Secure mode etc. can interfere in detecting the graphics card? Do I have to disable those? The Gigabyte Windforce GTX 670 is updated to latest VBIOS which is supposed to be UEFI.
 
I don't think UEFI BIOS can cause gfx card detecting issues. However I also have a UEFI bios and I disabled these features when I used Windows 8 because I couldn't boot with them enabled. You can disable them and see if you have any luck.
 
Not yet. The graphics card has DVI, HDMI and Display ports. Monitor has DVI and VGA. I will try using a DVI to VGA adapter and HDMI to DVI adapter to check if anything works. I hope something works 🙁 But logically speaking the chance of anything being wrong with the DVI port on GTX 670, the DVI cable and the DVI port on monitor are highly unlikely as these things work well on the AMD build.
 


That is what I thought when I first got this problem 1 month back with the original motherboard and did the routine troubleshooting, Bios update etc. Send back the first Mobo to Asus and got a replacement. Again same problem with the replacement, everything is fine except it wont recognize the graphics card. Sent that board back and I am now on the third piece of the same model P8H61 M LX R2.0 (all are refurbished BTW). And the problem is still there!!! Also I have tested using the Intel DH61DWW motherboard and it also didn't recognize the GTX 670. The graphics card is running fine right now on the AMD build with the same power supply, memory, HDD etc.
 
That is strange really. If that was an SLI card it could have been possible that the reason it is not running that this motherboard model doesn't support SLI, but this is a single GPU card. Maybe something wrong with the processor then since like you mentioned in the original post it is the one common factor in all of this.
 
Yeah very strange indeed. I have been googling all this time if something like the PCI-E lanes or PCI-E controller of a Core i5 processor can go bad even if it is physically undamaged and there are no bent pins in the socket. And whether the fact that the in-build Intel HD 2000 graphics works indicates the PCI-E lanes and controller are good. If so what can be a possible reason for this phenomenon. I cant find anything in the interwebs.
 


Yeah I guess, depends on your luck. The AMD setup was also reused hardware but served me well for 4 years. Oh well!