Onboard Video AND External GPU

KT888

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My system HAD 2 external GPUs in it. One just died (I think)
Anyway what happened is there was a power failure here and when the power came back on my PC was intermittently shutting down. When it boots back up windows doesn't try to start there is a message instead
"A disk read error occurred"
"Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart"


I did a memory check. I have no idea how that came out as I wasn't there when it finished and even though the screen where the check is taking place SAID there would be results available when windows booted back up I saw NONE.

When Windows crashes or reboots itself arbitrarily which it's doing now, the SSD with Windows is gone.
I get instead
"Reboot and Select proper Boot device"
"or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key"

It turns out that now I have to "shut down" my PC from within windows now as my SSD with Windows on it is not found if I try to do a reboot now. It's not even in the bios.

If I do a "Shut Down" from within Windows or just power down the PC and go into the bios the SSD is there.
I have no idea what causes this I'm hoping one of you might. As I said this is all new after the power failure.

What I am trying to do currently is add back one of the monitors I lost when my 2nd GPU died temporarily until I can replace the Card. I need it for something I'm working on and need it now.
I'm trying to do this using the onboard capability of my MB and 3770K CPU.
I can't figure out how to get windows to recognize that it should utilize both.

System Specs
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H MB
16GB Corsair Vengeance RAM
3770K CPU
Intel 520 SSD
Gigabyte Radeon 7870OC GPU
Windows 7 Ultimate

Although it would be great if someone could help me with the other issues I'm now experiencing as well if you happen to have expertise.

It's now blue screening as well which is new and is happening even after pulling the GPU that I THOUGHT was causing the problem.
 
The graphics processor is disabled when you install an external graphics card. This is a BIOS feature, not Windows, and I don't think it can be changed.

For the other issue, your SSD is most likely faulty. It is possible it is the motherboard or poser supply, but more likely the SSD.
I suggest you test the SSD in another machine (just as a data drive, not a boot drive).
 
That's fine, but it keeps dropping offline.
I presume you've checked the cables for any loose connections.
Other than that, it can only be:
- a faulty drive
- a faulty sata port or controller
- a faulty power supply
I would be testing the drive in another machine.
 

KT888

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Thanks for the suggestions. I really don't think it does sound like the drive itself though. It actually sounds like a MB thing to me. Having to be SHUT DOWN completely in order for the drive to be discovered.
Remember that this started with the power failure so loose cables wouldn't suddenly be an issue. This machine has been in the configuration it WAS in before I removed the 1 GPU for over a year and it has been ROCK SOLID.
 
It's far more difficult to test a motherboard anyway. You would be better to test the drive in another machine.
Power spikes can cause all sorts or failures, and some PSUs will cope better than others.
You didn't mention the PSU in your specs. Is it good quality?
 

KT888

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Top shelf.
Corsair AX860i Professional Series 80+ Gold Fully Modular PSU

It wasn't really a power spike more just the removal of power.
A power failure but not with a spike.
Kind of like hitting the power button on your PC without shutting down Windows properly.
 

KT888

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Well the PC in question has been running since my last post and no reboots. (About 9 hrs) I'm not sure yet what that means. Hopefully it's all better but I'm not really sure why. Not sure what happens on a deliberate reboot. I'll try it.

Well I'll be, it worked. Found the Windows drive and everything. Without shutting right down.
I think that rules out the SSD as the culprit but I'll report back after I've been actually doing things in Windows for a period of time without anything shutting me down. That should give me some more clues as to what is going on.