PC doesn't post with GPU

[ZmedeR]

Hey guys,
Recently I came across an old Dell PC and went ahead and bought it because it was cheap and had a pretty decent CPU (i5 2400). I swapped out the OEM psu for a Gigabyte 80+ bronze 550w PSU, and also switched to a much larger ATX case. The PC still posted fine.

Problems started occuring when I threw in a graphics card (GTX 970). Although the card got power and the fans started spinning, there was no output on to the monitor through the dvi port.

I tried changing dvi cables, using a different graphics card (R9 280), updating the bios and removing certain SATA drives to no avail. To verify that the PCI-E slot isn't dead, I tried throwing in a wireless card and that seemed to work so I have no idea whats wrong with the system. The Dell is an Optiplex 790 running the latest bios. What exactly is going on here?

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Nerumph]

Does the MB have integrated graphics by chance?

 

[BringerOfTea]

not all prebuildt dells are okay with changing the gpu... most likely the motherboard is the culprit

 

[drkatz42]

Have you checked the bios for an option to utilize the added GPU?

 

[ZmedeR]

Does the MB have integrated graphics by chance?

the cpu? yeah im pretty sure the 2400 comes with intel hd graphics

 

[ZmedeR]

Have you checked the bios for an option to utilize the added GPU?

I only saw an option to enable PCI-E slots, which was enabled

 

[ZmedeR]

not all prebuildt dells are okay with changing the gpu... most likely the motherboard is the culprit

thing is, ive seen others throw in gpus without any issues into the same optiplex 790 system

 

[Nerumph]

Does the MB have integrated graphics by chance?

the cpu? yeah im pretty sure the 2400 comes with intel hd graphics

Well... the CPU would be CAPABLE of running integrated graphics, but that doesn't mean it HAS integrated graphics.

That is the job of the Motherboard (MB). Does the motherboard have a VGA, DVI or HDMI connector on the I/O panel? It looks like it does from the images I'm looking at online. If this is so, you need to make sure you disable integrated graphics in the BIOS, otherwise it will only boot with the integrated chip and won't even bother looking for the GPU.

 

[ZmedeR]

Does the MB have integrated graphics by chance?

the cpu? yeah im pretty sure the 2400 comes with intel hd graphics

Well... the CPU would be CAPABLE of running integrated graphics, but that doesn't mean it HAS integrated graphics.

That is the job of the Motherboard (MB). Does the motherboard have a VGA, DVI or HDMI connector on the I/O panel? It looks like it does from the images I'm looking at online. If this is so, you need to make sure you disable integrated graphics in the BIOS, otherwise it will only boot with the integrated chip and won't even bother looking for the GPU.

I cannot find an option to disable integrated graphics in the BIOS. Also, won't I need the on board graphics to enter the BIOS in the first place since the PC doesn't post when I throw the GPU in?

 

[Nerumph]

Does the MB have integrated graphics by chance?

the cpu? yeah im pretty sure the 2400 comes with intel hd graphics

Well... the CPU would be CAPABLE of running integrated graphics, but that doesn't mean it HAS integrated graphics.

That is the job of the Motherboard (MB). Does the motherboard have a VGA, DVI or HDMI connector on the I/O panel? It looks like it does from the images I'm looking at online. If this is so, you need to make sure you disable integrated graphics in the BIOS, otherwise it will only boot with the integrated chip and won't even bother looking for the GPU.

I cannot find an option to disable integrated graphics in the BIOS. Also, won't I need the on board graphics to enter the BIOS in the first place since the PC doesn't post when I throw the GPU in?

So then you were able to access the bios through the integrated graphics port then?

In that case, take a look at this FAQ page from Dell on how to reset your BIOS settings. http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3515/t/16756814

By resetting your BIOS, you should clear any existing hardware constraints and (hopefully) open up your BIOS for new hardware.

 

[ZmedeR]

Does the MB have integrated graphics by chance?

the cpu? yeah im pretty sure the 2400 comes with intel hd graphics

Well... the CPU would be CAPABLE of running integrated graphics, but that doesn't mean it HAS integrated graphics.

That is the job of the Motherboard (MB). Does the motherboard have a VGA, DVI or HDMI connector on the I/O panel? It looks like it does from the images I'm looking at online. If this is so, you need to make sure you disable integrated graphics in the BIOS, otherwise it will only boot with the integrated chip and won't even bother looking for the GPU.

I cannot find an option to disable integrated graphics in the BIOS. Also, won't I need the on board graphics to enter the BIOS in the first place since the PC doesn't post when I throw the GPU in?

So then you were able to access the bios through the integrated graphics port then?

In that case, take a look at this FAQ page from Dell on how to reset your BIOS settings. http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3515/t/16756814

By resetting your BIOS, you should clear any existing hardware constraints and (hopefully) open up your BIOS for new hardware.

Unfortunately resetting the BIOS didn't do the trick either...

 

[ZmedeR]

bump

 

[ZmedeR]

tried an r9 270, that didnt work either.

 

[Nerumph]

Let's go ahead and try this. You did say you could view your system through the integrated graphics port yes?

If so, login with one of your gpu's installed and try downloading the drivers for that specific gpu on the system before restarting. Let's see if that does anything.

If this does nothing, take another look around your BIOS and see if you can find anything such as the image below that allows you to select which graphics to use:

Also, you are plugging it into the blue x16 slot correct? The black one apparently has been wired as an x4 slot according to this article:

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19484299