PC is using onboard graphics instead of GPU

[Guest]

Hi, I got a new Radeon R7 250 about 2 months ago because my old graphics card broke. Recently I started having problems where I wouldn't get any video output on my monitor. This happens after Windows goes to Sleep mode and I turn it back on. After a few reboots and/or taking the GPU out and putting it back in a few times it would usually work. The last time it happened I switched the cable to onboard graphics out of curiosity and it worked. The fan on the GPU is working and the BIOS prioritizes PCI-e input, so i don't know why onboard is being used.
If anyone can help, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TechCIDLC]

If you want your graphics card to display information in your monitor, you'll have to plug your display cable to the graphics card.

 

[KyleADunn]

Hopefully we can get this sorted out!

First, ensure that you're plugging the monitor into the discrete card, and no the ports on the motherboard.

Then, if that's all good, could I have you uninstall all the old GPU drivers, and install new ones for that card?

 

[frostedtim]

You may need to disable the onboard graphics in the BIOS if you havent already. This will make sure the two graphics devices are not conflicting.

Also make sure that the cable is plugged into the discrete card as well.

 

[oxiide]

Your monitor gets its video signal from the device its plugged in to. If you have it plugged in to the motherboard's video output, then its using your onboard video and your R7 250 is sitting unused. If you turn off the onboard video in BIOS, you just won't get a video signal from that port anymore.

Your issue with the R7 250 sounds sorta like your power supply might be the culprit, especially since Sleep mode is involved. Seems odd, especially since the 250 is such a low-wattage card, but who knows. Can you tell us anything about it, specifically its brand, model, wattage, age?

 

[toyftw]

Hi, I got a new Radeon R7 250 about 2 months ago because my old graphics card broke. Recently I started having problems where I wouldn't get any video output on my monitor. This happens after Windows goes to Sleep mode and I turn it back on. After a few reboots and/or taking the GPU out and putting it back in a few times it would usually work. The last time it happened I switched the cable to onboard graphics out of curiosity and it worked. The fan on the GPU is working and the BIOS prioritizes PCI-e input, so i don't know why onboard is being used.
If anyone can help, it would be greatly appreciated.

Hi - In addition to the above suggestions of being sure the monitor is connected to the vid card output and
not the mobo output, you need to go into BIOS and make sure peg(or pcie) graphics is enabled. Also,
disable IGPU while there. This ordinarily isn't required, but occasionally there's a mobo that doesn't
"auto detect".

 

[frostedtim]

Hi, I got a new Radeon R7 250 about 2 months ago because my old graphics card broke. Recently I started having problems where I wouldn't get any video output on my monitor. This happens after Windows goes to Sleep mode and I turn it back on. After a few reboots and/or taking the GPU out and putting it back in a few times it would usually work. The last time it happened I switched the cable to onboard graphics out of curiosity and it worked. The fan on the GPU is working and the BIOS prioritizes PCI-e input, so i don't know why onboard is being used.
If anyone can help, it would be greatly appreciated.

Hi - In addition to the above suggestions of being sure the monitor is connected to the vid card output and
not the mobo output, you need to go into BIOS and make sure peg(or pcie) graphics is enabled. Also,
disable IGPU while there. This ordinarily isn't required, but occasionally there's a mobo that doesn't
"auto detect".

Some motherboards, like the AMD APU FM1/2 socket boards, allow for both discrete and onboard graphics to be enabled at the same time, allowing for Hybrid Crossfire mode. You have to have the right discrete card paired with the APU, but its possible. I experimented with this a while back. The OP didnt list all of his specs. It could help if we had the full specs.

When I was setting this up, I did have issues very similar to the OP. Disabling the onboard graphics in the BIOS and directly connecting the monitor to the discrete card should work just fine. The onboard can be re-enabled later if needed.

 

[frostedtim]

Hi, I got a new Radeon R7 250 about 2 months ago because my old graphics card broke. Recently I started having problems where I wouldn't get any video output on my monitor. This happens after Windows goes to Sleep mode and I turn it back on. After a few reboots and/or taking the GPU out and putting it back in a few times it would usually work. The last time it happened I switched the cable to onboard graphics out of curiosity and it worked. The fan on the GPU is working and the BIOS prioritizes PCI-e input, so i don't know why onboard is being used.
If anyone can help, it would be greatly appreciated.

Hi - In addition to the above suggestions of being sure the monitor is connected to the vid card output and
not the mobo output, you need to go into BIOS and make sure peg(or pcie) graphics is enabled. Also,
disable IGPU while there. This ordinarily isn't required, but occasionally there's a mobo that doesn't
"auto detect".

Some motherboards, like the AMD APU FM1/2 socket boards, allow for both discrete and onboard graphics to be enabled at the same time, allowing for Hybrid Crossfire mode. You have to have the right discrete card paired with the APU, but its possible. I experimented with this a while back. The OP didnt list all of his specs. It could help if we had the full specs.

When I was setting this up, I did have issues very similar to the OP. Disabling the onboard graphics in the BIOS and directly connecting the monitor to the discrete card should work just fine. The onboard can be re-enabled later if needed.

 

[Guest]

I tried rebooting with the cable in the R7, it didn't work. Currently I'm downloading the latest drivers so i'll see if that works. As far as my pw supply goes, it's a 550W MS Pro 550 ATX P4. I checked my bios again and made sure that pci-e has the highest priority.

 

[frostedtim]

That R7 250 GPU shouldnt eat too much power, but not sure what ells you have in your rig. Can you post full specs, please?

 

[Guest]

That R7 250 GPU shouldnt eat too much power, but not sure what ells you have in your rig. Can you post full specs, please?

Sure:
Intel Core i5 650 (dual core, 3.2 GHz)
4 GB RAM (2x2, don't know the manufacturer or model)
WD Caviar Green HDD (1 TB)
ASRock H55M-LE
Don't know if you need anything else.

 

[Guest]

Also, my pc doesn't read the R7 at all. It doesn't show up in the device manager.

 

[KyleADunn]

Could I have you reseat your GPU? Try unplugging the machine (essential; do not skip), ground yourself, remove it from the mobo and connectors, then put in back on, connect it, and plug the machine back in. See if that helps, as sometimes improper power cycling during installation can make things fickle.

 

[Guest]

Could I have you reseat your GPU? Try unplugging the machine (essential; do not skip), ground yourself, remove it from the mobo and connectors, then put in back on, connect it, and plug the machine back in. See if that helps, as sometimes improper power cycling during installation can make things fickle.

Yeah, I tried that too several times and it didn't help. After that i took my gpu to a buddy to test if it works with his pc, and it did. I put it back in mine and now everything works. Sometimes I think this thing is just messing with me. I would still like to identify what the problem is, if possible, because it will probably happen again.

 

[stokes1790]

Could I have you reseat your GPU? Try unplugging the machine (essential; do not skip), ground yourself, remove it from the mobo and connectors, then put in back on, connect it, and plug the machine back in. See if that helps, as sometimes improper power cycling during installation can make things fickle.

Yeah, I tried that too several times and it didn't help. After that i took my gpu to a buddy to test if it works with his pc, and it did. I put it back in mine and now everything works. Sometimes I think this thing is just messing with me. I would still like to identify what the problem is, if possible, because it will probably happen again.

Honestly, if you used the same pci-e port and it wasn't being identified as a video controller by your device manager, I bet it either wasn't seated properly or a power connector wasn't secured. I think everyone has had that happen to them a time or two. I usually end up getting trolled by RAM.

 

[Guest]

Could I have you reseat your GPU? Try unplugging the machine (essential; do not skip), ground yourself, remove it from the mobo and connectors, then put in back on, connect it, and plug the machine back in. See if that helps, as sometimes improper power cycling during installation can make things fickle.

Yeah, I tried that too several times and it didn't help. After that i took my gpu to a buddy to test if it works with his pc, and it did. I put it back in mine and now everything works. Sometimes I think this thing is just messing with me. I would still like to identify what the problem is, if possible, because it will probably happen again.

Honestly, if you used the same pci-e port and it wasn't being identified as a video controller by your device manager, I bet it either wasn't seated properly or a power connector wasn't secured. I think everyone has had that happen to them a time or two. I usually end up getting trolled by RAM.

I agree, but this happened to me three times in a row. It would stop working, then work, then stop again and so on. It's like AMD wants me to go insane