Sapphire Pulse Rx550 Fan don't spin no signal to monitor

[kgg2760]

I thank you in advance for your help.
I recently bought another GPU for my PC, I already had one Rx580 and one rx550 working together perfectly but new Rx550 does not work, it does not drain any power from motherboard, its fan don't spin and it does not get hot, its like its never connected. I already tested PCIe slots of my mobo with other GPUs and all slots are funcional. I unplugged all other GPUs and tried new RX550 connected directly to mobo (without risers) and still fan don't work and no signal to monitor. All my risers are also funcional because I could test them with other GPUs. I thought it could be PSU but PSU is working good with one RX580 and one RX550, in this case new RX550 connected alone in the board and not working, cannot be due to PSU problem.
Any additional info you might need please ask.
Once again I appreciate all ideas.

 

[fagetti]

Have you tried to clean graphics card from dust inside and replace thermal paste? Probably some mosfet or capacitor damaged on the circuit board. But you can always try if its overheating inside.

 

[kgg2760]

Thanks for your reply. I tried to clean but it already looked clean inside. I bought this second hand and the seller told me that it was working properly in his PC. The problem is, this card does not drain power, cold as ice, fan does not spin and naturally no signal to monitor. If its mosfet or capacitor damage, can a PC repair shop discover this? Or shall I send it to Sapphire ? Problem is I dont have the inicial warranty bill. I even don't know if its under warranty :/

 

[fagetti]

Can you see it in device manager at all, download GPU-Z and check below if you can even change it to RX550. Seems more like either bad capacitor / mosfet, bricked bios would mean fans are still spinning. Check your motherboards bios and update it to latest and after that check secure boot in your bios. If you see Secure boot then disable it and save options, restart.

If you find out its not under warranty contact the second hand seller to get your money back. Was it from ebay or some known site? There could be some return policy available.

 

[kgg2760]

It does not appear in device manager, also GPUZ does not show it. I have another RX550 same make/model and it Works perfectly in the same PCIe slot.
I tried to contact the seller but of course no reply, I bought this from a page called OLX and I already informed the them about this defective GPU although seller said it Works 100%
If it is capacitor/mofset can a PC repair shop detect this?

 

[fagetti]

One of my friend had same issue with secure boot enabled, gpu didnt have fan spin before it was disabled.

I have repaired few motherboards with defective mosfets myself so PC repair shop should defindetly get it fixed. It just depends on the prize, repair could cost half of a new card so that is something to consider. Another even more known issue is graphics chip failing or having solder cracked underneath or inside chip and making it short somewhere, if this is the issue dont repair it just get new one.

Get few high resolution pictures from the circuit board after removing heatsink and coolers (both sides) then one picture from HDMI, DVI ports side(to see if there is shorted pins). Also check PCIE power connector pins are straight. post link here

EDIT: pics like this from each side and ports : https://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/gtx680-scan-back.jpg

 

[kgg2760]

I dont know if these are high q images but please take a look at em, thanks again!
https://ibb.co/iNwZ3S
https://ibb.co/fv9Acn
https://ibb.co/bNBOxn
https://ibb.co/inDE3S
https://ibb.co/hmQ5A7

 

[fagetti]

No problem. This is the main fuse: https://ibb.co/bG13V7
If you have a multimeter you can check with continuity setting if it still works. If its busted then there is somekind of short in the circuit board, might be complicated.

Can you send pictures from the HDMI, DVI and other connectors on the side of the card. So i can see if pins are straight or shorted.

 

[fagetti]

Also have you tried to use other ports? Try swap between hdmi/displayport or dvi if you have cables. It might be cold and fan not spin because if there is no signal it wont heat aswell.

 

[kgg2760]

https://ibb.co/cEqm07
https://ibb.co/ggcASn
https://ibb.co/kWpDf7
https://ibb.co/bufatS
Here are the pics of ports. I dont have a multimeter unfortunately :/ To be honest I did not try with DVI port, I only tried with HDMI port. I try to find a DVI cable then.

 

[fagetti]

Check these pins from different angles with light and see if pins are straight. Cant see well from pictures, only DVI port looks good: https://ibb.co/gQAQtS

Does your motherboard have latest bios version, update if not? Also go to bios settings and look for Legacy / Uefi settings from Boot options. This card might only support UEFI bios so select that and restart. If that dont work find Secure boot options from bios and disable it and try again.

 

[kgg2760]

Pins look good, and Motherboard has the latest bios, updated today. I already tried legacy / uefi switch and it didn not work, however I could not see how to disable secure boot option, It seems enables now and I cannot change it.

 

[fagetti]

Try with DVI port if you find cable. If that wont work then try this GPU in another desktop PC to rule out the possibility that it is compatibility issue with your motherboard. Check the fuses on the board with multimeter.. any cheap multimeter will do. If nothing works then your left with PC repair center or trying the oven method =)

 

[fagetti]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DKBynugBW8

Check this out if you cant find option for disabling/enabling secure boot

 

[kgg2760]

In theory same make/model and memory cards should not have different compstibility problem. I have 2 sapphire pulse rx550 4gb, one new (works perfect) one used (doesn't work). But I will try with DVI cable, I just found one but I must test first if the cable works. I keep you updated. I appreciate a lot your help mate.

 

[fagetti]

Ah okay i didnt read correctly that you have same model cards my mistake. Then its not motherboard compatibility issue. You can still try DVI port if something in circuit for HDMI cable went bad.

 

[fagetti]

Now its starting to get pretty far fetched but check that the pins where fan connector goes are fine. And try to install fan from another rx550 if its defective, it could prevent gpu from powering on.

If you have some cleaning alcohol, isoprophyl alcohol is best you could clean these connectors (both sides of the board) gently with Qtip / cotton swap dipped with alcohol: https://ibb.co/i50dxn

 

[kgg2760]

I tried with DVI cable, my rx550 works fine in same pcie slot but recently bought (used) rx550 does not work. I installed the working fan from one rx550 to other and it did not work. I have only first aid alcohol at home 70% ethanol, but I am kinda frustrated :/

 

[fagetti]

Well you can use that alcohol but not much with cotton swabs. just scratch very gently on those connectors i have redlined on both sides of board. When its ethanol you need to dry it very well and not let any go to other components. You can dry it with more swabs

EDIT: just check that there is zero liquid anywhere on the board or connectors before connecting back, clean it well

 

[fagetti]

If you have eletric pen you can test the main fuse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiJH1lgaHrY
Just put your finger in other side of fuse and tip to other side and see if it lights.
You can also check if there is current going in the gpu while its "powered on" with the pen from different testing points.

 

[kgg2760]

I feel like not prepeares for problems like this, I also dont have electric pen, tomorrow I go and buy a cheap multimeter. Thanks a lot for your help. I will need your guidance again to check which points to test if GPU gets current in it.

 

[fagetti]

Yeah well i dont know if its worth to buy multimeter for just this gpu but if you want to use it later on then its good to get. Cleaning pins is first thing to do with some 70-90% isoprophyl alcohol and test it. Then test gpu in another desktop pc if it macigally works never knows.

If fuse is fine and there is current going to graphics chip then it usually is cracked solder under or inside chip, you can test this by heating it with heatgun, Dont use high power like in the video just briefly from higher distance. If it works then you know it cant be repaired, proper reflow after makes it work from days to months, sometimes rarely up to a year but its not a fix.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VM-dGerj0U

 

[fagetti]

EDIT: Check first you can find backup bios switch somewhere in your gpu like this (what if someting goes wrong part) : https://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159

Im sure you already tried to change settings from your monitor while trying the gpu ( change input from hdmi to dvi etc?) this is a dumb question i know.

You could also try force flash its vbios, never know if it starts working, Enable integrated grahics from bios options then shuttdown and remove all pcie cards (you will be using integrated graphics) but the broken one. If you dont have integrated graphics then you need to be more careful to flash the right one, you need more help with that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTqNP-N38BY

There is 2 different vbios available for your Sapphire pulse RX 550 4 GB edition

Your gpu looks to have only micron vram so dload this: https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/197228/197228

 

[fagetti]

Did you really get it to work with bios on my last post? Nice seller first bricking gpu and then selling it to you 😀

 

[kgg2760]

Hey mate, I kept you updated via chat but it might be helpful for people to see, so I also write here. I have tried everything but GPU did not work. I guess it was basically a bricked GPU. As you know mining Cryptos are very popular recently and inexperienced people try to change GPU bios, resulting bricked GPU. In this case the seller was also a liar and eBay canceled his account after this.