Video card undetected

[BanksterWolf]

CPU Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor
Motherboard ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory AMD Performance Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory
Storage Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card
Case Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply
Monitor Asus VH236H 23.0" Monitor

I've installed Windows 8 and everything else works fine--I'm posting from my new build right now. The drivers for the video card use this weird "Catalyst Control" thing so I wasn't quite sure if they were able to install. However, I played a few games and noticed fps less than my laptop, which seems to indicate that the video card isn't being detected. The fan spins, although research indicates that simply being fit into the PCI-e slot allows for this. 2x 6-pin connectors are indeed connected from the psu so it should be receiving power. Any ideas? I can provide pictures if there isn't any obvious reasons I'm missing.

Extra Note: I can only enter BIOS if I unplug power from my video card, otherwise there's no way for me to access it

 

[clutchc]

Let me get this straight. If your monitor is plugged into your HD 7870, you don't see the "press DEL for Setup" displayed? But if your monitor is plugged into the on-board video, you can enter BIOS?

Another thing I'm confused about in your description, are you plugging your monitor into the on-board video or the card's video when you have this low FPS?

Btw, Catalyst is what AMD calls their graphics driver package. It contains their control panel which they call Catalyst Control Center. They also have a set of gaming profiles (CAP) you can download from their site for the best game settings.