Why won't my new Graphics Card work?

[JoelSF]

I just bought the asus Strix GTX 960 2G today and after installing the drivers and restarting my computer, nothing has changed.

I've tried disabling and uninstalled the built-in GPU but the Device Manager still only shows Microsoft Basic Display Adapter. The fans are spinning on the card and the LED indicates it's functioning, as well as my monitor being plugged into it, but nothing else is working (i.e. aspect ratio is off and games aren't running at higher settings).

I'm running on Windows 10 and have tried downloading drivers for win10 and win8.1 but still nothing has changed. I really want to use this card and can't think of what I could've done wrong for it to not work 100%

My build is:
CPU: Intel (BX80646G3260) G3260 3.3GHz 3MB
PSU: Silverstone ST60F-ESB 600w Strider Essential
MOBO: ASRock H81M-ITX LGA1150 Intel H81 Mini ITX
All encased in a mini-itx case.

I've listed everything I could think of but if anyone knows of any issues or steps I might have missed please let me know so I can start again.

 

[hang-the-9]

Pretty sure your power supply is the issue. Need a bit of detail though, does the card actually work or you don't have any display from it at all? What happens when you try to install the drivers? All power plugs attached to it? Does it show up in Device Manager?

First thing I'd check is the power supply, a 500 watt + unit with better quality than the Corsair VS one. The Corsair VS was ranked as a Tier 4 unit which is not very good for a gaming system. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

 

[JoelSF]

Pretty sure your power supply is the issue. Need a bit of detail though, does the card actually work or you don't have any display from it at all? What happens when you try to install the drivers? All power plugs attached to it? Does it show up in Device Manager?

First thing I'd check is the power supply, a 500 watt + unit with better quality than the Corsair VS one. The Corsair VS was ranked as a Tier 4 unit which is not very good for a gaming system. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

To answer your questions:

The card seems to okay - the LED is on, the fans are spinning, and it shows display when my monitor is plugged into it.
The drivers seem to install but when the pc restarts there's no noticeable change, other than a slight difference in screen resolution. Like I said, only the built-in GPU and a "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter" show up in the Device Manager. I'm assuming this means it hasn't fully recognised my card.

The box says a minimum of 400W and my PSU is 450W.
I don't really have a means to go out and trial another more expensive PSU.

 

[JoelSF]

Since the card seems to be plugged in and responding I thought it might be a driver problem.
I downloaded newer Nvidia/GeForce drivers for Win10 or older but it comes up with the 'Drivers not compatible with this version of Windows' error.

 

[hang-the-9]

Try updating the BIOS and chipset drivers for the motherboard, and make sure you are checking for 32 or 64 bit drivers based on your operating system.

If that does not work, contact the card vendor for support, although I still think it's a power supply issue as the most likely cause, but it may be a bad card or motherboard slot.

 

[JoelSF]

Try updating the BIOS and chipset drivers for the motherboard, and make sure you are checking for 32 or 64 bit drivers based on your operating system.

If that does not work, contact the card vendor for support, although I still think it's a power supply issue as the most likely cause, but it may be a bad card or motherboard slot.

While I was out picking up a replacement motherboard I also picked up a better PSU - a Silverstone Strider Essential 600W (it's a tier above the VS model I had before).

Still having the same issue with the card. It isn't being recognised in Device Manager and only shows a 'Microsoft Basic Display Adapter'. I don't know why the card wouldn't be compatible.

I want to say it's a driver issue but I've tried downloading several with no results.

Any further suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[hang-the-9]

Contact the card vendor for support if you are sure that you got the right drivers. You may also want to test the card in another system to see if it's the card or something with the computer that's the issue.

 

[JoelSF]

Contact the card vendor for support if you are sure that you got the right drivers. You may also want to test the card in another system to see if it's the card or something with the computer that's the issue.

I don't really have the ability to try my card in any other computers, as well as the shop I bought it from won't provide help unless I can prove it's defective.

I guess I'll just have to keep an eye out for info on drivers. I'm hoping to find out if anyone else has had this issue and managed to come to a solution.

 

[JoelSF]

UPDATE:
I finally found the correct drivers and once they installed, everything runs smoothly.

I'd tried this site earlier in the week and thought I'd selected this before but looks like I must have clicked 32 bit instead of 64.
https://www.asus.com/au/Graphics-Cards/STRIXGTX960DC2OC...

Seems I was right about suspecting a driver compatibility issue, rather than a PSU problem. Still, it can't hurt that I upgraded my battery when replacing the motherboard after reading what you mentioned about the corsair VS/CX models.

The card works fine and I can now play all my games on Ultra settings!

 

[hang-the-9]

UPDATE:
I finally found the correct drivers and once they installed, everything runs smoothly.

I'd tried this site earlier in the week and thought I'd selected this before but looks like I must have clicked 32 bit instead of 64.
https://www.asus.com/au/Graphics-Cards/STRIXGTX960DC2OC...

Seems I was right about suspecting a driver compatibility issue, rather than a PSU problem. Still, it can't hurt that I upgraded my battery when replacing the motherboard after reading what you mentioned about the corsair VS/CX models.

The card works fine and I can now play all my games on Ultra settings!

Nice, the issue with going by the fact that it's a driver issue vs anything else is that it all is based on using the right drivers LOL. If you say you got the drivers but it's not working still, then the issue points to something else. As I said "if you are sure you got the right drivers" Glad it's working for you now.

 

[JoelSF]

UPDATE:
I finally found the correct drivers and once they installed, everything runs smoothly.

I'd tried this site earlier in the week and thought I'd selected this before but looks like I must have clicked 32 bit instead of 64.
https://www.asus.com/au/Graphics-Cards/STRIXGTX960DC2OC...

Seems I was right about suspecting a driver compatibility issue, rather than a PSU problem. Still, it can't hurt that I upgraded my battery when replacing the motherboard after reading what you mentioned about the corsair VS/CX models.

The card works fine and I can now play all my games on Ultra settings!

Nice, the issue with going by the fact that it's a driver issue vs anything else is that it all is based on using the right drivers LOL. If you say you got the drivers but it's not working still, then the issue points to something else. As I said "if you are sure you got the right drivers" Glad it's working for you now.

I guess it goes to show that drivers that come with the disk Rarely ever work haha. Windows 10 seems to still be in that state however where updating can be that much trickier.

Thanks again - for the PSU tier list as well.