z68 extreme3 gen3 not recognizing r9 290 gpu

[robbie87]

Greetings friends!

I'm having trouble getting my new gpu to work in my rig. Here's what I have:

asrock z68 extreme3 gen3 (BIOS 2.3)
8gb ram
i5-2400 cpu
cx600m psu

Up until now, I've been using the GTX 660ti without a hitch (and had a 450w psu at the time). I decided to upgrade my gpu and picked up a Gigabyte radeon r9 290 windforce (the one with the three fans). I bought the cx600m because I figured I'd need the extra power as well. I installed the gpu, got the 6 and 8 pin power cords hooked up, but for some reason, the new card doesn't show up in device manager and won't output when I use the HMDI or VGA ports. I tried downloading the AMD drivers, and got the catalyst software off their site. The installer loads, but doesn't seem to actually install any drivers, I'm thinking because the mobo doesn't recognize the card. There doesn't seem to be a way to bypass Catalyst either and install the drivers manually.

Long story short, I tried updated my BIOS for the first time thinking this might solve the issue...HORRIBLE idea. I didn't see the numerous posts about how updating the BIOS on the z68 kills sandy bridge processors. Couldn't boot to windows, just got an endless loop of the loading screen and then crashed and reset. Took me all night to figure out a solution, but reinstalling windows at least allowed me to get back in.

I feel like I've tried everything I found on forums - tried the gpu in the other PCI express slot, reset cmos, made sure the boot up is set to the PCI express slot, disabled the intel mobo graphics, tried other catalyst - nothing seems to work. I tried the card out in my buddy's rig and it gets recognized fine. Any ideas why this isn't working in mine??

Thanks so much for any help!

 

[quilciri]

Is the card recognized by the BIOS; do you get a POST screen?

 

[junkeymonkey]

not that I can help you on this but some guys with z68 boards have the same issue with the new NVidia cards as well

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2371304/gtx-970-2600k-gigabyte-z68x-ud3h-problems.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2403049/black-screen-gigabyte-gtx-970-gaming.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2364162/motherboard-detect-graphic-card.html


just seems odd this chipset comes up ???

 

[robbie87]

@quilciri I don't believe I get a POST screen (forgive my lack of knowledge related to this). I haven't seen the card show up in the BIOS either.

@junkeymonkey Yeah, the more I've looked into this the more posts I've seen about z68's. Maybe it's time for a new mobo...

 

[junkeymonkey]

these days it seems its easier for you to buy new then it is for then to support old ?? [opinion]

this may be there new way to make more money off you ??? things anit so plug and play anymore

 

[quilciri]

The POST (power on self-test) screen is the very first thing that appears on screen when you turn on your PC. It's where you see the CPU listed and the memory test happens and you see the BIOS brand at the top (e.g. Award BIOS)

If you can get the the BIOS, then the machine already went through POST and the card is at least providing basic output when installed.

Try changing the PCI-e setting in BIOS to generation 2, save & reboot.

 

[robbie87]

@quilciri Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear. I'm not getting any video output on the r9 290. I have to use the mobo output.

I can't seem to find that PCI-e setting in the BIOS...

 

[junkeymonkey]

2.30 7/5/2012 Instant Flash 4.07MB 1. Add Power Saving Mode item in OC Tweaker.
2. Improve discrete VGA card vBIOS compatibility


I see it got a vbios update but I guess that's for what was out around 2012 ???

ya,know I am a bit surprised that this AMD card don't just work all I see on this for what I look at been NVidia .... strange

 

[robbie87]

@junkeymonkey yeah it's really disappointing. I'm on 2.3 right now. I was hesitant about switching to AMD and this is just confirming my doubts. I've never had issues with NVidia

 

[junkeymonkey]

that bios setting for the graphics is on page 62 of the download manual for your board

 

[junkeymonkey]

I thinking its something up with just the z68 cause you see from the links I posted there all NVidia

 

[robbie87]

@junkeymonkey thanks, i found that area on the BIOS but I don't see where it lets me switch between 3rd and 2nd generation. Maybe I'm just missing something obvious??

 

[junkeymonkey]

I don't see that ??

I assume you gopt it in the correct slot?? page 22

1. In single VGA card mode, it is recommended to install a PCI Express
x16 graphics card on PCIE2 slot.

 

[robbie87]

well it doesn't look like that option is there in the manual either. And I did put the gpu in that pci slot

 

[junkeymonkey]

this one guy had a asus z68 and he noticed that his board did not get a bios for the cards but he said he seen that asus just choose there 1 or 2 topend z68.s and did give one for them so he emailed them and said '' they'll look in to it ''

only other thing is maybe that new psu is not working right ?? never know ??

can you got another one from a friend or try the old one you had to see???

 

[robbie87]

hmm. my old card works fine still. So i guess that's sort of good news.

 

[junkeymonkey]

don't know man, guess its one of then it works or it don't and there you sit scratching your head and holding the bag ??

sorry I was no more help on this

 

[quilciri]

If your 660ti works fine in your rig on the old PSU, and your 290 works fine in your buddy's rig, I suspect your new PSU; the 8-pin at the very least.

 

[robbie87]

No worries! Thanks for looking into it! I appreciate it

 

[robbie87]

we actually used my psu in his rig. This is really strange

 

[quilciri]

Flashing the BIOS *should* reset all your settings, but just to explicitly cover every possibility, try resetting your CMOS.

 

[robbie87]

Thanks I tried that earlier on, and it lead to a whole range of other issues. Didn't solve this though

 

[junkeymonkey]

''we actually used my psu in his rig. This is really strange ''

well it just may come down to compatibility issues with certain z68 boards ???

looking things up trying to help you and the rest with z68 in your boat is kinda what I see on that ??? that's just my guess

 

[robbie87]

that's the only explanation I can come up with. I could've sworn I saw other builds with the Z68 and my gpu though. Who knows?

 

[junkeymonkey]

that maybe true but like I said above with the asus guy asus just supported a board or two but did not do anything for his ??? so he's just left out in the cold on that