Asrock Z77 Pro3 and Sapphire HD 7850 OC PCI-E 3.0 slot problem - no signal/output

[spheikki]

Hi,

I have installed my HD 7850 graphics adapter to motherboard PCI-E 3.0 slot (PCIE2) and it does not give any output/signal via DVI connector. PC and Windows boots up though (installed using IGPU). Windows does not see the 7850 card in device mgmt, so looks like motherboard does not recognize this card at all.

MB has i5 3570K CPU installed (Ivy Bridge).

The card works in PCI-E 2.0 slot (PCIE3), and my old card Radeon HD 4870 card (PCI-E 2.0) works in the PCI-E 3.0 (PCIE2) slot.

Looks like there is an issue with PCI-E 3.0 here with the PCIE2 slot on the mobo or the graphics card.

I have tried pretty much everything. Besides switching the slot, I have reset CMOS (battery off, reset jumper), BIOS settings tried: primary display PCI-E/PCI, disabled IGPU Multi-Monitor.

Only thing I am not able to test is to use the card in another machine (PCI-E 3.0), or another graphics card (PCI-E 3.0) in my computer.

Any ideas to try?

All my HW is new. I am losing now the PCI-E 3.0 benefit here, and installing to PCI 2.0 slot is not an option anyway due to its location.

[profJim]

Which motherboard bios version is installed?
ASRock > Products > Z77 Pro3 Bios Download

We can best help you after you create a detailed hardware list in the PC Specs portion of your forum profile http://forums.tweaktown.com/profile.php?do=editprofile at the bottom of the profile page or in your forum signature http://forums.tweaktown.com/profile....=editsignature.

Create your detailed hardware list in your forum signature.
As of today, PC Specs will NOT save any entered data until it is fixed.

[spheikki]

Asrock MB BIOS version is P1.30 and it seems to be the latest available. It was like this when bought.

PS. I updated my sig. I tried several times to fill in the PC spec info earlier but the system does not save it (like you said) :(

[profJim]

Make sure that your video card is fully seated in the pci-e_2 slot and that all electrical contacts in the pci-e slot are OK.
Try gently cleaning the video card's contacts with an eraser.
Are you sure that you have an Ivy Bridge cpu installed?
From page 9 in the motherboard user manual:

Only PCIE2 slot supports Gen 3 speed. To run the PCI Express in Gen 3 speed, please install an Ivy Bridge CPU. If you install a Sandy Bridge CPU, the PCI Express will run only at PCI Express Gen 2 speed.

Can you test with a different video card in the #2 slot? It doesn't have to be a pci-e 3.0 card for this test.
Is there any way that you can test with another pci-e 3.0 video card?
Can you test your card in a different system that supports pci-e 3.0 video cards?
This would help narrow down where the problem is.

Small consolation, with your current setup, it's unlikely that being limited to pci-e 2.0 bandwidth will have any effect on video performance.
**edit** But using the x4 (#3) slot could cause some performance issues.

[spheikki]

Make sure that your video card is fully seated in the pci-e_2 slot and that all electrical contacts in the pci-e slot are OK.
Try gently cleaning the video card's contacts with an eraser.
Are you sure that you have an Ivy Bridge cpu installed?
From page 9 in the motherboard user manual:
Can you test with a different video card in the #2 slot? It doesn't have to be a pci-e 3.0 card for this test.
Is there any way that you can test with another pci-e 3.0 video card?
Can you test your card in a different system that supports pci-e 3.0 video cards?
This would help narrow down where the problem is.

Small consolation, with your current setup, it's unlikely that being limited to pci-e 2.0 bandwidth will have any effect on video performance.
**edit** But using the x4 (#3) slot could cause some performance issues.

I'll try to check and clean the slot 2 and the 7850 card pins.

Please see my original problem description where I said I have already tried another PCIE 2.0 card in the PCIE 3.0 slot (slot #2), and that old card works there just fine.
Also, the 7850 works ok in the slot 3 (PCI-E 2.0).

My processor i5 3570K 3rd gen, so yes, this is Ivy Bridge and supports PCI-E 3.0.
Even if it was not, I guess the card should work in the slot 2 as PCIE 2.0, shouldn't it.

I don't have another VGA card with PCIE 3.0 support, or another system with PCIE 3.0 slot support available, so I cannot test these scenarios (I would have already).

[profJim]

I overlooked your test with your 4870 card in the #2 slot.
Can you borrow a 3.0 card to test with?
Can you test your 7850 in a friend's system?
Have you contacted ASRock tech support by filing an online Support Request Form? ASRock > Support Request Form

[spheikki]

I overlooked your test with your 4870 card in the #2 slot.
Can you borrow a 3.0 card to test with?
Cab you test your 7850 in a friend's system?
Have you contacted ASRock tech support by filing an online Support Request Form? ASRock > Support Request Form

At the moment I don't know anyone having a newer system with PCIE 3.0, so I cannot test this. I know this may eventually be the only way to pinpoint the issue between mobo and graphics adapter. I might need to go to some local PC store to test this, but I would like to do this as a last resort, as I have not bought my stuff from any of them :)

I have not contacted Asrock yet. Need to do taht next.

I checked the slot and card pins and they are ok. I cleaned the card pins with electronics contact cleaner and inserted and removed card several times to ensure slot pins get cleaned also.
This did not help which was predictable already as the card works in another slot and another card work in the 3.0 slot.

[profJim]

Quite a few threads in the ASRock forum have had similar video card problems.
In some cases, ASRock sent them a beta bios to see if that fixed the problem.

You will have to weigh the cost of paying a local store to test your video card and motherboard.
Sending your motherboard for an RMA might result in your paying for shipping (one way only?) and finding out that your motherboard works fine with their 3.0 test cards.

It sounds like the problem is with your bios or the pci-e 3.0 video card slot.
I think that some European owners have called ASRock tech support.

I highly recommend that you create a brief, descriptive list of all the steps that you've done when writing to tech support.
Keep it short and sweet and easy to read.
If you use a long narrative description, you make it much harder for tech support when English is not their native language.

I missed your 4870 information in post #1, and English is my native (and only) language. :)

[spheikki]

Quite a few threads in the ASRock forum have had similar video card problems.
In some cases, ASRock sent them a beta bios to see if that fixed the problem.

You will have to weigh the cost of paying a local store to test your video card and motherboard.
Sending your motherboard for an RMA might result in your paying for shipping (one way only?) and finding out that your motherboard works fine with their 3.0 test cards.

It sounds like the problem is with your bios or the pci-e 3.0 video card slot.
I think that some European owners have called ASRock tech support.

I highly recommend that you create a brief, descriptive list of all the steps that you've done when writing to tech support.
Keep it short and sweet and easy to read.
If you use a long narrative description, you make it much harder for tech support when English is not their native language.

I missed your 4870 information in post #1, and English is my native (and only) language. :)

With "ASRock forum" are you referring to this forum or something else? I ended up to this forum via ASRock homepage so thought this is the one :)

Yes, I need to find my options regarding testing the parts. I guess there is no other way to ensure.

Thanks a lot for your help and support! I'll try the official way next.

[profJim]

You're welcome.
I was referring to the TweakTown ASRock forum.

Good luck, let us know how things work out.