BIOS Screen Garbled - EP45-UD3R help!

[profJim]

It looks like your mobo and EVGA card are allergic to each other ;)
What a PITA!!

[pgrillo]

well, here is one other thing. The card i replaced it with takes half the power as the EVGA.

I have a 600W CoolerMaster, which is rated plenty.

Could it be the PSU? Do PSU's either work or don't work? Or can it be defective in that it simply does not supply the right amount of power.

If this is the case, i can replace the EVGA card with any other card that draws the same amount of power and have the same issue.

Anybody run into this sort of issue?

[PhenomII Dude]

I think your mobo gotta real problem..assuming you did not overclock anything

[profJim]

Can you borrow another psu to test with?
I believe that your video card requires 2 plug-in power connectors. These connectors should be on different 12 volt rails unless your psu has a single rail setup.

[PhenomII Dude]

Originally Posted by pgrillo

Could it be the PSU?

unlikely when your bios screens are already garbled - it should work fine

[pgrillo]

600w cooler master, single 12 volt rail. Both connectors are snugly plugged into the video card.

i don't have another PSU.

i suppose i could RMA that and wait for a new one.

If that doesn't work, I could rma the motherboard.

If that doesn't work, i could try another style video card.

sigh ...

[profJim]

Psu/mobo compatibility is a possiblility, or it could be related to your video card. Your psu might work perfectly in another system but it might not "like" your motherboard or video card. RMAing is a PITA but it might be necessary.

You best bet is to see if you can swap your psu and/or video card with a friend that has similar components. You need to confirm if the problem is with your psu or video card. A 600 watt single rail psu has sufficient power for you video card.

In the past several months, there have been a fair number of members where their problems were solved with another psu, in some cases with a different brand or model. Another test is where you try a different brand or model of video card that draws the same amount of power.

The only real tests that the average user can do is to swap out parts one at time to try and isolate the problem.
You can contact Coolermaster and/or EVGA tech support and see if they have seen similar issues or how to rma your unit.

[pgrillo]

The latest, for those who care. I spoke to CoolerMaster. The voltage of the PSU is reading 11.92. They informed me that that was right on the edge of being too low, and told me to RMA it.

So, i'm waiting for another PSU, and will check the voltage and try it with the EVGA card. I got the sense they just wanted to try something - but i hope they are right.

If the voltage is higher, and it still does not work, i suppose i'll need to try another comparable video card. then what, i do not know.

Gigabyte has been totally useless. Ask a question, get an answer in two days. Usually their answer is an obvious thing like "swap out the video card".

Thanks for the continued input. I appreciate it.

[profJim]

With my system at idle right now, HWmonitor shows 12.48 volts.
OCCT stress testing graphs show 12.35 to 12.43 volts on my systems while under full load and I've seen similar OCCT results for other systems.

Even with a good quality psu, sometimes one is defective right out of the box.
Glad to hear that Coolermaster is working with you.
Let us know how your new psu works out.

[pgrillo]

This nightmare continues.

Swapped out a new PSU, cables and all. Put the board back in - same problem. So, i've swapped out 2 video cards, and the PSU. i have no problems with other cards (with a single power connector).

So, now i'm left with the motherboard - which is working perfectly as far as i know, with everything - including a different video card.

I guess i could try another brand of gtx 260 card, or a comparable radeon.

then rma the mobo.

what a nightmare