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Graphics Card Install Problem

Started by Slywyn, September 06, 2013, 03:58:07 PM

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Slywyn

I have a graphics card that I bought for my other computer. A GTX 550ti. I basically plugged it into my old computer and it ran, but my new computer is having problems that I don't know how to fix.

I have it plugged in and the fan on the card spins, but when it is plugged in I just get "No signal" on my monitor. I can't get video with the normal 'default' plugin either.

Does anyone know what might be happening?

Comp Specs

Intel Core i5-3330 CPU @3.00GHz
12GB RAM
64bit operating system on Windows 8

If you need more detailed specs you'll have to tell me where to find them because I don't know. =x
What Makes A Shark Tick ( o/o's )

"True friendship is when you walk into their house and your WiFi automatically connects." - The Internet, Probably

I'm just the silliest, friendliest little shark that ever did. Sure, I have all these teeth but I don't bite... much.

Vekseid

Were you using an integrated graphics card before (ie built into the motherboard)?

Slywyn

#2
Quote from: Vekseid on September 06, 2013, 04:09:46 PM
Were you using an integrated graphics card before (ie built into the motherboard)?

Yeah. If I recall correctly it's an intel integrated card(AND IT SUCKS D: )

Edit: I just remembered something that might be important: I had to take the power supply from my old computer out of that one and put it in this one, because the new computer's power supply was only 300W and the graphics card requires 400W. I don't know if that would cause any changes?
What Makes A Shark Tick ( o/o's )

"True friendship is when you walk into their house and your WiFi automatically connects." - The Internet, Probably

I'm just the silliest, friendliest little shark that ever did. Sure, I have all these teeth but I don't bite... much.

Moraline

If it wasn't a power issue...

I think what Veks is getting at, is that sometimes you need to go into the BIOS and turn off the integrated graphics card and/or turn on the PCI-E slot to activate the slot for the new graphics input.

In other words your computer is still trying to look for a monitor in the old plug-in hole. You need to tell it to look in the new location. You do that in the BIOS. 

>> Restart the computer and tap F8 key while it's booting to get into the BIOS. Look for graphics (or integrated graphics).  *With the full name of the motherboard and/or computer I could probably get specific instructions. If needed.

Slywyn

It's a Gateway, that's all I can really tell you =x
What Makes A Shark Tick ( o/o's )

"True friendship is when you walk into their house and your WiFi automatically connects." - The Internet, Probably

I'm just the silliest, friendliest little shark that ever did. Sure, I have all these teeth but I don't bite... much.

Slywyn

Found out how to get into bios, the option to turn on pcie  just doesn't seem to exist that I can find. Turning of the integrated graphics from control panel hasn't done anything either. Turning computer on with graphics card receiving power beeps like normal and then sits at "no signal"on my monitor.
What Makes A Shark Tick ( o/o's )

"True friendship is when you walk into their house and your WiFi automatically connects." - The Internet, Probably

I'm just the silliest, friendliest little shark that ever did. Sure, I have all these teeth but I don't bite... much.

Slywyn

#6
I found this solution online, I'm going to try it so if something goes wrong you know what I did.

QuoteDisable Secure Boot
Move over to the Boot tab
Change the boot type to Legacy
Then Save and Exit and hook up your video card

Edit: There is no "legacy" boot type so that solution didn't work either :(
What Makes A Shark Tick ( o/o's )

"True friendship is when you walk into their house and your WiFi automatically connects." - The Internet, Probably

I'm just the silliest, friendliest little shark that ever did. Sure, I have all these teeth but I don't bite... much.

Slywyn

I was able to find a "Legacy" option under something called a CMS and boot it, and my computer is running with the graphics card in, but I've run into a new problem.

The resolution is now much smaller than it was and I can't change it through the display settings. ><
What Makes A Shark Tick ( o/o's )

"True friendship is when you walk into their house and your WiFi automatically connects." - The Internet, Probably

I'm just the silliest, friendliest little shark that ever did. Sure, I have all these teeth but I don't bite... much.

Moraline

Legacy isn't a permanent solution.

Take the opportunity to go online and download & install the latest NVidia Drivers for your 550ti. (Don't worry about the poor resolution right now.)

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Then turn the legacy back off and restart the computer to see if it works. It sounds like you might be just having graphics card driver issues.

Slywyn

#9
Alright, will do. I thought it might be drivers because I don't remember if my card came with a CD or not to install drivers.

I'm downloading something called "GeForce Experience" that's supposed to automatically update drivers.

Where do you actually install drivers once they're downloaded? >>
What Makes A Shark Tick ( o/o's )

"True friendship is when you walk into their house and your WiFi automatically connects." - The Internet, Probably

I'm just the silliest, friendliest little shark that ever did. Sure, I have all these teeth but I don't bite... much.

Oniya

Quote from: Slywyn on September 06, 2013, 08:31:01 PM
Alright, will do. I thought it might be drivers because I don't remember if my card came with a CD or not to install drivers.

I'm downloading something called "GeForce Experience" that's supposed to automatically update drivers.

I think they expect you to lose those CDs.  That's why all the major players have libraries of drivers on their support sites.
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Moraline

#11
Quote from: Slywyn on September 06, 2013, 08:31:01 PM
Alright, will do. I thought it might be drivers because I don't remember if my card came with a CD or not to install drivers.

I'm downloading something called "GeForce Experience" that's supposed to automatically update drivers.

Where do you actually install drivers once they're downloaded? >>
I don't know what that program is but if you use the link that I gave you it should take you to series of drop down lists so you can select your card type and download the driver directly.

(I assume the program you are referring to will do the same thing, it'll just scan the card type so you don't have to click on the drop down menus.)

Then the driver is just a little executable program. You double click on it and it installs itself. 

*edit* Just let it install in the path that it chooses as it's default path. Don't change a thing, and click on accept/next the whole way through it's insall process until it asks you to restart the computer.

** Don't be alarmed if the screen flickers off several times during the process - sometimes it'll go black for a minute or two.

Slywyn

#12
Okie. It's taking a really long time to download. Id on't know if it's our internet or the download itself. Probably our internet.

The GeForce thing failed. It said that the system requirements were not supported, but I don't know what requirements weren't met.
What Makes A Shark Tick ( o/o's )

"True friendship is when you walk into their house and your WiFi automatically connects." - The Internet, Probably

I'm just the silliest, friendliest little shark that ever did. Sure, I have all these teeth but I don't bite... much.

Moraline

Use the link that I provided earlier and just download the drivers directly.  That thing you were trying to download is primarily a game graphics optimizer and I suspect in legacy mode it didn't like the screen resolution.

Just go direct to Nvidia.

Quote from: Moraline on September 06, 2013, 08:26:58 PM
Legacy isn't a permanent solution.

Take the opportunity to go online and download & install the latest NVidia Drivers for your 550ti. (Don't worry about the poor resolution right now.)

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Then turn the legacy back off and restart the computer to see if it works. It sounds like you might be just having graphics card driver issues.

Slywyn

I started both downloads at the same time just in case something like that happened actually. =p

Our internet is just being very slow and hasn't finished the download of the drivers yet. 129/177 MB after like three hours. ><
What Makes A Shark Tick ( o/o's )

"True friendship is when you walk into their house and your WiFi automatically connects." - The Internet, Probably

I'm just the silliest, friendliest little shark that ever did. Sure, I have all these teeth but I don't bite... much.

Moraline

I'm out for the night. I hope it all works out for you. Good luck!

Slywyn

What Makes A Shark Tick ( o/o's )

"True friendship is when you walk into their house and your WiFi automatically connects." - The Internet, Probably

I'm just the silliest, friendliest little shark that ever did. Sure, I have all these teeth but I don't bite... much.

Slywyn

#17
The thing you linked me finished and the resolution fixed itself, but the computer never asked to restart. However since you said to disable the legacy thing I'll go ahead and do that and see what happens.

Edit: Restarted computer and turned off legacy and the display immediately died. I had to reset the whole thing several times for it to even allow the normal display back on. For a scary moment I thought the display was dead entirely.

Turned legacy back on and everything works again. I don't think turning it off is going to help anything. =x
What Makes A Shark Tick ( o/o's )

"True friendship is when you walk into their house and your WiFi automatically connects." - The Internet, Probably

I'm just the silliest, friendliest little shark that ever did. Sure, I have all these teeth but I don't bite... much.

Moraline

Quote from: Slywyn on September 06, 2013, 11:34:57 PM
The thing you linked me finished and the resolution fixed itself, but the computer never asked to restart. However since you said to disable the legacy thing I'll go ahead and do that and see what happens.

Edit: Restarted computer and turned off legacy and the display immediately died. I had to reset the whole thing several times for it to even allow the normal display back on. For a scary moment I thought the display was dead entirely.

Turned legacy back on and everything works again. I don't think turning it off is going to help anything. =x
I highly recommend going to the "Gateway" website and look for some tech support help from them. Legacy shouldn't need to be enabled. It sounds like something else maybe in need of updating or switching. If I knew more about the type of BIOS and motherboard you have I could give more answers but without it, it's turning into a guessing game.

Note:  I only suggest going to them to ask about it because it's better to find out now then to wait for other potential hidden problems to creep up on you.  Also if it's a new computer then you'll want to get those things fixed while it's still under warranty (if it is.)

Alternatively, I'm glad that it appears to be working and I admit that I could be misunderstanding the situation but it's better to be safe then sorry with your expensive computer parts.

Slywyn

I did finally figure out the model of the computer if that helps.

Gateway DX4870-UB318

The site I found the instructions on said that this computer requires legacy mode, but I dunno =x
What Makes A Shark Tick ( o/o's )

"True friendship is when you walk into their house and your WiFi automatically connects." - The Internet, Probably

I'm just the silliest, friendliest little shark that ever did. Sure, I have all these teeth but I don't bite... much.

Moraline

You are correct, that version of motherboard/BIOS does require the Legacy configuration to activate an independent graphics card. It's a stupid way to do it but whatever works I guess.

You did it correctly, there is no other way of doing it.

In that case, enjoy your computer and happy gaming!

PS:  Not sure if you knew it or not but your computer is also capable of a memory upgrade up to 16 GB. Which is usually best done with 2 x 8GB strips of RAM.

Run the crucial RAM checker here if you want to see the RAM model types best suggested for your computer:
http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/
*Note: I don't buy crucial RAM, although there products are alright. I suggest buying G.Skillz for value and quality.

Slywyn

What benefits would you gain from going up to 16GB?

I'm actually at 12 now(I took an 8gb stick out of my old computer and put it into this one) so would buying another 8gb stick for another 4gb give that much of a difference?

I'm kind of computer illiterate on most things so forgive me =x
What Makes A Shark Tick ( o/o's )

"True friendship is when you walk into their house and your WiFi automatically connects." - The Internet, Probably

I'm just the silliest, friendliest little shark that ever did. Sure, I have all these teeth but I don't bite... much.

Moraline

Quote from: Slywyn on September 07, 2013, 10:37:06 AM
What benefits would you gain from going up to 16GB?

I'm actually at 12 now(I took an 8gb stick out of my old computer and put it into this one) so would buying another 8gb stick for another 4gb give that much of a difference?

I'm kind of computer illiterate on most things so forgive me =x
Ram works best when it's matched in sets - especially from the same RAM types.

For Example:
8 + 8
or
4+4+4

Then there is also the numbers on the RAM types.
For example:  Ram that is labelled 1333 is best matched with other Ram labelled 1333.
*Higher the numbers the better the RAM, but that Crucial link I gave you will give you the RAM numbers and type that are best for your computer. You don't want to choose RAM that's too high in numbers and not compatible with your system because it may or may not function and either way it won't function optimally. That Crucial scanner will give you the RAM that's designed for optimal performance with your system.

What will the direct impact be on your computer?
Primarily you will notice slight increases of roughly between 5-10% improvement in load speeds.
((RAM acts like your real life office desk where it pulls things from the filing cabinet(your hard drive) and lays out all the papers you need to keep them close at hand. The more organized it is(optimal RAM type) the faster you are able to get your work done.))

*Note: It's only a minor improvement but it's one of the most efficient and cheapest ways to upgrade a computer.


Slywyn

Okie. =) That'll have to wait until I actually have some money, but I think it's worth looking into.
What Makes A Shark Tick ( o/o's )

"True friendship is when you walk into their house and your WiFi automatically connects." - The Internet, Probably

I'm just the silliest, friendliest little shark that ever did. Sure, I have all these teeth but I don't bite... much.