Top PCIE slot not working? Gigabyte UD4H

[Chris-UK]

Hi All,

I decided to move my existing system into a Corsair 750D case but I think I may have damaged the motherboard in the process.

If I boot the PC with the gfx card (MSI 7950) in the top PCIE slot it appears the card is not recognised as there is no output to the monitor although I do hear the fan spin up.
I've used the onboard graphics so that I can check device manager and the card is not listed.
I have tried moving the gfx card to the second PCIE slot and the card works fine so I'm happy that the power to the card is ok and that the card itself is ok.

Just to confuse things though I have tried a Nvidia 750Ti in the top slot and that works correctly. I then immediately tried the 7950 in the top slot again and it still doesn't work.
Move the 7950 back to the second slot and it works fine.

At the moment I'm running the PC with the 7950 in the second slot and ready to buy a new motherboard but just wanted to get any advice that may explain whats going on?


Components are:
Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H
MSI HD7950
I7-4770K
Samsung Evo 250GB SSD
Seagate 2TB HD

Thanks
Chris

[scaryjim]

Try taking everything out of the case then putting it back in - it's possible that you've shorted one of the traces while rebuilding and that's stopping the card working. I had exactly the same thing happen with a PC someone shipped to me - GFX wouldn't work, tried everything to diagnose it, ended up taking the PC out of the case and it worked fine out of the case, so put everything back in and it worked fine ever-after! It's amazing how sensitive to case conditions PCs are (I also had an older PC that kept randomly crashing and rebooting, I swapped it into a different case and got 2 more years of trouble-free computing out of it!)

[Chris-UK]

Thanks for advice. I shall start stripping it down now and give that a a go.

[MrRockliffe]

Just a (maybe obvious) tip - take your time. It's a real pain when things go wrong, but when you get annoyed etc that's when things can go wrong for good! I'm sure you've built your PC loads of times, but just take extra care with cables etc

Hope you manage to sort it out - maybe some pics when you get that sorted and your H105 fitted?

[Chris-UK]

I had to go for a short walk earlier as I was beginning to get a little stressed with it lol. My PC area is somewhat cramp and dark which doesn't help.

Anyway. I've stripped everything down and have tried just the motherboard on a cardboard box with a single ram stick, stock cooler and the graphics card. The UD4H has 3 PCIE slots and all except the top one will output to screen. When the card is in the top slot the iGfx becomes the primary output as if the card isn't plugged in.

I would say is definitely a broken motherboard except that the 750Ti worked in the same slot. Is it possible that the 750Ti being a much smaller card with no external power could use the slot in a different way to the 7950?

[MrRockliffe]

It's possible it a power delivery issue through the PCI slot, but then you would think it'd still display when powered externally..

[Chris-UK]

I have also tried connecting power to the sata power connector that supplies additional power to the PCI slots. Still nothing.

I think what I will do is order an Asus Hero now for delivery tomorrow. If that doesn't work then I'll order a new gfx card. If it turns out the UD4H or 7950 is actually ok then I'll use it to upgrade my sons PC. If neither of them fix the problem I'll give up and go back to consoles lol.

[MrRockliffe]

I have also tried connecting power to the sata power connector that supplies additional power to the PCI slots. Still nothing.

I think what I will do is order an Asus Hero now for delivery tomorrow. If that doesn't work then I'll order a new gfx card. If it turns out the UD4H or 7950 is actually ok then I'll use it to upgrade my sons PC. If neither of them fix the problem I'll give up and go back to consoles lol.

Haha, I've often felt like that. The struggle I sometimes go through just to play a game. I still, to this day, cannot play BF3 with my mate - the only game he can play online as there are servers near him (he lives right out in the sticks in Spain with poor internet). I'll only ever spend money on making my computer look good now, as spending it on extra performance is useless because I can't use it if I can't install games.

Batman Arkham Origins just doesn't save. Ever time I load the game I have to start from the beginning. I'm getting really fed up with PC lately. Might just go back to console and get a Mac Mini... Sure, I can tinker with things, but I just want things to work straight away

[Chris-UK]

I tell myself I'll go back to consoles but it won't happen. I bought a PS4 recently but I just can't aim in FPS games, I'm a keyboard and mouse man. I'll keep the PS4 for non FPS games.
I built my son (4 yrs) his first PC so I can't start to teach him. He's already realised that doing something simple like starting a game is far more effort than his xbox. He's getting there though. Start Steam, wait for it to update, start game, doesn't work, no error, keep clicking and eventually it starts.

[Chris-UK]

Well, took delivery of the Asus Hero at 7am this morning. Plugged it all in outside the case, still doesn't work.
It appears that my 7950 refuses to work in 16x slots but works fine in 8x or 4x.

I now have a 2 week old UD4H in working order to put on Ebay lol. Time to go buy a new graphics card.
Being a PC enthusiast is an expensive hobby...

[MrRockliffe]

Depending on where you got your motherboard, you should be able to send it back and say you don't want it Weird how it doesn't work on x16 slots, BIOS update maybe?

[Chris-UK]

I bought a GTX770 and now all is ok. Confirms the 7950 is definitely at fault. Its a few weeks under a year old so I've emailed the retailer to see if anything can be done.
Decided to keep the Asus Hero as well and sell the Gigabyte board. I don't know whether its my imagination but my PC just seems a little 'smoother' with the Asus board.