Having problem with display signal on startup

bigneptune · March 26, 2019

CPU - Intel i5-2400 3.10 GHz

RAM - 6GB (6GB died so had to take those out, not sure what brand but definitely shouldn't be an issue)

GPU - R9 290X Tri-X OC 4GB

MOBO - XPS 8300

~Using HDMI connection (GPU allows for DVI VGA and HDMI)

PSU - Corsair VS650 (650W)

Hey guys,

I am new to this forums, and I was recommended by a friend who is very into computers. First of all I would like to begin by saying that my name is Johnny, and the build I will be talking about will be my friend's and not my own. The PC with the specifications above is having a signal problem with the display. I am almost certain that the problem is not the graphics card as we tried multiple GPUs and all failed to create a signal with the display. My friend uses an HDMI cable and the GPU is compatible with it, I made sure of it. When the HDMI is plugged into the MOBO, the display has a signal. When the HDMI is plugged into the GPU, there is no signal with the display. The power supply should be able to run a single R9 290 GPU. When the GPU is put into the PCI-E x16 slot, and the HDMI is plugged into the MOBO, there is still no signal. Because the HDMI cable works with the MOBO by itself, I am sure its not a faulty HDMI cable. I am also fairly positive the GPU is not faulty. The fans are running on the GPU on start up so that's clear too. My idea is that it may be that the MOBO is a fairly old Dell MOBO (as can be seen above) and isn't compatible, but that wouldn't make sense in my opinion. It may be something with the BIOS? I don't see any video configuration setting in the advanced settings (nor anywhere else) referring to activating dedicated graphics, PCI-E blah blah blah. The only thing I can see is onboard graphics being enabled. I was wondering do I need a new MOBO? Or is it simply a BIOS fix? It isn't RAM either because the faulty RAM was found earlier and taken out. All in all, the computer works completely normal without the GPU inside, and I am dumbfounded on why it won't work with the GPU inside. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I am very sorry if there is a sub-forum that this kind of topic should be in as I am new to this site. Thank you so much.

P.S. - If any images are needed, I will have my friend send them.