BIOS keeps reverting to CPU graphics

[Mcfadrob]

 

The issue I am having is that BIOS is setting the primary display as CPU graphics. This option is found in BIOS > Advanced > System Agent Configuration > Graphics Configuration > Primary Display > . Options inside of this are Auto, CPU Graphics, and PCIE. If I set it to PCIE and then save and exit BIOS, it sends signal out through the GPU, however upon restart it resets back to CPU Graphics.

Things I have tried:
Installing newest Bios update
switching monitor
switching output cable
clearing CMOS
removing GPU

Hardware:
MoBo - Z390-E
CPU - 9900k
GPU - 2080
RAM - 64 GB Trident Royal @ 2333mhz
HD - Samsung 960 Evo NVMe
Waterblocks - Both from EK

[chckovsky]

This may seem basic, but is your screen plugged into the GPU and not the motherboard?

[Mcfadrob]

1 minute ago, chckovsky said:

This may seem basic, but is your screen plugged into the GPU and not the motherboard?

Yea it is plugged into the GPU, but when it doesn't receive any output the only thing that I can do is move it to the motherboard's built in port.

[chckovsky]

I noticed on my Z270E and Z370F that I had to have the output of the GPU plugged in BEFORE booting. Does this help?

[Mcfadrob]

1 minute ago, chckovsky said:

I noticed on my Z270E and Z370F that I had to have the output of the GPU plugged in BEFORE booting. Does this help?

Yea I have tried that many times. When I turn the machine on with the cable plugged into the GPU, it will load all the way into OS with no display. Can tell that it is in the OS because you have to hold the power button down to power it off, as opposed to pressing it once when it is in bios. 

[chckovsky]

Is the GPU properly mounted? Does it have sufficient power cables properly plugged in?

[Mcfadrob]

Just now, chckovsky said:

Is the GPU properly mounted? Does it have sufficient power cables properly plugged in?

Yea it is. It was initially vertically mounted and was thus using a riser cable, but I took down the whole loop, removed the riser and still have the same issue. It has an 8 + 6 pin, but I don't think the problem is with the card itself. If I go into bios and manually change the option to set primary display as GPU and then save and exit, it does send output through the GPU. Issue is that upon the first reset it resets this setting to CPU Graphics.

[chckovsky]

1 hour ago, Mcfadrob said:

Issue is that upon the first reset it resets this setting to CPU Graphics.

Have you considered it might do this because something is wrong with the GPU?

 

Do you have a second system to test with or a second GPU to test?

[Kisai]

2 hours ago, Mcfadrob said:

 

The issue I am having is that BIOS is setting the primary display as CPU graphics. This option is found in BIOS > Advanced > System Agent Configuration > Graphics Configuration > Primary Display > . Options inside of this are Auto, CPU Graphics, and PCIE. If I set it to PCIE and then save and exit BIOS, it sends signal out through the GPU, however upon restart it resets back to CPU Graphics.

Things I have tried:
Installing newest Bios update
switching monitor
switching output cable
clearing CMOS
removing GPU

Hardware:
MoBo - Z390-E
CPU - 9900k
GPU - 2080
RAM - 64 GB Trident Royal @ 2333mhz
HD - Samsung 960 Evo NVMe
Waterblocks - Both from EK

 

Put the system into UEFI mode if you haven't. In UEFI mode, the OS won't care, and will initialize the PCIe GPU even if the BIOS did not. If you did not install your OS in UEFI mode (or you migrated hard drives from a non-UEFI system) then you can't do this.

 

The reason this happens is because of issues with the BIOS, and in some systems, iGPU is always initialized, even if nothing is connected to it, and because it does this in BIOS mode, the PCIe GPU may not get initialized because it doesn't actually see it in the first PCIe slot it initializes, which is what it sounds like. Check your motherboard manual and make sure that you've inserted the PCIe GPU into the slot designated as the "16x" slot, and not the x8 or x4 slots (which aren't electrically wired as 16x)

 

In UEFI mode, the GPU's may all be initialized as UEFI-native screen resolution instead of VGA 640x480.

 

Thus far it doesn't sound like you've done anything wrong, and Selecting PCIe should be the correct option if a PCIe card is inserted. You could also check and see if the CMOS battery is plugged in/loose, since that's the only other logical reason for this behavior, but it would have been accompanies by the cmos being cleared every time. 

 

And as I've mentioned before, check the cables. Some DP cables need to be inserted further to activate the sense connection correctly, otherwise the system will boot as though the monitor isn't plugged in.

 

[Mcfadrob]

1 hour ago, chckovsky said:

Have you considered it might do this because something is wrong with the GPU?

 

Do you have a second system to test with or a second GPU to test?

I think the GPU itself is fine because it will work once I change the setting in BIOS, but it could be related to the card having the factory blower taken off for the liquid block. My plan was to test it out with another GPU on Monday when I have access to it again.

[Mcfadrob]

3 minutes ago, Kisai said:

 

Put the system into UEFI mode if you haven't. In UEFI mode, the OS won't care, and will initialize the PCIe GPU even if the BIOS did not. If you did not install your OS in UEFI mode (or you migrated hard drives from a non-UEFI system) then you can't do this.

 

The reason this happens is because of issues with the BIOS, and in some systems, iGPU is always initialized, even if nothing is connected to it, and because it does this in BIOS mode, the PCIe GPU may not get initialized because it doesn't actually see it in the first PCIe slot it initializes, which is what it sounds like. Check your motherboard manual and make sure that you've inserted the PCIe GPU into the slot designated as the "16x" slot, and not the x8 or x4 slots (which aren't electrically wired as 16x)

 

In UEFI mode, the GPU's may all be initialized as UEFI-native screen resolution instead of VGA 640x480.

 

Thus far it doesn't sound like you've done anything wrong, and Selecting PCIe should be the correct option if a PCIe card is inserted. You could also check and see if the CMOS battery is plugged in/loose, since that's the only other logical reason for this behavior, but it would have been accompanies by the cmos being cleared every time. 

 

And as I've mentioned before, check the cables. Some DP cables need to be inserted further to activate the sense connection correctly, otherwise the system will boot as though the monitor isn't plugged in.

 

The motherboard has 3 x16 slots, and I have tested through all 3 of them, however my plan was to have it in the first slot. I have not tried out UEFI mode yet, but I will try that out. Thank you for your response, I appreciate the time and thought you put it in to it. I'll update if this fixes it.