Low Priority - PC doesn't detect SSD unless graphics card is plugged in

[bikerchris]

Hey All (Spec at bottom),

 

I'm just donating my old PC to my folks and this weird problem happens. This is a known good system I'm working with, had it for 4 years.

 

Because it's for my folks (Facebook, web browsing, etc.) I thought I'd reduce noise/temps by using on-board graphics. On-board graphics works....but get this, the SSD is only detected if the graphics card populates a PCI slot. I don't plug the additional power into the graphics card (in this case 2 x 6 pin), it just has to be in the PCI slot.

 

In case this is just some weirdness, I've bought a second hand 1GB Fanless Graphics card for around £15 from ebay which is yet to arrive.

 

Spooky. Do let me know if you've had a similar situation. Cheers!

 

Spec:

Mobo: GigaByte GA-Z68XP-UD4 Ver1 (up-to-date BIOS)

CPU: Intel i5-2500k (using stock cooler and no O/C)

SSD: Intel 530 series (240GB)

RAM: 2 x 4GB Corsair Vengeance

Graphics: Nvidia Geforce GTX 560Ti

 

[ItsTheDuckAgain]

didn't read the post besides it's title. the answer is:

keep your graphics card plugged in.

(will also make for a better picture)

 

Cpt. flying away

[Ashleyyyy]

just keep it plugged in. it won't make any difference. 

 

by the way, with the increased amount of background video and advertisement rendering on facebook and other websites, having a gpu is not a bad idea. especially since the onboard graphics in that machine are 6 years old. 

[0x1e]

13 minutes ago, firelighter487 said:

just keep it plugged in. it won't make any difference. 

 

by the way, with the increased amount of background video and advertisement rendering on facebook and other websites, having a gpu is not a bad idea. especially since the onboard graphics in that machine are 6 years old. 

I also use a 2500k as my main machine.

The HD3000 (it's onboard igpu) is perfectly fine for web browsing, and very light gaming.

I use it to run my second screen.

[bikerchris]

Thanks all for your comments, very much appreciated.

 

0x1e does have a fair point (thank you mate), you'd be surprised with what integrated graphics is capable of. If this graphics card was able to spin down to a 0RPM fan speed, I'd keep it in there, but sadly not.

 

I do think of Youtube as a good quick test, and in this case the on-board has no issue with 3 videos playing simultaneously. I think that'll do for the old folks! Still confused about the reason though, swapped SATA ports and cables etc., still the same result. Peculiar.

 

Thanks!

[bcguru9384]

20 minutes ago, bikerchris said:

Thanks all for your comments, very much appreciated.

 

0x1e does have a fair point (thank you mate), you'd be surprised with what integrated graphics is capable of. If this graphics card was able to spin down to a 0RPM fan speed, I'd keep it in there, but sadly not.

 

I do think of Youtube as a good quick test, and in this case the on-board has no issue with 3 videos playing simultaneously. I think that'll do for the old folks! Still confused about the reason though, swapped SATA ports and cables etc., still the same result. Peculiar.

 

Thanks!

check bios for lucidlogix is for switching from pcicard to onboard gpu

this was on mobo web page

check and make sure there no power save feature enabled for ssd on bios and maybe disable POST for startup to see if ssd stays working

[Ashleyyyy]

4 hours ago, 0x1e said:

I also use a 2500k as my main machine.

The HD3000 (it's onboard igpu) is perfectly fine for web browsing, and very light gaming.

I use it to run my second screen.

yeah sure, but will it be in 3 years?

[0x1e]

18 hours ago, firelighter487 said:

yeah sure, but will it be in 3 years?

Sure it will.

Playing the new Cod or BF? No.

 

Playing Farmville or W/e it is on FB? Yes.

Even in 3 years? Yes.

Nearly all games that "old" people play are from social websites. Those games use Java, or even HTML5. Those are CPU based.
So the GPU itself will do next to no work.

 

Even then, as time goes on, just OC it. 4.9Ghz was easy to get. The GPU OCed to 1.5Ghz. Could go higher if needed.

So there's still many, many years of life left for the 2500k.

[Ashleyyyy]

10 minutes ago, 0x1e said:

Sure it will.

Playing the new Cod or BF? No.

 

Playing Farmville or W/e it is on FB? Yes.

Even in 3 years? Yes.

Nearly all games that "old" people play are from social websites. Those games use Java, or even HTML5. Those are CPU based.
So the GPU itself will do next to no work.

 

Even then, as time goes on, just OC it. 4.9Ghz was easy to get. The GPU OCed to 1.5Ghz. Could go higher if needed.

So there's still many, many years of life left for the 2500k.

yeah, but i meant the age of the integrated graphics. i have machines from that time, and those struggle to play a youtube video at 1080p 60fps...

[0x1e]

1 minute ago, firelighter487 said:

yeah, but i meant the age of the integrated graphics. i have machines from that time, and those struggle to play a youtube video at 1080p 60fps...

I have not experienced this.

I watch Youtube on my iGPU. However its main purpose is reading / writing (like on this forum) as it's in portrait mode. So far it has not skipped a beat.

[bikerchris]

Thanks bcguru, I did check and I had already disabled power saving related settings in bios. Good call though, cheers.

 

firelighter and 0x1e seems to have created a debate concerning onboard graphics on old machines. Just my opinion based on experience but dedicated graphics cards are really only for intensive workloads, whether that's high res/fps games, or multi-monitors, or anything genuinely hardware intensive. Social media and streaming websites really can happily be driven by onboard graphics. Do appreciate I say this having always had a dedicated graphics card (because I mainly use graphics intensive S/W), but I've built plenty of computers and found onboard is more than adequate for basic uses. When I've built them for others, I've always said (providing they don't mention graphics intensive applications), "Let me know if the graphics are slow/un-responsive", at which point I've thrown a graphics card in, but that's rare. Saves pennies, heat and another thing that can go wrong.

 

On the subject of time scale, somewhere along the thread, the machine being required to perform for approx. 3 years crept in. This is a second hand, 4 year old rig I'm giving them, so I'll build them another or get cheap replacement parts as and when needed. If it lives for 3+ years I'll be grateful lol! Funny fact, but until now, they've been using a 12 year old AMD system I originally owned, other than cheap PSU related issues, it's been pretty reliable. 

 

Probably the least interesting video on the internet (shows me cycling re-boots with and without graphics card):

 

Anyway, you'll be pleased to know I've received a second hand £15 Geforce N210 1GB fanless graphics card, and it's gone in nicely. Not ideal, but time is money and I don't have much of either!

Cheers again all!

 

[bikerchris]

And just in case you're interested, and for lol's :-)