Need help troubleshooting my RX 480

[Truthless]

I recently upgraded my RX 480 to a GTX 1080. After a few small hurdles I now have it up and running great, but, I have donated my old 480 to my wife who has been using integrated graphics for the last year or so. That is where the problems come in. I installed the GPU, got it all plugged in and when I go to turn the system on I get no video. All the LEDs come on, all the fans come on even on the 480, but no video. I shut the system down, and plug the HDMI into the motherboard and boot it up and it works fine. I decide it must be a driver thing, so I go and download the drivers but during installation, the wizard told me that there is no graphics card detected. The 480 was still installed with the fan spinning, but just nothing plugged into it. I've tried going into the BIOS and seeing if the PCI-E slot was disabled or something, and I'm not too good with the BIOS, but I don't think it was disabled. I know the card works, I was just using it in my computer yesterday, so I am at a loss. Could it be a power thing? Her PSU is 500w but isn't the 480 a pretty power efficient card?

What do you guys think, thanks so much for any help.

[JFKWASAFK]

by any chance did you forget to plug in the pcie power connectors? lol

[Truthless]

No, it takes one six pin connector and it is plugged in. Her psu has two 8 pins and I've tried them both to no effect. Like I said, I don't think that power is an issue because the fan runs when the system is powered on. That would only happen if it's getting power from the 8 pin right?

[JFKWASAFK]

what cpu is she running? any water cooling? overclocking?

 

[Bazrat]

Have you changed the video output from your integrated graphics to your 480 in the bios?

[Truthless]

48 minutes ago, JFKWASAFK said:

what cpu is she running? any water cooling? overclocking?

 

its an i5 6600. Everything stock, fans, clock speed, nothing fancy. She doesn't really do any heavy gaming or anything, that's how she got away without a dedicated graphics card for so long. 

30 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Have you changed the video output from your integrated graphics to your 480 in the bios?

I think? In the BIOS there is an option under the peripheral tab called "initial display output" with the options "PCIe 1 Slot" and "IGFX" I assume that is the choice between the card in the pci-e slot (she has an ITX board with only one slot) and the integrated graphics, but it was already set to "PCIe 1 Slot" when I first checked it. I tried setting it to "IGFX" and booting it and then changing it back but that didn't do anything. Is there somewhere else I can check? Her motherboard is a Gigabyte H110n if that helps anything. 

[Bazrat]

Can you send a pic or something? Most motherboard BIOS' are a little different from each other, just makes it a little easier. (I'm also half asleep )

[Truthless]

2 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Can you send a pic or something? Most motherboard BIOS' are a little different from each other, just makes it a little easier. (I'm also half asleep )

Alright, let me know what more you'd like to see

[Bazrat]

That seems right. So you're saying that even when it's selected you get no display? Only other things I can think of is if you have a crappy psu. Do you know the name/model of your power supply? Also maybe delete the drivers you have now and reinstall them again? I haven't tried this myself but I've seen people comment on using DDU to remove drivers, but can't give advice from experience about DDU.

[Truthless]

What's DDU? I haven't been able to install the drivers at all, when I try I get an error telling me that I don't have a GPU installed. I think it is a problem with the PCI-E slot, since it isn't detecting the card at all. Is there a way that I can test the slot to make sure its working? 

 

The PSU is an Enermax revolution duo 500w http://www.enermax.com/home.php?fn=eng/product_a1_1_1&lv0=1&lv1=99&no=319

I never heard of Enermax before, but at the computer shop the guy highly recommended it.

[Bazrat]

So when you tried installing the drivers the video output was from the graphics card correct? So how do you go through the method of downloading and installing your drivers? (Just tryna cover all corners here).

 

I'm not to sure on how you would test the slot. I can do some googling and try find something.

 

Your PSU seems fine unless it's you've got a bad model or somethin

 

DDU: https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

 

 

[Truthless]

I can't get any output from the card at all. When I plug the HDMI into it I wont get any image on the monitor. I tried installing the drivers by going to AMD's website and downloading the latest driver installer and running it, but before the process finishes I get an error that I don't have a compatible graphics card installed. 

[Quadriplegic]

Try to switch video cards - RX 480 in your PC, GTX 1080 in your wife's PC. If there is still no video output on wife's PC, then your motherboard has faulty PCI Express slot

[Truthless]

1 hour ago, Quadriplegic said:

Try to switch video cards - RX 480 in your PC, GTX 1080 in your wife's PC. If there is still no video output on wife's PC, then your motherboard has faulty PCI Express slot

Welp, i guess the 480 somehow died in the transition. My wife's case is too small for my 1080 to fit into it, but I tried putting the 480 into my computer and it has the same problem. So I guess sometime in the hours or so from when I took the 480 out of my system and put it into hers it died or suffered some kind of damage. Is there any way that I can find out the problem? Or would it be easier to give up on it at this point?

[Bazrat]

Is there any physical damage or scratches you can see on the card? Maybe there's some bad solder points on the pcb? At this point I really don't know what else, sorry.

[Truthless]

No, not that I can see. The only thing I can think of is some kind of static damage or something. I just took it out and left it on the table until I had a moment to plug it into my wife's computer. No one touched it or did anything weird with it. I guess I'll take it to a computer repair shop and spend a fortune diagnosing it. 

[O9B0666]

Try baking it once you've totally given up on all methods. 

[Howitz]

What the heck, ok don't bake it or anything man as its still under warranty probably you could rma it in worst case scenario! try installing it into the computer and then do a clean windows install (save your files to copy them back after)

 

The chances for it dying like that for no reason are rather slim. Care show us pictures of the card? What i'd like=

 

1.pictures of the pci connecting lanes (gold pins) from both sides

 

2. Pictures of the 6pin connector, face view to see inside the holes.

 

3.close up pictures of the pcb on both side if you feel comfortable removing the cooler safely. (Capacitors and all that fancy stuff)

 

Also do you keep using the same cable to plug you graphics card? Try another one maybe?

 

Is your wife psu modular? Did you use the right cable to plug the card to the power supply if so? Modular power supply must use their cables they came with because random cables can have different connections or lack important electrical components that are in the cables. So using a random cable with a modular psu can and will fry random stuff

 

Show us your wife's ... erh emh yeah psu! And the cable you used so we can see if its the right cable.

[Howitz]

Does it have a bios switch that you may have touched without knowing and that is stuck between two positions or something?

[Biggerboot]

6 hours ago, Truthless said:

Alright, let me know what more you'd like to see

*snip*

• Does the card actually appear in system info in the bios? (not just the pcie slot)
• If so, does the card appear in device manager?  (Unrecognized/error state or otherwise)

Plenty of things we can still try but first we need to know that.

[Truthless]

2 hours ago, O9B0666 said:

Try baking it once you've totally given up on all methods. 

Bake it? what?

 

1 hour ago, Howitz said:

try installing it into the computer and then do a clean windows install (save your files to copy them back after)

I will try this after I have explored my other options, I don't have the time at the moment.

1 hour ago, Howitz said:

Is your wife psu modular?

No, it is not. There is only one cable with two 8 pins coming from it. I have tried plugging them both in to the same result. I linked the PSU above, but I will include some pics. 

 

1 hour ago, Howitz said:

Does it have a bios switch that you may have touched without knowing and that is stuck between two positions or something?

I've never even heard of that, where would I find it if it had one? 

[StronkMan]

19 minutes ago, Truthless said:

Bake it? what?

reflow soldering I would recommend against it...

[Truthless]

1 hour ago, Biggerboot said:

• Does the card actually appear in system info in the bios? (not just the pcie slot)
• If so, does the card appear in device manager?  (Unrecognized/error state or otherwise)

Plenty of things we can still try but first we need to know that.

It does not appear in the system BIOS or in the device manager, I've checked the hidden devices and unrecognized ones. 

 

22 minutes ago, StronkMan said:

reflow soldering I would recommend against it...

I think I agree

[Howitz]

Ecerything seems fine on your pictures, the card is still under warranty right?

 

A bios switch would likely be along the sides of the pcb near the power connector?

 

i don't think your model have one tho.

[Biggerboot]

I guess I would do process of elimination at this point. See if it works in your other system.  If so it may be a bad pci-e slot or PSU.