PCIe video card no video in 2 of 3 slots

[TravisW]

I've got a 970 Extreme4 with BIOS 2.60. This board has 3 PCIe x16 slots. When I connect my e-GeForce 9600 GSO video card into the PCIe2 and PCIe4 slots, I get no video. When I use it in PCIe5 it works.

Here's the problem. PCIe5 is at the bottom of the board with only one case slot, but the card is double wide, so it can't fit there. Not just because there's no slot 2nd slot under it, it would also have to occupy the same physical space as my PSU.

I saw this in the manual;
PCIE2 / PCIE4 (PCIE x16 slot; Blue) is used for PCI Express x16 lane width graphics cards, or used to install PCI Express graphics cards to support SLITM and CrossFireXTM function.
PCIE5 (PCIE x16 slot; Blue) is used for PCI Express x4 lane width cards, or used to install PCI Express graphics cards to support 3-Way CrossFireXTM function.

I can't find anything about my card being x4 or x16 on the EVGA website EVGA - Product Specs - e-GeForce 9600 GSO

Any thoughts?

[SelfGovern]

Re: PCIe video card no video in 2 of 3 slots

From what I gather, a card like your 9600GSO will work in, and will not saturate, a PCIe x8 slot... but the bigger issue is... why should you pay for a working motherboard and not be able to use the features it has? What happens if six months from now you get an inheritance and want to spend some cash on a new fast card?

[parsec]

Re: PCIe video card no video in 2 of 3 slots

The question is, why does this particular (older) card not function in that board's x16 PCIe slot.

The PCIE2 slot is wired as x16, the PCIE4 slot is wired x8, and the PCIE5 slot is wired x4. That is not uncommon for boards whose PCIe 2.0 or 3.0 lane support is known to be 16.

If your video card was only x8 or x4, it would still work in an x16 slot fine. The extra connections in the slot (or missing connections in the card) would simply not be connected to anything.

That is also how an x16 card can work in an x8 or x4 (electrical) slot, as two x16 video cards in SLI will be running at x8 each. The 16 PCIe lanes in the board are allocated to two slots, so only 8 lanes for each card.

The video card is clearly an x16 interface card, as why would the manufacture bother to put x16 connections on a card if it was just x8 or x4?

EVGA 384-P3-N966-TR GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB 192-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

You somehow need to test the PCIE2 slot on that board with another video card. Or there is something in the BIOS that is not set correctly.

Speaking of which, what BIOS version are you using, your board has quite a few BIOS updates.

[TravisW]

Re: PCIe video card no video in 2 of 3 slots

SelfGovern, thanks for your reply. I agree, it would be nice if the board would let me use any of the available PCIex16 slots as it is a PCIe x16 Video Card.

Thanks for your clarification questions parsec. I'm using UEFI version 2.60 which appears to be the most recent version available from ASRock. ASRock > 970 Extreme4

I did find configuration setting for Northbridge to set primary video controller to either PCI Express or PCI. The default is set to use PCI Express, so I left it alone. I could not find any other related settings.

Unfortunately, as this is my first build, I have no other cards to test in the PCIe2 or PCIe4 slots.

Any other thoughts or suggestions?

[SelfGovern]

Re: PCIe video card no video in 2 of 3 slots

> Any other thoughts or suggestions?

Maybe you can take it to a computer repair place and see if for $10 they are willing to try a similar card in your motherboard -- or even rent you a board for a couple days for you to test with.

Perhaps you have a friend you can borrow a card from.

Perhaps you have a friend who's got an 'extra' system you can borrow from, and "forget" to return it until he forgets.

Are you sure you don't have another desktop with a PCIe graphics card? Even if it were purchased from a major manufacturer, it might have a working, removable GPU in it.

Spend some time at a resale shop and pick up a card or a system with a card cheap.

http://wwww.craigslist.org, then sell it when you're done with it.

Hire a laid-off employee from NVidia and have him/her build you a graphics card from scratch.

Make sure everything is secured in the system and the sides are on; give it a swift kick in the side panel (no idea if it would work here, but it did work with our television Way Back When, and I have seen it work with balky vending machines as well).

Buy a can of ether and spray it in the carburetor (oh, never mind, computers don't have carburetors any more).

Sorry, that's all the thoughts and suggestions I have (for now).

[scottyr6s]

Re: PCIe video card no video in 2 of 3 slots

Hi TravisW

I have a very very similar issue with my video card and motherboard. Here is my thread:

http://forums.tweaktown.com/asrock/58624-fatal1ty-z87-killer-wont-boot-gpu-top-slot-only.html

Try going into BIOS and change the PCIE2 link speed from AUTO or GEN3 to GEN2 or GEN1, and see if it will boot. If it does work, then you will be where I left off. For what its worth, I was able to use a different video card and it worked perfectly on GEN3, so the motherboard seems to not be the issue in my case.

[TravisW]

Re: PCIe video card no video in 2 of 3 slots

I tried a Radeon HD5450 as well, but it also did not work. Finally I got an EVGA GEForce GT610. It worked!! Only works in the bottom slot, but that's a start at least.

Now back to the store to return the other cards.