Videocard not giving any screen.

Lepper · 26 Apr 2014

Hey there,

I have an issue with my videocard that is not giving any screen when I plug it in.
I also have a videocard built into my motherboard that actually does work when I plug my screen into it.
It doesn't even say "no signal", it just goes black.

So far I've tried everything I could to get it working again:
- Using a different cable.
- Getting my videocard checked at the local computer store. (Videocard is perfectly fine)
- Buying a new power supply.
- Updating to the latest drivers for both my motherboard and videocard.
- Even resetting my computer and installing windows again.

Videocard:
ATI Radeon HD 7850 - 2 GB GDDR5

I have absolutely no idea how to fix this problem, could anyone of you please help me?

(Also, english is not my native language, so please forgive my for any spelling mistakes you'll find)

Mellon Head · 26 Apr 2014

It sounds like your motherboard video is set to be the default video card.

An easy way to tell is to get into BIOS and see if the graphics are set to internal, or IGP. If they are, set the graphics to your video card, usually labelled PCI, or PEG. That should activate your 7850.

Try that and post the results.

Lepper · 27 Apr 2014

I've tried to do exactly what you described. I found the internal graphics setting and changed it to PCI.
Unfortunately it did not work out quite well.

Now my screen doesn't work with either the onboard videocard and the 7850.
When I boot my computer it makes a long *beep* noise followed by 3 short *beep* noises.

Boozad · 27 Apr 2014

Those beeps are your motherboard telling you something is wrong, we could do with knowing what motherboard you have to find out what fault the beep code is indicating. Download and run Piriform Speccy, this will list all of your system specs so you can identify your motherboard.

You may have to remove he GPU and switch back to onboard graphics to do this.

Britton30 · 27 Apr 2014

Did you connect the power connector to the 7850?

Lepper · 28 Apr 2014

Okay here's what happened:

I removed the 7850 and plugged my screen into the onboard card.
It still kept making the same noises.
Then I shut down my computer and unplugged the cable from my screen to the computer.
When I started my computer again after that, it actually started up like it normally did and I could plug in the cable from my screen directly to the 7850.
I had hoped that it was running on the 7850 and I proceeded to install the drivers for the 7850.
After the installation of the drivers were completed, I had to reset my computer.
Once I did that it started making the same *beep* noises again.

I have absolutely no idea what caused it to do that again.
My motherboard is: M5 A78L-M/USB3

Britton30 · 28 Apr 2014

The one long three short beeps is indicating a GPU issue, either with the card of the board slot is bad.
Look at 1.4.2.2 in this list and steps to try.

http://support.asus.com/Troubleshooting/detail.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=1&m=M5A78L-M%20LX&s=24&hashedid=5YkHeMJXc3aijWxY&os=&no=978

You can try a pencil eraser to clean the contacts on the card.

Lepper · 29 Apr 2014

I've tried to clean my videocard and slot the best I could, but it didn't help anything. Could it be that I need to clean the onboard videocard too? If so, where can I find it on my motherboard?

I'm sorry if I am asking too much questions or being difficult, but I really appreciate the help you've given me so far.

Britton30 · 29 Apr 2014

No, the onboard GPU is a small chip soldered to the board. I suspect either your board or GPU is bad. Most likely is the board since onboard is having issues too.

Lepper · 03 May 2014

Hey, I want to let you know that my problem is solved.

After I reseated the 2 RAM sticks into the 2 other slots, it finally booted normally.
Pretty weird, because the 3 beeps clearly meant that there was something wrong with the graphics card.

Anyways, I would like to thank you all for the help that you've given me!