Radeon 5970 prevents the computer from booting from the first time

Dellius · Dec 17, 2010

My new Radeon 5970 won't allow the computer to boot from the first time. I have to keep the power button down until the computer powers down and then press it again for it to boot fine. I can hear the fans, the CPU and the HDD working fine, but for some reason the PC won't boot from the first time.

I am using Catalyst 10.12, Windows 7 x64.

I have tried everything, including a clean Windows install on my other partition. I remember at first things weren't like that and it did boot up, but now it just won't do it from the first time.

Some times, if I reboot it like 10 minutes after I have shut it down it may start fine, but if it's longer than that, no chance.

Help me, please.

Solarstarshines · Dec 17, 2010

I know what you mean it lags the boot process the 6870 does the same thing it lags me as before the hd5770 didnt do that

Rik55 · Dec 17, 2010

The DX58SO motherboard had an issue which was fixed in BIOS 5390 June 14th 2010, where certain graphics cards can cause the system to fail to boot. This sound like your issue.

Latest BIOS should be:
(always check incase i've linked the wrong one)

BIOS Version 5506 - SOX5810J.86A.5506.2010.1109.0004 November 9th 2010
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=3018&DwnldID=19521&ProductFamily=Desktop+Boards&ProductLine=Intel%c2%ae+5+Series+Chipset+Boards&ProductProduct=Intel%c2%ae+Desktop+Board+DX58SO&lang=eng

http://downloadmirror.intel.com/19521/eng/SO_5506_ReleaseNotes.pdf

If you're not familiar with updating the motherboard BIOS, read up on the procedure. Take a note of any setting that need to be re-applied before you update. As always, be carefull, an incorrect update can break your motherboard.

Dellius · Dec 17, 2010

Yes, I am using the latest BIOS and chipset drivers.

I have tried different drivers, a fresh Windows installation, BIOS update, and the only thing I haven't tried actually is update of the vBios itself. Do you know where I can find the latest vBios for my VisionTek card ? Google is not very helpful, nor is VisionTek's official site.

smarteyeball · Dec 17, 2010

If it occurs outside of Windows - it's not a driver issue.

Have you tried balancing the PSU rails? (So that the CPU and Card aren't both on v1) etc

It sounds like you are overloading your PSU

Dellius · Dec 18, 2010

My PSU is 750 W, the card, according to its specs requires only 650 W. I changed my PSU especially for that purpose.

What does "balancing the PSU rails" mean ? I hear it for the first time. Also, what is V1 ?

Maybe I should mention that the problem wasn't so heavy at first and happened only occasionally and now it happens every time.

I have a fan on my hard disk which plugs into the PSU directly, maybe it is part of the problem ?

Edit - I tried Google, but I am totally not sure what I even need to read in order to do that properly. Can you give me a link, please ?

My PSU is Chieftec A135 750W.

Edit 2 - I checked this post over there and it mentions the card needs 50 A, but I am not sure if the PSU can provide that. How can I check ?

Edit 3 - Here are my full hardware specs again.

Windows 7 Ultimate
Core i7 2.68
DX58SO with latest BIOS
Chieftec A135 750W.

Mashed1316 · Dec 18, 2010

Hi, Dellius.. here are the specs for your PSU

It reads that it delivers only 18A on the +12v rail, so i guess it's the PSU not being able to deliver enough power.

For a High End PC, you need a decent PSU, here's an example of what you could buy

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

It delivers 70A on the 12v Rail... and has 850w, more than you need but it will be perfect for your build

Dellius · Dec 19, 2010

OK this helps, but is it true the card needs 50A ? Where can I confirm this ? The official manufacturer's site is not much help, nor is the product manual.

Edit - nvm, I am just going to call the card manufacturer's official support line on Monday.
Edit 2 - holy maholy, this PSU costs just a little more than my present PSU.

Mashed1316 · Dec 19, 2010

Taken from Guru3D:

[FONT=verdana,geneva]Recommended Power Supply

[FONT=verdana,geneva]So here's my power supply recommendation:[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]
Radeon HD 5970 (dual GPUs)

[/FONT][/FONT]

The card requires you to have a 600 Watt power supply unit at minimum if you use it in a fairly high-end system. We assume you'll overclock your processor and that draws a lot of extra power. That power supply needs to have (in total accumulated) at least 50 Amps available on the +12 volts rails

[FONT=verdana,geneva]Radeon HD 5970 CrossfireX (quad GPUs)
[/FONT][FONT=verdana,geneva]
[/FONT]

A second card requires you to add another 294 Watts. Be on the safe side please, have some spare Wattage as here we are sure you are overclocking your processor as well. You need a Kilowatt Watt power supply unit if you use it in a high-end system. That power supply needs to have (in total accumulated) at least 70 Amps available on the +12 volts rails.

[FONT=verdana,geneva]There are many good PSUs out there, please do have a look at our many PSU reviews as we have a lot of of recommended PSUs for you to check out and read up on.[/FONT]

I guess that solves your wondering....ment!

hehe..

So i would definitely recommend a good PSU for that 5970.

Dellius · Dec 21, 2010

OK sorry for the silence the past two days, I was having my PSU changed by the wise guys who recommended my last one.

Anyway, I got them to install the CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply and now it boots just fine.

Thank you guys.

Dellius · Dec 21, 2010

One last question - is it safe to enable ASPM L1's and L0 in my BIOS or this card doesn't support it ?

Mashed1316 · Dec 22, 2010

Well, ASPM stands for Active State Power Management, so i wouldn't activate it. But that it just me

Dellius · Dec 23, 2010

Can it hurt ?

Mashed1316 · Dec 23, 2010

No, but it will probably draw some power from the card when it is not in use, if your using a laptop this could help with battery life, but since your on a desktop, it won't have too much effect, a couple of bucks on your electric bill

But that's just me! if i were you, i'd run the PC a whole day with the ASPM on, and another day with ASPM off, if you see any noticeable differences, then choose the one that fits better into your likes

EDIT: btw, is the PC working fine now? with the new PSU...
EDIT #2: DOH! i just read last page where you said the PC is working just fine

glad to hear we helped!

We can close this thread now! problem solved

Dellius · Dec 28, 2010

Actually, I am not sure if it's solved completely. My video card is fine now, and it boots OK, but now the HDD fails the Seagate Tools for Windows Short DST self-test and mentions something about "electrical part" when I run the test under DOS. What's even more bizarre is that when I took it for repairs the technicians said they ran all the tests on it and it passed them fine.

I am totally puzzled.

Edit - yeah, you can say the original problem is gone, in a way.

Mashed1316 · Dec 28, 2010

Ok, i've been reading about this and it could be your hard drive is failing by now, it could be a collateral effect of the old PSU not been able to deliver enough power and probably it damaged the HDD.

Type CMD in your search bar, run as an administrator and type "chkdsk X:"

X is your HDD assigned letter, post a screenshot here with the results please

Dellius · Dec 28, 2010

Here you go

Mashed1316 · Dec 28, 2010

Weird thing, not a single kb in bad sectors.. could you try to disconnect the HDD that's giving you the issue and plug it to another sata power connector on the PSU? just to discard that... and see if it's still giving you this DST Self Test Failure

Dellius · Dec 28, 2010

Still no luck. Here is what SeaTools says.

Mashed1316 · Dec 28, 2010

Ok, Dellius, i've found some information on Seagate Forums, they say there that when a HDD is giving you a Short DST - Fail, it could be the hard drive failing

You can try a zero fill full with seatools. If that does not fix it then replace the unit.

Do you have a spare drive to backup your data? or you don't want to reinstall windows and see if that's the issue... not saying that windows is the issue, but the HDD!

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