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HD 7790 installation (what's the best way to do this?)

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knoober

Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2015
Because I didn't think ahead I'm in a bit of a pickle. I recently upgraded my gpu to an HD 7790 and can't wait to see its performance.... Except I do have to wait. My new board has o on board gpu and apparently this puppy wants drivers to work. This in and of itself is not a big issue. I hacebt done it yet, but I expect all I will have to do is slap on a different card first and the install the driver... Then swap the cards. Not a big deal if it works as smooth in action as on paper.

The big deal comes in at reinstall time. I intend to put my other card into another build so it won't always be there to help with the handout so to speak. Is there a preferred way to accomplish this kind of install without a bunch of hoops?
 
Not really sure I'm following you. Is the system working now with a different card? Or is this a new set up?
 
Do t worry I get that a lot ( "not sure I'm following you") :)

Yes the system does work with a different card so I know the slot is working. I assume the new gpu works but so far all I can confirm is the fans spin (second hand purchase first test run) my mobo has no onboard graphics so I need a gpu for monitor at all.

I currently have a minimal install of win 7 on the build because it was time to reinstall the OS and add hardware at the same time. To repeat I do have this machine running with a different card, I just get a sleepy monitor when I plug in the HD 7790. I hope that's a little clearer... Between the keyboard and my jumbled thoughts I really am not a stranger to folks not having a clue as to what I am talking about :)
 
OK you "should" be able to uninstall the current driver, then run DDU display driver uninstaller. It will restart your system in safe mode then select the option to clean and shut down to install the new card. Then install the new drivers on restsart. If you don't get a picture on restart the it could be your board is old and needs a newer bios or may not work at all with that card or the PSU needs the rails balanced.
 
This has turned into a full blown issue. Okay so I'm still not sure we're on the same page but the problem is a little bigger now as well. And just for clarity as of yesterday my signature mobo is out of date... Was trying to finish before I changed it. Gigabyte 970a-d3p Rev 1.0

So for recap, my board offers no onboard video. When I plugged in my new (but second hand) hd 7790 (asus) it made no picture. I plugged in my old gpu (from sign, Radeon R5 220) and everything works, so I know the slot is okay. The add that I bought the card from (paraphrased) no driver disk but you can get the plug n play drivers from amd and it should work fine. So with my r5 plugged in I installed the AMD CCC and then switched back to the HD 7790 and still got no picture. When I searched drivers for the 7790 at amd, they listed the catalyst control center as the driver I would need.

While I let you try to figure out what I said again (and thanks for trying :) ) IL go check to make sure my bios is up to date and that I have the latest version of CCC (I know I don't as a matter of fact because I used the disk that came with the R5 220) and then I'll check back in.
 
OK well you should be able to put the card in and it work at least with a picture. You have a gigabyte board now but what about CPU(FX) and are you still using the same PSU ?
 
Sorry about the trouble with my sig. I updated it once I did some reading. I saw an article that was saying g the pci-e controller is also on the cpu, so I thought it might be better to make the update now since I am actively asking for help. The psu is the same and I don't think I'm drawing too much load anywhere else. The only thing gs that aren't listed in my sig is a fan controller + dvd rw + 2 hdd and an SSD. Hardly stressing the psu I think? But I'm not sure.

I've updated the bios to the latest version and am running the latest amd drivers as well (except the beta I guess) I'm doing some reading about whether or not that old cpu (just a stand in until my phenom ii gets here) can support the correct pci-e type. I hope the problem is there, because otherwise I'm stumped ( well I was already stumped but then I'll be out of ideas)

Edit : wait a second here, there is a chance I'm using the wrong connector. I've go 3 on this psu (1 all by itself and 2 on their own cord and one of those has a slide on the side to "add" 2 more pins) I'll check the other cord as well. If that's the issue then no amount of thanks is enough! :)

Edit again: nope none of them work but they all have the right pins. Back to read in I go!
 
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Does that card have a bios switch ? It's possible you got a bad card too. If the R5 ran in that set up thenso should this one. The correct connector is the 6+2
 
If you aren't getting any picture on the monitor at all from boot (no POST or windows loading screen) drivers are not the issue.

From looking at a few different pictures it looks like the 7790 just uses a single 6pin connector, so use the one that has the slide but leave off the extra 2.
 
Well I hope the card isn't toast. It's got no burns or popped capacitors and the fans spin up. It also warms near the display ports while running. I'll tinker a bit and be sure to use that connector (thanks) but I think I'll need a new card.
 
Did you change input from DVI to HDMI or anything like that? Some monitors require a manual change before they'll recieve a signal from a different port.
 
Did you change input from DVI to HDMI or anything like that? Some monitors require a manual change before they'll recieve a signal from a different port.



Tried with two known working monitors. One on dvi the other with VGA. For a while I wasn't sure if my vga/DVI adapter was the appropriate adapter, but it worked on the R5 220. I'm slowly accepting that this card is a dud. Maybe I can use the sink and fans on something :)
 
How lucky am I? I got to thinking about your post when you asked about a switch and thought maybe you meant on the card itself (I've never had a card this nice so I don't know what they have! ) and when I took the sink and fan off to check I noticed that I had dripped some tim across part of the pcb (I neglected to mention how horrified I was by the rock-hard slab of dried Tim that was there already - I know I should test first, but it was necessary to go out of order with this project). After cleaning I dropped it back in the Machi e and it works great. I still haven't taken it for a real test drive yet, but I've got picture at least ;)

I also (when I thought the card was broken) ordered another. While I wish I hadn't wasted the bucks I'm still thrilled to be able to run a dual gpu set up. Will an ASUS HD 7790 crossfire ( or sli or whatever it's called for this chipset) with a Sapphire HD 7850? Thanks a bunch for all the help guys, it's always good to have someone e reminder d you of troubleshooting
 
What kind of TIM were you using? I might suggest you switch to a non conductive TIM for future reference.
 
I'm still reading but this article
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/amd-crossfire-chart.201045/

Suggests that it may be a possibility? There is a post I there that leads me to believe that it is not though because it lists my cards as having been built on a different base. There is also mention of a crossfireX? Please feel free to tell me to Google it as I'm just trying to get an informed opinion rather than trying to make decipher charts /graphs and opinions. Plus my new gpu won't be here for a few days yet so I got time to look into it more :) I mean seriously, if I've got the right cables (and I think I might) I'll probably try it anyway! I mean hell I almost fried one of em once, why not see if I can burn two at once and really be a dummy :)

I guess what's important for me to know at this point is will I "see" it not working? Will there be an error message? Or will they both just light up and I'll see no improvement?
 
I know I'm about to be embarrassed now but I still haven't gotten my "sea legs" as far as some of this stuff goes. I was going to use liquid metal but thought better of it and cleaned it off, that's when I made the mess on the pcb. I switched over to my migrate paste after that because it was easier to spread. I thought I could get away with using the old TIM as a guide to keep it from running off ( like I said it was solid to the touch and needed to be chipped off, but I cleaned the empty area in the middle, leaving a perfect order for my TIM)

You're right about the noncunductive paste, I just hate to use it because it's so sticky (and I like to feel like I'm using the premium gas!) I have 3 different t pastes in the toolbox right now and it's the WORST. Gets gunk all over everything and is tough to clean too. Still better than shorting a connection though.
 
Seems like I might not have wasted my hard earned dollars on the second card. This bad boy only wants to work with the generic driver windows provides. Whenever I install the Radeon driver the screen shuts off after the boot logo. The only thing that works after that is to restore from startup repair. I've removed the driver with ddu (clean and restart) and reinstalled. Is this a symptom of my thermal paste negligence or is it maybe something else do you think? To the Google!

Edit:

Re seating the card didn't help, nor did uninstall/reinstall drivers. Switch monitors = no change. Bios is latest version. Tried both options for pci-e in the bios (something about legacy support ensbles/disabled)

Also tried installing just the driver without the control center and got no where
 
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