New video card problem - no display

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Mikepcon

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I recently purchased an MSI Twin Frozr III R6950 and a new PSU.
My old video card works fine, but when I put the 6950 in I get no display at all - not even when booting up. When I put the old card back in it works fine again.

My MB is an asus P5K. Possibly a bit dated but from what I read it should be compatible.

Any suggestions?
 
thanks - didnt realise backward compatibility was not ensured. I assume I need to either get a PCI-E 2 or a new mb ?
 
Given the card specs, I would look into a new board. The one you have will probably bring down anything you try to run that would require that card.
 
I need to ensure I dont buy a board and then need to replace all the other parts.

Any recommendations?

Or should I start a new thread.
 
This thread is fine.

Depends on what you have. I have personal experience with this board, so I understand the limitations. In my situations, I had C2Duo CPUs in there. Changing the board to another socket 775 that handles your C2Duo (if that's what you have) will save on CPU cost. Memory will need to be changed, as the new board probably has DDR3 where as your current uses DDR2. You will want the increase in speed and capacity that a new board will bring to your memory. If you aren't running at least a C2Duo in that board currently, I would bring it up to a multi-core CPU for sure. You will be very happy with the increase that even 1 additional core will bring. Stepping to a 3 or more core CPU may result in an OS upgrade to handle the CPU ability. NOT upgrading the OS could see your hard earned money going to waste.
 
If you're going that route, I would toss in a SSD as well. I have built a few C2Duo machines with the DDR3 and SSDs and they are stupid fast.
 
Maybe I should just go the whole hog and get a new CPU as well.

I really dont dont know what to do for the best. I have read that socket 775 is being phased out.

Money is not an issue but I dont want to waste it.
 
I suppose that it depends on what you really are going to use the machine for. The multi-core CPUs out now are good at processing information very fast. It does not appear that we are going to have a breakthrough in processor technology in a little bit. If you use the machine strictly for gaming, I would keep it as simple as possible. Go with the recommended processor but maybe a step or two up in speed or core. This will build some expansion in. Get a board that will allow you some expansion in system memory. More slots or the ability to upgrade sizes in those slots.

I tend to go for the average priced units. Expensive boards are just that, expensive. Cheap boards tend to fail more often. Go for average or slightly above average and you won't disappoint with cost or expansion for that cost.


edit: Something else I just thought of, if money isn't an issue (not saying there are billions available or anything), then you could consider a couple options. One of which is to build a machine that you can plan to move away from gaming when the environments become too demanding. For example, you could retire the machine to a standard desktop or file server after it reaches a certain point. Try to re-use equipment. You could even try to cluster old equipment and create one big machine. (I've never done this so i'm not sure it is even reasonable to suggest, but the idea is sound)
 
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I have put in a bit more thought and effort and thought I would bug you one more time as youve been such a help.

Ive decided against an ssd as my current HDD is 400gb and an ssd of similar size seems quite expensive.

What do you think of the following combination (along with my already purchased video card)??

Intel Core i5 2500 3.3GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
Asus P8H67 R3 H67 Socket 1155 8 Channel HD Audio ATX Motherboard
Kingston 4GB DDR3 1333MHz HyperX Blu Memory Module CL9 1.5V

What do you think of the following?
Might change companies depending on price though.
 
Well, I would not necessarily discount SSDs for your OS drive based on size. A good system administrator typically has a reasonably sized OS drive with supporting data drives. This allows for total failure of the boot drive without damage to the data. Just something to think about for your build. The SSD will boost your OS performance. Downside is that they do not last as long as a rotating drive due to read/write limitations. I have heard of issues with Intel SSDs (the 320 series) but have not experienced a failure yet. Therefore, I cannot comment on the length of actual operation time for an SSD.

Specs on the board:
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8H67M/#specifications


1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (blue)
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode, black)
1 x PCIe 2.0 x1
1 x PCI
Click to expand...

Your card is PCIe 2.1 That's the minimum you can do for a PCIe slot.

A quick search shows up with something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-P8P67-WS-REVOLUTION-Motherboard/dp/B004V2IF9Q

@ $245US I am not certain that you want to go that way. If you are determined to use that card, you have to go with a PCIe 2.1 slot.
 
Is it not just that backward compatibilty is not guaranteed?
Surely PCIe 2.1 is pretty likely to be campatible?

The card was my sons xmas present.
 
PCI Express 2.1 supports a large proportion of the management, support, and troubleshooting systems planned for full implementation in PCI Express 3.0. However, the speed is the same as PCI Express 2.0. Unfortunately, it breaks backwards-compatibility between PCI Express 2.1 cards and some older motherboards. Most motherboards sold currently come with PCI Express 2.0 connectors
Click to expand...

Take your chances if you want. It isn't my money. I only call it like i see it.

PCIe is typically backward compatible, but the card is higher than what is available on the board. If you were to buy a PCIe v1 for a v2 slot, it would work. Typically, faster video cards will not operate in a slot lower than it's requirement.
 
Thanks again

Now looking at either
http://www.ebuyer.com/338468-asus-m...-z-gen3?utm_source=google&utm_medium=products
or
http://www.lambda-tek.com/P8Z68-V-G...0-MIBGC5-G0EAY00Z~cs/2318539&origin=gbase16.5

Both are pcie3.0 ready so surely that will be fine.

Just noticed that the box on my msi 6950 does say pcie 2.0
MSI_R6950_Twin_Frozr_III_Power_Edition_Intro.jpg
 
Thanks for all your help. Pretty much sorted now.....with one slight monitor problem that I am about to start a new thread for.
 
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