Unreliable graphics card (EAH5450) with M4A78LT-M LE

C

craigb6

New Member
Hi,

I've been trying to get a graphics card (ASUS Radeon HD 5450 EAH5450) to work, having used the integrated graphics on the motherboard (ASUS M4A78LT-M LE) for the past few years. However the graphics card only seems to work about 40% of the time, the other 60% the computer defaults to the integrated graphics. If I open Speccy when the computer defaults to the internal graphics it lists the PCIe 2.0 x16 slot as being 'available' despite there being a card in the slot.

I originally uninstalled the integrated graphics drivers, put the graphics card in and then installed the graphics card drivers. I then attempted to turn off the integrated graphics, however the BIOS only allows me to set the order of the graphics cards. I have set it to this: GFX0-GPP-IGFX-PCI (GFX0:primary video controller on a PCIe x16 slot, GPP: primary video controller on a PCIe x1 slot, IGFX: onboard display output port, PCI: primary video controller on a PCI slot). I have also acquired a second EAH5450 card and am still getting the same problem of the graphics card not working reliably. The graphics card and motherboard are both ASUS and both have ATI graphics chips. The computer is running Windows 7 SP1. Can anyone think of anything I have missed/done incorrectly?

Thanks in advance for any help or pointers as I've been trying for hours and have got nowhere!
 
Desktops, unlike laptops, can't just switch graphics cards. The monitor only uses the card it's plugged in to. If you installed the drivers and you're plugged in to the card then you're fine.
 
Darren said:
Desktops, unlike laptops, can't just switch graphics cards. The monitor only uses the card it's plugged in to. If you installed the drivers and you're plugged in to the card then you're fine.
Click to expand...

Hi Darren, thanks for responding. I have installed the graphics card drivers and plugged the monitor into its DVI port. The motherboard has VGA and DVI and the graphics card has VGA, DVI and HDMI. If the system does not choose the graphics card I have to move the monitor from the graphics card DVI port to the motherboard DVI port. Likewise when the graphics card is inside the computer, the monitor can be plugged into the motherboard DVI port and every few restarts needs to be moved to the new graphics card DVI port.
 
Usually when a dedicated card is installed it automatically kills the onboard video anyway unless the board is capable on hybrid crossfire. It seems your bios setting is correct, just make sure the cable going to the monitor is plugged into the video card dvi port and not the motherboard dvi port. What is the bios version? Latest is 0803.
 
johnb35 said:
Usually when a dedicated card is installed it automatically kills the onboard video anyway unless the board is capable on hybrid crossfire. It seems your bios setting is correct, just make sure the cable going to the monitor is plugged into the video card dvi port and not the motherboard dvi port. What is the bios version? Latest is 0803.
Click to expand...

Hello John, yes I updated the BIOS as part of my troubleshooting and is now on 0803. I would have expected the motherboard to default to the graphics card and it does, but bizarrely not all the time. I can be running off the graphics card plugged into its DVI port, restart be ok, restart again then the onboard graphics takes over, switch cable to motherboard DVI port and then maybe one or two restarts later the graphics card takes over again (with no DVI cable plugged in) and then I move the cable over to the graphics card DVI port and start the whole process again.
 
Go back into the bios and choose to load setup defaults and save changes, reboot the system. You may need to change sata controller setting back to ahci if you were running it previously.
 
Like you did, make sure its set to the GFX0 slot, which is the PCIe X16 slot. Sure its not trying to boot in what AMD calls Hybrid CrossfireX mode? If it boots with the card with the monitor plugged into the card, not the motherboard go into the device manager and disable the onboard video and reboot and see what happens.
 
Last edited:
johnb35 said:
Go back into the bios and choose to load setup defaults and save changes, reboot the system. You may need to change sata controller setting back to ahci if you were running it previously.
Click to expand...

I did that before re-inserting the graphics card, the ASUS which I had disabled then reappeared before the BIOS took over, so it is reset to the default settings. The graphics card is still as unreliable as before.

StrangleHold said:
Like you did, make sure its set to the GFX0 slot, which is the PCIe X16 slot. Sure its not trying to boot in what AMD calls Hybrid CrossfireX mode? If it boots with the card with the monitor plugged into the card, not the motherboard go into the device manager and disable the onboard video and reboot and see what happens.
Click to expand...

After putting the BIOS back to the default settings I re-inserted the graphics card. The system then booted up and was running the monitor off the graphics card DVI port. I opened both Speccy and device manager and neither could see the motherboard graphics, only the graphics card. I restarted and all was well. I did it again and then back to motherboard graphics (with the cable still plugged into the graphics card DVI port). I switched the cable to the motherboard DVI port, restarted a few times, then blank monitor as the graphics card had taken over again. I checked the BIOS and it was set to GFX0 first throughout all this.

I did wonder if the motherboard was in Crossfire mode, however the graphics card doesn't support it and there does not appear to be anyway of preventing it. There is an option called 'surround view' in the BIOS which I have tried both enabled and disabled and it has no effect as far as I can tell.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top