Asus Essentio with i5 CPU adding GPU to PCI-E slot

mynetdude

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I've tried two PCI-E cards and all I get is blank screen even from the onboard GPU but removing the card allows me to use the onboard; I've checked the bios and can't find anything to disable the onboard with.

I remember this happening on another system I can't remember which, but people kept saying it should automatically switch to the PCI GPU but so far I am not seeing that.

Its not a high end PC and I am not putting in a high end GPU either, I am just putting in a cheap GPU for dual monitor capabilities.

Both GPUs require 6 pin ATX power so I plugged that in of course and of course both GPUs did power up and one of the GPUs is perfectly brand new.

I'll just go get a VGA splitter I don't need much GPU power at all; its for point of sale so graphics aren't really a concern.

But OMG... why can't I disable things in the BIOS? The BIOS are getting ridiculously non-existent with no real options to change.
 
That's because it's a pre-built. You wont find an extensive bios on a pre-built.

Which GPU are you trying to put in the machine? And what is the exact model of the machine in question?
 
Its an Asus Essentio CM6730-US011S I tried installing the Nvidia 650 (I forget which one, GT? GTX? its rather small)

I also tried a very old Nvidia card, but I don't remember the model; its not shown on it (actually found it; 8800GT 512MB is the really old one). <<<<<
 
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Both cards you tried require a PSU higher than 300w which comes with the PC. Power could be a problem, especially if the onboard doesn't give any signal with the card in.
 
Both cards you tried require a PSU higher than 300w which comes with the PC. Power could be a problem, especially if the onboard doesn't give any signal with the card in.

its got a 350W so yeah looks like its barely marginal; kinda surprised though there's only 1 HDD, & DVDRW and i5 (and I think the i5 uses less power than the i7).

IIRC the 650 and 8800GT both require a minimum of 100W by itself? well maybe I'll change PSUs later; for now I'll just use single and maybe pick up a matrox dual head for $170 but I can buy several more cheap GPUs for that price or a couple of GPUs and a better PSU for that price but I guess that don't matter since I opened the case and blew the warranty (it has a warranty sticker).
 
What brand is the 350w? Is it the one that came with the PC? A quality brand 350w would run both cards fine, but a low quality one like Apex, Apevia, Raidmax, or no name would not. The power consumption of the 8800GT is closer to 150w, and 100w or so for the 650 if it has a 6pin, and 75 max if it doesn't have a 6pin. The i5 should be 69w TDP, and combined when the system loads at post is trying to draw half, or more than half of the PSU. That is getting into the no no zone for no name brands, realistically.
 
What brand is the 350w? Is it the one that came with the PC? A quality brand 350w would run both cards fine, but a low quality one like Apex, Apevia, Raidmax, or no name would not. The power consumption of the 8800GT is closer to 150w, and 100w or so for the 650 if it has a 6pin, and 75 max if it doesn't have a 6pin. The i5 should be 69w TDP, and combined when the system loads at post is trying to draw half, or more than half of the PSU. That is getting into the no no zone for no name brands, realistically.

ok that makes sense, but why not the card be functional AFTER POST since its drawing less power once its done booting?

Yeah I can't find a brand, so I may just upgrade the PSU on it next month and I might as well since the warranty sticker will pretty much make any factory repairs under warranty useless (even if I take everything out beforehand).

Also I bought a cheap system because I didn't need high power demand but if I'm going to upgrade it at all I might as well buy a better system for the price I paid for the current Asus system plus any upgrades I'd make to it.

All I want/need is dual display capabilities; I'm not running graphics or video and that goes for my office PC which is the same brand/model but another box; I tend to multi task better with dual screens so maybe investing in some Matrox VGA dual heads is the solution for low end needs (although pricey) and then of course there's USB monitors now; but I don't have a whole lot of USB slots on these pre-builts except the office or shop PC (I got 3 of the same thing total).
 
Just ditch the 650 and get something a little more practical that doesn't require so much upgrading. You can also run 4 monitors on the cheap card if you wanted to.
Galaxy 61TGF4AM5UNX MDT GeForce GT 610 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Multi-display Video Card - Newegg.com

Just an FYI, the i5 3330 is a very capable and quick chip. I would use it even to game on easy, or do renders. Even more.

To answer your previous question, if the VRM trips a low 12v warning on full power post it could keep the card off meaning you won't get any video. Before giving up, just try basic troubleshooting. Set the bios to boot PCI-E, try the board outside of the case with the GPU, 1 stick of RAM, ect.
 
Actually another question:

I noticed that these Essentio machines have HDMI as well as VGA; could I dual display off each of those? (HDMI+VGA?)

I'm also told that HDMI can also be daisy chained or is taht DP only? Speaking of DP, I don't see much in the way of Displayport.
 
Just ditch the 650 and get something a little more practical that doesn't require so much upgrading. You can also run 4 monitors on the cheap card if you wanted to.
Galaxy 61TGF4AM5UNX MDT GeForce GT 610 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Multi-display Video Card - Newegg.com

Just an FYI, the i5 3330 is a very capable and quick chip. I would use it even to game on easy, or do renders. Even more.

To answer your previous question, if the VRM trips a low 12v warning on full power post it could keep the card off meaning you won't get any video. Before giving up, just try basic troubleshooting. Set the bios to boot PCI-E, try the board outside of the case with the GPU, 1 stick of RAM, ect.

NICE CARD! I didn't know that kind of thing existed, 4 would be nice but I tried 3 widescreens and I was overwhelmed by it so I dropped back to 2; I actually prefer the "square" than the "rectangle" (or known as 5:10/4:3 instead of 16:9) my vision impairment doesn't accommodate 16:9 very well.

I have an i7 3820 for doing video rednering; I don't know I mean I know that i5 is capable for gaming and rendering but I am afraid of not getting enough power when I need it.

I'm kinda stuck with what I have; I'll make them work.
 
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