Question RX 6800XT + X370 = No Video?

[EXCellR8]

Hello all,

I've recently made an effort to squeeze the last bit of relevance out of my old ASRock X370 Professional Gaming motherboard by flashing its BIOS (latest is 7.30), upgrading to a 5800X processor, and re-assembling the custom cooling loop to include a 6800 XT graphics card (previously air cooled).

The good news is that the CPU upgrade looks to be working just fine, however with the 6800 XT installed I get no video at all. At first the board was throwing a "d6" code which, according to the mobo manual, is directly VGA related. The only way I could get into the BIOS was to unplug the 6800 and then install a spare Quadro card in another PCIe slot. This got me into the BIOS, and I could eventually boot Windows from an NVMe, but I can't get there with the 6800 card.

Does anyone have any ideas why this might not be working? I know with the old Vega card sometimes I'd only get video on the monitor once Windows was basically booted all the way up to the logon screen--but that doesn't seem to be the case with the new card. I feel like I'm pretty close to having it working, but I'm a little stumped. I've set everything on PCIe to 'Gen3' in BIOS as some sites have suggested, but still no video output on the 6800 XT. I should also note that I was using this very same graphics card with another X370 board not that long ago.

[UPDATE 13:25]

Well, as I figured might happen... booting up Windows with the spare NVIDIA card, and having the 6800XT connected and plugged in as well, the Radeon card is not detected in Device Manager. I'm thinking this just may be a BIOS thing and might not actually work unfortunately

 

[Shmee]

This is very strange, but to me it sounds like it is just a bad card. Can you try it back in another system? Possibly damaged during loop install?

 

[EXCellR8]

Yea that's what I'm kind of thinking, especially since it should be working without much of an issue at all. I might try to reseat it but I'm certainly starting to think it's the card itself. I did inspect it closely after removing the original cooler, like I always do, and didn't see anything obvious. I might just need to drain, remove, and test on another board, ugh.

[UPDATE 23:05]

Reseating the card didn't seem to change anything, nor did changing cables/adapters/power etc. So, looks like I'll be tearing it all down and then making a decision from there...

If the card works on another board then great, at least I didn't somehow brick it when I installed the water block. I could potentially swap that board in if I really felt like it but I may just cut my losses and rebuild the entire system from scratch on a newer chipset.

Not for lack of trying I guess... smh

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Something's nerfed. I've used RDNA2 even on AM3+ without issue. It shouldn't be a compatibility problem. Especially given it works on another X370.

Questions: Have you tried the 6800XT in the other PCIe x16 as you did with the other GPUs? Have you cleaned the primary slot with isopropyl in case there is a contact issue or debris?

I had the X370 Gaming X version and that thing was a jewel. Ran all 3 gens of Ryzen and the 2, 3, and 5 series APUs before being sold here.

Good luck, and hope you get it sorted.

 

[VirtualLarry]

,imimg nbiod?


mining bios?

 

[Shmee]

,imimg nbiod?


mining bios?

This is a good guess, but that wouldn't explain it not showing up in device manager at all. And OP mentioned it had worked for him before, when it was air cooled in another board.

 

[EXCellR8]

Something's nerfed. I've used RDNA2 even on AM3+ without issue. It shouldn't be a compatibility problem. Especially given it works on another X370.

Questions: Have you tried the 6800XT in the other PCIe x16 as you did with the other GPUs? Have you cleaned the primary slot with isopropyl in case there is a contact issue or debris?

Yea I think compatibility wise it shouldn't be an issue, except for the fact that the MB BIOS is technically a beta. That's the one thing I'm questioning although at this point I just gotta know if the card itself is bad. I was even wondering if maybe the OE card is smart enough to not power up without a cooler plugged in--but as far as I know that's not a thing. Judging by the debug LED turning off and hard drive activity it appears that the computer is actually booting up to Windows, but I just can't see anything

I'll pull it apart tonight and hopefully the GPU still works on the other board, and if it does I guess I could try the other x16 slot.

if not

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Silly questions for an experienced user like yourself, but we all forget to cross the t's and dot the i's sometimes. You did try different ports and a different cable? Can't be the infamous AMD black screen issue because you cannot get to the UEFI.

Definitely a bummer if the card turns out to be faulty. Unless it can still be sent for RMA. Might be worth it to ship it to a repair service, if it doesn't cost too much to make sense.

 

[EXCellR8]

Yea I had that issue with the previous Vega card occasionally using DP, but I did try both DP and the single HDMI on this card and couldn't get anything. Not a great prognosis but I suppose there's still a chance it's alright.

I've installed many full cover blocks in the past and this one, while having the most "omg all these little thermal pads" tedious... was probably the most careful and patient one I've done. If it turns out to be bad idk... well played Satan.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Gremlins. Satan invented video gaming according to the "someone please think of the children" crowd. He would never take away our precious. 😈

But yeah, bummer if it decided now was a good time to give up the ghost. I'd at the very least hit it with heat gun after stripping it down, you never know. If no heat gun, grab a toaster oven for $5 or so from a thrift shop and bake it. No way I'd put that stuff in the oven I cook food in, that's nasty.

 

[EXCellR8]

Oh I've got a heat gun... as I tend to do quite a bit of shrink wrapping.

While it would not be preferable to retire the card, I picked it up as a used spare for a decent price back in March and I did get lots of gaming hours on it since. So, at least I got some of my money's worth 🤷‍♂️

Kind of a side note, but I'm currently running a resolution of 7680 x 1440 across a set of three (3) 2K screens, which even the more powerful 6900 XT struggles with here and there. So, might end up shelving the 6800 (and probably this board) and just wait for the next round of AM5/Radeon parts to drop. I'm due for a brand new build, with my last being in 2017, so there's that. Took a brief hiatus during the inflated prices and other nonsensical gouging campaigns.

I'll try to post an update tonight. Thanks for the input!

 

[EXCellR8]

Alright, so I took the 6800XT out and tossed a known good GPU in the same slot, and it worked fine, so that's not a great sign for the Navi card. Good news is I didn't need to do a full drain of the loop and waste coolant; I simply cut out the VGA part of the loop so that I could just use an air card with the system for now. That'll at least get me by for some bench testing.

Bad news, as expected the 6800 did not work in the other system that it had been prior, so something must've happened to it when I removed the stock cooler. That's really the only thing I can figure which is certainly unfortunate, but is what it is.

I'll pull it apart in the coming days and see if I can see anything obvious, and possibly sell for parts. The card does still warm up, so it's possible it might be good for compute tasks. I don't have much experience with that however. I think some new cards are going to release in Q1 so I might just grab something newer--especially since I think I might need even more power than what the 6800 would provide.

 

[In2Photos]

I'm no expert on water cooled parts but is it possible that the card is looking for fans connected to the board and won't post without them?

 

[EXCellR8]

I did certainly have that thought, and might experiment with plugging the OE cooler in, although you would think the block manual would at least mention "hey bud, your card will not work if the fan isn't plugged in" if that were a thing. Would be news to me however...

 

[EXCellR8]

Pulling the backplate didn't really offer much in the way of answers... all looks pretty flawless to me. The dark/wet areas are where the thermal pads made contact, but those came off very cleanly. I can't see any signs of missing or shorted out components.

I'll pull the main block off next but I'm guessing this one's going to remain a mystery. Neverless, pictures!! Maybe someone who's more familiar with PCB design can spot something I can't.

 

[EXCellR8]

So, just to close this one out but I sealed up the card with the original cooler and I've still got no video output. The die side of the PCB didn't reveal any obvious signs of why this would be the case either, but it's looking like it's certainly dead. I'll reach out to Sapphire support to see what they say but I've got a replacement card coming. Might just stick with the air cooler for now though, because that was a lot of time spent trying to figure out a mystery. If I can't RMA I'll just sell for parts.

 

[Shmee]

As long as it is still under the 2 year warranty, you should be able to RMA with Sapphire, given there is no physical damage.