Hi

I've connected my Triplex ATI Radeon HD3870 GPU to my PC but its not being detected at all, I've tried installing the specific driver for this model which is the catalyst 8.3, as well as numerous others, and none of them detect the GPU on my machine

As well as that, my DVI-D cable also doesn't work from the GPU to the monitor, I'd assume thats because the GPU isn't detected, or maybe the GPU is faulty? the fan works on it fine if thats of any use

Any help would be greatly appreciated

My PC
AMD X2 Dual Core 4000+
128KB cache
2 GB DDR2 Ram
nVidia GeForce 6100 (standard VGA adapter for the motherboard)
HP w19 Widescreen LCD monitor

Power Supply?

My power supply is an X-Power ATX 400w

Ive read that it needs a minimum of 450w, i take it this could be why its not working?

Even though the fan on the GPU works

YEAAAS!! for cryin out laud' change it.


I would recommend Cooler Master Real Power Pro 650W.

IMO, when you're operating at these levels, get a QUALITY PSU that's rated for at least 20% more total watts than you require, with a minimum 100Watt safety margin. This is to help compensate for PSU demand-surge response, future expansion, on-mobo regulator hardware design variations, temperature, and component estimate variations.

You can try doing some PSU requirements calculations using:
http://web.aanet.com.au/SnooP/psucalc.php
http://extreme.outervision.com/index.jsp
http://www.journeysystems.com/?power_supply_calculator

I'm including all 3 of these because some people prefer more granularity in the calcs, while others prefer less.

Well I've installed a new PSU, a Trust 570w

But I'm STILL having issues, my GPU is still not being detected, and I've had it tested at a computer store and it checked out fine

Ive been told it could be to do with the PCI settings in BIOS maybe?

Have you connected the power cable to your HD 3870?

Yes, the six pin power cable is connected to my GPU, and the fan is also working as before, but still, no detection whatsoever

Is Netframework installed on the computer?

If I were you, I would, re-seat the GPU, do a clean install of Windows and install Netframework first before installing ATI drivers.

Have you tried installing it on other computer?

You may be able to use the ATI Radeon HD3870 without installing ANY of the card's drivers and Catalyst. Many ATI cards will run in a basic mode when the card-specific drivers aren't installed. I recall that almost all the earlier ATI cards (one or more years ago) did so.

The HD3870 manual should tell you if this is the case.

If it is, then by removing all the unique ATI drivers...that should let you isolate a hardware from a driver problem.

Try disabling onboard video. Should work.

Something you should double-check...

While most PCIe 2.0 video cards are backwards compatible to PCIe 1.0a connector motherboards, supposedly a very few of the newer video cards are not 100% compatible with older motherboards. I don't have a list.

john albrich said:

John's right. Double check that for sure. You need to make sure your hardware will even work in your mobo.

Then Double check all of your power connections. Also, if you have onboard video take out the ATI card, boot into your bios an set the primary display to the proper PCI-e slot your putting the card into. Then shutdown an put the card back in. (double checking your connections again)

My motherboard is geforce6100sm-m, a pretty new-ish mainboard, with a PCI-E 1.0a slot, and the ATI HD3870 is compatible with 1.0a

I have got .netframework 1.1 up to 3.0 installed

Ive also tried installing an earlier GPU (nVidia 7300) from my slimline computer, and this got picked up straight away no problem by my PC

Also, whenever I start my PC with the 3870 in it, the monitor goes blank, I hear a few clicks (click.......click........click) inside the PC, then the monitor comes back on

Try that card on other computer (if possible). I still think, it is inadequate power supply. Try to unplug CD/DVD drive(s), case fan(s) and extra hard drive(s) to see if it works. HD 3870 is a very efficient GPU in terms of power, due to low fabrication process, it takes maximum of 100W (GPU only) at full load, the power supply has to be good, either you're using an old (570W) PSU or it is really inefficient.

The kind of sound you've mentioned happens due to inadequate power supply.

Try to clear CMOS and set it to default values.

I forgot to add, that ticking noise may coming out from your hard drive.

Ive tried resetting CMOS to default, no luck

Doubt it is my hard drive, I'm pretty sure the ticking noise is to do with the GPU due to the fact there is no noise when my PC starts up without the GPU in place

The PSU is brand new, but does seem to be cheap everywhere I look

jay baker said:

The ticking can also be coming from the PSU. An over-loaded PSU can click, whine, "chirp", or "growl".

Such noises can also come from on-card power regulators as well.


edit to add--a stethoscope, piece of tubing, or even a straw can be a handy diagnostic aid in tracking down the source of sounds in a PC. Warning Don't use anything that can slip through your ear canal to your ear-drum.

I have a HD3870 and i've tried it on a 400watt power supply on my set up....IT dusnt work!!!!!! the only thing that worked was the Optical drive light lol which flashed constantly.

HD3870 is power hungry dispite the all the press about them being economical!!!!!

i use a thermaltake 600watt. and it runs sweet, i'd recomend depending on how many components u got inside a MINIMUM OF 500watt!!!!!

The other thing is.....

Check in BIOS you have set the onboard graphics to disabled when u have the GPU in... i think its PEG setting. If your installing the Graphics card while using onboard you will have problems, due to operating system defaulting to onboard!!

Phil said:

HD 3870 is power hungry? It barely requires 100-125W maximum.

Following is a review done by Marco Chiappetta over hothardware and shows HD 3870 power consumption including whole rig

http://www.hothardware.com/articles/ATI_Radeon_HD_3870_and_385...0/?page=12

It barely needs power and can be compared to 8600GTS in terms of power requirement.


To the author of this thread:

1) Try that card on other computer if possible with good power supply

lol ok i stand corrected

Still reckon its bios setting, he might be using onboard graphics..