GPU missing

[Soggysocks]

Windows XP Pro SP3. ATI Radeon HD 5670. Currently the 11.12 drivers since they were mentioned as the last that officially work with the card and BOINC. I did have 12.2 for a while and working, but since it stopped working again I figured I'd try these drivers. Sadly, it's still not working.

XP Pro 64bit? & Current Catalyst for your card is at 13.4.

If you haven't yet, go to boinc website and check bonicfaq', might find help there.

 

[Fardringle]

I figured I might as well follow up on this to give the real resolution of the issue...

Apparently the "GPU Missing" messages were being caused by the video card itself and not just by the drivers (although the newest drivers probably had an effect as well). The card died completely today. The system won't even power on with the card plugged in any more, so I suspect it has been slowly dying for the past few months and that caused the errors I was seeing.

Sadly, it appears that nobody sells the HD5670 any more and since many people in the video card forums agreed at the time (2 years ago) that the system it has been living in cannot handle a more powerful video card, I guess my GPU crunching days are over until some time in the likely distant future when I can rationalize to my wife that I need to buy a new computer...

 

[GLeeM]

many people in the video card forums agreed at the time (2 years ago) that the system it has been living in cannot handle a more powerful video card

I often see advice to gamers in the video card forums even if you say you are a cruncher.
You don't need much CPU to run GPU WUs, your C2D should handle it.
I'm not sure about how new the GPU card slot has to be? I thought C2D era mobo would be sufficient? I have a 7950 in a C2D system.
Is you PSU too small?

 

[Fardringle]

The main issue is the wimpy off-brand 300 watt PSU in this old Dell PC. If I'm going to replace that to use a newer card, then I might as well just replace the machine (including the cost of a new video card). I'd love to do that, but it's not going to happen any time soon.

 

[Sunny129]

while i agree w/ GLeeM (that GPUs need very little CPU resources while crunching), i also agree with you that it probably isn't worth risking running a newer high-end GPU on an off-brand 300W PSU, and that you're better off upgrading the whole system later than upgrading just the GPU and PSU now. in the mean time, i have an HD 6670 just sitting around collecting dust at home at the moment. i'd certainly be willing to sell it to a fellow TeAm member on the cheap if you're interested...let me know.

 

[Ken g6]

The system won't even power on with the card plugged in any more

The main issue is the wimpy off-brand 300 watt PSU in this old Dell PC.

I imagine it's possible that the GPU is fine, and it's the PSU that's just unable to power it anymore.

If the PSU is standard-sized, this Corsair CX430M appears to be about $22.50 AR AP.

 

[Sunny129]

yeah, it might not be a bad idea to see if its a PSU issue first...hopefully you have a spare PSU laying around, or perhaps you can borrow one from a friend...

 

[Fardringle]

The card doesn't work in another computer either. It is definitely dead.

edit: I think the 6670 has about the same power draw as the 5670. That might be a pretty good option.

 

[Sunny129]

The card doesn't work in another computer either. It is definitely dead.

edit: I think the 6670 has about the same power draw as the 5670. That might be a pretty good option.

according to Wiki's AMD GPU comparison, the 6670 draws 3W less at idle, and only 2W more at load, than a 5670. yet the 6670 has ~24% more single-precision compute performance (768 GFLOPs vs 620 GFLOPs)...of course in reality the performance gap will be somewhat less than this, but whatever the gain in performance, it'll come at virtually no extra power cost. HERE is the exact 6670 i have (sorry no pictures - don't know when newegg removed them, but at least the specs are still listed).

 

[GLeeM]

I'd love to do that, but it's not going to happen any time soon.

Same here
I have a newer PSU and GPU in my C2D box, all I'd need is mobo, cpu (really want another i7) and ram. But the funds are needed in too many other places to list.

That 300 watt psu has lasted pretty long if the rig has crunched its whole life!

 

[Fardringle]

I have an update to the update that makes a sad story happy. I did try the HD5670 in another computer and it had exactly the same problem (wouldn't boot) so I assumed the card was toast.

However, based on a couple of comments here, I decided to try a spare 430 watt PSU I had sitting in a "spare parts" box. I honestly didn't think it would work since many older Dells didn't accept standard power supplies, but it does work in the computer, and the video card works perfectly again.

So apparently the PSU in this computer was getting old and slow, and the other computer (which is not old) just isn't compatible with the HD5670 somehow so it make it appear that the card is dead.

So, the 5670 is happily driving my dual monitors again, playing games without issues, and will get back to crunching while I sleep and am not using the computer..

I might still want to get that 6670 from Sunny at some point, but for now I'm happy to have things working again.

 

[Sunny129]

glad you got things up and running again without having to spend money. :thumbsup:

 

[zzuupp]

Cool!