Dual R9 M290X (One seems to be disabled)

Hi guys please can anybody offer me some technical guidance on how my Laptop GPU configuration should be working ?

I have a laptop with the following spec purchased in 2014:

Omega: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-4930K (3.4GHz) 12MB Cache
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 8GB)
2 x AMD® Radeon® R9 M290X - 4GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
250GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
2 x UK Power Lead & 2 x 330W AC Adaptor + SLi Adaptor
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1202 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 4.0
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
1 X 1394b FIREWIRE PORT
Omega Series 78.44WH Lithium Ion Battery
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Windows 8.1 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH

Overall it hass been a fairly good laptop, but does not seem to excell at games as well as I thought it would.
(yes I realise it is getting old now :yes: )

I think there is a problem though, please can you guys advise ?

No matter what I seem to do, one of the graphics cards is showing as disabled.

Seem here with latest crimson drivers.



If I completely remove the display drivers for a clean install , I am left with the following:



Reverting back to lagacy drivers (supplied with CD when purchased) I get the following:



Please note the disabled adapter still in the above image.

So my question is, please can you guys let me know if the display adapter is supposed to be disabled ?
Is it disabled by default and called upon by the system ?

Judging from performance, I am guessing that it is not.

Can I enable it in any way or otherwise test functionality to rule out any hardware failure ?

More detailed system information in the screenshot below:

Still not been able to resolve this problem, if anybody can advise I would be grateful, thanks.

The UEFI box is not checked in GPU 2. Not sure exactly what this means, but I think it is failing to boot.

I would give PCS a call....

ubuysa said:

I would give PCS a call....

Click to expand...

I have been liaising with them through technical support the past few days and they have been most helpful.

After careful consideration, and due to the fact my machine is no longer under warranty, I decided to perform some troubleshooting on the actual Hardware components.

1st time for everything, it was surprisingly a lot of fun.


Test 1:

Both GPU's removed.
Bridging cable intact / no obvious problems.
(not a dedicated crossfire cable though, not sure if this matters.

Tried to boot system without any GPU fitted.
No integrated graphics card on mother board, so this was not possible.( Alarm sound / bleep at startup attempt)

Test 2:

Fitted primary GPU back into it's original slot to test functionality and check for errors.
Start system with just this card.
No problems.

Test 3:

Switched primary GPU accross to the other slot and the machine would not boot from this slot.( Alarm sound / bleep at startup attempt)
Start up abandoned.

Test 4:

Install problematic GPU into primary startup slot.
System started up.
No Alarm.
No visual display output on screen.

This suggests a problem with this individual card, may it be BIOS or other. (it does not behave in the same way as the other card)


Test 5:

Install problematic GPU into secondry slot.
Attempt startup from secondry slot.
( Alarm sound / bleep at startup attempt)
Start up abandoned.

Test 6: Install both GPU's with bridge, but switched to opposite startup slot.
The problematic card is in the primary startup slot
Normal functioning card in secondry slot.

System powers up , but no display output.
No Alarm.

Test 7: Switch back to original dual GPU setup.
System starts up.
visual display ok.
Same problem exists with the second GPU, it will not start, is disabled, defective in some way.

Looking back through this thread...

The two graphics cards have different BIOS installed.

One has UEFI support, the other does not.

I will next be learning how to attempt to upgrade the BIOS on the defective card to see if I can bring it to life.

Your new message is below. Please note that you can ONLY reply by logging into your account at www.pcspecialist.co.uk and clicking on "Inbox":

Dear Carl Hill

Thank you for your response.

Thank you for the update on the situation.

The tests you have done are very helpfull in determine the issue.

Unfortunately, we are looking at a dead GPU and probable dead PCI-E lane on the board, this will have been killed by the GPU.

If we can assist you any further, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Many Thanks

Click to expand...

[rollinglaugh]

:tt2::tt2::tt2:








Ok , so...the GPU was not dead , nor the board track damaged.
A 5 minute BIOS flash to the defective board brought it to life at the first attempt.

Here's how much you could have lost ££££££££££££

So how did the GPUs get different BIOSes if they were working before?

Oussebon said:

So how did the GPUs get different BIOSes if they were working before?

Click to expand...

They were never working.

Never.

The system has always been problematic.
I never run proper diagnostics or had enough knowledge or time to understand what was going on.


Today is like I have a new computer.

Running at the spec I wished for.

Basicly it has always been running on one card and I never understood why the performance was average at best.

After 3 years it blew up.

Another story.
Fortunately It was under warranty.

Next time I will learn to build my own.

Ah, I thought it was as a result of the latest drivers.

Glad you found a fix. Personally if I'd bought a laptop that expensive and found 1 of the GPUs weren't working I'd have returned it as faulty for a refund as soon as it arrived.