PC Building

[MrMantis]

Hi yall,

Just looking for some help with an issue I've come up against. Here is the rig I'm currently working with for reference:

CPU: Intel Core i5-13400F 2.5 GHz 10-Core Processor 
CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK620 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI PRO B760M-A WIFI DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard 
Memory: Klevv BOLT X 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory 
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN570 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Video Card: MSI MECH 2X OC Radeon RX 6650 XT 8 GB Video Card
Case: NZXT H510 Flow ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 GT 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Monitor: Acer VG272 LVbmiipx 27.0" 1920 x 1080 144 Hz Monitor
Monitor: AOC CU34G2XP/BK 34.0" 3440 x 1440 180 Hz Curved Monitor

So the issue coming up is I decided to spring after a XFX QICK 319 Radeon 7700 XT. Picked it up, installed it and no display, just the white VGA light on the MOBO came up. Did about every step of troubleshooting I could find (Changed out the PSU cables incase they were broke, went to the lower PCiE slot, Updated to latest BIOS, tried all the DP outputs to get a reading) and nothing fixed the issue. Every website I found said my MOBO should be compatible with the GPU, except the MSI website. So I decided to jump up to a MERC 310 7900 xt, and still at the same issue. Is there something I am missing that is making these incompatible? Do I need to revert the BIOS to an older version? Any help would be appreciated! (If anything I got the card today, so I can take it back if it just is not compatible). Thank you! :3

[eebiii]

So, if you stick the 6650xt back in does everything boot and run normally?

I don't think the cards are the issue. Two different cards too?

Make sure you have individual PSU cables to each 8-pin connector on the card.

I know this sounds dumb but make sure you are plugging the HDMI or display port into the card and not the motherboard.

I would say if you were still having issues, start with your RAM, remove 1 stick and see if you can get it to boot.

I have also had issues with old hdmi/display port cables with a new card. I don't know why but this sometimes solves the issue.

Those cards should work fine with your setup but maybe someone else see's something 

[BigAl01]

Yes, go back and try the old RX 6650 XT GPU, just to make sure things are still working.  I think it might be either the use of the two monitors or a problem with the monitor cables.  Try using just one monitor with the newer GPU, if the old 6650 XT GPU worked when you tried it again.  If nothing is working to give you a display output, carefully check the PCIe ports on the motherboard to make sure nothing is jammed into the connectors.

[MrMantis]

Alright so results of these trouble shoots. 

6650 XT GPU works as usual. All other things staying the same, 6650 works when 7900 result in White VGA Mobo light. 

eebiii, Yup, using 2 individual VGA cables from the PSU instead of using the daisy chain. 
Also not dumb at all. After making that mistake when first initially building the pc, so I double and triple check each time that im in the right ports xD

Tried with 1 stick of ram, booting, slotting it into a different port, no fix for any of the 4 ports. 

Big Al, gotcha! 6650 works fine on both monitors, so I tried just the display port, trying it in all 3 slots on the card, tried just HDMI, tried HDMI and all variations with DP cable, tried changing the cables, all to no avail T_T

Checked the PCIe port as well, it doesn't appear anything got jammed in there, but just in case put the handheld vacuum over it to clear it out, and with the 6650 working I think the port is relatively okay.

Firstly just wanna say thank you both for chiming it! I appreciate the help! 
Secondly, With all these troubleshoots is there anything else to consider potentially? I scoured through forums to see if others were having similar issues and found one with someone mentioning the 7900 having an issue with a 550 MOBO, and the fix was to go to a 2023 released BIOS. Do you think this would be worth a try? Only saved this for last since trying older BIOS would result in a time sink without the cpu integrated graphics. (Update bios, switch GPU, power up and check, Switch back GPU, download different version, repeat) 

[eebiii]

I would give it a try. Can't really hurt and you can always revert back. But the 6650 worked with new bios so I am not sure.

Are you using a pci-e extension cable?

[MrMantis]

True, Just wanted to make sure I was tackling some less time consuming Troubleshoots before doing that, but yeah I will try the BIOS changes tomorrow morning!

I am not, just putting the GPU straight into the PCIe Slot on the mobo.

[BigAl01]

Are you providing power to both CPU ports on the motherboard (if there are two there)?  It sure seems like your motherboard doesn't like these more powerful GPUs, so it might be determining (via the VGA LED being illuminated) that it cannot handle the additional power requirement.

[MrMantis]

I hadn't even thought about the 2nd CPU power slot, but I added that in an unfortunately did not fix the issue. 

I also reverted to some of the old BIOS releases, but that as well did not help.

I feel kind of at a loss at this point. I feel this may not be a GPU issue given I have tried this with 2 different 7700's and now the 7900, but not sure how to get this working besides updating every single piece at this point, or just returning the GPU and saving that money for later.

[BigAl01]

Hmmmmm.......I would get into the motherboard BIOS settings and review the PCIe settings.  Does your motherboard support PCIe 4.0 or is it limited to PCIe 3.0?  Try different settings, including the default setting, to see if you can get a display working with the newer GPUs.  This might mean booting up on your old GPU that works, changing a setting, then powering down to swap in the newer GPU.  

[MrMantis]

Ah, gotcha! I know the MOBO specs say the top slot works for PCIe 4.0 while the lower slot only supports PCIe 3.0, but I hadn't thought to check the BIOS to double check. As you can maybe tell I am still new to PC building as this is the first update I am making to the original build I made. I did go into BIOS and saw it was set for Gen 4, but decided to try the setting on auto now, but that did not work either, also testing each DP/HDMI port also.

[BigAl01]

You have both an 8-pin and a 4-pin CPU power connector on your motherboard.  I am convinced this is a power problem with your higher power GPUs.  You said that you added in the second CPU power connection (which one, the 8-pin or the 4-pin?) and it didn't fix the issue.  Does your PSU really have the two CPU power connectors available?  Are you using an 8-pin CPU power connector from the PSU in the 8-pin port, or something less, like a 4-pin or 6-pin power cable?

Another thing to check:  Resizable BAR (Re-Size BAR) is an advanced PCI Express feature that enables the CPU to access the entire GPU frame buffer at once and improve performance.  That's from your motherboard's website.  I would try disabling RE-BAR in the BIOS if it's enabled now, or enabling it if it's disabled now.  

The latest BIOS update for your motherboard is '7D99v1D', released on 17 April 2025.  Are you running on this BIOS version now?

[MrMantis]

Ah, I looked back at my original post and realizing I made a mistake. Current Motherboard I am using is MSI PRO B660M-A WIFI DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard. Apologies for that. Addressing your other points:

I was only using the 8pin CPU pwr 1 port before you called out the second port. The PSU I am using has 2 8pin slots in the PSU for CPU pwr; CPU 1 slot is going to the 8pin(4+4) connection for CPU pwr 1 port, CPU 2 slot is going to the 4pin connection for CPU pwr 2 port. I took pictures so you can look at it in case I am doing something wrong that I don't notice. (Hard to get a clear picture of the CPU pwr connections, but pwr 1 slot is on the left with the 8pin, pwr 2 on the right with the 4pin, the other split hanging above)

Ahh so that's what Re-size does. I will take a look at that tomorrow morning then. I believe currently it is enabled, but will try switching it and testing again.

For the Pro B660 (again, sorry for the confusion) I am currently on version 7D43v1M, the most current build. I tried some older BIOS versions just to test, but have returned back to that version.

[MrMantis]

[BigAl01]

Ok, a slightly different motherboard.  On page 25 of your manual, you'll find the meaning of the LED error lights:

EZ Debug LED

These LEDs indicate the status of the motherboard.
CPU - indicates CPU is not detected or fail.
DRAM - indicates DRAM is not detected or fail.
VGA - indicates GPU is not detected or fail.
BOOT - indicates booting device is not detected or fail

You are getting a white light on the VGA, which probably should be green before it goes out.  You can read this trouble-shooting guild for things to check with a white VGA light.  

As for the motherboard BIOS version, I recommend you have the latest version (dated 22 April 2025) 7D43v1M installed before continuing with other attempts to fix the problem.  You said that you are running this version, so that's already done.  

I would look into the RE-BAR idea, disabling it if you have it enabled.  I would also pull the CMOS battery when the system is shut down and the power cord is pulled from the PSU.  Leave the battery out for at least a few minutes, and while you are at it, replace the CMOS battery with a new one.  It's important to clear the settings after installing a new BIOS update, as sometimes a setting or two can be left in the non-default position.  This will clear out any changes you have made, so when changing things in the BIOS, it's a good idea to write down what changes you made each time.

[MrMantis]

Got it! Yeah, BIOS version is up to date so we are good there.

Just tested RE-BAR and that did not give any output still.

As for CMOS I don't currently have a replacement battery, but I can go pick one up and give that a try. 

As for BIOS changes, I don't really recall making any changes in there before, as being a novice I'm a little wary on changes as to not brick my rig. So relatively speaking if we need to restore BIOS to default settings I don't think that will cause any issues for my rig working.

[blazek]

Restoring BIOS settings to default should be fine.

[Vynski]

Did you make a typo error with the 7D99v1D.  I just did a compatibility check on this board on MSI support and found this BIOS number; 7D99v10.zip.  They are also showing the 7900 as compatible.  So I think I would try this BIOS 7D99v10.zip which they have on their site.  I honestly don't think it will help, but nothing else seems to have worked.  The version you gave is the latest update and I don't see any reason why it should not work.

[BigAl01]

That BIOS was for the previous motherboard, which he posted by mistake.  He is actually using the MSI Pro B660M motherboard.  The correct BIOS for him is  7D43v1M.

[thomas533]

Oh, you got it! Although I am aware that the MOBO specs state that the top slot supports PCIe 4.0 and the lower slot only supports PCIe 3.0, I hadn't considered checking the BIOS to be sure. Since this is my first upgrade to the original construction, you may have noticed that I am still learning how to build PCs. When I checked the BIOS, I discovered that it was set to Gen 4. I tried turning it to auto now, but it didn't work either. I also tried trying each DP/HDMI port.

[thomas533]

If you have RE-BAR activated, I would investigate the concept and disable it. When the machine is turned off and the power cord is disconnected from the PSU, I would also disconnect the CMOS battery. While you're at it, swap out the CMOS battery for a new one and let the battery out for a few minutes at least. After installing a new BIOS update, it's crucial to clear the settings since occasionally one or two settings may remain in the non-default configuration. Writing down the modifications you make each time you make changes to the BIOS is a good practice because this will remove any changes you have made.