New GPU on an older P55 board

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   Hi, hope someone can give a definitive answer to this.

I'm still using an old ASRock P55 USB3 Pro board at the moment but that (and chip) will get upgraded later when the whole AM4 / Ryzen thing settles down. But I need a quick GPU upgrade now  and it needs to be reasonably future-proof as I'm a linux user and want to utilise the latest AMDGPU / AMDGPU Pro drivers, so card of choice is going to be an RX 460 2GB (I'm not a big gamer).

The last BIOS for the mobo was early 2011 in the days just prior to the UEFI nonsense. It still has decent Pci-e 2.0 x 16  slots so a modern Pci-e 3.0 card will work without too much performance loss.  HOWEVER I'm getting conflicting messages about the lack of  UEFI support on the board which is supposed to cause problems booting. 

Anybody know the truth?

Edited by Itchy - 18 Feb 2017 at 1:19am

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Itchy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 17 Feb 2017 Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote Itchy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: New GPU on an older P55 board Posted: 17 Feb 2017 at 11:56pm
	Hi, hope someone can give a definitive answer to this. I'm still using an old ASRock P55 USB3 Pro board at the moment but that (and chip) will get upgraded later when the whole AM4 / Ryzen thing settles down. But I need a quick GPU upgrade now and it needs to be reasonably future-proof as I'm a linux user and want to utilise the latest AMDGPU / AMDGPU Pro drivers, so card of choice is going to be an RX 460 2GB (I'm not a big gamer). The last BIOS for the mobo was early 2011 in the days just prior to the UEFI nonsense. It still has decent Pci-e 2.0 x 16 slots so a modern Pci-e 3.0 card will work without too much performance loss. HOWEVER I'm getting conflicting messages about the lack of UEFI support on the board which is supposed to cause problems booting. Anybody know the truth? Edited by Itchy - 18 Feb 2017 at 1:19am

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 24248	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 18 Feb 2017 at 12:23am
	This has been a rather perplexing issue here on the forums (and elsewhere I am sure). We have seen numerous reports of newer GPUs failing to work on older boards. The problem is that while one user reports that their GPU does not work on a Z68 based motherboard (for example) we see another user reporting it worked on an older model without issue (both UEFI). There does not seem to be much rhyme or reason to the issue. Through various threads I have not been able to determine if it is something that can be fixed via a BIOS update or if it is some kind of physical compatibility issue that only effects some boards. One thing is clear however, GPUs have evolved and something in their design has changed significantly enough that it breaks backward compatibility in some cases. While in one instance a BIOS update fixes this, another remained non functional no matter the BIOS version, updates or settings. I wish I could give you a clear yes/no answer but it has very much been a case of "try it and find out" thus far. Personally, I wouldn't take the chance unless your place of purchase has a reliable return policy. Your choice of GPU is a sound one, the RX 460 is very capable in non gaming applications and more than adequate for light/casual gaming. It should last you a good few years before you look to upgrade again. Most of the issues I have seen regarding GPU incompatibility have been Nvidia related but there have been some AMD GPUs too though whether or not the RX 4xx series suffer from the issue is not yet known to me. My advice would be to contact ASRock directly and inquire or hold out till you can upgrade the rest of your system and avoid the headache. Some slightly older GPUs should work fine with your current setup but do you really want to spend money on an older generation that is less future proof? Tech Support: http://event.asrock.com/tsd.asp Edited by Xaltar - 18 Feb 2017 at 12:24am


Itchy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 17 Feb 2017 Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote Itchy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 18 Feb 2017 at 1:18am
	Thanks for the response, Xaltar. Funnily enough when I inquired (today) regarding this topic, one retailer said: 'just send it back for refund' - he didn't have a clue either. So I'll select the right retailer. The current landscape for open source GPU support is in a state of flux at the moment, so you've got to hedge your bets re AMD / nVidia (Wayland complicates things) as best you can. The AMD list of compatible cards for the AMDGPU driver is not actually that big. In fact the RX 460 appears to be the 'budget' entry point, hence the decision to go with it. Thanks for the link, I'll use it and see what reply I get, I'll post back and keep you informed. Edited by Itchy - 18 Feb 2017 at 1:20am

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 24248	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 18 Feb 2017 at 4:09am
	Thanks and good luck


Itchy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 17 Feb 2017 Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote Itchy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 Feb 2017 at 1:04am
	Got a prompt response from ASRock, which I'm impressed with (wasn't expecting one tbh). If the graphics card uses only GOP (UEFI for graphics cards) then it will not work on P55 Pro/USB3. If the graphics card uses GOP and* legacy VGA BIOS then there is a chance that it will work. But I do not have a P55 Pro/USB sample anymore to test it. Sorry.* And then he goes on to agree with you (I linked this post for reference) about finding a flexible retailer. So it sounds like it's definitely the firmware on the GPUs. The response seems to tally with other posts around the web and the one I've got going at the AMD forum. Where they're seeing some cards working in some boards - but with varying issues from none / minor to serious (card returned).

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 24248	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 Feb 2017 at 1:23am
	Great to hear and also nice to have ASRock confirm my suspicions on the matter. Good luck and do let us know what you end up with and how it works out for you