[Z68 Extreme4] HD7850 -> RX480 upgrade woes
Printed From: ASRock.com
Category: Technical Support
Forum Name: Intel Motherboards
Forum Description: Question about ASRock Intel Motherboards
URL: https://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4459
Printed Date: 23 Jul 2025 at 1:35am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: [Z68 Extreme4] HD7850 -> RX480 upgrade woes
Posted By: Fa1lson
Subject: [Z68 Extreme4] HD7850 -> RX480 upgrade woes
Date Posted: 21 Feb 2017 at 12:31pm
|
" rel="nofollow - Hello 'rockers. I'm having trouble replacing an AMD HD7850-based graphics card with a RX480-based board (the ASUS ROG Strix model), and am here as a bit of a last resort. My approach: 1. Power down, naively swap one board for another (while moving from 6 to 8 pin Express supplementary power connector), power up. This resulted in Dr. Debug status code 97 ('Console Output devices connect'), with no signal apparently reaching monitor. Original working system state restored. 2. Power down, remove HD7850, clear CMOS data via jumper and in accordance with m/b manual, insert/connect RX480, power up. Success! Temporary, partial success... The monitor came to life and I (naively) got busy restoring BIOS settings to their former values. Funnily enough, the monitor failed to light up after I 'saved and exited' BIOS setup... 3. Clear CMOS data via jumper, power up. Restore all BIOS settings to their former values with the exception of BIOS -> [Boot] -> [PCI ROM Priority]. This setting (which has two values - the default 'Legacy ROM', and 'EFI Compatible ROM') seems to completely determine whether the monitor lights up or not. Save and exit BIOS setup. This resulted in a) the display of POST messages etc, b) the non-display of anything at all after usual boot drive selected via F11, c) Dr. Debug status code AE ('Legacy boot event'). Sigh. 4. Clear CMOS data via jumper, power up. No BIOS settings adjusted! Same result as above in 3. (I also tried, via F11, booting off a Win7 install DVD. This works, and the boot drive appears in the 'where do you want to install Windows?' screen. It _may_ have been that I tried this above, in 3.) 5. Power down, remove all drives from equation (by detaching each drive's data cable at motherboard-end) save for single boot SSD. Power up. Same result as above in 3. Original working system state restored. I've seen some suggest that updating BIOS to a more recent version might solve the problem (I'm on P1.50), but am very reluctant to do this thanks to past experience. I have also submitted my issue to ASRock's tech support division. Advice warmly welcomed - I'm really not too sure what my next step should be... |
Replies:
Posted By: wardog
Date Posted: 21 Feb 2017 at 3:02pm
|
I'm going with you need to update your BIOS to hopefully get that newer card running on an older Z68 motherboard. BUT, DO NOT FLASH IT UNTIL PARSEC OR XALTAR POSTS THE CORRECT SEQUENCE HERE. AGAIN, DO NOT FLASH IT JUST YET. I'll contact them and ask that each come here to guide you in the CORRECT steps. |
Posted By: wardog
Date Posted: 21 Feb 2017 at 3:05pm
|
Oh, they will need to know what CPU it is you have installed. Sorry man. I'm an AMD person, and there will be specific steps you must follow depending on what CPU. Me = <cough>intel<cough>  Just kidding. |
Posted By: Xaltar
Date Posted: 21 Feb 2017 at 3:09pm
|
The new GPU would appear does not support "legacy" operation, this option is usually set under CSM (compatibility support module) in the boot tab on newer boards but it seems your board does not have this panel available. The fact that you are able to post and enter BIOS is a good sign though, on many older boards these new GPUs simply won't work. What this tells me is that the board has detected a non-Legacy GPU and automatically set the settings I mentioned to above, the problem is that it has likely disabled legacy support all together, including storage. This explains why you would be seeing the system fail to boot. I am fairly certain your OS is installed in legacy mode rather than UEFI mode. You can try install your OS again, this time in UEFI (GPT) mode and see if it will allow you to boot. If you need help with that you can look at this thread (the installation instructions not the BIOS settings) http://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1236&title=how-to-install-windows-on-a-pcie-ssd While this thread was created to help users install and boot from NVMe drives the OS installation should be the same as what you need and saves me having to break it down again here. If you get stuck or need any help post back here  ------------- 
|
Posted By: Fa1lson
Date Posted: 21 Feb 2017 at 3:17pm
<edit> took so long typing what follows that xaltar's post appeared before I submitted  Lemme digest this... </edit>Thanks for your replies/effort, wardog. I made a sig after starting thread, but in retrospect should have done things t'other way around  Anyway, hopefully some relevant info right... ...here vvvvvvvvvvv ------------- ASRock Z68 Extreme4 (P1.50 BIOS) Intel Core i5-2500K @ stock Kingston HyperX 1600C9D3T1K2/8GX 2x4Gb DDR3 Intel 510 Series 120GB SATA3 6GB/s SSD (+ 5 spinners) Windows 7 Professional SP1 |
Posted By: Fa1lson
Date Posted: 21 Feb 2017 at 8:12pm
|
Thanks for your promising thoughts, Xaltar. Here's what I tried, based on my understanding of your post and the thread you mentioned (please let me know if I have the wrong end of the stick!) : Ensure [PCI ROM Priority] = 'Legacy ROM'. Power down. Disconnect all drives except optical drive. Also connect spare 'empty' hdd and the RX480. Power up. Check that [SATA Mode] = 'AHCI' in the UEFI storage configuration screen. Select 'UEFI: <optical drive>' as [Boot Option #1]. Save and exit. Begin Winstallation. The installer (original, pre-SP1 win7pro) proceeded through the main 'checklist' and restarted the system. It then "did some other stuff" before restarting again. After this restart, the system automatically ran the UEFI setup program. I found that [Boot Option #1] was blank or disabled, so I set it to something like 'Windows Boot Loader'. Save and exit. Alas, the monitor failed to light up following the subsequent system restart. I've seen claims that the non-SP1 win7 might not support UEFI install, so will download win10 install stuff and have another try after some shuteye... ------------- ASRock Z68 Extreme4 (P1.50 BIOS) Intel Core i5-2500K @ stock Kingston HyperX 1600C9D3T1K2/8GX 2x4Gb DDR3 Intel 510 Series 120GB SATA3 6GB/s SSD (+ 5 spinners) Windows 7 Professional SP1 |
Posted By: Xaltar
Date Posted: 21 Feb 2017 at 10:32pm
|
Give win 10 a try and post back. The fact that you can get the install to run is a good sign however, we should be able to get this to work for you -------------
|
Posted By: wardog
Date Posted: 21 Feb 2017 at 11:06pm
That's my understanding. Win7 SP-1, to the best of my knowledge, is the first EFI based desktop OS from MS. |
Fa1lson wrote:Posted By: parsec
Date Posted: 22 Feb 2017 at 12:41am
|
" rel="nofollow - Windows 7 definitely does (or did) NOT support UEFI booting installations. That can be fixed, but you must modify the Windows 7 ISO/ESD installation files/folders manually, the EFI boot loader file is in the wrong location, and the Windows 7 installer cannot find it. I've heard that the latest Win 7 SP1 ISO file has fixed that file's location, but I never tested that myself. Any older Windows 7 disk will have this problem, and must be fixed. I can provide a link to a guide about fixing this if you are interested. Actually, since Windows 8, MSoft has UEFI booting working right with the Windows 8 (and 8.1 and 10) installation media. MSoft introduced the "Secure Boot" feature in Windows 8, which requires a UEFI booting installation. With a UEFI/BIOS that supports Secure Boot, if you enable Secure Boot, the CSM option (which really controls UEFI booting) is set to Disabled automatically, and the CSM option is removed from the UEFI. At least that is how ASRock does it when Secure Boot is enabled. We can configure CSM without using Secure Boot, which is how I prefer to do it. It seems you were using Windows 7 when you inserted the RX 480, correct? You lost me when you said this in your first post: Restore all BIOS settings to their former values with the exception of BIOS -> [Boot] -> [PCI ROM Priority]. This setting (which has two values - the default 'Legacy ROM', and 'EFI Compatible ROM') seems to completely determine whether the monitor lights up or not. The last sentence is correct if you were using Windows 7 and did not have a UEFI booting Windows 7 installation, which I assume you did not. I'm sure you had no monitor signal when you set it to EFI Compatible ROM, correct? Question, why did you try using the PCI ROM Priority, EFI Compatible ROM setting? Were you using that setting with your other video card? While your new video card may have a VBIOS that supports EFI, your Windows installation must also support EFI booting. If it doesn't, particularly with Windows 7, you cannot use that setting. Moving on to the UEFI/BIOS update, wardog was rightly concerned about applying the only versions now available, that include the Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge processor compatibility update. Those UEFI/BIOS versions are notorious for causing problems when the user is has a Sandy Bridge CPU, as you do. The reality of these updates is they must be done perfectly, with a specific but simple procedure. If that procedure is NOT followed perfectly, and some required software is also not installed, that is when the problems occur. I don't see a UEFI/BIOS update as being the fix that you need, at least at this point, until you answer my questions, please. The good news is, if we decide to go with the UEFI update, your board has the Instant Flash update version method, which is the best one to use. The only important instructions when doing this update is the USB flash drive that has the UEFI update image in it, MUST BE LEFT IN THE USB PORT UNTIL WINDOWS COMPLETELY BOOTS UP AFTER THE UEFI UPDATE COMPLETES IN THE UEFI/BIOS. You will also need to install the latest version of the Intel IME software to match the IME firmware that was updated in the UEFI/BIOS update. Those are the two things that user fail to do. Please answer my questions, or explain the situation and we can proceed. ------------- http://valid.x86.fr/48rujh" rel="nofollow"> 
|
Posted By: Fa1lson
Date Posted: 22 Feb 2017 at 6:29am
Thanks for your thoughts, Moderator Group members! I seem to have come to the right place 
Yes, this has been the only OS in play so far (tho' I will try a win10 install in the next few hours as it's probably the easiest OS to use for this exploratory work, given my lack of SP1 win7 install media and the hassle of slipstreaming or what-have-you).
Yes, no monitor signal when 'EFI Compatible ROM' = [PCI ROM Priority]. I've also confirmed that I do not have a UEFI booting win7 installation (by running 'bcdedit /enum', which shows in the 'Windows Boot Loader' section that path = ...\winload.exe).
I was indeed using it with the other card, and the HD5830 I used before that, IIRC. (However, I've just tried booting the other card with the 'Legacy ROM' setting, and all is well.) Now, exactly why I changed this setting from its default value when I first installed the m/b is something only my 2011 self (who deeply pondered each and every UEFI setting, as you do) can answer... In any case, I initially sought to get the RX480 going by making as few changes as possible to UEFI settings (hence my restoration-to-former-values approach). It was sheer luck that I was able to quickly identify this particular setting as culprit. The [Boot] screen was the last I needed to visit when restoring UEFI settings to their former values. I was confused by what I saw in it, tho', so did a 'save and exit' (in case its content changed as a result of settings I'd already altered) before changing its default values. Following the subsequent reboot, I changed the [Boot] screen settings (including [PCI ROM Priority]) to their former values, 'saved and exited', and stared glumly for a few seconds at the blank screen that resulted.
I can't even get a _monitor_signal_ using that setting, so I'm OK with using 'Legacy ROM' = [PCI ROM Priority]  I'm glad that updating the UEFI is not at this point compulsory. I really must get around to overclocking that CPU... I've also learned that some RX480-based cards have a wee hardware switch on them to choose between... legacy or EFI VBIOS, I think? Alas, mine does not seem to. Will report results of win10 install attempt in a few hours all being well... ------------- ASRock Z68 Extreme4 (P1.50 BIOS) Intel Core i5-2500K @ stock Kingston HyperX 1600C9D3T1K2/8GX 2x4Gb DDR3 Intel 510 Series 120GB SATA3 6GB/s SSD (+ 5 spinners) Windows 7 Professional SP1 |
Posted By: parsec
Date Posted: 22 Feb 2017 at 9:46am
If you are fine with using the Legacy ROM setting, then there is no reason to install Windows again, unless you simply want to use Windows 10. Forgot to tell you some mandatory UEFI installation techniques that even Windows 10 will require. In case you aren't aware of this... Whatever Win 10 installation media you use, before the installation starts check the boot order and find the installation media. It should be the only other drive connected to (or powered up) in the PC besides the target OS drive. You should find an entry for the Win 10 installation media that looks something like this: "UEFI: <installation media name>". You need to select the boot order entry with the "UEFI:" prefix, which causes a UEFI booting Windows installation. Not sure if you are using an HDD or an SSD as the Windows 10 drive. I assume the SSD. No idea if any or all HDDs support using the EFI boot loader. EDIT: See Additional Information I added at the bottom of this post, related to the following paragraph. If you want a full blown UEFI booting Windows installation, the CSM option must be set to Disabled. That of course requires the video source to support the UEFI GOP protocol, which does not seem to be the case, so you can't set CSM to Disabled. What you can do with CSM enabled, is set the CSM sub-option, Launch Storage OpROM Policy option to UEFI Only. That will cause the OS drive to be GPT formatted, and have four partitions created by the Windows installer, including a legacy MBR partition. Any or all of this is not required, but selecting the "UEFI:" entry for the Windows installation media is required. Regarding choosing the PCI ROM Priority setting of UEFI ROM with your previous video card, the result of that was nothing. The chances of the HD 7850 supporting UEFI/GOP are very small, so that setting was simply ignored, if not changed to Legacy automatically. That you had the video display failure with the new video card implies that the new card does support UEFI/GOP, but your Windows 7 installation of course did not, resulting in no signal to the monitor. Of course we are going by what you tell us, so it is impossible to know what else might be going on, so this is just guess work. About updating the UEFI, just to check, you have the Z68 Extreme4, not the Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 board, correct? Given that, the latest UEFI/BIOS version (a Beta version, L2.21A) is from 2013, so I don't see that version as helping in general with a very current video card. But in checking into that, I noticed something else, which caused me to check your board's manual. Additional Information Since the manuals are rarely updated to match the UEFI/BIOS updates, I see nothing about any PCI ROM Priority option, or related options. I'm not saying they are not there, just that I cannot determine exactly what they are doing. Also, after reading the description of the L2.21A Beta UEFI/BIOS version, which adds Windows 8 support, no doubt including Secure Boot, I imagine the UEFI booting related settings were changed. I believe they would be similar to the next generation chipset boards, like the Z77 Extreme4, which I still have. The UEFI booting/CSM settings have not changed since the Z77 boards (no reason to do so), but I now realize your board's UEFI/BIOS version does not have a CSM setting, at least with the 1.50 version, and likely only with the L2.21A Beta version. Bottom line, none of this is really significant, just use the Legacy ROM setting, it only matters during POST anyway. ------------- http://valid.x86.fr/48rujh" rel="nofollow">
|
Posted By: Fa1lson
Date Posted: 22 Feb 2017 at 10:42am
|
We're in business! Win10 successfully installed, Radeon drivers installed, new card successfully benchmarked. *phew* More to say I have, but wanted to issue a quick update to prevent unnecessary effort by y'all on my behalf. Must also digest your intriguing post, parsec. I will return... ------------- ASRock Z68 Extreme4 (P1.50 BIOS) Intel Core i5-2500K @ stock Kingston HyperX 1600C9D3T1K2/8GX 2x4Gb DDR3 Intel 510 Series 120GB SATA3 6GB/s SSD (+ 5 spinners) Windows 7 Professional SP1 |
Posted By: Fa1lson
Date Posted: 22 Feb 2017 at 11:55am
" rel="nofollow -
Yes indeed.
I used an old spare HDD to successfully install win10, but will of course reinstall on SSD if I decide to accept win10 as my OS. But I had a fun old time getting the UEFI-prefixed entry to appear in the boot order. What ended up working was inserting a win7 install disk in my BD-ROM. With the freshly-burned win10 disc in the drive I actually got the 'no monitor signal' problem again, and had to clear CMOS data. With the drive empty, no amount of rebooting would persuade the UEFI prefix to appear. Weird, and glad I could work around it.
I want this to be the case so very much (as I have no interest in win10 aside from its support for the new card's DirectX 12 ability). But as mentioned in first post, Dr. Debug status code AE ('Legacy boot event') results when I attempt to boot my old win7 install. Am I missing something? I do hope so! Edit: Are you maybe thinking I could do something like this: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/14286.converting-windows-bios-installation-to-uefi.aspx ? ------------- ASRock Z68 Extreme4 (P1.50 BIOS) Intel Core i5-2500K @ stock Kingston HyperX 1600C9D3T1K2/8GX 2x4Gb DDR3 Intel 510 Series 120GB SATA3 6GB/s SSD (+ 5 spinners) Windows 7 Professional SP1 |