Assembled my 1st Mining Rig but it won't power on w/ GPU connected, Please Help!

[IMS2017]

I am trying to get my first crypto mining rig up and running but have been having problems.

I bought a Dell Opitplex 780 as my starter tower and bought an XFX R9 390 8gb graphics card to do the mining.

At first I couldn't get the GPU to physically fit inside the tower so I bought a Version 7 PCIE Riser to give me the extra room I needed to connect the GPU.

I have them all hooked up but now the tower won't power on, can anybody please give me some insight as to why this is happening?

I am also open to suggestions as to what the best crypto to mine for this GPU is. I am leaning towards Zcash but would like to hear if anyone thinks there is a better alternative.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, I look forward to speaking with you!

[OgNasty]

It powers on without the GPU connected?  Will it power on with only the pci-e cables or only the riser connected?

[IMS2017]

It powers on and works fine without the GPU connected.

I have not tried to power it on with only the riser connected, will try that ASAP.

Thank you OgNasty!

[MiningDoc]

Does the Mainboard have a built in graphics processor?  You may need to change your Bios settings before you put in the new graphics card.  I've had a couple that were spastic and wouldn't boot the new card in the Pci slot automatically. 

[IMS2017]

Hi MiningDoc,

According to Dell's online PDF for the Optiplex 780 it has an "INTEGRATED INTEL GMA 4500" listed under the Graphics/video controller section.

I am not sure where that puts me as far as adding another GPU, do you think a Bios tweak on a GMA 4500 might solve this problem?

Thank you for your help!

[lathrodectus]

I am trying to get my first crypto mining rig up and running but have been having problems.

I bought a Dell Opitplex 780 as my starter tower and bought an XFX R9 390 8gb graphics card to do the mining.

At first I couldn't get the GPU to physically fit inside the tower so I bought a Version 7 PCIE Riser to give me the extra room I needed to connect the GPU.

I have them all hooked up but now the tower won't power on, can anybody please give me some insight as to why this is happening?

I am also open to suggestions as to what the best crypto to mine for this GPU is. I am leaning towards Zcash but would like to hear if anyone thinks there is a better alternative.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, I look forward to speaking with you!

What do you mean by "won't power on" ? Do you hear cooling fans spinning?
I assume you mean system don't boot or noth,ng at your monitor.
First try to plug you monitor on the integrated VGA/DVI port. If you have visual on your monitor now. Enter bios and disable integrated graphics.
Now plug your monitor to GPU and reboot.
By the way first and foremost make sure all the power connections to your graphics card and riser is connected.

[MiningDoc]

Hi MiningDoc,

According to Dell's online PDF for the Optiplex 780 it has an "INTEGRATED INTEL GMA 4500" listed under the Graphics/video controller section.

I am not sure where that puts me as far as adding another GPU, do you think a Bios tweak on a GMA 4500 might solve this problem?

Thank you for your help!

Shouldn't need a bios tweek, just go into the bios before you add the vid card, set the bios default vid card to the pci slot you will place the vid card into. Save, shut down, install vid card, reboot.  Usually if it's a bios setting problem, the computer will turn on but not boot up, it just goes into a loop and only loads the bios, not the operating system, then reboots, loads bios, ect.

[IMS2017]

To Lathrodectus,

It has actually been about a week since I first hooked everything up (Just got around to finding this forum and posting today).

Thinking back to when I tried to power it on I don't think I heard the fans cut on but I might be wrong.

Also I am using a Display port to HDMI converter cable which in turn is plugging into my TV, just figured I could save money and space on a monitor by using the TV instead.

To MiningDoc,

Thank you for the Bios tip, that sounds like a plausible/likely cause of my issues. I will change my settings, give it another try and report back with an update.

Update will most likely be either Friday or over the weekend due to holiday preoccupation. This last replay was slow due to late Thanksgiving prep cooking.

This year I would just like to say how extremely Thankful I am to have found such a great forum with so many helpful people willing to take the time to help a novice crypto-miner troubleshoot his fledgling rig.

MiningDoc, Lathrodectus, OgNasty, yall are the best! I hope to speak with all of you and the other posters on BCT more in the future!

 

[IMS2017]

Hello again everyone,

So today I had time to hook up my hardware and give it another try.

With everything hooked up as described above I could not get my tower to power on. I didn't hear any fans cut on, the "power on" light on the front of the tower did not come on, the starting logo and bios did not come up. Has anyone else had a similar problem?

I have a friend who is more tech savvy than I who said he thought that "The motherboard might not be compatible with this graphics card", is that an issue with mining rigs?

It also occurred to me that maybe it is a power issue? Like can this tower carry/move enough voltage to power a big 8GB graphics card like the R9 390?

Any insights anyone might be able to give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all for your time and I hope to speak with you soon.

[bigjee]

Hi there.
I would recommend starting with just the basic components that you need to boot up (mobo, cpu, ram, cooler, hdd and of course case).
Power the rig up and check to see everything is okay.

Then as the last step add 1 gpu in the main pci-e slot and boot.
Check if you get display. If not then you'll need to change the bios setting to choose the pci express graphics in the bios settings.
It'll be something like IGP > PCI express.

Hope this works.