R9 290 x4

[gmoney$]

Hi All!

I just set up my first rig using four R9 290 (ASUS Brand).  I'm getting 3.5MH/s average doing scrypt mining. All is good. However my rig will not boot with out a monitor attached. The hard drive doesn't even start blinking so I don't believe it gets past POST.  If I plug in a monitor then it starts without issue. I'd really like to go headless though.  My MB is ASRock Z87 Extreme9/ac.  I tried upgrading the bios, no luck. The only setting I found in the bios was "primary video" the choices are onboard/PCIe.  If I select onboard, then windows doesn't find the GPUs. If I select PCIe than it doesn't post without a display attached.  Dummy plugs won't work because the R9 doesn't have RGB out. I probably need a different MB. Any other suggestions?

[hiverli]

i am sorry replaying and asking question but where did you get R9 290. all out of stock

[gmoney$]

I got them from NewEgg last week. I actually ordered 5 of them and one was bad. It wouldn't get past 500kH and it kept crashing my system. I'm going to RMA that one today.

Keep checking newegg they update stock regularly.

[Suh]

You may be able to give this a try:

http://www.overclock.net/t/384733/the-30-second-dummy-plug

That will make your computer think a monitor is connected.

[gmoney$]

Unfortunately a dummy plug won't work because these cards don't output an analog signal at all. They are DVI-D and a DVI/VGA adapter won't even plug into them.  I guess I have to go buy a cheap TV. Either that or a new MB.

[jawa_miner]

Hi All!

I just set up my first rig using four R9 290 (ASUS Brand).  I'm getting 3.5MH/s average doing scrypt mining. All is good. However my rig will not boot with out a monitor attached. The hard drive doesn't even start blinking so I don't believe it gets past POST.  If I plug in a monitor then it starts without issue. I'd really like to go headless though.  My MB is ASRock Z87 Extreme9/ac.  I tried upgrading the bios, no luck. The only setting I found in the bios was "primary video" the choices are onboard/PCIe.  If I select onboard, then windows doesn't find the GPUs. If I select PCIe than it doesn't post without a display attached.  Dummy plugs won't work because the R9 doesn't have RGB out. I probably need a different MB. Any other suggestions?

It looks like https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=382752.msg4113297#msg4113297 you have a maximus extreme vi setup?  I have the same motherboard that I'm considering RMA'ing b/c it won't detect all of the GPUs.  You find a solution that works for getting them all to run *in addition* to running without plugging in monitor?  I see you don't use dummy plugs.  I thought that might be my problem but if dummy plugs don't even work then I surely have to RMA/get another board.  Thanks for any help!

[VicBond007]

Long shot, but even though your DVI ports are DVI-D, your DisplayPort port should be able to output VGA using a DP->VGA adapter like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815158150
(First google result)

They're pricey but might be dummy moddable.  I wouldn't RMA your motherboard since it obviously DOES work with a real monitor attached and your boot display set to PCIe (this is correct even for headless operation).  If that doesn't work, I would consider selling your cards (R9 290's are tough to find so you'd probably get more money back selling than if you returned and paid a restocking fee) and buy ones with DVI-I ports that you can easily dummy-plug.