Looking for Advice on Swapping Out Motherboard

[Huntn]

I do everything but the utilities. Since they are just unnecessary programs and have nothing to do with reliability. Although ones for fan tuning are nice to optimize cooling to noise.

The manufacturer says they don’t recommend updating BIOS if there are no issues. Of interest I downloaded the lastest version for this specific motherboard, and when i launched the application, it told me it did not support this version of Windows 10 (I have 64bit) or maybe not this motherboard. Strange.

 

[Huntn]

I do everything but the utilities. Since they are just unnecessary programs and have nothing to do with reliability. Although ones for fan tuning are nice to optimize cooling to noise.

@LIVEFRMNYC

Hold the Phone...
I hooked up my secondary Monitor to the Mobo connection and it did not work. I disconnected the graphic card, and hooked the primary monitor which will run off this connection but under Device Manager, it shows no Intel drivers (even though something is installed that is running the monitor, but there is no Display Adapter section at all shown in the Device Manager.

Then I spoke to Gigabyte Tech Support (both the mobo and the graphic card) and when we tried to install the VGA drivers (which I thought I had already done), it said "hardware not compatible" and after about 30 minutes of trouble shooting and observing the lag for windows to just log in, they suggested that Windows 10 is screwed up and I would be best served by doing a ...... CLEAN INSTALL*, DA DA DAAAA!

* Instead decided to reinstall windows and keep files and apps. If this fixes the VGA driver install issue, I'll settle for this.

Sigh. So one or both of you were right. I thought I could skate around a clean install, I hate clean installs, but I do want a zippy problem free windows, so I am in the process now of reinstalling Windows 10, then will spend most of the day putting everything back together, getting my programs up and running, my games etc. Fortunately my important stuff is on external drives and I'm currently typing on my MBP which just works.

Update: Corrected above

 

[velocityg4]

@LIVEFRMNYC

Hold the Phone...
I hooked up my secondary Monitor to the Mobo connection and it did not work. I disconnected the graphic card, and hooked the primary monitor which will run off this connection but under Device Manager, it shows no Intel drivers (even though something is installed that is running the monitor, but there is no Display Adapter section at all shown in the Device Manager.

Then I spoke to Gigabyte Tech Support (both the mobo and the graphic card) and when we tried to install the VGA drivers (which I thought I had already done), it said "hardware not compatible" and after about 30 minutes of trouble shooting and observing the lag for windows to just log in, they suggested that Windows 10 is screwed up and I would be best served by doing a ...... CLEAN INSTALL*, DA DA DAAAA!

* Instead decided to reinstall windows and keep files and apps. If this fixes the VGA driver install issue, I'll settle for this.

Sigh. So one or both of you were right. I thought I could skate around a clean install, I hate clean installs, but I do want a zippy problem free windows, so I am in the process now of reinstalling Windows 10, then will spend most of the day putting everything back together, getting my programs up and running, my games etc. Fortunately my important stuff is on external drives and I'm currently typing on my MBP which just works.

Update: Corrected above

Why would you connect a monitor to the Motherboard? You have an RTX 2070. There's no need to have them on separate cards.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Why would you connect a monitor to the Motherboard? You have an RTX 2070. There's no need to have them on separate cards.

I think he mentioned that the RTX 2070 only has one HDMI port, and his monitors don't have a Display Ports.

@LIVEFRMNYC

Hold the Phone...
I hooked up my secondary Monitor to the Mobo connection and it did not work. I disconnected the graphic card, and hooked the primary monitor which will run off this connection but under Device Manager, it shows no Intel drivers (even though something is installed that is running the monitor, but there is no Display Adapter section at all shown in the Device Manager.

Then I spoke to Gigabyte Tech Support (both the mobo and the graphic card) and when we tried to install the VGA drivers (which I thought I had already done), it said "hardware not compatible" and after about 30 minutes of trouble shooting and observing the lag for windows to just log in, they suggested that Windows 10 is screwed up and I would be best served by doing a ...... CLEAN INSTALL*, DA DA DAAAA!

* Instead decided to reinstall windows and keep files and apps. If this fixes the VGA driver install issue, I'll settle for this.

Sigh. So one or both of you were right. I thought I could skate around a clean install, I hate clean installs, but I do want a zippy problem free windows, so I am in the process now of reinstalling Windows 10, then will spend most of the day putting everything back together, getting my programs up and running, my games etc. Fortunately my important stuff is on external drives and I'm currently typing on my MBP which just works.

Update: Corrected above

It might be Windows didn't initially install the monitor display drivers being that you probably installed with just one monitor connected to the Graphics card.

(My bad: Forgot you were using the same drive with Windows already loaded, yup, you should do a clean install, it'll be more trouble free.)

You might have to go to your monitor manufacturer's support site and see if they have any drivers. Windows probably couldn't auto detect it and install generic drivers if it's an older monitor.

IMO, you should get a HDMI to DP adapter for the second monitor, and plug it into the Graphic Card.

Also, updating the BIOS is a good idea to prevent issues that you might run into. You almost never want to use the BIOS that came out the box, unless it's a completely new model with no updates yet.

 

[Huntn]

Why would you connect a monitor to the Motherboard? You have an RTX 2070. There's no need to have them on separate cards.

I think he mentioned that the RTX 2070 only has one HDMI port, and his monitors don't have a Display Ports.

It might be Windows didn't initially install the monitor display drivers being that you probably installed with just one monitor connected to the Graphics card.

(My bad: Forgot you were using the same drive with Windows already loaded, yup, you should do a clean install, it'll be more trouble free.)

You might have to go to your monitor manufacturer's support site and see if they have any drivers. Windows probably couldn't auto detect it and install generic drivers if it's an older monitor.

IMO, you should get a HDMI to DP adapter for the second monitor, and plug it into the Graphic Card.

Also, updating the BIOS is a good idea to prevent issues that you might run into. You almost never want to use the BIOS that came out the box, unless it's a completely new model with no updates yet.

For @velocityg4, I like the second monitor in the onboard graphics in case I ever run into a card glitch, I still have a working monitor hopefully. I probably don’t need to do that.

So why do you all think both monitors should be on the graphic card?

Instead of a clean install, I gambled and opted to keep my apps/files Windows install using the Microsoft Media creator tool. It seems to have paid off.

Under Display Adapters, right after the Windows reinstall, it started off with Microsoft Graphic drivers appearing in this section. Then after I installed the Intel VGA drivers, they appeared, then finally the Graphic card’s drivers which are showing there. So that issue is resolved and the computer is much more snappier when booting up.

Before it was taking quite a while to boot up and this is with a SSD. At the time I just assumed that this cause I had changed things and Windows was still trying to work it out.

So at this point I agree, it's better to reinstall Windows after such an upgrade, but that it's possible to get a good result without doing the clean install, which saved me a lot of work as far as reestablishing existing programs.

 

[Diazepam]

@Huntn

Just some general tips for you that I wish I had myself followed, with my custom PC build ... (not necessarily relevant to your particular issue)

1 - Make sure to keep your components clean as dust accumulation can cause heat buildup and fried components. I experienced this with my expensive NVidia graphics card. After noticing high temps, I opened up my graphics card one day to find a thick cake of dust that was not noticeable from the outside. I had to take it completely apart to get all the dust out of it. Open up your case every month or two, and clean with compressed air.

2 - Install a temperature monitoring app and keep an occasional eye on temps. Your motherboard and GPU or perhaps even the case probably came with onboard temp sensors and your mobo software CD/DVD probably has such a monitoring app.

 

[Huntn]

@Huntn

Just some general tips for you that I wish I had myself followed, with my custom PC build ... (not necessarily relevant to your particular issue)

1 - Make sure to keep your components clean as dust accumulation can cause heat buildup and fried components. I experienced this with my expensive NVidia graphics card. After noticing high temps, I opened up my graphics card one day to find a thick cake of dust that was not noticeable from the outside. I had to take it completely apart to get all the dust out of it. Open up your case every month or two, and clean with compressed air.

2 - Install a temperature monitoring app and keep an occasional eye on temps. Your motherboard and GPU or perhaps even the case probably came with onboard temp sensors and your mobo software CD/DVD probably has such a monitoring app.

Thanks! I don’t think I had a heat issue, but I noted that when I disassembled the original cpu cooler fan and radiator, the radiator fins was about half full of dust (after almost 5 years). This is corrected by periodically opening the case up and using a can of compressed air spraying from the inside out on the radiator.

After the upgrade/repair is complete, I am using CPUID HWMonitor for GPU cooling temp display and Core Temp for CPU display. I have not found a single utility that shows both of these values. HW Monitor is supposed to show CPU temps, but for the Intel Core i5 category it just shows CPU Utilization, no temps. I can only guess this is because the i5 is a gen 9, and maybe they have not gotten it into their database?

CPU/GPU Readings right after install (20Jan19): After allowing X4 (a game) to run all night (case closed), here are the readings which seem to be good: Gigaybe Geforce 2070 RTX (GPU) 50°C (min: 34°, max: 66°). the 2070 has 3 fans built into it. CPU Temps 6 cores: 27°, 25°, 25°, 25°, 26°, 24°.

 

[Diazepam]

Thanks! I don’t think I had a heat issue, but I noted that when I disassembled the original cpu cooler fan and radiator, the radiator fins was about half full of dust (after almost 5 years). This is corrected by periodically opening the case up and using a can of compressed air spraying from the inside out on the radiator.

After the upgrade/repair is complete, I am using CPUID HWMonitor for GPU cooling temp display and Core Temp for CPU display. I have not found a single utility that shows both of these values. HW Monitor is supposed to show CPU temps, but for the Intel Core i5 category it just shows CPU Utilization, no temps. I can only guess this is because the i5 is a gen 9, and maybe they have not gotten it into their database?

CPU/GPU Readings right after install (20Jan19): After allowing X4 (a game) to run all night (case closed), here are the readings which seem to be good: Gigaybe Geforce 2070 RTX (GPU) 50°C (min: 34°, max: 66°). the 2070 has 3 fans built into it. CPU Temps 6 cores: 27°, 25°, 25°, 25°, 26°, 24°.

Cool ! (literally) Sounds like you're on top of it.

Those temps look very safe to me. My CPU and GPU crossed well over 100 C (and my system kept shutting down for safety) when I panicked and found all that dust and had to do an emergency cleaning. I haven't done any custom building in 10 years, so I don't know specifics anymore, but you seem to have it under control.

 

[Huntn]

Cool ! (literally) Sounds like you're on top of it.

Those temps look very safe to me. My CPU and GPU crossed well over 100 C (and my system kept shutting down for safety) when I panicked and found all that dust and had to do an emergency cleaning. I haven't done any custom building in 10 years, so I don't know specifics anymore, but you seem to have it under control.

Thanks! Swapping out the motherboard was a snap. Building these thing are very modular, mostly plug and play. I would not hesitate to do another. The problem that could arise is if something is not working. There my troubleshooting skill may be lacking.

 

[Diazepam]

Thanks! Swapping out the motherboard was a snap. Building these thing are very modular, mostly plug and play. I would not hesitate to do another. The problem that could arise is if something is not working. There my troubleshooting skill may be lacking.

Yup, that's the beauty of custom builds - modularity/flexibility. Plus, most people don't realize that their pre-built machines from Dell or whoever come with the cheapest parts possible. Personally, the biggest challenges I faced were cable management (keeping them tightly bound and away from conducting surfaces) and deep cleaning.

Usually, someone on some forum (like this one) will be able to help you troubleshoot. So don't worry too much about that.

One more tip, and this is really just common sense after you've built a few of these - keep all the manuals and drivers/utilties backed up !!! Five years from now, when something needs to be reinstalled or troubleshot, the manufacturer of the part may no longer even be in business, or may not be supporting that product anymore, or the part may be so obsolete that no one online can help you with it, so make sure to keep all the PDF/HTML manuals and drivers/utilities for your components backed up and all in one place for easy retrieval someday in the future. And the hardware too - all the extra mounts/screws/etc that weren't used. Sometimes very hard to find these things years later.

 

[cristodulo]

It s good advices to Sysprep. Thanks for help!