Aurora R7, second-hand ASUS RTX 4060 problem

1. Alienware Aurora R7 with an i7-8700

Nvidia GTX 1080 (8-pinner) installed

8gb-DIMMs x2=16GB DDR4-2666 RAM (dual-channel)

and 460W PSU.

2. I bought a second-hand ASUS RTX 4060 8GB and installed it using the same 8-pin PCIe power cable as the old card.

3. On startup the GPU fans spin briefly and then the Alienware logo blinks 5x amber. No display output at all. When I put the original GTX 1080 back in, everything works fine again.

4. I currently have  with two empty slots, planning to upgrade to 32GB. My monitor is an MSI G32CQ4 E2, 1440p 144Hz.

5. Has anyone experienced this with a modern GPU in the Aurora R7?

6. Is the RTX 4060 compatible or is a special power adapter needed?

7. Or would you recommend a different card for this monitor and setup

The cool thing about this Aurora is it's first to officially support Windows-11 (due to the 8th-Gen Intel-i7).

1. 460w seems small for this hardware. My Aurora-R6 is similar config and came with 850w. And yes, I still use it for something real (controls 3-screen virtual pinball cabinet).

2. Anything used could be defective. At this point, you must now test in a different machine.

3. According to PDF manual, what does that supposedly mean?

4. This computer is Legacy. No more BIOS Updates either. Just barely (well, maybe) CA-2023 compliant. 4-DIMMs are not actually supported on the Pegatron boards (see forum posts)

5. This computer is Legacy. Not many owners that actually still have them will ever see your post. Search forum instead from those days.

6. If just the one 8-pinner (and it fits) it is correct. Notice, also 8-pinner ... so pulling (at max utilization) alot of amps on 12-volt rail.

7. This computer is Legacy. Instead of upgrading it (hoping to keep it for years longer) ... I suggest you get it working, use it as is, and start thinking about demoting it, and getting something better.

thnx, i aslo just found out that 550 is the ideal watt for this GPU (https://www.asus.com/nl/motherboards-components/graphics-cards/dual/dual-rtx4060-o8g-evo/techspec/) and i have 460W.. 

So maybe i need to look for a an old RTX 3080 gaming pc.. instead of upgrading mem, or even de psu..?

If you can't return the ASUS RTX-4060, you need to see it work somehow. Maybe get a friend to help you temporarily test in another (capable) gaming desktop.

a. If it's bad, throw it away.

b. If good, you can custom build an MSI-MB/Corsair-PSU based desktop around it ... pretty cheap.

Sell the working Aurora-R7 (or gift it away).

@Tesla1856​ you mean buying a 850 watt psu, then the 4060 in current pc?.. i am a but afraid to mess things up en growing away more money hehe.. btw: i can sell the card. But maybe a bios (battery) reset will do magic?

the POST error is not due to psu not having enough power.  If it were weak psu you would experience sudden shut down of pc after post. I suspect CMOs is the cause of OP issue which can be easily tested with new cr2032 battery and clear CMOs jumper

@Myrok24​ ,

1. you mean buying a 850 watt psu, then the 4060 in current pc?..

2. i am a but afraid to mess things up en growing away more money hehe..

3. btw: i can sell the card.

4. But maybe a bios (battery) reset will do magic?

1. If the RTX-4060 tests good somewhere (you finally see it work) yeah, I suppose you could try that ... but it's still a fairly-old Legacy computer. Don't try to make it something it will never be.

But actually, I was recommending you just start-over with a custom-build.

2. Well, then you might want to re-install the GTX-1080 and go back to just using your Aurora R7 as before.

3. As you wish.

4. It's good to repair them and keep them running when you can.

I just don't see how it coin-battery and/or BIOS can be so bad RTX-4060 refuses to even turn-on/Post but yet GTX-1080 still works fine. But @redxps630 knows his stuff, so do what you think is best.

Just be careful not to blow your motherboard, or you will be sad. Remember to always dissipate flea-power and take your time.

Steps to clear R7 CMOs (after replacing battery)

https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/alienware-aurora-r7-desktop/alienware-aurora-r7-sm/procedure?guid=guid-08163f8c-9096-4db6-be35-cb777056800f&lang=en-us

@Vewty322​ well surprise surpise.. i changed the battery today, and did (i hink) a bios reset. And now the new gpu is running (for now ;)) 

I am a bit skeptical, though, since the PSU’s wattage is actually “too low” according to NVIDIA. But okay, it works as long as it works. Maybe I should just buy an extra memory module as an upgrade :P (or does that use up more power too…?)

@redxps630​ i did not do this. Only replaced the battery. 

@Myrok24​ ,

well surprise surpise.. i changed the battery today, and did (i hink) a bios reset. And now the new gpu is running (for now ;)) 

Excellent, good work.

As an aside, I did replace the coin-battery (finally) in my Aurora-R6 a year or so ago.

Re: surprise.. i changed the battery today, and did a bios reset. And now the new gpu is running (for now ;)) 

looks like it is cmos corruption that caused gpu issue. 

this case illustrates old dog CMOs living on old battery can still remember to work w old gpu friend 1080 but not new gpu 4060.  After a battery refresh cmos is rejuvenated.

no need to upgrade psu for now.

Clean driver install using DDU in safe mode before putting the new card in is worth trying if you have not already. Leftover drivers from a previous GPU can cause issues that look like hardware problems but are not. Also worth checking the PSU wattage on the R7 because older Alienware units sometimes struggle with newer cards even when the card itself is not particularly power hungry. Did it get detected in BIOS at all or is the problem only showing up after Windows loads? 

Well it's already solved! changed the battery and did a little reset (i guess). RTx4060 is still working ;)

RTX 4060 is only 115w.  460w PSU is more than enough.  Definitely not a PSU issue.