M3970G Upgrade CPU to i7-2600 and GPU output fails
Hello,
Running our Acer Aspire M3970G for several years now.
Original Config:
M3970G Motherboard is IPISB-VR Rev.1.01
Intel i5-2320 3.0Ghz CPU
BIOS Version (Shown in BIOS Boot up) P02-A3 11/25/2011
MSI Nvidia GTX 660Ti (Added 11/2015)
4GB RAM
Kingston ACR256X64D3U13C9G
Recently upgraded the following hardware:
Samsung 860 EVO 500GB SSD
EVGA 430W 80 White.
Added RAM to 12GB TOTAL ( 6/2018)
Kingston KCP313NS8/4 x2 DIMM Slots 1 & 3
UPGRADED from Win 7 Home to WIN 7 ULTIMATE when adding the Samsung 860.
Upgraded from the GTX 660Ti to a Zotac GTX 980 card (WHOA! AMAZING BOOST!)
Been running games like Arma 3 and Ghost Recon Wildlands without any issues for over 1 year in this config.
System has run rock solid and incredibly smooth without a single issue.
Has all current WIN 7 Updates to end of service notices.
Zero complaints, an amazing little computer worth every dollar spent on it.
Figured we might squeez a little more out of it by upgrading to the Intel i7-2600 CPU.
Added the 2600 from another system now out of service and have zero question on viability -It is good 100%.
Install went like this:
Power supply OFF/ Unplugged.
Start Button pressed to drain Capacitors.
Anti-static ground strap attached.
Removed GTX 980, removed CMOS Battery to reset, reinstalled battery, reinstalled the GTX 980.
Removed the CPU heatsink/ fan assembly and the 2320 CPU Chip.
All pins looked great, installed the 2600 CPU, reinstalled the HS/Fan with Arctic Silver Thermal Compound.
Connected power and booted. One regular POST Beep but monitor is BLACK, no picture.
System is heard booting and loading Win 7 in background, adding a few driver updates etc, but NO VIDEO.
GTX 980 is known to be perfect. No question.
Pulled the GTX 980 and reinstalled the 660Ti - Same results - Boot loads - NO DVI Signal.
Tried a spare GTX 1050Ti, same thing, No DVI Signal.
System will still boot and run great on VGA / Integrated Graphics.
Memory tests good, CPU tests good.
Have run every check, test, run with one ram stick, checked the PS, is perfect.
I thought we might need to update the BIOS.
Everywhere I have searched, I cannot find mention of the BIOS P02-A3 version for this system.
Here in this forum all I have ever seen mentioned is P02-A2, same on the Acer downloads site.
I have seen other mention of similar problems with the GPU but never a solution.
How do I have that BIOS version - I have NEVER flashed the BIOS?
From all info I have found, the 2600 is fully compatible with this board.
Seems the PCI-e socket has died or something.
Any help and thoughts are valued and appreciated
Thanks,
-DB
