Aspire TC-885 - Video Card - Beep on Start up

ccfc1986

I recently purchased a TC-885 to be used as a streaming PC for twitch. I have installed an elgator HD Pro S capture card and a Nvidia 8400 GS video card (PCI-E). When i booted with just the Elgato card it booted without issue. After installing the video card, i get a small beep, and nothing. It doesn't show a POST failure and i can't see anything on my monitor (switching the hdmi cable from the built in HDMI or to external video card HDMI). This card doesn't require additional PCI power cables etc and I assume it would be powered enough with the default power supply. Do you guys have a reason why i fail to boot with a PCI-E video card plugged into the system?

Thanks!

Accepted answers

JordanB

@ccfc1986

Hello,

Your computer (TC-885) is a modern, state-of-the-art UEFI desktop computer. The Nvidia 8400 GS is an ancient legacy card.

Although it may be technically possible to get the legacy card to boot and work by disabling secure boot and enabling the compatibility support module (CSM), I don't recommend doing that.

https://us.answers.acer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27072/related/1

I recommend purchasing a modern UEFI graphics card that will work right out of the box.

According to the link below, it appears Acer uses the Nvidia GT1030 or GTX1050 or GTX1050ti in some TC-885. You can contact Acer and try to purchase from Acer or you can purchase from somewhere like Amazon or Newegg etc....

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/GB/content/models/desktops/aspiremt

Some GT1030 will probably work with your existing power supply and maybe even some GTX1050. Most GTX1050TI probably need an upgraded power supply. I'm not sure what power supply you have though. If you purchase a GT1030 or GTX1050 or GTX1050ti from Amazon or Newegg, please make sure it fits as they come in all different sizes. And if in doubt, please upgrade your power supply.

Here's an Acer part for GTX1050

All comments

ccfc1986

Also, i tried taking out the eglato and booting with just the video card. It will not boot. I turned off pause on errors in the BIOS and got the the desktop. Any idea what might be causing the POST/boot failure? I don't get anything on the screen as to the root cause of the issue? Thanks!

JordanB

@ccfc1986

Hello,

Your computer (TC-885) is a modern, state-of-the-art UEFI desktop computer. The Nvidia 8400 GS is an ancient legacy card.

Although it may be technically possible to get the legacy card to boot and work by disabling secure boot and enabling the compatibility support module (CSM), I don't recommend doing that.

https://us.answers.acer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27072/related/1

I recommend purchasing a modern UEFI graphics card that will work right out of the box.

According to the link below, it appears Acer uses the Nvidia GT1030 or GTX1050 or GTX1050ti in some TC-885. You can contact Acer and try to purchase from Acer or you can purchase from somewhere like Amazon or Newegg etc....

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/GB/content/models/desktops/aspiremt

Some GT1030 will probably work with your existing power supply and maybe even some GTX1050. Most GTX1050TI probably need an upgraded power supply. I'm not sure what power supply you have though. If you purchase a GT1030 or GTX1050 or GTX1050ti from Amazon or Newegg, please make sure it fits as they come in all different sizes. And if in doubt, please upgrade your power supply.

Here's an Acer part for GTX1050

ccfc1986

THANKS for the fast and EXTREMELY useful response!

Would something more affordable (like a Nvidia 710) be more compatible? I don't actually want/need to game on the machine. Its more to offload an graphics processing from the integrated CPU graphics processing unit than anything.

Cheers!

JordanB

I don't recommend the Nvidia 710 or 730. You'll be disappointed and will be throwing your money away...in my opinion. You can compare graphics cards in the link below.

http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GT-1030-vs-Nvidia-GeForce-GT-710/m283726vsm77649

I recommend either of the cards below. Both have GDDR5 memory.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137139

https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-GeForce-GV-N1030D5-2GL-Computer-Graphics/dp/B071DY2VJR

ccfc1986

Okay, great. I bought the 1030 and will be delivered tomorrow (thanks Amazon). Will let you know how it goes. The system has a 300 watt power supply. I think it should be fine.

Cheers again

ccfc1986

@JordanB - i just got the 1030 - installed it... and same issue as i had with the 8400. The computer doesn't even send a signal to the monitor (either through the onboard HDMI or the new pci-e card) and simply beeps once - the CPU ran is rotating as normal, just no boot at all.

I also tried unplugging the capture card (thinking maybe there is a lack of power - so removing that might give the new GPU card enough juice to boot without issue - NOPE!).

Any other ideas? At this rate both the new GPU and the Acer box are going back to the store. What's the point in a computer that has additional slots of upgrades/peripherals if they just don't work at all?

Thanks - any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated - will send/take everything back on Monday if this isn't resolved by then.

JordanB

1. Make sure you have a quality HDMI cable connected to graphics card output.
2. Make sure your BIOS settings are default settings
3. Make sure your unplug your monitor from the electrical outlet when switching between CPU graphics and graphics card.
4. Make sure Monitor input is HDMI (if you're using the HDMI cable
5. I assume you are unplugging the computer from the electrical outlet when installing graphics card.
6. As a last resort, check to see what BIOS version you have.

billsey

Some of the BIOSes have a toggle to switch between onboard graphics and a video card. Can you boot into the BIOS when in failure mode?

ccfc1986

After disabling the intel integrated GPU via device manager I was able to boot with just the new GPU installed (and connected via HDMI). Once I had installed the drivers I rebooted. Everything good. I shut down and installed the elgato capture card and rebooted with no problems. All good now I think!

Thanks all

JordanB

Glad you got it working. I'm not sure why you had trouble. Were you unplugging the computer from the electrical outlet? The only thing I can figure as to why you had problems is that you didn't unplug the computer from the electrical outlet when installing the graphics card.

Let me give you the procedure to install a graphics card on most Windows 8 or Windows 10 Acer desktops.

1. Turn off computer
2. Unplug computer and monitor from electrical outlet
3. Install graphics card
4. Connect an HDMI (or DP, DVI-D etc) cable to new graphics card output and to monitor
5. plug in computer and monitor
6. Turn on computer and monitor
7. The new hardware will be automatically detected and the Intel CPU graphics will be automatically disabled. The new graphics driver will be automatically installed by Windows Update. No need to disable the Intel graphics in Device Manager.

Quick Links

Top Members

Weekly

Puraw 425

StevenGen 255

GAMING6698 70

RenanVilela 65

Jack22 65

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™