Hey everyone, I'm having some trouble with my GPUs. I recently installed a PowerColor PCS+ HD 7970 Vortex II and an EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SC GAMING ACX 2.0, but both are showing up as 'unknown devices' in Device Manager. They're seated properly in the motherboard, but when I power up my PC, the fans don't seem to spin. I noticed some slots on the sides that look like they might be for power connections. I think they might need extra power to function correctly, which could explain why Device Manager doesn't recognize them. I also can't install the drivers via Nvidia GeForce Experience since it doesn't see the GPUs at all. My current power supply doesn't have the right connectors (a 6-pin and an 8-pin) to power them. What kind of power supply should I get, and what cables do I need?
4 Answers
You definitely need to make sure all power connectors are plugged in to your GPUs. They won’t boot up properly without full power, which is why they're showing as 'unknown devices' in the system. If your PSU doesn't have the necessary connectors, you'll need to get a new power supply.
Have you tried installing the drivers yet? Sometimes that helps, but since the cards show as unknown devices, GeForce Experience won’t recognize them, so you won't be able to install drivers that way.
I was worried about that too. What kind of power supply should I look for specifically?
From my experience in tech support, the first questions to ask are if everything is plugged in and if you're sure they're properly connected! Your PCIe slots can only provide about 60 watts, while the 7970 needs around 250 watts. If your PSU is relatively new, it should support at least a couple of PCIe power connectors. If it lacks those, you might want to consider upgrading to a solid 800w gold-rated PSU.
Yeah, exactly! GeForce Experience won’t let me because the cards come up as unknown devices.