I damaged my brand new computer completely.
I damaged my brand new computer completely.
I recently browsed eBay for outdated graphics cards that others didn’t want at low prices because I thought I could resolve any problems myself. My experience quickly changed. I purchased three cards: an RX 470, a R9 390, and a R9 280. The 470 and 390 displayed error code 43, so I began with the 280, which had visible screen lines but still functioned. I installed it on a modified Intel Inspiron and spent about an hour working on it. Eventually, I managed to boot into a 64-bit Windows 7 environment (previously a 32-bit system where fixes were limited). Initially, the 280 remained silent, so I increased the display resolution and noticed clear white dotted lines across the screen. Since this was only an issue at higher resolutions, I attempted driver replacement, which required upgrading to Windows 10 64-bit. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling drivers, but after restarting my bench it wouldn’t start properly. I realized the problem might stem from the test setup itself. Disregarding common advice, I decided to run these cards on my brand-new PC. All my high-end components seemed fine. I installed both cards with error codes 43 and tried to fix them. After an hour of frustration, I thought the second card would be simpler. I inserted it, booted up, and saw that the default driver was still showing the card as it should. I attempted a Windows installation, which caused a crash and forced a restart. I assumed the display issue was normal. I tried repairing the drivers, but the system repeatedly reported a critical process failure. After several attempts, I reinstalled a fresh BIOS and a clean OS from my laptop. At this stage, I removed the card and switched to my original setup. I rebooted the new BIOS and noticed a larger number of hard drive options than before—so I deleted them via Windows installer. I formatted everything and tried the installation again. The process failed halfway, and the BIOS displayed an error similar to “Windows failed to boot so restart your PC.” Now I’m left with a situation where I have no PC and am trying to reset everything to factory settings without a BIOS. This machine was a significant investment, and I’m unsure what to do next and need guidance.
It was quite a poor decision to install those cards in your new rig, making you feel disappointed... Reinstalling Windows without issues seems impossible? You might need to wipe the boot drive on the bench PC (if it starts...) and try again. Did you re-flash their VBIOSes? Likely, you have old mining cards with mining VBIOS still active.
I plan to check this later, since it seems my old PC with the simplest Windows 10 might not have recognized anything unusual about the card. I thought the previous owner just wiped everything. I couldn’t find a way to re-flash their VBios, which I might have explored further at the time.
I performed the action and allowed it to rest for roughly 15 minutes. I re-entered the BIOS and this time selecting the USB produced the correct error message, but now it’s successfully booting. I plan to reinstall now.
I don't believe I did that. I have another computer and I'm going to attempt to access it. Right now, I'm installing Windows on my primary PC after removing all partitions so it won't be usable anymore.
Thanks for your support. Here are the updates you requested. First, both PCs were fixed after removing partitions following a CMOS reset. My main machine is now running smoothly. Second, once my test bench was set up, I installed the R9 280 GPU and booted it. It had custom VBIO firmware, so I swapped it out for the official version. I’ll stick to ATI flash for future parts and double-check everything. Third, the display still shows lines. I’ll try updating drivers on the test machine first, then check if afterburner helps reduce them or increases voltage/clock speed. If that doesn’t work, I’ll look into overheating as a last option. For the other GPUs, I’m considering using another board for the dual display. You might have wondered if cleaning partitions before a Windows install could have helped—maybe it would have resolved the problem. Thanks again for all the guidance.