Vista - Second video card not detected in Device Manager

Hi all,

My first post here and unfortunately I'm posting because I've stumbled right into some technical issues with this fresh desktop build.

First off, comp specs so we know what we're dealing with:

MOBO: ECS P55H-A Black Edition
CPU: Intel i7 860
PSU: BFG 800W
Graphics Card: POWERCOLOR AX4870 (two of them)
OS: Vista Home Premium x64

I have everything hooked up properly and can verify both PCI-E slots are working and both video cards are working as I've tested them all separately. I'm using the latest CCC and drivers available.

I initially hooked up just one card, then loaded Windows and it detected it just fine, so I installed the drivers. Everything was just fine, so I shut down and installed the second GPU and hooked it up and attached both Crossfire bridges to the two cards. Nothing I have done since will cause the card to show up. I tried removing the bridges and rebooting also to no avail. Any help is appreciated, and I can give more details if necessary, just ask specifically please. Thanks in advance.

I should note that the first card works like a charm, but the second one is the card that will goes undetected.

Are both cards detected individually if you only use them one at a time in the first slot?

Yes both cards are detected just fine when tested separately. That is one of the first few things I checked.

This will sound ridiculous, but one person solved their problem by updating their onboard audio drivers.

Ridiculous as it may be, if that's what does the trick I'm willing to try it. I've been dealing with this for the past week including all evening tonight so I'll give this a shot first thing in the morning and report back. Thanks for the tip, fingers are crossed it works.

Well I loaded up RadarSync to check for possible new drivers and it appears all of mine are up to date, so I'm open to any other suggestions. I've got about 2 weeks left before this second card can't be returned so I do have a little bit of time to figure this one out. I just hope I don't have to end up with using only one card as I built the entire system around being able to handle two. Very frustrating situation to say the least!

Are there any settings in the bios to do with configuring it for Crossfire (would check myself, but ECS hasn't made the manual available yet)?

Also from reading a couple of reviews on the board there is a standard molex connector beside the first PCI-E slot that should be for providing extra power to the 2 PCI-E 16x when running Crossfire. You remember to plug it in?

I read the manual from top to bottom, and aside from it saying it's CF compatible there were no other indications that a setting was available to turn this feature off or on.

I've got power running through the molex connector as well.

Well much to my surprise, I booted up earlier and Windows magically recognized my second card, and installed the appropriate drivers to boot! I did absolutely nothing to cause this change so my guess is as good as anyone else's as to what occurred. Thanks for all the help anyway in solving my problem. I will be sure to give +rep to everyone who replied in this thread, assuming it allows me to give out rep without receiving any.

That's great to hear. Good luck!