Graphics Cards, also known as Graphics Processing Units or GPUs are an important part of modern computers. Gamers, Content Creators, 3D Modelers, Artists, and several other people rely on GPUs for their personal and professional work. The two main manufacturers of GPUs are Nvidia and AMD. There are several third-party board manufacturers that use GPUs from these two brands and develop their graphics cards. You bought a new graphics card and looking forward to playing games or rendering videos with it. You insert the graphics card into the system and turn it on but you get an error saying GPU Not Detected.
This is a really frustrating situation especially if this happens with a brand-new GPU as modern Graphics Cards are very expensive components. If you are facing a similar situation, then don’t worry.
In this guide, we will understand the reasons why you might get the error “GPU Not Detected”. We will also see some simple troubleshooting steps you can follow to clear this error.
Reasons Behind “GPU not Detected” Error
Let us quickly take a look at some possible reasons why you might get the “GPU not Detected” error.
Driver Issue
GPU Drivers are a very important part of the functioning of the graphics card. They are responsible for the communication between the OS or Application (game or another software) and the hardware of the GPU.
Hence, both Nvidia and AMD allocate a lot of their resources to develop proper drivers for their graphics cards.
But if there is a problem with a recent driver update, then your GPU might not work and you get the error “GPU not Detected”.
GPU Disabled
If you accidentally or intentionally disabled the GPU in the Device Manager (or any other settings), the Windows OS will not detect the GPU.
BIOS/UEFI Issue (Incompatibility)
With new hardware popping up frequently, the computer’s BIOS or UEFI has to be up to date with the support of all the latest and greatest hardware.
If you have an older version of BIOS or UEFI, then there will be an incompatibility and the system will not (or might not) detect the GPU.
Problem with Windows Update
Windows Updates are very important as they add a lot of features and at the same time, fix bugs or errors.
Sometimes, Windows Updates are known to brick the devices. If this happens to the GPU section, then the Windows system will throw an error “GPU not Detected”.
Damage to PCB (or its components)
There are two main GPU Manufacturers (Nvidia and AMD) and a handful of graphics card manufacturers (ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, Zotac, etc.). Nvidia and AMD also manufacture graphics cards but in very limited quantities.
So, if you are buying a graphics card, it must from one of these vendors. All graphics card manufacturers take a lot of care while picking the components and also during the assembling of the PCB.
But we are seeing a lot of problems on the PCB and the components such as power MOSFETs and capacitors failing (thankfully, not the actual GPU).
If this is the case with your graphics card, then the computer might not detect the GPU and shows a black screen.
Faulty GPU
This is the worst-case scenario. If the problem is in the GPU itself, then also you will get the error “GPU not detected”.
How to Fix GPU not Detected Error?
It is really annoying when you bought a graphics card that is worth hundreds of dollars only to get the error “GPU Not Detected”.
As most Intel and some AMD CPUs have integrated graphics, if you are not getting any display from your graphics card, you can connect the monitor to the integrated graphics so that we can analyze and diagnose the issue.
After switching to the integrated graphics display, plug the graphics card into the PCIe slot and turn on the computer.
Note that you have to switch the display out from graphics card to integrated graphics to and forth several times. You might also have to restart your system many times while troubleshooting. Have some patience.
Check If You Inserted the Graphics Card Properly
The first and important step while troubleshooting the “GPU Not Detected” error is to see if you installed the graphics card properly into the PCIe Slot.
Also, check the power cables and display cables of the graphics card. If this solved your problem, then you don’t have to worry about a faulty or damaged graphics card.
Is Device Manager Showing Graphics Card under Display Adapters?
After restarting the system, the first step is to open Device Manager and see if Windows is able to detect the Graphics Card under the “Display adapters” section.
If it is listing, then we don’t have to worry for now. But if it isn’t showing, then you need to follow some advanced troubleshooting methods (which we will discuss later).
Disable and Enable the Graphics Card
As mentioned in the previous section, if you are able to see the graphics card in the Device Manager, then disable the device, wait for some time and enable it back.
Now shut down the system, switch to display out from the graphics card, and see if it is working or not.
Uninstall Graphics Card Driver and Reinstall it
If the previous method didn’t work, switch back to the integrated graphics display and restart the system.
Now, go back to the Device Manager and uninstall the drivers of the Graphics card. When you restart your system, Windows will try to automatically install drivers.
Check if they are up to date or not from the manufacturer’s website (Nvidia or AMD). If they are up to date, shut down the system and switch the display to the graphics card and restart the system.
Update Windows
Windows Updates are sometimes notorious to cause issues with Graphics Cards. If you are getting an error after a recent Windows Update, then we suggest you to roll-back to the previous version.
Alternatively, if haven’t updated your Windows System for a while now, we recommend you to update it immediately.
Update BIOS or UEFI
Depending on how old your system is, you will have a BIOS or UEFI that checks your hardware before handing it off to the OS.
Update to the latest version of the BIOS by checking with your motherboard manufacturer’s website.
After updating, continue with integrated graphics for now and insert the graphics card into the PCIe Slot along with its power cables, and access BIOS once again.
If you are able to see the Graphics Card in the list of hardware in BIOS or UEFI, then try to switch to the display from Graphics Card and see if you are getting a display.
Contact Graphics Card Manufacturer
Even after trying several troubleshooting methods that we mentioned here or from any other reference, you are still not able to get a display from the GPU and still getting the “GPU not detected” error, you should start to think of the worst.
There could be a faulty component (MOSFETs and Capacitors are the two main culprits) on the PCB but sometimes the problem may lie within the GPU itself.
Depending on your warranty situation, we suggest you to contact the graphics card manufacturer or any reputable third-party service or repair center.
Conclusion
GPUs or Graphics Cards are an integral part of modern computers. Different kinds of people use graphics cards for gaming, video editing and rendering, artwork, etc.
As it is an important part of the computer, if there is any problem or error with the graphics card, it will really annoy us. Not only this will stop our work but also, we have to figure out the problem and troubleshoot it.
In this guide, we saw a few reasons for the common error “GPU not detected”. After that, we also saw some simple troubleshooting solutions to fix the issue.
One Response
Thank you for this post, I launched call of duty and my monitor turned black. Restarted my pc, searched up my problem and found this post. I reinstalled the drivers and then enabled the gpu, disabled it and enabled it again.