Graphics card/display adapter not being detected (Rog Strix G531 laptop not detecting NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650)
I'm having a serious problem with my computer not detecting my graphics card. Nothing I've tried has worked and I'm utterly baffled as to what to do next.
On Tuesday morning, when I booted up my Asus Rog Strix G531GT to play a game, I encountered an error stating that my graphics card was no longer present. I opened up Device Manager, and, sure enough, my NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card was entirely missing from the Display Adapters category. The only card visible was the Intel UHD 630. I booted to BIOS to try and fiddle around with the Graphics configuration (switching between integrated and dedicated graphics etc.) but BIOS didn’t display the NVIDIA card at all.
The only thing that seems to ‘detect’ the card is Armoury Crate – The GPU stats state that it is in ‘Extreme Power Saving Mode’, with 0mv voltage, though I'm not 100% that the card is even being detected here.
I’ve spent the past two days trying to fix it and would appreciate any insight on the matter. I'm lowkey wondering if I somehow fried the GPU during gaming marathons.
Of course, the warranty expired in June, so I’m not covered on that front at all :’D
MY COMPUTER SPECS:
Computer Model - ASUS Rog Strix G531GT
Windows Version - Windows 10 Home 64-bit (19044.1889)
Processor - Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz 2.59 GHz
Graphics Cards - Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630/NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (Does not show up)
Motherboard - ASUSTek G531GT (V.1)
BIOS - G531GT.308
THINGS I HAVE TRIED:
- Tried to view hidden devices thru Device Manager; no hidden devices
- Scanned for hardware changes in Device Manager
- Tried to add new legacy hardware thru Device Manager. The only display adapter it could find was the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter (No ACPI Support). Tried to apply NVIDIA drivers to it, thinking it was maybe the NVIDIA GPU in disguise, but drivers were incompatible according to Device Manager
- Uninstalled drivers from both the NVIDIA and Intel graphics cards using DDU in Safe Mode
- Downloaded most current graphics card drivers from ASUS (https://rog.asus.com/laptops/rog-strix/rog-strix-g-g531-series/helpdesk_download/) specific to this computer and tried to reinstall them. The Intel driver installed properly, but the NVIDIA one just. Doesn’t.
- Downloaded most current NVIDIA card drivers from https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/drivers/ . Installation failed because the installer couldn’t detect NVIDIA hardware and was not compatible with my version of Windows (?)
- Tried to go into GeForce Experience and NVIDIA Control Centre, but neither will load as they can’t detect NVIDIA hardware
- Updated BIOS
- Reset BIOS to default settings
- Went into BIOS to switch between iGPU and dGPU, but the Graphics Control Settings was not accessible
- Deactivated Fast Startup in BIOS
- Uninstalled and Reinstalled Armory Crate
- Tried to find the MUX switch in Armory Crate. Could not.
- Tried to find GPU Power Saving tab under Device -> System in Armory Crate. It was not present.
- Fiddled with power settings (because Armory Crate says the GPU is in extreme power saving mode, and maybe some power setting somewhere needs to be adjusted) thru Windows and MyAsus.
- Updated Windows 10
- Uninstalled recent Windows 10 updates
- Upgraded to Windows 11
- Downgraded to Windows 10
- Uninstalled all NVIDIA programs. Tried to reinstall them, but they would not install as no NVIDIA hardware was detected
- Used the Windows 10 installation media tool (https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10) to create a Windows 10 ISO, which I then mounted
- Let the battery run down to 0%
- Performed a hard reset by unplugging the battery, holding the power button for 30s, and then replugging the battery in
- Checked my AC adapter to see if all parts were properly connected and that it was properly plugged into the wall outlet
The only things I have not done are:
- Tried to unplug/reseat/etc the GPU, as the GPU is a) deep within the computer and I’m not comfortable doing a full teardown and b) the GPU is soldered to the motherboard, so trying to unplug/replug it in would be futile
- Reset Windows 10 to factory settings – This is my last resort. I haven’t done it yet as reinstalling all my programs and getting various game clients to recognize I have my games installed on a separate drive to the main OS C: drive is a royal pain
- Unplug and replug the ram??? During my extensive googling, I saw this mentioned as a possible way to get the GPU to work again
- Edit registry stuff. I wouldn’t do this unless I had guidance
- Offered a sacrifice to the gaming gods. Don’t know what would be appropriate.