I just bought a P340 workstation with minimal components, with no graphics card (Running on the onboard Intel UHD 630 onboard graphics), with the specifications that follow.

When I install a new Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 Ti card (6 pin power plugged in), the Nvidia output is black blank, the onboard card still works and shows windows. Another subtle change when the Nvidia card is installed is that on boot time, lenovo logo is not shown, the screen is blank, F2 is not available to go to the uefi menu. When windows 10 is up, the card is detected by windows, its driver is installed, but still with no output when plugged to. I installed Nvidia driver from nvidia site, still no progress.

I tested the Nvidia card on an older PC running BIOS, it works fine. Online support pages suggest going to the uefi Exit menu and deselecting optimized option, an option that is not available on my system. Does the system support the mentioned video card? if so, when do I need to configure to get it working?

Thank you.

Specifications:

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OS Name    Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version    10.0.19042 Build 19042
System Manufacturer    LENOVO
System Model    30DHCTO1WW
System Type    x64-based PC
System SKU    LENOVO_MT_30DH_BU_Think_FM_ThinkStation P340
Processor    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700 CPU @ 2.90GHz, 2904 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 16 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date    LENOVO S08KT35A, 2021-01-20
SMBIOS Version    3.2
Embedded Controller Version    1.12
BIOS Mode    UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer    LENOVO
BaseBoard Product    1048
BaseBoard Version    SDK0J40697 WIN 3305354378736
Platform Role    Workstation
Secure Boot State    On
PCR7 Configuration    Elevation Required to View
Installed Physical Memory (RAM)    4.00 GB
Kernel DMA Protection    On
Virtualization-based security    Not enabled
Device Encryption Support    Elevation Required to View
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions    Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions    Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware    Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection    Yes

Hi,

I admit to zero experience with ThinkStations.  Looking at the online BIOS simulator, there may be a BIOS option that controls graphics device priority.  BIOS -> Devices -> Video Setup.  Does that make any difference?

Z.

The setting is on default. The default priority is 1- PCI-e  2- onboard graphics card. Therefore, NVidia card should be picked first by the bios.

Thanks for the response.

By default, anytime you put a discrete GPU into the P340 workstation, BIOS will default to the discrete GPU for primary graphics.  Therefore, if you leave the monitor plugged into the onboard graphics, you likely will not see any post screen outputs during system bootup until the OS takes over and the driver loads.

1- I installed the card in the x16 pcie slot.

2- I Changed the uefi bios to disable fast boot (to detect new hardware)

3- Exit bios, save, shutdown.

4- I connected the monitor to the video card and did system boot, no output signal is detected.

5- I shutdown the system and connected the monitor to the motherboard video

  * Windows boot using the motherboard video

  * Windows detect the video card and installs its driver 

6- Video card still does have no output

7- Restart with monitor attached to card, no output.

I am still not able to use the graphics card

Can you please boot into BIOS F1 setup and check what mode the Video setup is in? 

- BIOS F1 setup -> Devices -> Video Setup -> what option is currently selected in the drop-down menu? 

auto

When you booted the system using the onboard graphics, and it booted successfully to the OS, was the 1050 Ti still installed in the system?  If so, was it properly detected by device manager?  Was there a driver loaded for it?

I also would recommend not changing the fast boot setting in BIOS setup.  This would not be necessary to allow BIOS to detect the GPU.