Howdy, I’m an old nerd with a potentially embarrassing question. I recently found myself with an extra X570 board laying around empty, so I decided to toss a cheap APU in it (Ryzen 5600G), with the intention of using it as a potential NAS, coupled with an NVME card (Asus Hyper something). The dream was to use the embedded graphics. Problem is the board I’m using (Gigabyte Aorus Master X570) doesn’t have any HDMI or DisplayPort out connections. for the iGPU. So I was told I could use a USB-C to DisplayPort adapter to get video out from the APU. This doesn’t seem to work, I get no signal on the monitor from the USBC-DP cable.
Here’s what I’ve confirmed:
BIOS is latest and greatest on Aorus Master X570;
5600G CPU does work, as I can boot with discrete GPU and access the BIOS;
I realize not many people pair a higher end X570 board with an APU, but I had the board gathering dust, and figured I could build a NAS out of it. So how do I get this APU / iGPU talking to a monitor properly with no display outputs on board? Thanks in advance for any assistance!
Yeah I’m considering an mATX or ITX B550 board at this point. I thought I was being wise by recycling an unused board but if the USB-C out doesn’t work for video out, I might be humped. Thankfully there are some cheap local options ( ASUS Prime B550M-A WIFI II for about $140CDN). But according to the Gigabyte manual, the CPU is on the supported list, just not sure if it’s supported properly as an APU. I saw nothing in the BIOS regarding setting the primary display to be APU, I only saw options for PCIE1 or PCIE2.
you got the wrong adapter. the USB-C on this board is provided by the chipset. you need to use one of the usb3 ports provided by the CPU to get the iGPU to display.
these are the CPU ports to adapt to HDMI:
Integrated in the CPU:
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Note 1)/Gen 1 Type-A ports (red) on the back panel
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports on the back panel
you might need to test with all 4 ports, the manual does not say which one is wired to iGPU, only that iGPU support limited to local USB.
Ahhhhh, so that’s the catch! THANK YOU sir, I learned something new today! If there’s any chance I can get this to work over USB, I’ll take that over buying a new board any day!
EDIT: any idea if it’s HDMI only, or is DP an option?
some notes:
USB to HDMI adapters can be finicky
you might not EVER get the BIOS or boot menu over USB to HDMI
you should be able to do USB to DP or any other thing, adapter limitations may apply.
as a test i would do a windows install with a gpu, then plug in some various usb to x adapters into the onboard ports and see if you can get a display that shows up as connected to the iGPU in radeon utilities. (or anything, gpu-z, whatever)
and if you have an IT department at work, or know anyone who may have some already, just borrow a collection of usb to x adapters so you do not end up buying 10 to figure out what works.
If it’s going to be a NAS do you care if it has display out all the time?
As an alternative get a used 10$ graphics card you can have handy if you need to reinstall or change BIOS settings?
Noted, thanks again, really appreciate it. I’m going to ask my server buddy if we have any cabless I can borrow, or I might just return the one I bought and exchange it for the proper one to test. My main problem with discrete GPUs is the only one I have is water blocked, and I don’t have the original air cooler, so that’s limiting.
Not all the time, but being a NAS noob, I figured I’d need that display for a while in the beginning, until I have it set up properly. Once I have it set up properly, I won’t need it.
Well I tried a USB3-to-HDMI converter, no luck. I’m going to think about getting another cheap B550 board, more built for the purpose with DP/HDMI outputs on board. Thanks for the input all!
i would be very tempted to build it and run it headless. once it is a NAS you should never need a local display. or grab an old gpu out of someones parts bin.
What I like to do is use a USB powered screen that also has HDMI input. An onboard USB port can provide power and standard HDMI ensures things like bios show up properly. Works nicely when your server is a pain in the ass to get to.
I don think a USB display would come up till after the OS is loaded. This would also be after you got all the drives installed too, so you probably couldnt use for anything until its already booted (so no bios etc)
I went with an mATX board (Gigabyte B550M DS3H AC), with some regrets since it doesn’t support 4x4x4x4 bifurcation, but the HDMI out works fine at least. I have TrueNAS installed and it sees 2 / 3 NVME drives, due to the lack of proper bifurcation. Since I’m a total noob, I’m still looking into workarounds, other than buying a proper full sized ATX board that natively does 4x4x4x4x bifurication.
UPDATE: life is good, all three NVME drives now work fine, no more regrets. Funny how things become clear when you RTFM. With the Asus Hyper PCIE card, if you’re going to use only 3 drives, they have to be in slots 1 , 2, and 4. Not 1 2 3 like I had them. Once I tore the card down and fixed that, TrueNAS recognized all three drives.
Since then, I’ve set up TrueNAS Core with the three 2TB NVME drives in a RaidZ pool (4TB usable). I’ve also set up a secondary HDD pool (mirror) with a pair of old 3TB Seagate mechanicals I had in a box. TrueNAS is pretty nice, I am enjoying it very much so far. Thanks to everyone for the input / assistance!
I have TrueNAS installed and it sees 2 / 3 NVME drives, due to the lack of proper bifurcation. Since I’m a total noob, I’m still looking into workarounds, other than buying a proper full sized ATX board that natively does 4x4x4x4x bifurication.