Graphics Card compatibility.

Hi all,

I just upgraded my graphics card from an NVIDIA GeForce 5600 XT (128mb) to an NVIDIA 6600GT. Or at least... I'm trying to.

The problem I have is that the new Graphics card doesn't seem to be recognised, I uninstalled the old drivers, unplugged the old card and plugged in the new (including the power cable), turned on the PC and... nothing. Not even the HDD spinning up. Changed back to the old Graphics card and everything is fine. What have I forgotten??

Any idea's why? I've got 2 -

1) PSU isn't powerful enough (I think it is but I'm just going of symptoms here). I've got an Asaka 400w PSU on there and according to the power supply checkers you list I should be OK at about 350w.

2) Mobo isn't compatible with the mimimum spec for the new card. The card required an 8x AGP (AGP v.3) slot which according to Everest I have. Could everest be misreading the details of my Mobo? From what I read last week all 8x AGP are AGP v.3 becuase AGP v.2 only went up to 4x. Is this correct?

According to Everest I have - Motherboard Name Abit VA-20 / ECS KM400-M Deluxe / KM400-M2 / KM400A-M2 / V7-2

Thanks for any help you can give me. I'll post my specs from Everest this evening if you want them. Just let me know what you need.

Cheers,

orb

 

<Bump>

Come on people. No ideas at all? I find that hard to believe.

 

Well, you're on the right track. Have you tried this video card in another computer? That should be the first thing you should do; rule out a bad card. After that, you're probably on the right track. It would either be the PSU or the motherboard. ECS is the bottom of the barrel as far as motherboards go, so there could be some problem there. And, I've never heard of Asaka PSUs, but even a crappy 400W power supply should be able to run that system. So, to recap:

1) Try your video card in another computer.

2) Try another power supply in your computer.

3) Get a decent motherboard.

 

Unfortunately I don't have access to another computer. All the other computer users I know outside work use laptops and since I'm not in IT I can't borrow any hardware from work.

Leaves me with the PSU, Mobo or the Video card itself..

PSU seems to be providing power to all rails. I've powered my hard drive off every connector that will reach so I know everything has power.

Mobo already works fine with my old card so the AGP port works (at least at a lower speed it does? Could be a quality issue I suppose). The other problem is that I really can't afford a new chip, memory etc that I'd need to replace if I bought a new Mobo and since it's socket A (2.4 Ghz Athlon) there's no point in just buying a better quality board of the same type.

Only really leaves the Video Card itself... Back to the shop it goes...

Thanks Wyatt. I'm learning but I don't 'know' anything so your help is appreciated.

 

Go into your bios and check that AGP 8x support is enabled.

 

That I haven't done. Will try having a look in the BIOS tonight.

Any hints on finding this in the BIOS or risks of changing the setting?

I assume any problems I cause can be solved by taking the battery out for a while so I won't worry too much...

Thanks

 

OK.

Looking in the BIOS I didn't see anything that looks like 'turn on/off AGP 3'.

The only things I have that seems to be AGP related are -

1) Where to look first for video AGP or PCI (set to AGP)
2) AGP memory apeture (set to 128mb)
3) Another memory apeture (set to 64mb)

Sorry I've been a little vague on the last one but I'm doing this from memory.

I assume that the apetures are just max transfer speeds and are fine (128 on a 128 mb card is normal I guess?!?)

Unless anyone has any other suggestions then I'll return the card and save up for a new Mobo and invest in a PCI-E card some decent memory and a new CPU (looks like I've got Christmas sorted then).

 

The last one is PCI latency, 64mb is fine. AGP Aperture is how much RAM your computer uses as graphics card memory, 128mb is ok.

 

If you have an Award BIOS, I'd have expected that you'd find an "AGP Capability" setting on the "Advanced" menu.

But then, I don't think you've told us which BIOS you have. Somebody might be able to give you some more specific direction if we knew that.

You might also try going to the mobo manufacturer's website. You can probably download the manual for your mobo if you don't have it already. Those manuals usually contain information about BIOS setting options.

If you just Google the mobo make & model number (e.g., "Abit VA-20"), the first hit will take you where you want to go. (Yes, that mobo supports AGP 8x -- which, by the way, uses 1.5v cards.)

 

A quick question....

Does this video card (6600 GT) have a molex connector on the end of it? If so, you MUST connect this to one of your PSU cables.

The AGP slot does not have the required power for the 6600GT, so it requires an additional boost.

Though, this is from the Evga and Gigabyte 6600gt's via AGP that I have seen.