Problems with ASUS EN9800 video card.

I got this card here http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/asus_en9800gtx/ and I'm having a performance problem.

I'll give you a quick overview of my system to start.
2.4ghz Q6600
500 watt power source
2x 2gig ram (4gb)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131142 That motherboard

Now... I got everything set up right, I double checked the drivers... everything seems to be working fine, except I have kinda mediocre scores in the Windows Experience Index on Vista AND more importantly, my 3D Mark graphic score is VERY VERY poor. It's choppy and the score is poor - what's more, even old crap like World of Warcraft is running very poorly, I get slowdown any time someone comes on screen. Just overall poor performance. Everything is completely unplayable.

My 3DMark scores are abysmal.
SM2.0 Score: 436
HDR/SM3.0 Score: 437
CPU Score: 3410

Windows Exp scores abysmal.
CPU: 5.9
Memory Operations per second: 4.6
Graphics: 3.7
Gaming Graphics: 4.4
Primary Hard Disc: 5.9

Choppy as hell when it runs also.

I haven't screwed with overclocking or any of the options. I did update the bios, I tried downloading new drivers for the card to see if it'd fix it, it didn't so I went back to the disc drivers provided.

The review here says you only need the two dual 4-pin molex to PCI-E power adapters if you want the overclock options, but I'd like to start with like getting SOMETHING going. Do you think them not including the second power adapter is what is causing this? Not getting enough power? For some reason the overclockersclub review makes me think that it would run without buying a second power adapter.

Set texture filtering to performance... upped the fan speed to 80% and it's actually kind of annoying, it keeps resetting itself to very low fan speeds every time I reboot so I shut down afraid of overheating. Having tons of problems... haven't built a computer in a few years, I dunno... having serious issues for the first time. It's just one thing after another.

What do you make of this? Any suggestions? This is driving me crazy. No matter how many things I do my scores don't improve, my performance doesn't improve. I know the power source isn't the most ideal in the world, however... before I go spend a ton of cash on a new one after I bought all this stuff I want to be pretty sure that'll fix it. I'm just about to take it to a computer shop and have them tool around with it, but man... help.

 

As I was reading your post, one of the first things I saw was the PSU specs; I immediately thought "the power supply isn't strong enough" and then as I got further down, you do mention the PSU and a missing connector. I'm under the belief that if a video card has power connectors, they should all be connected to the power supply regardless of what I read on an overclocker's forum. What does the Asus web site say about the power connectors? What about the video card manual? Same thing applies to the motherboard. And speaking of the motherboard, have you checked the BIOS to make sure that you have SLI mode disabled? Have you checked the SLI 'chip' on the motherboard to be sure it is installed correctly and installed for a single video card (see screen shot below)? If you're running a 32bit version of Vista, your 4gb of RAM may actually be causing a problem; remove one of the 2gb sticks and see if things improve. And start shopping for a power supply. Even if it isn't the issue right now, it will be in the future, so you might as well get a good one now before the weak 500w starts causing problems (if it hasn't already).

 

For starters, the manual is completely useless. All it has is very simplified set up instructions in like 12 different languages.

Secondly, the Asus website doesn't even list my graphics card on their products list, they list the 9800GX2, but not the 9800GTX that I have, so thats also useless.

Thirdly, checked the bios. SLI mode is disabled.

Fourtly, I took out one of my 2gb ram sticks and I started getting blue screen of death for the first time after like 3 minutes of being on... and in the time I had it on, I did run the tests, and my scores didn't improve at all.

Heh... next?

 

After the BIO's update did you Load Optimized defaults? I had your exact same problem after a BIO's update I forgot to do so and that was causing my slowdown all along.

 

Ya know, I've seen Load Optimized Defaults on older bios, but I can't find it on this bios... pretty annoying. Bad news for sure. I have "Load Start up Defaults F5" ...but nothing "Optimized" ... i have this Revision 0901 on this ASUS P5N-E SLI ACPI BIOS. Published February 2, 2008. Shrug... can't see Load Optimized.

 

Archpark, look like a little more resource should've been done. I have a XFX 9600xxx 512MB video card and not the 9800 like yours, but still had the same results very low performance, I had a 650 watt PSU and had to upgraded to 800watt.

Find out the recommended watt PSU you need for this card and then add it up with the rest of your components: motherboard, ram, cpu, harddrive or drives, dvd/cd burners, fans, sound card, etc. After you get the total amount add an additonal 25%, so you'll have one big enough for the job at hand.

The FX9 series technology is amazing it will automatically cut back their output, so that your PC will run and not just reboot as most PC's do with pulling more power than needed.

Hope this helps