*Another* Graphics Card problem

[beefster]

Hi all,

Beefster here, new to the site, my apologies for creating a NEW thread to deal with a Graphics card prob, cuz i can see the place is 'polluted' with them!

The other day i got a Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb card. Installed it, first used the drivers on the CD that came with it, then used the drivers on the Ati Support page. Neither worked.

When I try a game, Call of Duty for example it says couldn't load OpenGL, or Star Wars Galaxies tells me that it does not detect a graphics card at all.

Also around the same time I upgraded to Direct 9.0c, since then, I have heard from some forums nothing but bad news about Direct 9.0c.

Has anyone heard if there are problems with the latest drivers, or why don't they get my card working? Is it possible that drivers can be defective?

*Occasionally* after I boot up, and i'm on the desktop, my display goes wonky and looks like a game on the Vic20 - blocks and lines everywhere. And the display is unuseable, and I have to Restart. I have tried reinstalling my drivers several times either from the Support page or the CD which are older, AND tried to revert back to Directx 9.0b (How do i do that btw?)

Should I try updating my BIOS? My ASUS system disk has an Update facility on it...will that help?

Has anyone got a clue? I'm no computer expert, i just know the bare basics so anything would be enlightening. My system specs are in me profile or here, WINXP sp2, Pentium4 3.0 Ghz, 1gig RAM.

I read thru what SiSoft's SANDRA had to tell me, according to Her DirectX thinks I dont have a graphics card at all! But SANDRA detects it...Could Directx 9.0c be my only problem??

Thanks alot!

beefster



***MORE SPECS***

Chipset 1
Model : ASUSTeK Computer Inc SiS648 CPU to PCI Bridge
Bus(es) : AGP PCI IMB USB i2c/SMBus
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 200MHz (800MHz data rate)
Maximum FSB Speed / Max Memory Speed : 4x 200MHz / 2x 200MHz
Width : 64-bit

 

[vegasgmc]

What your're describing at startup, lines and blocks, is what my card did when it failed. It could also be caused by a cheap power supply. The 9800 Pro needs alot of current.

 

[beefster]

hmm interesting, I only got this computer though maybe a year ago, so it is newish. The card also gets very hot, it's doesnt use a fan just has twin heat sinks.

How do I go back to using DirectX 9.0b? I've tried System Restore, but that seems to hold onto Dx 9.0c ... I'm convinced 9.0c is the problem

Is there an option for UNinstalling directx??

thanks for your suggestion though i'll check out the PSU!!

 

[MiffyMike1207]

i dont think its a problem with directx
i think the problem is in your card...it sounds like your card is about ready to die

you might wanna look into getting a new one soon...and fyi...a year is ancient in computer years...so your system is no where near new especially with the hardware you are runnin

 

[trtech]

DirectX 9 once installed becomes part of the operating system and can not be removed.
It sounds like you have a power intensive PC. You need to have a good quality power supply. At least 450watts.
Refer to your motherboard manual to see if your motherboard support the voltage requirments the video card requires.
Make sure you you have the latest bios version installed.
Refer to you motherboard manual and make sure jumper settings are correct
If all the above is correct I remove the video card thru Device manager then physically remove the video card and make sure the contacts are clean.
Reinstall the video card in the AGP slot making sure it is seated well in the slot.
Reboot the PC. IF windows detects the Video, let windows perform the install.

Your games not detecting your video card might be caused by the game looking for the old video card. You may need to reinstall the game or reconfigure it.

Hope this helps!

 

[olefarte]

There are several progams that are supposed to uninstall Direct X. I can't recommend one as I've never had to do it, but you can go here, and find quite a few that claim they are able to remove Direct X.

Edit: I have to agree with the others though, it seems to my like a power supply problem, or your graphics card is going out. AND, use the tools I linked at your own risk, if you are sure that DX is your problem.

 

[beefster]

Thanks everyone for the advice!! However, In relation to my card dying....I just took it out of its wrapper two days ago!

I'll have a look at everything you suggested and see if I get anywhere, thanks again!

k nvm I will revert back to my older card Radeon 9600XT and until I upgrade PSU

Thanks!

 

[Dafriz]

Directx 9.0c......

Ummm truth is if u are running windows xp there should be a system restore point to go back to.. which would then cancel out directx9.0c and go to the previous version....

Ummm it could be directx9c due to the face i had a problem with it when installing it to my comp with my radeon 9200 card a.k.a. my test comp so as to not destroy my precious comp that holds my baby... 9800 pro 256

If that doesnt work.. ummm truth is its prolly the power supply cuz i had a similar problem when making one of my comps ... and it was the power supply

... Goodluck on it .. i recommend doing the system restore if possible cuz 9.0c is bad.. but not as bad as ur saying and buy urself a bigger power supply.. like a 450-550 one

 

[beefster]

sweet...thanks for that. Any ideas on good suppliers of PSUs?

I'm in Ireland so the closest that was anyway reasonable to me was a crowd in England at overclockers . co . uk they seem to have a wide selection

 

[PreservedSwine]

hmm interesting, I only got this computer though maybe a year ago, so it is newish. The card also gets very hot, it's doesnt use a fan just has twin heat sinks.

You sure that's an R9800? Maybe it's an R9600SE? I'm pretty sure any R9800 was built on .15nm, and that's going to get pretty hot, and need a fan. There are several .13nm R9600 cards that use only passive cooling, but I haven't heard of exclusive passive cooling on the R9800 cards.

 

[beefster]

yup Sapphire Radeon Atlantis 9800 Pro...that's what it says on box !!

Quoted from spec "...Fanless Cooling with the Atlantis Pro heatpipe cooling sink.."

 

[PreservedSwine]

yup Sapphire Radeon Atlantis 9800 Pro...that's what it says on box !!

Quoted from spec "...Fanless Cooling with the Atlantis Pro heatpipe cooling sink.."

Ahhh- nice
:grinthumb

 

[WildTurkey101]

I have a bran new ati 9800 pro 128MB with active cooling in a new box and I get lockups, reboots and crashes to desktop playing ut2k3. It works fine in other games that I have tried so far. Personally I don't get why people think it is even a decent card...I like to use my hardware to solve puzzles...not become one. I'm a little frusterated...but I guess you buy cheap you get cheap...I'll stick with nVidia and Intel from now on...may be expensive and arguably slower but I have never had these kind of issues with either company's hardware.

 

[vegasgmc]

Whenever you have problems like that that dont seem to be caused by the video driver you should check with the game manufacturer for updates or patches.

 

[BringinHeat]

Try gettin a fan or something to cool the video card becuase i have a sapphire 9800 pro 128 that runs fine but over heats like crazy which causes artifacts, fans are cheap to get and you will need it anyway becuase i really doubt a passive solution will work running real high end games like doom 3 or half life 2. The power supply is a good solution as well my power supply is 400 W and i have almost the same hard ware that you have and two hard drives running.

 

[beefster]

Great! Thanks for all the info guys! There has been a wealth of information here, even on this thread alone, with which I am grateful for!

I will be getting a new PSU and Fan I reckon...my aging system will need a few tweaks alright.