Sound and video card issues

[Riffamortis18]

I've been having some rather annoying issues with with my new pc. I built a custom machine using a new mobo, power supply, ram, dvd-rom, video card, and the old sound card from my last pc. I noticed at start-up that no bios was showing up..which scared me..but windows xp installation went smoothly. After reboot, however, I noticed that the colors were a bit messed up...and the further I got through start-up...the worse the video got. I ended up with lines and then everything went all checker board on me. I replaced the 256mg AGP ATI Radeon 9550 with my old 64mg GeForce 4 mx-se and that fixed the video prob. But after installing the sound card drivers and software (Creative Audigy 2 ZS platinum)...the software wont recognize the card..even though windows does and I get sound. My friend suggested that maybe my power supply wasn't powerful enough (600) or just bad. I've spent hours trying to find solutions online but found nothing. If anyone has a theory on how to fix the video and sound probs..I'd be grateful.

Intel mobo (not sure of the model
Pentium 4 1.80ghz processor
256mg RAM
Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum sound card
256mg AGP ATI Radeon 9550 video card
250mg Maxtor hard-drive

 

[N3051M]

hmm.. lets try doing a bit of troubleshooting...

I replaced the 256mg AGP ATI Radeon 9550 with my old 64mg GeForce 4 mx-se and that fixed the video prob

have you tried to test the 9550 on another pc if it runs ok?

PSU issue.. he is valid on this.. what brand is it? you may have guessed (search 'psu' on this forum) by now how many issues are related to cheap/noname psu's.. even if its a top quality brand just for teh sake of elimination, test in another pc...

update chipset drivers and bios flash, as well as any windows sp's and updates, and drivers updates.. you can get info on the mobo specs (or other hardware) if you dont have its box etc by using a program like everest home or SIW...

try swaping to a different slots (if available) for the audigy and the 9550 and see how that goes.. and since its a custom pc, did you build it yourself or a friend or company? just double check everything is seated properly (might as well pull everything out and reseat them), check for shorting to the case on the mobo, and theres no sign of physical handling damages...

 

[Riffamortis18]

Hmm, well, I know the PSU (POWORK ATX by the way) and sound card work (or should anyway) because I popped them into my old PC and everything works ok. After putting them back in the new mobo, however, same probs. As for the Radeon, my old mobo is a little outdated and doesn't have a slot that the Radeon will fit in(yeah...upsetting), so I haven't gotten to eliminate the possibility that the card is bad. I used SIW to check out my system specs and here's what I found for the mobo --> model - D850EMD2
chipset model - 850/E host-hub interface bridge device (A3-step)
Not sure if that helps...
I'm considering RMA for the sound card. Alot of other forums I've searched have all said that the card has gone bad (I almost cried...).
Thanks for the advice though...I appreciate it.

 

[N3051M]

yeh.. well if the audigy is good on 1 pc, try it with a friend to doublecheck if you want before sending it off..

its a shame that you cant get the vid card checked as we can now hone it down to mobo and vid card. Mobo because it could be an incompatible hardware somewhere in there or a faulty part or an unpatched driver/bios.... vid card we need to eliminate so see if you can get to your friends place and try it there?

btw.. here's the link for the mobo from what you took down..
http://developer.intel.com/design/motherbd/md2/index.htm