Video card issue, I doubt anyone can help, but please try =)

[Mictlantecuhtli]

I think this has been said a number of times - but once again, it doesn't matter if the PSU is rated 1kW if the motherboard can't supply enough power to the AGP bus. I've seen some mods where people have soldered wires directly from ATX power connector to the AGP bus but I don't recommend that unless you really know what you're doing.

 

[Nic]

Surely if a graphics card has an additional power connector, for direct attachment to the PSU, then it shouldn't be hogging an excess of power from the AGP bus. If it does, then it's obviously been badly designed.

 

[PreservedSwine]

Originally posted by Nic
...it shouldn't be hogging an excess of power from the AGP bus. If it does, then it's obviously been badly designed.

Unless the mobo is out of spec, AGP voltage just being one issue, and why a current BIOS is vital.

 

[Meehu]

I am going to try and flash my bios, as that is just about the only thing that I havnt done yet, what it currently has is pretty old, the one that came with the mobo when I bought it over a year ago.

Jomo..
An entire board of computer g33ks can't figure out what is wrong, but the problem lies between the chair and the keyboard?
As for the power supply thing, like I said, i ran it on my friends 450watt and it didnt change anything. So thats not the issue unless the problem is that my mobo receives enough power, but doesnt transfer enough to the AGP slot.


McGari..
Yes, 3d mark crashs as well,
I will look on the card to see about that thermal paste thing when I get home today.

As for teh over clocking, FSB, RAM speeds, etc. They are all at default at the moment, but I have fiddled with them all alot.

PreservedPoliceMan... or anyone really
If the problem is that my PSU has enough power, but my MOBO doesn't send enough to the AGP slot, will flashing the BIOS fix this Or will I need an entirely new MOBO ?
oh well, probly doesnt matter.
also.. What are CATs? (haha funny)
and I am at school for the moment, but I will check on those rail voltages when I get home.

 

[PreservedSwine]

PreservedPoliceMan... or anyone really
If the problem is that my PSU has enough power, but my MOBO doesn't send enough to the AGP slot, will flashing the BIOS fix this Or will I need an entirely new MOBO ?
oh well, probly doesnt matter.
also.. What are CATs? (haha funny)
and I am at school for the moment, but I will check on those rail voltages when I get home.

A MOBO BIOS FLASH is the first thing you should have done when you recieved this card! The R9700 does indeed stress the mobo, and if certian specs are out of tolerance, she won't work. When the crad was first introduced, many mobo's were not in spec, and m,anyt folks thought that the problem was with their shiny new R9700's, when the problem was as easy to fix as a new BIOS.

Some mobo's still don't send the proper amount of voltage through the AGP slot, and upping it one notch above default has fixed it for many folks, along with a NEW BIOS.

CAT's are the the CATALYST drivers from ati, grab the latest set here (for winxp) http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/...800+PRO+128MB&eula=&choice=agree&cmdNext=Next
and follwo the download and installing dir3ctions. These drivers were just released today (May 15th), and are the best yet.

Only after installing new drivers and flashing to a new BIOS woudl I consider a new PSU. I don't see nay reason to buy a new mobo.

 

[Strakian]

I'd like to interject something here. Depending on what else is running in the system, a 300W PSU may not be enough power... BUT what if the power suply is going bad? Perhaps the PSU sporadically fluxuates the power output within the system, resulting in system instability and system crashes. Only way to test that is with one of those power measuring thingies of which the name escapes me... or trying a new PSU. I'd recommend buying like a 400W from Best buy strictly to test this. I used to work there and can vouch for the fact that as long as you keep your receipt, you can return that 400W bastard within 30 Days regardless of opened, used, faulty, or anything. Try that to see if it helps. If it does, then you should invest in a good quality Power supply.

It's strange, but Powersupplies are probably one of the most likely things to break in a users PC.

Perhaps the system was left on during a storm, and that messed up the powersupply?

Anyway, another possibility could very well be the overheating. If this system loves to crash during proc and graphic card intensive programs, there's some significant heat coming off. You may want to look at the heatsink on your current Proc and make sure it's strong enough to handle your current CPU specs.

Just a couple of thoughts, but it looks like a majority of these thoughts have been expressed already.

Hope this helps.

 

[PreservedSwine]

Here is the BIOS for your mobo.

From this site

 

[acidosmosis]

Yea, just don't use that BestBuy power supply for too long. Those cheap, bad brand name processors will be bad for your system in the long run just the same as the theoretically faulty PSU that you have now. Possibly larger problems such as them blowing up due to not putting out the power that they say they put out.

 

[Meehu]

I have an antec 310 wat PSU, thats one of the better brands isnt it?

 

[acidosmosis]

Meehu: Yes, thats one of the higher quality brand names. Not sure about how high quality they are though. I think most people would say they are second best to PSU's such as Enermax but all in all I believe, if I'm correct, that Antec is regarded as a very high quality PSU among us techies. I don't think you should have any problems with the Antec putting out the wattage that it says it's rated for unless maybe their is a problem with it or something else.

I am going to agree with Jomo on saying most of the problem is with the computer user. Though I have to say you can't really blame it on the user because even IF your a highly knowledgeable techie you still may not know what the problem is and have a really hard time fixing it. Even in these user error instances it isnt really an error on the persons part but instead something the user needs to change that they dont know about. So in a way it isn't really the user's fault.

ATI's cards really are meant for the more knowledgeable of us all. I would have to say if your going to use an ATI card then your going to need to buy a pre-built system that is game tested just due to the fact that ATI's drivers cause the need for system tweaking 98% of the time. Regular people won't know this, much less understand it or know how to do it so it's better to either not buy ATI's cards if your a regular user like most people are.

I think it might be better than us techies decide between Nvidia/ATI due to our preferences and non-techies try to stay with Nvidia cards, unless they have friends that can surely tweak their system the right way to make it run correctly with the ATI card.

 

[Nic]

Antec SL300 300w PSU only supplies 15A @ +12v, which is too low for modern PCs. Even the newer 'True Power' model only has 17A @ +12v. The build quality is excellent, but performance (power output configuration) is not so good.

Get an Enermax 365AX-VE FMA 360w with 26A @ +12v, though the 465AX-VE FMA 460w with 33A @ + 12v would be better.

There's no guarantee that these will solve your problem, but they are definitely very capable PSUs.

 

[young&wild]

Originally posted by Nic

Get an Enermax 365AX-VE FMA 360w with 26A @ +12v, though the 465AX-VE FMA 460w with 33A @ + 12v would be better.

350W and 430W or 460W sometimes respectively..to be a little bit precise.

 

[PreservedSwine]

Originally posted by Meehu
I have an antec 310 wat PSU, thats one of the better brands isnt it?

Have you tried the most recent BIOS for your mobo yet? I'd do that WELL before investing in a new PSU that you may or may not need.

~Good luck

 

[negroplasty]

PreservedSwine,
If you are talking about flashing BIOS', let me just express my opinion. Only flash your BIOS when it is absolutely necessary, several things can go wrong rendering your computer royally screwed (would have been another choice word, but then remembered the rules ). Personally, I don't think it's worth the risk to flash my BIOS unless my computer actually DOESN'T work.

Looking back at your post PreservedSwine, I see that you might be referring to something else, if so, I apologize. I just thought I would warn people about this as it has happened to me a few times and I have heard it happen to others, and it's no fun to sort out.

 

[PreservedSwine]

Originally posted by timmoore
PreservedSwine,
If you are talking about flashing BIOS', let me just express my opinion. Only flash your BIOS when it is absolutely necessary, several things can go wrong rendering your computer royally screwed (would have been another choice word, but then remembered the rules ). Personally, I don't think it's worth the risk to flash my BIOS unless my computer actually DOESN'T work.

Looking back at your post PreservedSwine, I see that you might be referring to something else, if so, I apologize. I just thought I would warn people about this as it has happened to me a few times and I have heard it happen to others, and it's no fun to sort out.

A BIOS flash is a peice of cake, and indded his MOBO may well need one. If he's never updated his BIOS, his R9700PRO may well nenver work no matter what other hardware he buys.

It is one of the FIRST things recomended on ATI's support site.

I feel you are blowing this completely out of proportion. A MOBO BIOS flash may indeed go wrong, if your power goes out in the middle of the flash, but otherwise, there's nothing to.

I suggest this fellow go to overclockers.com or rage3d.com for some more advice.

While it may indeed be a faulty PSU, it's pretty silly to go that route b-4 taking 5 minutes to flash your MOBO BIOS, which has indeed soved issues for many, many people.

~Swine

 

[acidosmosis]

Swine, if hes never done it before then he doesn't need to try. DO NOT do this unless someone SHOWS you exactly how, and you know for sure that you get the right BIOS update. It is very easy to get the wrong one.

I seriously suggest you listen and find someone to show you how to do this or buy a BIOS Savior so you dont have to worry about screwing your system over and never being able to use that motherboard again.

 

[PreservedSwine]

Let him decide, there IS a first time for everything, you know......I'm not holding a gun to his head or anything!

Simply put, the R9700PRO will not work any many, many older motherboards until the BIOS is flashed to a current BIOS. The mobo may well be running out of spec, and NOTHING he does to the rest of his system may solve his issue.

I just don't see how this should be ignored.


EDIT- now that you mention it, he may as well make sure he has the latest chipset drivers installed in his mobo as well. A quick stop at your MOBO site will tell you which chipset driver you need to install. I'd reccomend that as well.

Anyway, I'm said my piece.

Good luck solving your isssue(s), whatever it may or may not be...

~Swine



Another EDIT: Here's a great R9700/R9500PRO troubleshooting thread from rage3d.com here

 

[Hamsterball_Z]

It's an ATI video card and no one brought up drivers?

Meehu, when you upgraded to the Radeon did you completely remove the drivers from your old card before installing it? You gotta be running the plain VGA driver when you install otherwise you have problems. ATI's drivers are notorious for issues like this, you even have to completely remove an old ATI driver before you install a new one.

You might also want to ask this on Rage 3D 's forums. They're an all ATI site so they may have better advice.

(HBZ)

 

[Meehu]

Originally posted by Hamsterball_Z
It's an ATI video card and no one brought up drivers?

Meehu, when you upgraded to the Radeon did you completely remove the drivers from your old card before installing it? You gotta be running the plain VGA driver when you install otherwise you have problems. ATI's drivers are notorious for issues like this, you even have to completely remove an old ATI driver before you install a new one.

You might also want to ask this on Rage 3D 's forums. They're an all ATI site so they may have better advice.

(HBZ)

Ya, did that






Update: My comp is homebuilt and I never put a 3.5 inch floppy drive in it, so I am waiting for my friend to give me his rather than blow 12.50 at microcenter :grinthumb

 

[Meehu]

Originally posted by Hamsterball_Z
It's an ATI video card and no one brought up drivers?

Meehu, when you upgraded to the Radeon did you completely remove the drivers from your old card before installing it? You gotta be running the plain VGA driver when you install otherwise you have problems. ATI's drivers are notorious for issues like this, you even have to completely remove an old ATI driver before you install a new one.

You might also want to ask this on Rage 3D 's forums. They're an all ATI site so they may have better advice.

(HBZ)

Ya, did that






Update: My comp is homebuilt and I never put a 3.5 inch floppy drive in it, so I am waiting for my friend to give me his rather than blow 12.50 at microcenter :grinthumb

 

[sensei]

I have the exact same problem...... spent a whole wad of cash on coolers but to no avail. I've had every concievable answer given to me. things like get a line conditioner because the devices that are sharing the power with the pc are taking its power, too hot, not enough memory, corrupted game version, install latest drivers blah blah blah.

just know i know how it feels

 

[acidosmosis]

Welcome to the 21st century . If you going to be a techie, or going to use computers, then be prepared to get those kinds of answers from technical support personell that can only give you answers from a list because they aren't right in front of your computer to really help you (even though most of those tech sup. pers. are *****s some of them are actually pretty smart). Just remember guys when your talking to anyone that is helping you, especially tech support that they can't really do much but help you. All they can do is go over a list of fixes for that problem and hope that one of them work. There are millions of combinations of things that can cause something to not work correctly on a PC. Helping someone diagnose those millions of possiblitys is impossible, even harder over the Internet or phone. It is MUCH easier if it's your PC to fix, because you know your PC up and down especially if you built it and your the only one that uses it.

Being in technical support (it is about 20% of my job) I know how hard it is to help someone over the phone. Especially when it comes to dialup Internet. I've written a 20 page FAQ with literally a list of questions that people have asked me since I've been here and answers that I gave them to those questions hoping it would help them or fix their problem. That is really all you can do for someone over the phone, especially with dialup Internet.

Hopefully my FAQ will help future employees.

Just thought I would put that point across. If your like me, your just glad that forums like this exist where you can get real professionals opinions and help with problems, instead of these losers they call MCSE's, A+ certified, etc that can't even boot up a PC, but just because they have a peice of paper they can get a great job and then everyone thinks they know what they are talking about.

A lot of the guys here know what they are talking about. Then ones that dont know as much, dont pretend like they know more than they do. I admire that which is why I visit this forum about 20 times a day.

 

[tramendous]

All In Wonder 9700 pro

Hey builders. I am having that same problem. My system will not boot up unless I unplug my aiw card for 3 seconds then plug it back in.
My system is,
Soyokt880 dragon 2 motherboard
Anteck 430 true power psu
creative audigy 2zs pro
aiw 9700 pro.
cdrw
dvd-cdrw
In my previous system, soyo kt400 ultra platinum mother board based system, I had no booting issues with the same configuration. I have orderes an Ultra 600 watt psu and should have it by 12-07-04. I think that antecs' psu are a little too sensative at the cold boot.
When everything in your system is high end, maybe it is best to get a high power psu to run the equipment. Will post an update when I install my 600 watt psu

 

[tramendous]

Antec Shmantec

You have to understand all psu's are not created equal no matter what the voltages they are rated at. The 3 rails are what's important, not the wattage...the 3.3v-5v-12v.......the 3.3 and the 5 basically run the electronics on your board....while the 12 starts all the motors...fans/hard drive/cd drives, last but not least....the video card...the radeons are power hungry to say the least....stick with a good name brand, such as enermax or antec.

Jomo

I have 2 Antecs, the smart blue 350 ant the 430 true power. Yes they are good stable power supplies but when it really counts and one builds a true high end system, Antec can't handle the strain. Antec is comming out with their gaming psu. Find it in Decembers article in PCWORLD magazine. Antec recognized their problem without admitting it so to continue to be competative, their new psu gaming 550 will be out soon. I ordered an Ultra 600 and am anticipating its arrival so I can test it in my system.