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Motherboard / Graphics Card

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by .martin.

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

Hey, again.

For those that pay attention to the forums, it may seem that there is always something wrong with my computer, and honestly it seems to...

This time it is not of any large problem, but I would like to get some other opinions before I go to Asus.

I am not sure how long this problem has been around, as it is not easily known. But this is how it started:
Last week I had the 'fantastic' idea to upgrade my RAM (1GB to 4GB) and my video card (onboard VGA to a Galaxy NVIDIA 9600GSO 384MB graphics card). Now the RAM went in and is working perfectly. But not the graphics card...

The graphics card went into the PCI-16x slot, and the fan spun when the computer turned on. But this was my problem; I got no image, the majority of the time, that is. 14 out of 15 times the screen would stay blank, when the monitor was attached to the card, the other one time, the computer would load (with image) until when windows (XP) almost finished loading, then crash, showing a BSOD for a split second. Although weirdly, when it did show an image, I was able to boot into safe mode.

After a trip back to the computer store with the card, finding it wasn't the card, I took my computer in to be looked at. I must note here that I had the same problem last year, with a PCI IDE card, which did the same thing. A few days later I got a call saying my computer was done, multiple graphics cards tried, none worked, problem maybe PCI slots...

BIOS settings have been upgraded; driver was installed, but still no luck...

I have thought about this for a few days, and don't know if his diagnostic is completely true. With both of my cases, the object worked (sometimes), and then crashed the computer. Do you have any ideas on it???

Here are the specs of my computer:
Processor: Pentium 4 3.20Ghz
OS: Windows XP
Motherboard: Asus P5GZ-MX
HDD: Western Digital 80GB

20 replies

by .martin.

The motherboard was not new, it is the one i got with the computer about a year ago.

As for the power supply, it is brand new. As the Graphics card asked for a 580 watt, I got a 650 watt.

by rob miners

up for $78.00 + freight and some CPU Grease. From what little info that I have been able to find that card should run but if your PCIe slot is gone it won't.

We are talking about the board that was connected to the modem that got hit I take it.

by .martin.

Yes the board was connected to the router, but it was doing it way before that happened.

by rob miners

Tech that you took it to was right. Especially if he tried different cards.

Lets hope that the next one isn't a lemon.

by oh smeg

Quite often the Intel 945 Chipsets don't like the NVIDIA Chip Sets. So if several different cards where actually tried on this M'Board and they where all NVIDIA then it is quite possible that none of them actually worked particularly if they where all the same Chip Set Type NVIDIA Video Cards.

Generally when this happens you need to try a ATI Video Card int he PCIX Slot and see if that works now. If it does there is a Incompatibility between th NVIDIA Video Chip Set and the Intel M'Board Chipset. Even then you may need to try a few different ATI Chip Set Video Cards. In the old days when you have a Chip Set Incompatibility the system would just not boot but these days the screen tends to remain blank most of the time with occasionally a Picture appearing till the Chip Set Incompatibility kills off the Boot Process or the Entire System with just a Hang and no picture appearing.

Just on the basis of what has been give here I would prefer to say that the M'Board needs more testing and as it's easier to change a Video Card than a M'Board I would start off looking fro a ATI PCI X Video Card that you can try in this computer before pulling the plug and changing the M'Board.

Col

by .martin.

that may explain why the graphics card would not work, but not why the ide card wouldn't

by rob miners

Remove the Video Card from the PC. Restart the PC and go to the Device Manager in Windows, right-click the entry for the driver for your onboard graphics card and select Disable. Apply the changes and shut down your PC.

Boot the PC and enter the BIOS One of these keys should get you in.

F1
F2
DEL
ESC
F10

Tip: If your computer is a new computer and you are unsure of what key to press when the computer is booting, try pressing and holding one or more keys the keyboard. This will cause a stuck key error, which may allow you to enter the BIOS setup.. Go to the 'Advanced Features? page and select to 'Disable Onboard VGA?. The wording and location may vary according to your BIOS, but you should be able to find it. Press [F10] to save changes to the BIOS and exit.

Shutdown and insert the Video Card. Reconnect the Monitor to the new card.

Your PC should now boot recognising your new graphics card and prompt you to install the new drivers for it in Windows.

by oh smeg

If you insert a Video Card into a PCI Slot is still needs to communicate with the M'Board Chipset and if you have a Incompatibility between the Video & M'Board Chip Sets it doesn't matter if it is a PCI or PCI Express Video Card.

Similarly some PCI Cards can cause the system to lock up I have M$ Approved Video Capture Card that causes some M'Boards to just refuse to work they will not boot or show any signs of life except for running fans. The moment you remove that Video Capture Card the unit works perfectly and if you insert the Video Capture Card into a different computer that works perfectly so it is just a Incompatibility between that particular Video Capture Card family and that particular M'Board family.

Also with PCI Cards it is sometimes possible to have one fail to work in a otherwise perfect computer and moving the card to a different PCI Socket will cure the problem. This arises because the Resources can not be allocated as required by the different parts of the system and was a very common event way back in the old DOS Days where you had to manually configure DMA & IRQ Addressing of all components. The fact that is isn't common today isn't because the hardware is so much better just that there is less variety available.

In the old days when a new Chip Set was released you had to take pot luck as to if it would work with an existing M'Board and it was a very common occurrence that a Small System Builder would get new parts and they simply failed to work together requiring replacement Video Cards to be sourced and fitted.

Every Daughter Card no matter what it is has Integrated Circuits on it and these different Chip Sets do cause problems sometimes. It is possible to buy a Industry Accepted Unit like a High End Sound Blaster Card and have it cause a M'Board to stop booting or even posting. While this is generally related to new Plug in Card Types with older M'Boards it can happen any time that incompatible components are chosen for a computer so looking at what is thought as a Ideal Card of some description isn't enough you need to look to see if there are any Known Issues with the other components that you currently have or in the case of a new build the components that you are considering using to build a new computer.

You can go out and buy what are considered as th Best M'Board CPU unit fit the wrong brand of RAM and have the unit fail to do anything. Similarly you can buy a High End M'Board, Video Card and Sound Card and they just can not work together or in some cases will only work together if you do not overclock the CPU.

Or you can upgrade the existing RAM in a computer by adding more and you can have Timing Issues between the different RAM Sticks so you have a Unstable System that falls over unexpectedly and without any way to prevent or see why it is happening.

Component Selection is very important and is often overlooked by all but the Professional System Builder.

Col

by mamies

There maybe a setting that will ask you to either use the PCI slot or the intergrated or something like that. If it is not set on PCI or PCIe it will not show anything, It will need to be done before inserting the graphics card.

by .martin.

bios is configured correctly, as one in ten times I do get an image on the graphics card, but the computer crashes whenever that happens...

sorry about the double post

by .martin.

bios is configured correctly, as one in ten times I do get an image on the graphics card, but the computer crashes whenever that happens...

sorry about the double post

by Former member

Take out 2GB of Ram and try booting up.
Why i say this is that the ram you have on board is too much for the board to handle.
Have a read on your manual. :)

Please post back if you have any more problems or questions.

by oh smeg

My Workspace hardly ever opens & when I go to log out it takes forever. But logging in takes less than a second and always works unlike Logging out. X-(

Sort of makes me wonder why I bother really.

Col

by .martin.

I think, that my motherboard is a bit of junk... so I ended up returning the graphics card...

From my past experience with it, i believe there is something wrong with the motherboard, and as it is still working now (knock on wood), in the future, when I look at upgrading to a Dual Core/Quad Core processor, I will upgrade the Motherboard, and get a graphics card...

The one thing I got out of this (other than a lot of frustration) is that for now, I can not use anything with a PCI connection...

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