Topic: Dropped a b*llock!

[Simon]

I bought myself a new graphics card, as a game I purchased required a higher spec than I already had.  Went to install it today, and having not previously realised it needed a power supply, saw that I didn't have any spare power connectors, so went to local PC shop, to buy a doubler or splitter, so as to create an extra power connector, and they strongly advised that I should upgrade my PSU, as a 350W wouldn't cope with everything (2 ROM drives, 2 Hard Drives, plus fans) if I were to add a graphics card to it.  So I bought a new 550W PSU as well.  Got home, fitted it, installed graphics card, and nothing.  No screen, no post beep.  Bugger!!  I now think they the graphics card is too advanced for the motherboard, as the mobo is probably only 2X, whereas the g/card is 4X to 8X.  I thought they were backwards compatible, but it seems not, so now it looks as though I'll have to buy a new mobo, if I want to play this wretched game!  Might as well have bought a new PC!

[TR]

Si.. I know what the problem is 

On the leads that come off the PSU, you will find there is one with 4 female pins that will fit straight onto your Mobo somewhere, without knowing what your Mobo is I cant be anymore pecific.

TR

I probably have dropped on of the preverbials as well .. just had a thought  perhaps your MOBO doesnt have this type of connecter but your PSU does.

Look Here Its the secone picture down, sorry If I have confused ya 

[Simon]

Yeah, I know the connector you mean, Terry, but I don't think it's used on this type of motherboard.  I should have said, everything works fine with the new PSU, with the old graphics card back in, and it did power up with the new graphics card, but it seems the card wasn't recognised.

[Sandra]

AGP cards run at different voltages for different speeds Simon.
Theres a peg in the slot that stops fitting an incorrect voltage one in as it can damage the card and/or the mobo if the wrong voltage is used.
I didnt know that AGP cards had a seperate power supply, only seen those on PCI-e cards, it should still boot up though just not perform at its best performance.

I would suspect that its a bios setting, a faulty card or its still trying to run the drivers from the old card.

Does it load up in safe mode and show anything at all ?

If it boots up in safe mode then start it in normal windows with the original card in.
Uninstall the drivers from inside device manager and shut down the pc.
Replace the card with the new one and reboot and let it ask for the drivers and install them off the CD.

[Simon]

Hmm... interesting points, Sandra.  Would it even boot into safe mode without the post beep?  I have nothing on the screen, in fact, the monitor states 'No Signal' when using the new card.

I was also surprised to see the power terminal on the card.  In fact, it works, or at least, the fan on it works, with or without the power connected, just to make things more confusing.

The motherboard is an Abit KG7, which I have since read, is supposed to accept up to AGP 4x, so I would have thought I should have got at least some sign of life out of the new card.

I don't really want to uninstall the drivers for the old card, as I haven't a clue where the CD for it is now.  Would disabling it do the trick?

[Sandra]

Could do but why not download the drivers for the old card first and save them to the hard drive in case XP cant load them itself.

[gmax]

AGP cards run at different voltages for different speeds Simon.
Theres a peg in the slot that stops fitting an incorrect voltage one in as it can damage the card and/or the mobo if the wrong voltage is used.
I didnt know that AGP cards had a seperate power supply, only seen those on PCI-e cards, it should still boot up though just not perform at its best performance.

I would suspect that its a bios setting, a faulty card or its still trying to run the drivers from the old card.

Does it load up in safe mode and show anything at all ?

If it boots up in safe mode then start it in normal windows with the original card in.
Uninstall the drivers from inside device manager and shut down the pc.
Replace the card with the new one and reboot and let it ask for the drivers and install them off the CD.

Sandra, my Ati 9800 pro AGP , uses a a seperate power supply. Simon what model is your new video card?

[Simon]

Sandra, yes, of course, I would have thought of that eventually. 

[Simon]

Simon what model is your new video card?

It's a GeForce 7600, gmax, on an Abit KG7 (not Raid) motherboard.

[gmax]

Thats a powerful video card for such an old motherboard, try upgrading the"VIA" drivers & make sure the AGP settings in the BIOS are switched to 4x instead of 2x.

[Simon]

Thats a powerful video card for such an old motherboard, try upgrading the "VIA" drivers & make sure the AGP settings in the BIOS are switched to 4x instead of 2x. 

Umm... would that be the VIA Bus Master IDE Controller drivers?  There's no integrated graphics on the motherboard.  I'll try the BIOS thing as well.

[Sandra]

No it will be what used to be the 4 in 1 chipset drivers Simon.
They seem to have stopped doing those now but they still have the main mobo drivers that control all the attached bits like the AGP and the PCI bus.

[Simon]

OK, well I just did a scan with www.driverguide.com, and although there are a few things it says need updating, none of them seem to be anything to do with VIA.  I'll have a look on the Abit website, and see if there's anything there.  I still think I would have got at least something if it was just a driver issue, wouldn't I?  It was as though the card wasn't even there when I tried it.

[gmax]

Try here simon, http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/download/download_driver_detail.php?pFILE_TYPE=Driver&pMAIN_TYPE=Motherboard&pTITLE_ON_SCREEN=KG7&pSOCKET_TYPE=Socket%20A

[Simon]

Thanks gmax.  That driver, and the one I also found myself, is dated 2005, and when I just went to install it, it said "To support AGP 3.0", so presumably that still wouldn't be any good.  I'm guessing I'm looking at a new motherboard here, and it really isn't worth it for one game.