Computer Woes (Vid Card) : - (
 

Sorry this is gonna be a long one, but I really need help here, and don't wanna leave out any detaisl.

So for my bithday a couple of weeks ago I decided to treat myself to a new video card. After some research, I decided on a Geforce4 ti4200. Bought it (a Verto card by PNY), installed, all is good. A few days later, prompted by a post by Atmo and some of his vid card woes, I decided to recheck my power supply's specs. Turns out I had a 250 watt power supply (I had thought it was 300), and the card requires 300 watt minimum, 350 recommended. So I decide to buy a new power supply.

The night before I go to buy the power supply, I start my computer and it freezes while Windows is loading. I assume this is because the card is drawing too much power, but it is similar to a problem I had once when my mobo got fried, so I check the mobo. As far as I can see, all the capacitors are fine and nothing looks wrong.

So I get a new power supply (430 Antec TruePower). The comp works great. It starts faster. It runs faster. Everything is fine.

I've been working extra since we're shorted-staffed at my job, and with the extra money I'm making I decide to return the ti4200 to BestBuy and exchange it for a ti4400 (same brand). I start experiencing several problems. The comp sometimes freezes on Windows startup (cold boot or re-start), sometimes freezes on shut-down, and occassionally freezes up during a game (happened with Warcraft3, whole screen freezes and comp doesn't respond...necessary to shut down using the power switch on the tower). I even experienced some problems with Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 (which came out years ago and should run fine on a new card). All of the problems occur randomly, sometimes after the machine runs for a long time, other times when it's been shut down for hours. Oddly, there is no BIOS displayed for the card when the comp starts (there was with the ti4200: there would be DOS looking text saying the type of card and how much RAM right before the mobo BIOS started).

So I try all the suggestions on PNY's support site. Upgrade and flash the mobo BIOS, adjust the BIOS setting to the preferred settings for the card, mkae sure I have the most recent drivers both for the card and for my VIA chipset. None of this helps. The site says cooling may be an issue so I get a case fan. I still have problems.

So I decide to put my old card back in. I un-install the Geforce drivers and take out the card and put in the new one. But now the old card won't work right. After installing the drivers for the old card (a TNT2) the comp says the drivers aren't working properly. Also, the comp repeatedly freezes when Windows loads.

Now whenever somebody posts a problem like this, somebody inevitably jokes "Format C:" Well I tried that as well! Figured it had been a while since I did a clean install, and it was daylight savings so I had an extra hour. Thought I'd see how the comp ran with the new card if I started from scratch. No dice, the comp still has problems. :mad: :mad:

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

try the solution on this page - at the very least it stopped my computer freezing during games, as you describe.

Can you cut and paste that solution, zootm? They won't let me view tha page unless I register. :confused:

The thread contains a link to an article:

http://pcbuyersguide.com/hardware/mo...-Problems.html

which is a big rant against VIA chipsets, plus a link to a new patch from VIA that appears to solve the problems.

Only applicable if your mobo has a VIA chipset!

Sounds like I could have used this a few months ago. I eventually built a new PC to get my Geforce3 working...

If youre running winxp then it sounds like you may be experiencing the famous infinite loop error....But there are some things to check first.

We can rule out power being the culprit, your psu is well up to the task.

Cooling may be an issue (even with an additional fan/s installed) so take the cover/side panel off and aim a house fan inside...If it runs stable like that then you know it needs more cooling, if not then its probably not a heat problem.

I'd suggest loading all the default values in the bios, especially if you've done some tweaking/overclocking. Try booting in safe mode also..

If it still doesnt work then remove all your pci cards (if applicable), all but one hard drive (if you have more than one), and all but one optical drive. Disable all onboard peripherals (excluding the onboard ide controller if you use it) and reinstall windows. Test it to see if it runs stable before adding any cards, drives and enabling any onboard peripherals. Go one by one, so you'll know whats causing it.

If its still unstable then you'll know for sure its an incompatibility between the video card and mobo. If your mobo is getting old then it may be worth upgrading (make sure you can return it if it doesnt work with that card) or exchange the card for a different brand/model.

Is it working ok with the tnt2 and fresh install of windows?? If you havent tried it, i'd suggest doing so before you try any of my suggestions to rule out static damage to any of the hardware.

Sorry it took me so long to reply, I've had all sorts of fun with my machine the last few days...