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7800GS Problem

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  • 05-05-2006 1:13am
    #1
    stevenmu
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,689 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Hoping someone might have an idea if this is a problem with the card itself or something with my rig (possibly power).

    I just got my hands on one of Gainwards 7800GS AGP cards (the one with a real 20 pipe GT core not the normal GS one). I installed it as any other graphics card (removing existing nvidia drivers first and running a few 'cleaners' just in case). Started the machine up and the display seems fine untill it gets to where it would show the windows loading screen with the progress bar, then the display just cuts off as if I switched the machine off or pulled out the cable (tried with 2 monitors and both DVI connectors). Tried booting safe mode and the same thing happens, it runs through the list of dlls and sys files and then just shuts off. I'm not entirely sure but as far as I can tell, windows stops loading too as opposed to carrying on with a blank screen.

    I thought power might be an issue so I disconnected everything but the minimum to boot and still no luck. The power is connected kind of oddly, the card take a PCIe power connection, but comes with an adapter for two molex connectors, so I made sure two were connected off seperate cables with nothing else on them (not sure if that makes any difference with a single rail PSU). I also put back in my 6800 (plain, not GT/Ultra), I think it's power requirements should be fairly close to the 7800s, and connected back up everything else and ran oblivion with MBM monitoring the voltages and they barely budged (+12V dropped from 12.22 to 12.16, +5V 5.16 to 5.11, +3.3V 3.42 to 3.39).

    Is it possible this is a power issue (I'd have thought that'd be more likely to show when attempting to play a game ?), or is it more likely a fault with the card ? I'm going to try rigging up a spare 350W PSU just to power the card on it's own over the weekend, but I'd like to try and get some idea beforehand.

    Thanks,
    Steve.

    OS: XP SP2
    CPU: A64 3200+
    MB: MSI K8N Neo Platinium+
    Mem: 2Gb Geil Value PC3200
    PSU: Thermaltake Butterfly 480W


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    #2
    conzy
    Subscribers Posts: 6,408 ✭✭✭conzy


    Are you using offiial Nvidia drivers?

    Maybe you have to use a Gainward modified Driver, seen as its a 7800gt bridged to AGP........


  • Options
    #3
    stevenmu
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,689 Mod ✭✭✭✭stevenmu


    Thanks Conzy, you've been a big help. The first time I read your post I thought it seemed like a good idea definitely worth checking, then when I had a bit of free time and thought about it a bit I started wondering what would be different in Gainwards drivers. The only thing I could think of was that they might have some extra driver or something that would load at some stage and work in conjunction with nVidia's own drivers. Then it struck me, I'd installed Rivatuner and it's bootup utility, NVStrap, ages ago to unlock the extra pipes and shaders on my 6800, and it was still operating. I disabled the hardware unmasking, and then uninstalled NVStrap, just to be sure and bingo, worked straight away.


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