Ati Radeon X700 Pro problem
 

hi,

i've recently bought a new computer, containing the following hardware:

• motherboard - ASUS A8V Deluxe 2000MHz
  system memory - 2 * 512Mb DDR-RAM Kingston
  processor - AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego
  graphic card - Ati Radeon X700 Pro 256MB AGP 8x
  Hard Drive - 1 * 250Gb SATA Maxtor, and 1 * 40Gb Maxtor IDE

well, when i started my computer for the first time, and i install windows XP Pro, everything worked just fine. When i installed the motherboard drivers, it all worked just fine, but when i installed my graphic card drivers, my computer doesn't want to start up windows.

Does anybody knows what the problem is? i hope it has nothing to do with hardware that is not compatible with my motherboard or something

thanx in advance,
UnrealEd

Hold down F8 or F5 while the system is booting up and loading Windows so that you can enter Safe Mode (minimal use of drivers). Uninstall the video card drivers and try another stable version.

i did just as you told me too, but theres no change.

when i downloaded the newer version of my graphic card controller, and installed it, it said there was no card to be found.
he wont even startup now.

any thoughts?

thanx, UnrealEd

So your computer doesn't boot windows at all? what does it do?

well, when i press the power switch, everything starts working, but nothing appears on the screen. something i can't even enter my bios.

the times i can enter windows, it starts freaking out. my screen starts flashing, everything fades away, and then my computer restarts for no reason, displaying nothing when it should be.

any thoughts?

Well if it happens when the computer first starts up it isn't a driver problem. I've been actually having a similar problem recently where I would turn on the computer and you can hear it booting up normally but the screen shows nothing, and it seemed sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn't. I have switched and tested many parts and came to the conclusion that it is the motherboard.

Anyway, what I would do first is clear the CMOS and see what happens. If nothing then I would just switch out hardware and narrow down what part is at fault.

it didn't happen when i booted my system for the first time, it happened when i installed windows and the vga driver.

when i uninstall the driver, everything works just fine

so, any ideas?

I don't see how nothing would appear on the screen, not even the BIOS when the drivers are installed and it all works fine when they aren't.

Did you try clearing the CMOS? What driver version are you using exactly? Have you tried any other older version drivers?

I just wanna point out that they dont make San Diego Chips for socket 754.. what you have is a ClawHammer =P

are you sure, cause this is what i ordered:

well,...
it seems that no one knows what the exact problem is.
Could it be that there's something wrong with my motherboard? or my graphic card itself?

thanx allready,
UnrealEd

Yeah you do have the San Diego, I think Stinkymojo thinks you have a socket 754 motherboard.

What do you mean no one knows, I've been trying to ask you questions but you aren't answering them.

Are you sure its your BIOS that you can't enter sometimes? The BIOS is where you can configure the processor speed (FSB) and multiplier settings, etc. You press F2 or DEL to enter it. If you can't even see that sometimes, then some hardware is faulty in your system. Could it be the Windows boot options that you are referring to, or something else that's not the BIOS?

If it happens only in Windows, or anytime after Windows starts loading, then that'll be driver issues, with the remedy being the one shown before.

If it's both the two scenarios above, then you most likely have a bad video card or possibly a bad motherboard.

i'm sorry, but i accidently didn't read your post because of the San Diego problem.

Yes i did clear CMOS more than once
I'v first installed the drivers that where provided together with my graphic card, but because they didn't work, i downloaded newer versions of the ati website

I installed them, but no changes so far.

it sure is BIOS, but today i uninstalled the drivers, and everything boots normally.
When i enter windows with the driver installed, my screen starts flashing, and everything turns into black. After that my pc restarts (i think cause it doesn't display anything, and my screen shows the message: no signal input, and shuts down), and i can't shut him down, unless i pull out the power cable

Ive read on a another forum, but it was about an ati x800 pro, that you have to upgrade your BIOS first.

Many thanx,
UnrealEd

You certainly could try updating your motherboards BIOS. I notice the latest non-beta BIOS is A8V Deluxe BIOS 1014, and I also noticed that some earlier BIOS revisions fix some VGA problems. So I definitely recommend you update your BIOS. Even if it doesn't fix your video card problem it is a good idea to have it updated.

If that doesn't do anything I would try a different video card, if all works fine with something else then you probably should return your X700 Pro.

I have an Asus A8V Deluxe with an AGP 256MB X700 and am experiencing similar problems.

I know its not the card, because it works fine in my old Jetway board with an AMD1800+, and I know it's not the MB because my Geforce 4 works fine in there. Have updated the BIOS, and used the latest drivers as well as the supplied ones, and still no joy. One other suggestion which I read today on another board is to turn off Fast Writes to the AGP port, or increase the voltage to the AGP port to 1.8V if Fast Writes are switched on. Going to try this tonight after work, and let you know if it works!

I forgot about that one, ATI cards are known to have problems with fast write enabled.

Sorted!
 

Disabling the Fast Write, and upping the AGP voltage from 1.5V to 1.6V, and it all works like a beauty!!!

Glad to hear it! Welcome to the forums by the way.

i've got the same problems, and i know for sure its not my MB or the AGP port or something. i've got Fast Write disabled and the voltage AGP to 0.8V, which is recommended in the guide itself. but whenever i start a 3D app, evrything starts to blur on my screen and after 2 minutes, the screen just blacks out. I checked the temperature with TriXX, and these just freak out. When I do nothing, the card starts at 35° (normal) but in 10 minutes, the temperature gets about 72°, and then the card crashes. Is this actually a hardware problem, because i really don't know what to do here ...

maybe they really messed up on putting the thermal paste on? Who made your card?