Re: OT: Win XP (SP3)graphics card issue

[Walter Gilbert]

 Thanks, Matthew!  That's exactly what I needed.  Looks like I'll 
need at least 500 watts.


I sort of figured the OS wouldn't be the issue, since I thought at the 
very least the basic driver set would load even if the card wasn't 
compatible.  But, I've been asking and looking around, and I kept 
encountering "You have to uninstall your old drivers".  So, I thought 
maybe there was just something I didn't understand about how video 
works.  My first suspicion was voltage levels, but it just seemed to me 
that an AGP 8x-compatible mobo would have the proper voltage settings 
for an 8x card.  I wouldn't think there'd be any variation there, given 
that everything started going to PCI-E right about the time it came into 
being.


Still looking to see what kind of prices I can come up with on power 
supplies.  I have a couple of "geek-squad" type buddies (one of whom 
built this system for me) to check in with and see if they may have a 
good deal.


Thanks again for the link!

-- Walt

On 3/15/2011 6:15 AM, Matthew Hunt wrote:

On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 2:30 AM, mike wilson  wrote:


Bet it's your power supply.  Try to find an online power calculator to see
what your configuration needs.

Good idea... here is the one that I use:
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
As it notes, PSU output diminishes as the capacitors age. I would
always be suspicious of an elderly power supply.

BTW, Walt, if you're not getting any video output (no BIOS messages
etc.) then you can safely rule out the operating system (Win XP) and
drivers. You're not getting to the point where they would be relevant.




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Re: OT: Win XP (SP3)graphics card issue

[Matthew Hunt]

On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 2:30 AM, mike wilson  wrote:

> Bet it's your power supply.  Try to find an online power calculator to see
> what your configuration needs.

Good idea... here is the one that I use:
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
As it notes, PSU output diminishes as the capacitors age. I would
always be suspicious of an elderly power supply.

BTW, Walt, if you're not getting any video output (no BIOS messages
etc.) then you can safely rule out the operating system (Win XP) and
drivers. You're not getting to the point where they would be relevant.

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Re: OT: Win XP (SP3)graphics card issue

[Walter Gilbert]

http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/waltergilbert
http://waltgilbert.posterous.com/ 
Contact Me Facebook Flickr 
Twitter 



--- @ WiseStamp Signature 
. 
Get it now 


On 3/15/2011 1:30 AM, mike wilson wrote:

On 15/03/2011 06:44, Walter Gilbert wrote:

Hi all,

I've encountered a problem that I was hoping some of the more
technologically experience among the group might be able to help me
with. I'm in the process of trying to Frankenstein another couple of
years out of my already ancient PC by upgrading the video card. I've
already managed to max out the memory to 3GB and have added a 500 GB
hard drive. Now, I just need to upgrade the video from the pathetic
GeForce-2 32MB AGP card to the ATI Radeon X1600 PRO 512MB AGP card I
recently picked up from eBay.

Everything I've been able to unearth says that the card ought to be
compatible with my mother board, which Gigabyte nForce3 250 MCP AGP 8x.
I have a 400-watt power supply, so I'm fairly certain I'm getting enough
power to run the thing. Problem is, when I seat it into the AGP slot and
connect it the VGA, the thing simply will not boot and there is no
signal going to the monitor whatsoever, though there is power going to
the card and the fan is clearly operating. I tried disabling the current
drivers for the old card before installing it -- same result. I tried
installing the legacy drivers for the Radeon beforehand, as well --
which somehow managed to disable my USB wireless adapter until I ran a
system restore.

I've gone into the BIOS to see if there are any settings I might be able
to change -- voltage, manually enabling AGP 8x, etc., but have been
unable to find anything that would seem to be the problem.

Any ideas what may be my problem (aside from the fact that I'm using a
PC with Win XP, which there's not much I can do about at the moment?

Thanks!

Walt




Bet it's your power supply.  Try to find an online power calculator to 
see what your configuration needs.  (ASUS has one but it may only 
cover their products) Then assume that your 400W supply is about 60% 
efficient (which is possibly generous) and see what the shortfall is.  
Then you can work out how much nominal power you need.  Add about 20% 
for luck.


Frankenputers are good but you need to start at the back end.  Then 
you can go on virtually (ha!) permanently.



Thank, Mike.

That's what I was afraid of.  I am running a few peripherals off that 
power supply, so I'm probably not getting the best output to the card, 
now that you mention it.


I really can't complain about this old thing.  I plunked down a little 
over $400 to have it built six years ago, and it's treated me a lot 
better than I've treated it.  Still zips along pretty well for the most 
part, though I finally had to do something in order to deal with RAW and 
TIF files, which I'm just going to have to do if I'm ever going to get 
the most out of my camera.


Whelp!  Off to the power supply store . . .

-- Walt

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Re: OT: Win XP (SP3)graphics card issue

[mike wilson]

On 15/03/2011 06:44, Walter Gilbert wrote:

Hi all,

I've encountered a problem that I was hoping some of the more
technologically experience among the group might be able to help me
with. I'm in the process of trying to Frankenstein another couple of
years out of my already ancient PC by upgrading the video card. I've
already managed to max out the memory to 3GB and have added a 500 GB
hard drive. Now, I just need to upgrade the video from the pathetic
GeForce-2 32MB AGP card to the ATI Radeon X1600 PRO 512MB AGP card I
recently picked up from eBay.

Everything I've been able to unearth says that the card ought to be
compatible with my mother board, which Gigabyte nForce3 250 MCP AGP 8x.
I have a 400-watt power supply, so I'm fairly certain I'm getting enough
power to run the thing. Problem is, when I seat it into the AGP slot and
connect it the VGA, the thing simply will not boot and there is no
signal going to the monitor whatsoever, though there is power going to
the card and the fan is clearly operating. I tried disabling the current
drivers for the old card before installing it -- same result. I tried
installing the legacy drivers for the Radeon beforehand, as well --
which somehow managed to disable my USB wireless adapter until I ran a
system restore.

I've gone into the BIOS to see if there are any settings I might be able
to change -- voltage, manually enabling AGP 8x, etc., but have been
unable to find anything that would seem to be the problem.

Any ideas what may be my problem (aside from the fact that I'm using a
PC with Win XP, which there's not much I can do about at the moment?

Thanks!

Walt




Bet it's your power supply.  Try to find an online power calculator to 
see what your configuration needs.  (ASUS has one but it may only cover 
their products) Then assume that your 400W supply is about 60% efficient 
(which is possibly generous) and see what the shortfall is.  Then you 
can work out how much nominal power you need.  Add about 20% for luck.


Frankenputers are good but you need to start at the back end.  Then you 
can go on virtually (ha!) permanently.


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OT: Win XP (SP3)graphics card issue

[Walter Gilbert]

 Hi all,

I've encountered a problem that I was hoping some of the more 
technologically experience among the group might be able to help me 
with.  I'm in the process of trying to Frankenstein another couple of 
years out of my already ancient PC by upgrading the video card.  I've 
already managed to max out the memory to 3GB and have added a 500 GB 
hard drive.  Now, I just need to upgrade the video from the pathetic 
GeForce-2 32MB AGP card to the ATI Radeon X1600 PRO 512MB AGP card I 
recently picked up from eBay.


Everything I've been able to unearth says that the card ought to be 
compatible with my mother board, which Gigabyte nForce3 250 MCP AGP 8x.  
I have a 400-watt power supply, so I'm fairly certain I'm getting enough 
power to run the thing.  Problem is, when I seat it into the AGP slot 
and connect it the VGA, the thing simply will not boot and there is no 
signal going to the monitor whatsoever, though there is power going to 
the card and the fan is clearly operating.  I tried disabling the 
current drivers for the old card before installing it -- same result.  I 
tried installing the legacy drivers for the Radeon beforehand, as well 
-- which somehow managed to disable my USB wireless adapter until I ran 
a system restore.


I've gone into the BIOS to see if there are any settings I might be able 
to change -- voltage, manually enabling AGP 8x, etc., but have been 
unable to find anything that would seem to be the problem.


Any ideas what may be my problem (aside from the fact that I'm using a 
PC with Win XP, which there's not much I can do about at the moment?


Thanks!

Walt


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