Mobo or gFx ?

[gilgamesj]

OK i gots a problem with my Agp and cant decide whether its ATI being incompatible or Abits fault... or if its windows xp !

What the deal is, is i can run my 9700pro thru a pci to pci bridge ( odd but i narrowed it down to the fact that if that was installed everything worked ) but when i install an AGP driver in its place, then it crashes the moment it loads any kind of 3d application.

I tried other ATI cards ( as no nvidia / etc avail ) but still the same thing when AGP drivers were installed.

Anyone got any ideas ?

I got the board at micro direx. so i figure i aint gonna beable to swap it. any help would be top. tnx.

[Rabs]

What system spec? and what drivers are you installing (4n1's etc)?

[acidrainy]

hmmm, sounds wierd.... I've never come across any probs with my ATi/Abit setup....

What board is it your using?
Just a stab in the dark but I think it could be a BIOS thing....

[gilgamesj]

Im using a kd7 with the latest (DN) bios, ( the kt400 chipset )

i got omega drivers 3.6 ( but issue was present with any driver i used for gfx ) 2500+ barton, 512 pc 3200, windows xp, seagate 80gb hd 7200rpm.

[RoGuE|SaBeR]

If you are running it at 8x AGP try bringing it down to 4x.

I know some who has a similar problem with a 9700 pro.

[gilgamesj]

I am running at 8x
ill take to 4x and see what happens, is the 8x unstable between the 9700pro and kd7 then ?
or the agp on kd7 just a lil bit poo x-p

[gilgamesj]

ok tried the 4x thing, still the same issue, screen just goes black and i gots to reboot.
weird thing is in hardware devices there are no conflicts.

[Trickle]

Originally posted by gilgamesj
What the deal is, is i can run my 9700pro thru a pci to pci bridge ( odd but i narrowed it down to the fact that if that was installed everything worked ) but when i install an AGP driver in its place, then it crashes the moment it loads any kind of 3d application.

You did uninstall existing gdx drivers and make sure you installed proper mobo drivers *before* installing gfx drivers?

Have you run Sandra (slim chance it will give a suggestion of whats wrong - maybe try dxdiag too).

[THCi]

RFRI-Sounds like a Windows issue to me, especially if its happening on other cards (some not AGP8x presumably).

The drivers could be conflicting, did you install the AGP over the PCI?

[gilgamesj]

THCi i went to the PCI to PCI and done update driver, could this be the issue?

Mobo drivers should be fine Trickle m8, ive got the latest bios for a KD7 (DN)

[Trickle]

Imho its bad practice to update drivers from device manager.

Also how do you know the motherboard drivers are fine? You dont state that you have tested the non graphical aspect of them with a Seti bench or Pifast etc - although that still wouldnt prove anything. You mention updating the bios, but this doesnt sound much like a bios problem.

Your options on dealing with this are limited.
1stly trawl the relavent mobo/gfx card forum for similar issues - assuming no joy.....
You need to remove as best you can the exisitng mobo and gfx drivers and reboot. Install new mobo drivers, then install new gfx drivers. If this doesnt work you reinstall the OS.

[CrapshoT]

try uninstalling the gart driver then reinstalling it theres a tool for this called smartgart
your card should really be on the agp not pci
tbh Trickle has stated the most likely causes /fixes

[gilgamesj]

ive reinstalled windows far too often !!
.
pifast etc run fine no issues, the ram is tip top etc
Gart could be the issue i guess.. but for a while i didnt ave it running.

Any likely hood of being an iffy agp if all else faileD?

[gilgamesj]

ok, ive done what u said Trickle,

it seems to be working now, but ive reset my cpu to stock, which i think may have sorted it....

must have been the 5:2:1 ration on 180fsb that kept on spannering.
i.e. southbank OH>

[gilgamesj]

Ah.. ok.
it runs nice now... but ! does anyone know of a way for providing decent cooling on a VIA chip ?
the southbank overheats causing crashes.

Thanks for the help trick n CrapshoT n THCi

[Trickle]

Exclent

You would need to glue a sink over the southbridge or just provide better cooling for the case overall - possible wiring problem affecting airflow in vacinity of southbridge? Otherwise possibly buy yourself a ramsink kit an adjust for southbridge size, or perhaps look for dedicated heatsink compound that acts a glue (non spring to mind).

Or do what I did with my GF2 MX - glue the corners and just put arctic silver on the 85% centre rest of the chip and hacksaw and old celeron heatsink up