Graphics card upgrade Pains

[CaseyV9]

Hello all.

I have a Packard Bell iMedia 2579 PC.
It has a Core 2 Duo processor.
Also an MS 7301 MOBO repackaged as a CUBA MOBO. Thanks Packard Bell.
I recently bought a XFX 8800GTS 512MB Alpha dog and a decent PSU.
My PC would not boot with this card in no matter what I tried.

When I put my X1650 SE card back in my machine It booted up fine.
Unfortunetly I cannot play the Bioshock very well with this card.

The best explination I found was on a forum where someone with the exact same MOBO had the same problem. Tech told him that the problem was compatability issue with the VIA chipset.
An issue with PCI-E 2.0?

Scan were great. Gave me a refund. Top service.

My PC is only 9 moths old so I do not want to upgrade the MOBO for a while. I was thinking of
512MB Sapphire HD3850 PCI-E2.0 (x16), 1656MHz GDDR3, GPU 668MHz, 320 Streams, 2xDVI-I/HDTV, HDCP but I do not want to RMA again. Has anyone got this card working with a MS 7301 MOBO?

I was thinking that maybe a 512MB X1950 pro would do me good until I upgrade my mobo later in the year. A more likely card to work.
But the saphire model is no longer for sale on the SCAN website.

I have noticed the:
HIS 256MB HighTech Radeon X1950 Pro, IceQ3 v2, PCI-E (x16), Mem1540 , GDDR3, GPU 590 MHz, 12 Pipes, VIVO.

Is this better than:

512MB Power Color Radeon X1950Pro AC2 PCI-E(x16) Mem 1300MHz GDDR3 GPU 600MHz 36Pipes CrossFire?

Which card?

[blinky]

Looks like the 3850 will work with VIA boards if you have the right BIOS option
Link

I think they are limited to 4x so it will hamper performance.

ATI HD 3870 Weird Graphics Problem

[CaseyV9]

Hello Blinky.

BIOS options? No. This is Packard Bell. No options more like.
You have no options for graphics cards except to select PCI-E x16 or PCI as your default.
A real turd of a board.

What options do I need?

[blinky]

I've fixed the link. The option is BIOS PCI-E Downstream set to DISABLE.

[CaseyV9]

Thanks Blinky.

I went into my BIOS again. I have no options at all.
Only to set the primary graphics from PCI-E or PCI. I have no onboard graphics either.
I really don't have any options to alter any hardware. Except USB, boot priority and stuff.
It seems Packard Bell have locked everything.

I do not know what upgrade options that would leave me.

Do you you reckon a X1950 pro would be a safer option as It is more similiar to my current card:
X1650 SE?

[Nickg]

new motherboard £50

[CaseyV9]

I see this coming.

A new Mobo + OS. My current OS is OEM.
Financially this could bring on the Apocolypse.