New GFX card install

[nikbear]

Whats the correct way to install my new card,remove old one and install new,then D/L new drivers,or D/L new drivers first,then install new card and run new drivers:hmmm::06:,want to do this properly :03: They are both Nvidia GFX cards by the way! In case that makes any difference :06:

[Feuer Frei!]

Uninstall current graphics card drivers.

This avoids possible conflicts later on.

* At this stage you can download the new graphics card drivers from the manufacturer's website.


2. Remove old card.

3. Install new card.

4. Install new drivers.

This is the simplest way of doing it, :salute:

[nikbear]

Thank you for the help,just used to take the old card out ,wham the other in and D/L,I shall follow your advice:03::yeah:

[nikbear]

Having a problem,I followed your advice,removed my GTX8800 and installed my AsusGTX260,it appears to be working,making a hell of a noise like a hairdryer:haha: but no picture appears,just black screen:wah:
Can't think what it could be:06:
DVI Connected :up:
2 6pin PSU Leads connected:up: Just no picture:damn:
Am I missing something:hmmm::06:

[jumpy]

You tried booting into safe mode, then removing old/installing the new display drivers? You should be ok with this as safe mode will use the basic windows default display settings. It should enable you to find out what's going on.

Assuming you have:
1) DL new drivers to hdd
2) uninstalled old card drivers (may need special removal tool?)
3) removed old hardware
4) fit new gfx hardware
5) install new display drivers.

I guess you could have a problem with the display resolution or something - in the past I've pushed the rezzo or refresh rate past what the monitor can stand, this generally ends up with a black screen. Boot to safe mode, then check computer management/device manager/display adapters - you should be able to tell if the new drivers are installed, and then also force any incompatible resolution back to something sensible using the right click on desktop/properties/display properties/settings tab (xp pro here, but the basics are much the same under vista, most likely w7 too).

have you got the agp/pci/pcie or whatever set in your bios, this is usually automatic, but you never know?

EDIT: Worst case scenario, has your PSU got enough juice to run the card?

[Feuer Frei!]

The GTX needs 500w min.,
some people have reported that their primary head on the video card changes with the most recent driver updates. Check the secondary connection to see if that has been enabled as the primary.

Reseat the graphics card and reconnected both power cables on the GPU.Check the modular power connections to the PSU.

What version of drivers did you download? 32-bit or 64-bit? Check this.

It sound like the new drivers are selecting a resolution that your monitor doesn't support?

Try- Boot, Hold F8 - Select Enable Low Resolution mode (640x480). This will enable Windows to load with full driver support at a set resolution of 640x480x32@60Hz. You should then be able to open the nVidia Control Centre and select your monitors native resolution.

What about trying the other port on the video card (use an adapter if needed). Maybe the driver has changed the order and it now thinks that your monitor is monitor 2 (which by default is off until extended)

Let us know how you go.

[nikbear]

Tried both ports of the 260,still nuthin,I would boot in safe mode but......I can't see anything,screen is just black,nothing appears at all:06:
The PSU is a 1000watt I-cute model and running fine:up:
Ive reinstalled my GTX8800 and everything is running fine again:06:
Im wondering if the 260 is duff
The drivers were the correct ones,just released from Nvidia
the display is set at native 1680x1050 60Hz for my Samsung Syncmaster 22in
Im at a loss as to why its not working,unless its knackered:cry:

[Herr-Berbunch]

Check your BIOS settings are for external, not internal VGA. Or you may want to drop down a driver version or two.

[Feuer Frei!]

Hmm, strange, i was leaning towards a loose connection or the like, does the P.C. actually boot up?
Or does it freeze?
Do you get sound at all? If it boots up? What is the LED doing on the monitor? The status light, ie standby mode, off/on?

Do you get the Windows logo when booting up? Or nothing?
The 7 and 8 series cards had a notorius black screen issue.
Which doesn't affect you ofc.

The only other thing i can think of is that it may be the old drivers not being uninstalled properly, ie interfering with the new one.
Could well be a driver issue, like Herr said.

The 'hairdryer' noise is a issue.

[nikbear]

The PC boots up,you can hear the HD's going and everything like the fans and stuff are working,but on the screen,nothing:06: just blackness
the monitor light is flashing,instead of just being on:06:

[Herr-Berbunch]

Do you have an on-board graphics connection? If so try plugging monitor into that. The blinking light on monitor suggests not getting any signal.

As for the hairdryer, is it constant or does it die down after a few minutes, is it definately from the new card?

[nikbear]

Yeah,'Hairdryer' sound is from new card,and no,it doesn't die down after a while,its constant:cry:

[Jan Kyster]

It may be something as simple as a bad connection.

Try removing cables and card. Reinsert card a couple of times, make sure it's pressed all the way down.
Insert and remove cables too... and HDMI.



The fan will always go ahead flank during initializing, but will also calm down very fast. Under normal conditions that is.

Card may be bad.

[nikbear]

Well going on your advice from all of you,I thought about loose connections and found one were the heatshrink had moved away from the end and was touching the chassis :06::hmmm:
Now Im not sure if that is what was causing the problem,but after dealing with that,and retrying the card,......Its working:yeah:(Touch a rather large wooden object:03:)
Would that be enough to cause those symptoms:06::06:

[Feuer Frei!]

Well going on your advice from all of you,I thought about loose connections and found one were the heatshrink had moved away from the end and was touching the chassis :06::hmmm:
Now Im not sure if that is what was causing the problem,but after dealing with that,and retrying the card,......Its working:yeah:(Touch a rather large wooden object:03:)
Would that be enough to cause those symptoms:06::06:
It could well be, dust under the CPU, PSU issues, a short circuit, accumulating heat, monitors have been known to damage gpu's due to static.....
a whole raft of things really.
Glad that finally things are working though :up:
How's the fan (noise)?

[nikbear]

The fan is behaving itself,ramps up on start then quickly quieten's down,thankfully:03: Thank you to everyone for their help:salute::salute::salute:

[Herr-Berbunch]

Glad to have you working. My next suggestion was to swap your GTX260 for my GTS250... :D Still could if you have ANY doubts about your card!

[Feuer Frei!]

Another happy Subsim customer :yeah:

[nikbear]

I spoke to soon,its just cut out on me:wah: seems to run for 20 mins or so then wham,shuts down:hmmm:
Heat problem?? I know these 200 series cards run hot,but its in a Coolermaster HAF932:06: Shouldn't really be getting that toasty should it:06::cry:

[Jan Kyster]

nVidea... :nope:


I mean... :D please have a look in your windows logbook. There is most certainly an entry where you can see the cause of the shutdown.

If it's heat related, you really should let the system stay off for at least 15 minutes. Shutdowns occurs at around 115 degree Celcius...


It also may cause the thermal grease to go hard as concrete, so better keep an eye on temp in the future.

Fans are cheap btw.
Add an extra for output and a couple for inlet is recommended... as is watercooling...

[nikbear]

Well Im back from travelling and its time to repair the damage,Im thinking its a driver problem,though not sure,still staying on for 10 mins the BSD:wah:
Can't even get it to stay on in safe mode:06:
Can't get to a restore point because for some reason the accessories tab in the start menu is missing:hmmm:
Whatever has caused this has really made a mess of my windows install:damn:
Really don't know what to do for the best really:oops:

[HunterICX]

Apart from the missing tab, is there anything else missing or graphical glitched in windows?

what you could try is in the 10 minute window is to get rid of the driver (windows control panel add/remove software) and boot up the PC without grahpics driver and have it turned on for a bit and check if everything is alright in windows, when you still get a BSOD or weird glitches I would say your Windows installation is messed and a reinstallation of windows would be needed.

If not and you think windows is Ok you might want to try a different graphics driver version and see if it works and/or rerun that everything Hardware wise is Ok.

When the problem still isn't resolved....I would say bring it to someone you know or a PC repair shop or something to have it looked after.

good luck,
HunterICX

[nikbear]

I was thinking of doing just that actually,totally removing any Nvidia drivers and seeing if I could keep XP stable,if not would the repair feature on the XP disc work,never tried it before:06:

[jumpy]

Repeat after me.... windows mantra... format and reinstall...format and reinstall...format and reinstall.

You can try the xp 'repair' option on the install disk, but don't get your hopes up (it has never worked for me).

Do you have OEM XP disk, or a 'Retail boxed' version? I only ask as the OEM lacks certain formatting capabilities, like preparing a new and totally blank drive: it's why the OEM disk cost about 100 quid and the retail boxed version (of XP) runs to several hundred.... at least when I bought my copy of XP pro.

Beware! if you 'remove all of your nvidia drivers' be careful that your mobo is not an nvidia chipset too, otherwise when you uninstall then reboot, you'll have some 'unable to locate disc' error. Bit of a schoolboy error, but I've done just that in the past... the driver said nvidia, so I removed it, not knowing that it was the motherboard drivers when what I should have removed was the display drivers haha :oops:

If you do format the thing and reinstall windows from scratch, make sure the install works first before trying to install the new gfx card. Might help isolate the trouble. And as said, try a different display driver than the one you tried before.
Out of interest, have you added an after-market cooler to your GFX card? Like you can do with CPU coolers?

It really helps to have more than one hdd so you can separate your OS from your data/files/backups etc. Makes a format and reinstall sooooo much easier and faster.

[Jan Kyster]

I was thinking of doing just that actually,totally removing any Nvidia drivers and seeing if I could keep XP stable,if not would the repair feature on the XP disc work,never tried it before:06:Did you find the reason for system shutdown in your Windows logs?

If it was heat related, then your thermal paste may indeed be ruined... and hence continue to cause shutdowns, since it's unable to divert heat away from gpu anymore...

But from the sound of it, you may have more issues...

[nikbear]

Ive finally managed to get the puter up and running,and stable,but using the old card and an older set of drivers:hmmm:
Seems that the newest set just don't like my setup,just going to try and run the new card with these old drivers and see if that works:06:

[nikbear]

Yep,touch wood,its working fine,was the 'New' drivers that screwed my system up:hmmm:
Thanks for everyone's help:yeah::up::salute: