6600GT issues

[dibrah]

I bought a PNY 6600GT AGP card yesterday to see if it would improve graphics performance on this system:

AMD Athlon(TM) XP 2000+ (1.7ghz)
Asus A7V333 - AGP 2.0, 4x enabled
1 gig (2x512) PC2700
NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4600
80GB IDE Hard Drive
Creative SB Audigy
365W Enermax PSU
Windows XP w/SP2

This card installed fine and booted perfectly the first time. However, whenever I try to run 3DMark 03 or 05, I get a blank screen crash after the first test loads (I never see any of the actual test). A hard reset is the only way out. Also, when running Half Life 2, if I pause the game, it freezes and I need to do a hard reset. FYI, I'm using the latest detonator drivers from the Nvidia site (66.93)

Not sure if this is a video card issue or just a problem interfacing with an older machine. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Wolfshanze]

Assuming you've done nothing wrong, you have the current drivers loaded AND you plugged the extra molex power in on the video card (internally), you should be good to go.

If it's locking up or failing to work with 3D games and applications, you probably got one of the bad 6600GT chipsets that NVidia shipped out to its board makers.

Trust me when I say there has been a large batch of bad chips NVidia shipped out that fail to run in 3D applications and just lock up the system. I know... I got one myself from a BFG 6600GT card.

You'll read all kinds of tips and advice about how to disable this feature, or toggle this BIOS setting or whatever... that's all hooey. The card should run fine right out of the box so long as you have the power connected and proper drivers installed... if it's not running right straight from the box, do yourself a favor and RMA the card and get another. NVidia let out a huge batch of bad 6600GT chips... they'll either work right or they won't... my first BFG 6600GT card locked up every time I tried running something in 3D. I sent it back for RMA and got a replacement... the 2nd card worked as it should straight out of the box!

Send your card back for RMA and get another... you did nothing wrong, NVidia just let loose a lot of bad 6600GT chips to its board partners.

 

[Solutions]

Did you uninstall your video drivers for the 4600ti? DL and run one the apps to remove old nVidia drivers and then re-install the 66.93 driver (if you failed to do this when 1st installing the 6600GT).

There should be no conflict between your current system and the 6600 that prevents it from running any standard game/app. However, if your motherboard supports it you will want to use 8xAGP instead of 4x. Also your 333MHz RAM will be bottlenecking your system until you can move up to 400MHZ (PC3200/DDR400) or faster memory.

If you bought the card locally I would just exchange it for another (6600GT, non-BFG if possible). If you bought it online I would try some different video drivers and BIOS settings (AGP Fastwrites disabled, sideband disabled, etc) before paying to ship it back.
GL.

 

[dibrah]

I didn't uninstall the drivers but the Nvidia control panel seemed to have no trouble recognizing the card. In fact, some new features popped into the panel that weren't there under the Ti4600. After I noticed the problems, I reinstalled the drivers but to no avail. As for the AGP setting, my board maxes out at 4x

I bought it locally so I'll take it back tonight for an exchange.

 

[Gentle]

Did you plug a power lead into the power connector on the end of the video card?

This is a very common misstep when people install the Geforce 6600GT AGP card.

Gentle

 

[Wolfshanze]

I would try some different video drivers and BIOS settings (AGP Fastwrites disabled, sideband disabled, etc) before paying to ship it back.

I just knew somebody would recomend that!

Thing is, the 6600GT WORKS WITH FASTWRITES... IF IT DOESN'T YOU HAVE A BAD CARD!

That's like buying a car and saying don't drive over 40mph because it will cause it to sieze up... I have the 6600GT and it works with Fastwrite just fine. If you have to toggle BIOS settings to get it to work, you have a bum chipset.

As I said before, unless you didn't hook-up the molex power connector, you have a bad chipset and should return the card for another... DO NOT TURN OFF BIOS FEATURES TO GET THE CARD TO RUN... IT SHOULD RUN JUST FINE AS-IS IF YOU HAVE A GOOD CARD.

 

[dibrah]

I did plug in the Molex connector (my power supply has them in abundance) but I will double check to ensure the connection is secure. Funny thing is that World of Warcraft and a few other games run fine. It's Half Life 2 and 3DMark that have the problem.