ASUS A8N-E & 7800 GTX

[Bleackspeech]

I recently bought an XFX 7800 GTX Gamers Edition, and matched it with an ASUS A8N-E, AMD 3700 San Diego and 2.5 Gb of Crucial RAM - among other components. However after 3 weeks or so their is a fault. With Nvidia drivers loaded from CD or downloaded from Nvidia the card will only display in 4 Bit colour and 640 x 480 Resolution. If I unload and clean using Driver Cleaner Pro Windows detetcts the card as expected and then displays in all of the higher resolutions.

As Driver Cleaner Pro clears the registry also it would appear that this is not a registry related problem. The only other recent problem on the PC is it failing to shutdown on first asking, and then taking it's time. At the time that the graphical failure occured I was attempting to load and play Rome: Total Realism.

The drivers appear in the programs list, and the name of card plus the driver version appears on Display properties.

I have used restore point to no avail and also reloaded Windows XP Home (SP1) and partitioned the hard drive.

The card has been tested by Scan who have returned the card with no fault found after 3 tests - one test conducted on the same ASUS mobo. Another user on the HEXUS forums has the same problem with an XFX Nvidia 6600 GT - neither of us can determine where the fault lies. He has even bought and tried another, though different card - the problem is still there.


What do you think - Hardware fault? Config fault? There are no reported issues with the mobo and GFX card.

This is twistin' me melon! If I RMA the board how can I prove there is a fault to the retailer? Appreciate any help. Thanks

 

[Jorakal]

I don't understand. After using driver cleaner Pro, was the problem fixed or fixed but then it happened again?

 

[Bleackspeech]

Driver Cleaner Pro does it's bit and the drivers are removed as you would expect. On next start-up Windows uses it's generic drivers and displays in normal mode with options to change in properties.

However, upon reloading a clean driver version from the XFX CD the settings return to the lower resolution.

 

[grooge]

download drivers from nvidia

 

[AzNPinkTuv]

yeah i'd alwasy download drivers from Nvida or ATi

 

[Bleackspeech]

I have downloaded the drivers from Nvidia - two versions to be exact and I still have the same problem.

As of today I am getting an error 0x80040256 ' There is no sound card'

I guess this mobo is going back!

 

[Bleackspeech]

Couldn't find Winflash to flash the BIOS. I may be stupid...

Anyway, I went into the BIOS and told it to boot using the PCI-Ex 16 as default is not set to that just 'PCI'.

I then rebooted did an extended test at boot - no errors reported. Then loaded up the XFX Nvidia Drivers from CD. They installed and as soon as completed this message appeared....

'Power Nvidia System Sentinel is reporting that the Nvidia powered graphics card is not receiving sufficient power'

'To protect your hardware from potential damage or causing potential system lock-up, the graphics processor has lowered it's performance to a level that allows continued safe operation'

The options you would expect 32 Bit and High Screen Resolutions are all back, But I have not tried based on the message warning above.

Now the only things that has happened is the change I made above in the BIOS and the fact that the card has been re-installed. I use a Tagan Easycon U-15 which has a switch on the rear to allow switiching of the 12v rail. It is set to 'Split'. But I have not got a clue what this means....Anyone? The power connector is connected to the GFX card via a lead that is not shared with another device.

One peculiar thing that has happened (it was working yesterday) was that I now get an Error ID: 0x80040256 which means there is no sound card. I only use the onboard sound anyway and stereo speakers, which when I connect while the PC is on I get the crackling as it connects.

Any thoughts?

 

[Jorakal]

The 7800gtx does require a good power supply, so maybe check it out?

 

[Bleackspeech]

I am using a brand new Tagan Easycon 480watt U-15.

Meant to be a great PSU. It's either the boardor the PSU and my old PSU has only a 20 Pin connector so can't test with that as I had planned.

Someone has said that the minimum for the GFX card is actually 11.60 Watts - I am above that and does'nt go below.

Anyway I have emailed Tagan for support and advice - hopefully I will get some.

Also, recontacted XFX (Propellerheads do their support in EU) and explained latest developments- waiting for a reply which should arrive tomorrow.

I have so many posts out on this problem it is unreal. Nearly 3 weeks and no joy.

 

[metalstorm203]

I am having the exact same problem. I have a Thermaltake 430w PS that came with a Tsunami case. I priced it at $40 so I doubt it?s a super quality supply. I have a Seasonic 600w PS on order and am going to install that next week to see if that System Sentinel warning goes away. This sucks because I just built a brand new system with 4800+ and 7800GTX EVGA(470mhz). Currently, I get the dialog on boot up and I?m getting about 5500 on 3dmark05, which I should be getting at least 7500. I?m crossing my fingers that it?s only a PS issue because if the 600w supply doesn?t fix it, then the card is getting RMA?d.

 

[walk2k]

That means you don't have the PCI-E power connector hooked up. Open it up and plug it in.

 

[metalstorm203]

Originally posted by: walk2k
That means you don't have the PCI-E power connector hooked up. Open it up and plug it in.

Thanks for the suggestion but I do have the PCI-E connectors plugged in. I checked this and have tried both the doggle with two 4 pin molex and the dedicated PS one too. Any other suggestions would be helpful. After knowing that I have used the connector, do you feel that it could be the Thermaltake PS?

 

[metalstorm203]

Also, I like to add that when I run 3dmark05, it at the end it reports back that my video GPU speed is 8.9mhz.

 

[walk2k]

3dMark does that sometimes, I wouldn't worry about that. It said my old 6800GT was running at 1Mhz..

You said there was a switch on the PSU for the 12v rail, have you tried flipping it? If that doesn't work I'd RMA the PSU since it seems like it's not getting enough power to the video card.

 

[metalstorm203]

Bleakspeed mentioned his did. Mine does not since it has a single 12v rail.

 

[metalstorm203]

Here's an update. I put a Seasonic 600w PS in and I'm still getting the system sentinel error. Currently on my system I'm getting about 5300 on 3dmark05. I pulled the card out and put in in other system(p4 3.8ghz) and I alsot get the system sentinel error and the same pitiful 5300 score on it.

The 6800GT I pulled out of the other system does not give me a sentinel power dialog in my system. 3dmark05 gives me a score of 4267. Is this score about right for a stock score?

Are people that are getting 7500 with their 7800GTXs tweaking to get that or is that pretty much bone stock?