Radeon 9600 Pro not playing nice

[jaylek55]

I have a friend who wanted to get an inexpensive graphics card for her aging system running a MSI K7T Pro2. I originally got her a Geforce 6200 as a replacement but that card while it worked did not render graphics correctly. And since I sent in the rebate for the card already, could send it back to the vendor.

So I go out and buy a Radeon 9600 Pro but the computer refuses to display anything. I tried the card on another machine running a Soyo K7V Dragon Plus and the card behaved the same way, nothing is displayed. So I assumed it was bad. I RMAed back to the vendor for a replacement.

And guess what, the replacement does the same thing. I refused to believe I had 2 bad cards so I tried the 9600 Pro on a newer system running a Gigabyte GA-K8U and the card worked! WTF!?

Can anyone tell me what I'm missing here? Why does this 9600 Pro not get along with the older boards? Is there something with the K7T Pro2 and Dragon Plus that is not allowing the 9600 Pro to work? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[robisbell]

sounds like either the motherboard or PSU is dying, or both.

could you download and install http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php and post the screen of the temp and power levels?

 

[jaylek55]

PSUs on both machines are fine...I mean they both run Win XP with multiple hard and optical drives. I have no idea what the PSU is on my friends PC since it's not here but the spare one with the Soyo is running a 300W Antec with 2 opticals, mobo and 1 hard drive.

 

[robisbell]

well, I am glad you are totally sure about temps and power. since we can't tell, the basic answer would be the boards going without the info requested.

 

[jaylek55]

I'm pretty sure the board is fine, but what do I know. I'm going to try swapping out the PSU with something more powerful and see it that helps.

 

[robisbell]

you just said the PSU's are fine. why would you swap them out?

 

[jaylek55]

The PSU works fine for the systems as they are but with the Radeon installed in them, display nothing. Perhaps the PSU on the 2 older systems aren't enough for the Radeon. I mean, I have no clue. It's just another avenue I'm investigating.

 

[robisbell]

well, what are the wattages of the PSU's you have access to and have tested?

 

[jaylek55]

550W on the one where it works. 300W and I believe 250W on the ones that it doesn't work on.

 

[robisbell]

I'm going to say then the PSU's are suspect if it boots with the 500w, and not the others. is the 500w hers or from another machine?

 

[jaylek55]

500W is from another PC used in my house. The 250W is hers...the 300W from a spare PC I use for guests and testing.

 

[robisbell]

I'd replace the PSU.

 

[jaylek55]

I'm going to try doing that today and see what the story is. Keep you posted.

 

[robisbell]

thanks! good luck!

 

[jaylek55]

So new 500W PSU and still no luck in getting this card to work with the Soyo. I can only think that this card needs the extra power from a 4 pin that this mobo and the one my friend has does not have. This is very frustrating.

 

[robisbell]

4 pin, what does this plug look like that's on the card? does it look like what a floppy drive uses or a hdd uses?

 

[jaylek55]

There is no plug on the card. The card looks like any other AGP card with the exception that the AGP connector on the bottom doesn't isn't divided in 3 sections like the 6200 she has, but 2. See images below.

9600 Pro

6200 Pro

What bothers me is that the 9600 Pro which is older tech, doesn't work in the old MSI k7t Pro but the 6200 Pro does (at least in terms of displaying Windows and regular 2D graphics...since the main problem is rendering in WoW that's prompted all this hoopla).

 

[robisbell]

what did you mean by this then "I can only think that this card needs the extra power from a 4 pin"??

I think I may have an answer, but the statement you made leaves me with another question.

the board is AGP4x, if that's the exact card you're trying to using, then it's AGP8x. the soyo board is AGP4x as well. I'd like to look up the exact make of 9600 pro you have, some of them were AGP4x, but without a manufacturer, I'm going to have to assume it's a 8x card.
also, unless it's new, I'd suspect a bad card.

but, would like to know what you meant.

 

[jaylek55]

I was talking about the extra 4 pin needed to power today's newer mobos. Since it works on the Gigabyte GA-K8U, I'm making the assumption that the extra power to the board is what's making the 9600 Pro work on it.

I was under the assumption that AGP cards are all backwards compatible. I mean the works fine, except for playing computer games, on the old MSI K7T Pro. Why not the 9600 Pro?

The 6200 Pro she currently has is here. The 9600 Pro is here.

 

[robisbell]

well, some were and some were not. is the radeon a new card or used? I am also concerned that the 6200 does not render graphics correctly. how much ram is she running, and what type and model?

 

[jaylek55]

The Radeon is brand new. She's running 1 GB of Mushkin RAM...2 x 512, PC133, 990703 model. They were from a previous system I used to have.

 

[robisbell]

well since the site did not give specifics on the card, I'd have to say it's the motherboard since the Geforce would not work properly.

 

[jaylek55]

*sigh* I'll break the news to her. Now to see if I can possibly get this 9600 Pro taken back.

Thanks for the help.

 

[robisbell]

sorry, it happens when they are left alone and not given the care they deserve, let me know what she wants to do.