9700 Pro Video card not working

[Captk]

I picked up a 9700 pro video card to replace the MX440 card I am using. My system is a MSI 6380 motherboard with 2600xp cpu, 768 mb 2100 memory, 300 w power supply. System has been solid. Installed the new card and connected the power, the system locks up, icons do not all display after booting. Very erratic behaviour. Tried to reboot multiple times, sytem progressed different each time. Tried to play Doom3 when I could get that far and the video is terrible, distorted and unplayable. I searched for any updates for my drivers and could not find anything that I need to install. I am running xp svc pk 2. I replaced my old card and the system is fine. I also installed the latest drivers from ATI. The seller said he never used the card. My guess is the card is bad. I have asked to return the card. Before I do, is there anything that someone might suggest. This is a plug and play card and I should not have any problems with it. I am giving the seller the benifit of the doubt that he id not know there was something wrong with the card, if there is something wrong. I search about 6 hours yesterday and could not find anything that would lead me to think that there was anything other then the card being bad.
Ken

 

[blodhi74]

What is make of your PSU. 9700 pro draws a lot more power than MX440. Did uninstall the nivida drivers before installing ATI ?? How is the air flow in the case?

 

[Captk]

OK, I upgaded my power supply from 300w to 430w. I also deleted the drivers fron Nvidia and reloaded the ATI drivers. Same problems. Sometimes it reboots when coming up, other times it will run for a few minutes before rebooting or locking up. I did get an error message "VPU Recovery has reset your Graphics accelerator as it was no longer responding to the graphic driver commands" I go this message a couple of times. I still think the card is bad. Also noticed that if you look closely at the screen, sometimes it looks like there is a faint outline of a excel worksheet with all of the boxes. Also started to get what can best be described as bars across the screen like you are looking out from a jail cell(not that I've been in jail). Also had the screen become 1 vertical line about 1/16" wide at one point with the rest of the screen blank. For what I spent on a new power supply and the card I could've just bought a new card with a warranty.
Ken

 

[mechBgon]

Do you have this thing plugged in? Sorry if that's a dumb question Also, is the power supply a quality brand? because there's plenty of overrated junk PSUs out there. Quality first, wattage next

 

[Captk]

Yes I have it plugged in. The power supply is a Extreme Power 430W. I have purchased a FX 5900 card to replace this. I am attempting to return the card for a refund. When I can get the system to come up I get repeated VPU errors until it crashes. When I put my MX440 card back in everything is fine. It looks like I bought a bad card. Seller said he did not use it so I'll assume he thought it worked. My system is rock solid. I can't think of anything else to get this card to work.
Ken

 

[mechBgon]

The power supply is a Extreme Power 430W

Never heard of 'em. Antec, Enermax, Fortron/SPI, even Enlight or AOpen... sure Well, if you install an FX5900 you should know real quick if it's the PSU or not, they're hungry beasts.

What else you might do, is update your motherboard drivers if you haven't done so. It's a KT266 board, so use VIA's latest 4-in-1 drivers from this page.

 

[Captk]

mechBgon,
Thanks for the link. I updated the drivers and reinstalled the 9700 Pro Card. Same as before, when windows boots up, look like punch card holes in the windows logo. When the screen comes up with the icons, some are not displayed. Then the message the VPU is not responding appears and it is being reset. System reboots on its own. When navigating, the boxes to shrink/enlarge/close the window in the upper right are not displayed. If you click the mouse where the bxes should be, the windows close/shrink/enlarge like they should. Again, this should be plug and play. I am sending it back with the hope the seller will refund my money. Well what do you think, bad card or what?
Thanks for the help, Ken

 

[mechBgon]

If it were in a modern motherboard with a good-quality power supply and I had methodically eliminated all the likely issues including possible chipset-IRQ conflicts, then I would conclude that I need to try to return the card. Your motherboard is (sorry for this) a relic from VIA's tarnished past, and the power supply is one I've never heard of, so I sort of assume it's a cheap generic unit. So there are some uncertainties here.

Yeah, it could be a bad 9700 Pro too. If the FX5900 works perfectly, then there's your support for the bad-Radeon theory

 

[Captk]

Never thought of my Motherboard as a relic but I guess it is a little dated. It is a solid system. Never had a problem until this video card. I should have the FX 5900 card sometime this week. The guy I bought the card from said he never used, bought for his girlfriends PC and it wouldn't fit because she had a PCIE MB not AGP. I think I've tried enough to get this to work. What about all of the VPU not responding error messages? Just want to play MOH Pacific Assault. I will hold onto the card and see if the FX 5900 is ok, then I'll return the 9700, if not, anyone need a 9700 Pro..................Ken

 

[mountcarlmore]

nvidia and ait do not like each other, you cant just delete the nvidia driver, you have to erase the fact that it ever existed on the computer. use driver cleaner from drivercleaner.net

 

[Captk]

Ran driver remover as recommended. The VPU errors stopped but the display is still bad. Tried to play doom3 again and same result, screen is all distorted. Back to the MX440...Ken

 

[mountcarlmore]

well, tough luck then, the card seems to be a pos. hope you dont have a hard time returning it.

 

[Captk]

I'll wait until I get the FX 5900 and see what happens. I bought it off this board from a member here. I sent him an email when I first installed to let him know it was not working and about 5 or 6 since then letting him know of the problems I am having and what I tried to do to remedy it. I have not heard back from him. Hoping he is just away and not avoiding me. I would like to think he will do the right thing, he say's he never used the card. It might turn out to be my system, you never know. Thanks for the advice, Ken

 

[Captk]

OK, installed the FX 5900 card, same sort of problems, won't boot up, bars across the screen. Could this be my MSI 6380 MB? It has a 4x agp slot, card is 8x. reloaded all of the drivers again, used driver remover to rid all ATI drivers. Any thoughts? Also any suggestions for a new motherboard that will alow me to use my existing hardware (2600xp, 2100 memory, if that is the problem. I will shoot off an email to MSI to see if they can tell me if my MB will support these cards.
Ken