Black-screen problem with new GeForce Ti4200

[brybarczyk]

Hi all. I just bought an AOpen Aeolus GeForce Ti4200 128 MB video card. Now that I've installed it, I run into a problem when trying to play games like Unreal Tournament 2003 or attempting to run 3DMark2001. The monitor goes black, as though it's gone into sleep mode, and I can't "wake it up." This problem does not happen (hasn't yet, anyway) when doing basic tasks like using MS Office apps, so it only happens when the video card gets leaned on a little bit.

My first guess is that maybe my 300W power supply isn't giving the card what it needs. But that's really just a guess.

I downloaded the latest drivers for my card from AOpen's site, and will try those tonight, but my hunch is that it's not a driver problem. As a side question, would you recommend using the AOpen drivers or ones taken directly from nVidia's site? nVidia's drivers appear to be several months newer than AOpen's.

Anyway, please, any advice is welcome. I know my way around a motherboard a bit, but I'm hardly an expert, so even if you think it's obvious, please share your thoughts. Thanks.

System specs:
1.2GHz AMD Duron
AOpen Aeolus GeForce4 Ti4200 128MB
256MB PC133 SDRAM
ECS K7S5A motherboard

 

[AnAndAustin]

Most common probs with these symptoms are too much heat (inadequate case ventilation, poor airflow or a poorly placed PSU), inadequate PSU or drivers. Check you have good airflow and adequate ventilation although if it was a heat prob the game should still run albeit for a short time. You could try getting a new PSU, branding is very important and ones to get are ideally Antec or Enermax although ToPower, SFlower and Sparkle are good choices too. If you buy an unknown brand then be more generous with the wattage but a branded 350W should be more than fine. As for drivers, and this is very common when upgrading the gfx card, it is remnants of drivers, settings, files and reg entries which tend to cause the probs, you may need to do more than simply uninstall the old one. A fresh install of the OS may be the best long term solution. The best drivers to use are the latest official ones and this goes for all your hw rather than just the gfx card, be sure to check both manu and chipset websites. nvidia's would be a wiser choice than AOpen's, but it doesn't hurt to try them both. If you are o/c'ing anything inside your PC be sure to set it back to default as the 4200 may simply be kicking out more heat etc than the previous card.

Unfortunately AOpen use 4.5ns in their 4200-128MB which means that the 444mhz standard RAM clock is VERY near the technical limit of the RAM and therefore can result in less stability and certainly a very poor o/c. Your 4200 gpu should be fine to at least 275mhz but you may want to try downclocking the RAM a bit to see if this helps.

It could be simply a faulty card or some wierd obscure incompatability. HTH!

 

[brybarczyk]

Thanks for the ideas. Based on your feedback, it looks like I'm on the right track with some of the solutions I'm attempting. I already ordered a new PSU, and since it's an off-brand, I went with the 400W instead of a 350. Kinda wishing now that I'd gone ahead and bucked up for a better name, but I went shopping before learning that brands make a difference in PSUs. Live and learn. We'll see what happens with the PSU when it arrives next week.

If it's not the power, then my next guess is that I'm running too hot. The game (UT2003) will load and run for a little bit, as will 3DMark2001, but at most I can play (or benchmark) for 10-15 minutes before I get the lovely black screen. The last time it happened, I quickly rebooted and checked the temp in the BIOS, and it said only about 115F. Given that the system cooled a little during shutdown, does that temp seem too high? I wish there was a way to check temp while running the game. Would be enlightening.

I downloaded the latest nVidia drivers (direct from nVidia) and tried that this morning. No luck. Also tried manually setting the monitor refresh rate to 60Hz, in case that was the problem. No luck.

I've also downloaded AGP drivers from SiS that I plan to try. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I need to uninstall any of the existing mobo drivers before installing the new ones. Any advice there would be helpful, if anyone has any.

Finally, I'm going to search for some monitor drivers to see if there are any. Unfortunately, my monitor is Gateway branded, and was made in 1998, so I have no idea if I'll even find specific drivers for it.

By the way, since ATI's lousy driver uninstall program didn't work (my previous card was a Radeon 8500LE), I did a clean format/install to ensure that they were gone. Also, I don't do any o/c'ing, but I'm intrigued by the idea of underclocking to see if that helps at all.

Barring ALL those possible solutions, I may have to cast an eye at my ECS K7S5A mobo. It's hard to find people who say good things about it. We'll see. Anyway, thanks for the advice, and if anyone else has any, please jump in. This has been very helpful...

 

[AnAndAustin]

I'd say temps are most likely the cause. You may need to maximise ventilation and add some case fans, or else a new case would be in order. If you go case fans then the ideal places are at the bottom front pulling cold air in and at the back near the CPU pulling warm out out, but rem you need good local ventilation for these fans to do that. It is very diff to get accurate temp readings, the BIOS is the best place but you can also try sw from the mobo manu or 3rd party tools like Motherboard Monitor 5. In any case any readings you do get are more of a rough guide best suited to seeing the diff in temps when under load, diffs between CPU and case and what diffs adding case fans/ventilation actually make.

If the game comes up at all then it isn't likely to be driver or monitor related. It's certainly worth trying SiS's latest drivers, check their website for info but generally you simply install the new drivers over the top.

One final point, have you tried stressing the CPU in a non-gaming way? It's worth checking the HSF is fitted properly and up to scratch and also that you are using only a small amount of thermal paste. Also try reseating the gfx card, and possibly the PCI and RAM as well, maybe even try diff slots.

 

[brybarczyk]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to invest in some cooling for my case. I actually have a n00b question about case fans. I understand where some of the fans I've seen get installed - some occupy a PCI slot, others fit into a drive bay, etc. But looking at my (ancient/boxy/ugly) case, I don't see where I'd install any new case fans (meaning the squarish ones). How do those install? Would I need to upgrade my case to use them? I've tried to find articles about this, but have had no luck thus far - perhaps it's so simple people feel like it doesn't need explanation. A little nudge in the right direction would be appreciated; I can take it from there.

What are your opinions of the fans that install in PCI slots and/or drive bays? Worth buying?

Also, how would one stress the CPU in a non-gaming way? None of my other apps are really ones that I would call processor-intensive.

Again, thanks a TON for your help, and I will definitely keep you posted on my progress.

 

[brybarczyk]

Okay...never mind the question about installing case fans. I took my uninformed ass to Best Buy and snooped around a few cases, saw that they have what mine lacks - built-in spots in which to mount case fans. That's what I get for using a four-year-old case. I am enlightened - or think I am - about those.

All other questions still apply...curious about stressing a CPU w/o launching a game...

 

[brybarczyk]

Depression is beginning to set in.

I bought two fans, one that sits in one of my drive bays, and one of those PCI-slot fans. Still got the black-screen problem. But...I'm not convinced about how much good the fans are doing. From what I can tell, they're only lowering my CPU temp by about 4 degrees C and the system temp by about 2 degrees C. Hardly a significant difference.

I did notice while I was under the hood that I do in fact have a spot to mount a case fan. But it's hardly ideal...between the fan mount and the outside air are the little speaker and the outer plastic shell on the front face of the case. Putting a fan there would likely help, but I don't know how much.

I also loaded the latest nVidia drivers, and the latest AGP drivers from SiS...no effect. Problem still exists.

So, as best as I can tell, I either need to provide more cooling to my system somehow (which may entail buying a new case), or hope that my 400W power supply does the trick when it arrives. Though at this point, I'm really concerned that it's a heat issue that I can't adequately address with my current case. Sucks. Don't have enough $$ for a new case at this point, and I'm not sure I want to make the investment when I'm not 100% sure it will necessarily help.

Of course, the final option is to send back the card and eat my 15% restocking fee (about $21, plus shipping). That ultimately may be what I have to do. Sucks!

 

[ScrewFace]

I think maybe you got a bad card. RMA it and grab a GeForce4-Ti4400. A much better videocard.

 

[brybarczyk]

Yeah, I'm beginning to think the same thing. That's what I get for buying an AOpen, I think. I'll try the 400W PSU when it gets here on Wednesday, but if that doesn't do the trick - and I really doubt it will - the card will go back the next day.

By the way, AOpen's tech support suggested I flash the mobo BIOS. Sorry, but to me, better framerates on my games is not worth the risks inherent in flashing the BIOS.

 

[rogue1979]

Boot up in safe mode and check to see how many display adapters are listed, make sure there is only one, as well as monitors. Completey remove all drivers:

add/remove programs
actual files in C: or Program Files folder
use search find to delete all NV*.* or ATI*.* or 3dfx*.* or anything else you've had in there
Go to the registry and remove and Nvidia Corporation, ATI Technologies as well as checking the HKey_Local_Machine, System, CurrentControlSet, Services, Class, Display, and removing any folder numbered 0000, 0001, 0002 ect.
change your display adapter to Standard VGA, then try loading the drivers.

There also could be an IRQ problem that is not recognized by Windows. Try removing your modem, network card, and sound card temporarily and see if it works.

At this point I would suspect a software/configuration problem first, a hardware failure last. Nothing would be worse than to go through the hassle of a RMA and replacement, only to have the same problem again. I was using the SiS 745 chipset and had similar problems which could be worked out (after alot of work!).