Can't get my nVidia GF 7600GS to work on my MSI mobo

[Borg20001]

Okay, I have a MSI K8NGM-V Socket 754 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard with 1Gig of RAM, an AMD Sempron 64 2800+ Palermo 1.6GHz Socket 754 Processor all powered by an Ultra-V 500W PSU (12v rails have 28Amps).

I purchased a 3D Fuzion 3DFR76256GSE Geforce 7600GS 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card but have not been able to get it to run on this PC.

I recently RMA's the original 7600GS card and I received the RMA'd 7600GS card yesterday and went home to install it. I opened up the case and plugged in the new 7600GS.

Then I powered up the PC and unfortunately saw nothing on the monitor. I waited a bit and then switched the monitor cable from the onboard vid card port to the new 7600GS port but still saw nothing. So I killed the power.

Then I unplugged the 7600 and and powered up with the monitor plugged into the onboard and saw the BIOS screen, hit DEL and went to the Advanced CMOS setup and selected PCI Express for the video card and left the other setting "Disable Onboard if PCI-e detected".

Then I saved the settings and watched as the system went back to BIOS. Then I shut off the pc before WinXP loaded.

I plugged in the 7600 card again and powered up once more with the monitor plugged into the onboard port. Nothing showed up on the monitor, so while it was still powered up, I unplugged the monitor cable from the onboard port and plugged it into the 7600 video port.

Then I saw a broken up set of text on the monitor. The monitor screen still had the black background but at the top of the screen were word that said "nVidia 7600GS" and something else I could not make out. The text was only at the top third of the monitor screen and it seem to be rolling over itself (overlapping itself - like the old b&w tv's whent he vertical control was flaking out. I could not get the system to boot and only the top 1/3 of the monitor had any image at all, the rest was black.

So I powered down and then tried to power up again, hitting DEL to try to get to the BIOS settings, but no go. the screen stayed black.

Finally I powered down, pulled the 7600 card and repowered on the onboard video and went into the BIOS settings , reset the video to Onboard, saved and let it load windows. No problem with that.

I've spoken three times to 3D Fuzion's Tech Support and ended up getting a bigger PSU (the 500W vs. a 430W Thermotake with 12V (18Amps) rails) and then RMA'ing the video card.

So now I am stumped as to what to do next? Should I RMA the motherboard?

I had heard of some folks having problems with this card and Asus motherboards, and one person mentioned a problem with his MSI k8nGM2-FID motherboard (this all on newegg.com).

Any other suggestions?

 

[Borg20001]

Bump for some help...Anyone?

 

[Indus]

msi update for motherboard. Look up a program called msi live update and see what is out of synch on the motherboard. Also make sure you have the AMD drivers for you cpu.

 

[Borg20001]

Indus,

Thanks for the tip. I've found MSI Live Update 3.79 from MSI's site and will install that tonight.

One question, where would I find the AMD drivers update? Would I go to AMD's site or MSI's and would I look under my particular CPU?

I will try AMD's site first but if I'm headed in the wrong direction, I'd appreciate some guidance.

Thx

 

[Borg20001]

Bump for any other helpful feedback!

 

[blckgrffn]

You're doing great Let us know what happens with the live update. That would pretty sweet if a BIOS up date solved your problems. Sorry for not suggesting that earlier

 

[Borg20001]

Well, I was able to get MSI Live and it's pretty nice but when I go to update my BIOS via MSI Live, it downloads the update and starts to install it but then it gets to the point where I have to Upgrade via DOS and to do that I need to have a floppy drive (which I do not have) and the other option of Upgrading via Windows is greyed out so I can't select that.

I have an AMI Bios but I can't flash it without having a floppy drive. Help!

I upgraded everything else, vga drivers, etc. and then tried to boot up after installing the 7600 card,

This time all I got on the monitor was text at the top of the screen that stated:

GForce 7600 GS VGA BIOS V591 version 5.73.22.16.06

And then under it the copy repeated by ran over itself, like a vertical control gone bad.

Anyone have any suggestions for this?

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: Borg20001
Well, I was able to get MSI Live and it's pretty nice but when I go to update my BIOS via MSI Live, it downloads the update and starts to install it but then it gets to the point where I have to Upgrade via DOS and to do that I need to have a floppy drive (which I do not have) and the other option of Upgrading via Windows is greyed out so I can't select that.

I have an AMI Bios but I can't flash it without having a floppy drive. Help!

I upgraded everything else, vga drivers, etc. and then tried to boot up after installing the 7600 card,

This time all I got on the monitor was text at the top of the screen that stated:

GForce 7600 GS VGA BIOS V591 version 5.73.22.16.06

And then under it the copy repeated by ran over itself, like a vertical control gone bad.

Anyone have any suggestions for this?

You may need to do the ultimate bad deed and dangle a floppy out of the case for this one. Have you had any luck with MSI support? They should be able to tell you whether this is going to fix the problem. Generally, you don't "risk" a bios flash unless you need to.

Nat

 

[BassBomb]

did you disable teh onboard video before tryign to use the 7600GS?

 

[Borg20001]

Thanks for the feedback.

Bassbomb - I did go into the BIOS and in the Advanced Chipset fucntions, I changed the VGA selector from Onboard to PCI-E.

BlckGriffn - thanks but I hope I don't have to dig out a floppy drive (I had actually tried to install a floppy drive before, but the system never found it - even after making several changes in the BIOS to activate the floppy drive - but that's another story).

Here's the latest - I spoke to MSI Tech support and they suggested that I clear the CMOS. They said I should flip a jumper at JBAT1, but in looking at the mobo manual, I saw no such jumper listed on the mobo diagram.

I lieu of the jumper switch, MSI said I should unplug all power cords, remove the CMOS battery for 10 - 15 minutes, then plug in the 7600GS card, then replace the CMOS battery, then hook up to power and power up.

If this does not work, then MSI said it may be an incompatibility issue with the video card and that I should try a different type of video card, say an ATI based card vs. the nVidia card - which would suck since I had such a good deal for this nVidia 7600GS card.

I'm still skeptical about the incompatibility issue since the MSI mobo has integrated video that is an nVidia GF 6100. Why would other nVidia cards not work with it???

Does what MSI asked me to do about the CMOS battery make sense?

MSI also felt that flashing the BIOS would not solve my problem.

I would appreciate other expert views from here on this before I go off and start shelling out my cash to ATI (and giving newegg some more restocking fees).

Thanks

 

[blckgrffn]

Clearing the CMOS is one of the last things you can try in this issue. Before you yank out the battery, look for a jumper any where close to the battery. That is your guy with any luck. Unplug, move that guy over, give it ~ 30 seconds and boot it back up.

Nat

 

[Borg20001]

Bump for any other considerations I may have missed.

Thanks for the input!

 

[Borg20001]

Here's another update. I found the CMOS reset button (SW1) on my mobo and hit it, then plugged in the 7600 and powered up but just got that rolling text at the top of the monitor.

So, I guess all I have left to check now is to see if there's an inherent incompatibility with the 3D Fuzion GF 7600GS and the MSI mobo. I guess I'll see what I can get in the ATI line.

I think I can get a X1600 Pro for about $86 after rebates from NewEgg. The X1600 XT is more like $120 or so I think....

Now if the ATI vid cards don't work, then what's left?

RMA the MSI Motherboard???

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: Borg20001
Here's another update. I found the CMOS reset button (SW1) on my mobo and hit it, then plugged in the 7600 and powered up but just got that rolling text at the top of the monitor.

So, I guess all I have left to check now is to see if there's an inherent incompatibility with the 3D Fuzion GF 7600GS and the MSI mobo. I guess I'll see what I can get in the ATI line.

I think I can get a X1600 Pro for about $86 after rebates from NewEgg. The X1600 XT is more like $120 or so I think....

Now if the ATI vid cards don't work, then what's left?

RMA the MSI Motherboard???

Unfortunately, that sounds like your best bet...

Nat

 

[Indus]

I had problems with the 7600 gs at first. Both were MSI brands. I did the bios, motherboard and vga update (don't need the utilities either). And I downloaded the AMD drivers from www.amd.com (can google amd drivers.

After a reboot and updated bios, everything worked good.

 

[Borg20001]

Originally posted by: Indus
I had problems with the 7600 gs at first. Both were MSI brands. I did the bios, motherboard and vga update (don't need the utilities either). And I downloaded the AMD drivers from www.amd.com (can google amd drivers.

After a reboot and updated bios, everything worked good.

Indus,

Did you have the black monitor issue with your 7600GS? Or rather what I am having is the semi-scrolling text at the top 3rd of the monitor that just lists

GForce 7600 GS VGA BIOS V591 version 5.73.22.16.06

and then it sort of repeats it self across the top of the screen?


Also, did you have a floppy drive on your pc(s), because with MSI Live Update, it looks like I need to have a floppy drive in order to complete the BIOS update (DOS update).

The Windows option for BIOS update is not selectable.

I will try what you are saying and see if I can get the BIOS and Drivers updates done and see if I can get the AMD drivers as well.

Is this first one on this page the AMD Driver Update that I should be loading for my AMD Sempron 2800+ 64bit CPU? Because this is the only update page that I found on AMD for the Sempron processor -

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/Tec...lResources/0,,30_182_871_11686,00.html

I'd appreciate any feedback you can give me - and thnx!

 

[daveybrat]

There are known compatiblity issues with that 3Dfuzion 7600GS and Nvidia 6100 series chipset motherboards. Return the card and stick with a better brand like Leadtek, XFX, or even MSI brand 7600 and i'll bet your new card will work fine.

 

[Borg20001]

Originally posted by: daveybrat
There are known compatiblity issues with that 3Dfuzion 7600GS and Nvidia 6100 series chipset motherboards. Return the card and stick with a better brand like Leadtek, XFX, or even MSI brand 7600 and i'll bet your new card will work fine.

In keeping with the adage - fix the cheapest thing first, would it instead make sense to RMA my MSI motherboard for a different one at newegg? As I look at it, replacing the 3d fuzion card will cost me an additional 50 - 70 bux whereas the MSI mobo only cost me $55, so perhaps I can find one that will work with the 3d Fuzion card (unless the 3D fuzion card is really a dog).

Anyone offer any alternatives or suggestions?

The MSI motherboard I would look to replace is:

MSI K8NGM-V Socket 754 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Does anyone know of a decent replacement for this?

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Borg20001]

On the other hand, I don't think I can get a refund for my motherboard. But still, would it be cheaper to replace the motherboard or return the 7600GS video card and buy a more expensive brand of the 7600GS?

I guess I could try an EVGA or PNY version of the 7600GS from Circuit city and if it works in my mobo, then I know its a compatibility issue with MSI and 3D Fuzion, then return the CC video card and get something cheaper at Newegg (Boy they are making out with the restocking fees from me. First for the 6200 I bought for my Dell 8200 that wouldn't work in it and now this 3D Fuzion 7600GS that won't work in my MSI mobo - well not really that rich, but its eating away at any savings I was initially making by going to NewEgg...sigh).

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: Borg20001
On the other hand, I don't think I can get a refund for my motherboard. But still, would it be cheaper to replace the motherboard or return the 7600GS video card and buy a more expensive brand of the 7600GS?

I guess I could try an EVGA or PNY version of the 7600GS from Circuit city and if it works in my mobo, then I know its a compatibility issue with MSI and 3D Fuzion, then return the CC video card and get something cheaper at Newegg (Boy they are making out with the restocking fees from me. First for the 6200 I bought for my Dell 8200 that wouldn't work in it and now this 3D Fuzion 7600GS that won't work in my MSI mobo - well not really that rich, but its eating away at any savings I was initially making by going to NewEgg...sigh).

Talk to a newegg rep, and while they are on the phone order something more expensive and ask them to wave the restock fee. This has always worked for me in the past

 

[Borg20001]

Originally posted by: Borg20001
I guess I could try an EVGA or PNY version of the 7600GS from Circuit city and if it works in my mobo, then I know its a compatibility issue with MSI and 3D Fuzion, then return the CC video card and get something cheaper at Newegg (Boy they are making out with the restocking fees from me. First for the 6200 I bought for my Dell 8200 that wouldn't work in it and now this 3D Fuzion 7600GS that won't work in my MSI mobo - well not really that rich, but its eating away at any savings I was initially making by going to NewEgg...sigh).

So what's the consensus here about these cards from CC or BB. Would EVGA or PNY be adequate upgrade brands from the 3D Fuzion to see if the 7600GS card will work with my MSI mobo?

Then, if one of these other brands of 7600GS cards work in my pc, I could return em and buy a permanent one from newegg for somewhat of a discount from the B&M prices.

 

[Jester666]

Call 3DFuzion/BFG again about your card and it's apparent incompatibility with your mobo. See if they will RMA your card again and send you the BFG version of the 7600gs. It's worth a try.

 

[Borg20001]

Originally posted by: Jester666
Call 3DFuzion/BFG again about your card and it's apparent incompatibility with your mobo. See if they will RMA your card again and send you the BFG version of the 7600gs. It's worth a try.

Jester,

Do you think that the BFG version will have better compatibility with the MSI mobo?

I'll give it a try.

 

[BernardP]

Originally posted by: Borg20001
Do you think that the BFG version will have better compatibility with the MSI mobo?I'll give it a try.

3DFuzion is a brand of BFG. I understand that 3DFusion is cheaper because it doesn't have BFG's lifetime warranty. Both 7600GS from 3DFusion and BFG look exactly the same.

Let's see how this new try turns out

 

[Borg20001]

Originally posted by: BernardP

Originally posted by: Borg20001
Do you think that the BFG version will have better compatibility with the MSI mobo?I'll give it a try.

3DFuzion is a brand of BFG. I understand that 3DFusion is cheaper because it doesn't have BFG's lifetime warranty. Both 7600GS from 3DFusion and BFG look exactly the same.

Let's see how this new try turns out

Well after a looong wait to talk to 3D Fuzions Tech support, I asked about the RMA swap of the 3d Fuzion card for a BFG 7600GS and he said that it would not make any difference if I was having compatibility issues. Though he did say that they knew of no compatibilitiy issues with any of the motherboards and this card and tried to blame it on a bad PCI-E slot on the mobo.

So I will probably go out and buy the EVGA 7600GS at CC and try that to see if it is the slot. Maybe if I can find one, I'll get an X1600 ATI card as well and try that and then return them all to the stores and see what to do next depending on whether any of the cards work in the mobo, and if not, then I guess RMA the mobo @ NewEgg....

A journey of 1000 miles begins with one step.....(I gotta keep remembering that I guess).

Thanks