Gainward GF3 Ti/450 / Ti200 PROBLEM!

[Bulldog7000]

Just got my Gainward GF3 Ti200 from NewEgg and I swapped my GF2MX out of my Dell and put the GF3 in. It now POSTS (counts the RAM, etc) but then it goes no further. SCSI BIOS doesn't come up to detect my drives, I also tried booting from and IDE with no success.


PIII 866
DELL 4100 i815E board
512MB PC133
intel pro100
ATI XPERT128 PCI
SBLIVE
TEKRAM DC-390U3W (2 x Quantum Atlas 10KII and 2 x Plextor Opticals CDRW/CDROM)
IDE 20GB drive

refer to "my rigs" below for detailed info.

Anybody else had this kind of problem??

BDOG

 

[John]

try the latest mobo bios.

 

[Bulldog7000]

<< try the latest mobo bios. >>



Got that already. version A10 from Dell. This is weird. I put my Elsa GF2 MX back in and it works great. I am gonna try the GF3 in another box later today.

BDOG

 

[Bulldog7000]

Can this be DOA even though it activates the monitor and shows the post? It seems to be a mere conflict. I dunno...... ANYBODY>?

 

[DN]

I know you said you tried the IDE, but specifically, have you "taken out/removed" the SCSI controller (if possible) and tried using the on-board IDE only..? Is the SCSI built-in, if so, disable it and try again..

 

[Bulldog7000]

Yup, tried that too! removed EVERYTHING except the GF3 and also unplugged unnecessary devices to see if it was a power issue. I think I need to get a different MB or build a seperate gaming system to put this card in.

Here is what I have so far.

EPOX EP-8KHA+ VIA Apollo KT266A
AMD 1700+/266 FSB Athlon XP PROCESSOR CPU- OEM
512mb High Perf PC2100 Mushkin CL2
ENERMAX EG365P-VE (FM). 350W
Intel PRO/100 S Network Adapter
PIONEER INTERNAL ATAPI 16X DVD-ROM MODEL 106S
SB LIVE 5.1 Value
Somesort of bombastic Cooling device for the XP possibly Alpha
Already have a Maxtor 20GB to use.
Gonna build a case

Comments!?

BDOG

 

[DN]

1. Try the GF3 in another PC just to make sure it functions..
2. If #1 works then contact Dell support -- that PC should be compatible with a GF3, so..

 

[BadThad]

Have to ask the obvious....Did you change your display driver to Standard VGA before you swapped them? Whoa...you still trying to run 2 video cards? What OS?

 

[DN]

<< Have to ask the obvious....Did you change your display driver to Standard VGA before you swapped them? Whoa...you still trying to run 2 video cards? What OS? >>



He doesn't even get to his SCSI boot sequence, so I don't think it has anything to do with his OS, unless there's something he's not telling us..

 

[rickn]

You can always try to clear your cmos. You have the i815e, so you have built in video (I would guess). connect your monitor up to your i815e graphics output, then go into the bios and change it to AGP. That's all I can think of.

 

[Bulldog7000]

No built in video. I had to do the little BIOS reset trick on my brothers ASUS CUSL2 i815 board before. But I see the VGA BIOS and then the system POST info (RAM, HDD, BIOSversion, etc) Then when the SCSI BIOS should come up, it just black screens and sits there. No SCSI bus activity light, IDE light or anything. I think Dell BIOS (I have the latest) doesn't like that setup. When I drop the GF2MX back in, everything is peachy.

 

[Bulldog7000]

OK. It is definitely NOT the card. Tried it in a box with an ASUS CUSL2-C and it worked flawlessly! NICE card, glad I bought it. The next challenge is to convince my Dell/Intel MB to take it and run with it. I have thought about trying a previous BIOS version (downgrade),, I have played with the various settings in BIOS such as: PRIMARY VGA -> AGP/PCI, but I am still considering the idea of building another pooter.

BDOG

 

[Bovinicus]

Yeah, try to clear the CMOS and see what happens.

 

[Bulldog7000]

OK, I will try the CMOS clear tonite. What do you guys think fo BIOS downgrade if the clear doesn't work?

BDOG

 

[DN]

<< OK, I will try the CMOS clear tonite. What do you guys think fo BIOS downgrade if the clear doesn't work?

BDOG >>



Try enabling the BIOS option "plug and play OS" (something like that) beforehand..

 

[Bulldog7000]

Tried the PnP OS deal already. Thanks for all the suggestions DN and all. I will let you know what clearing CMOS does.

BDOG

 

[Bulldog7000]

None of that worked..... tried the CMOS clear, and that didn't do anything.... downgraded to the previous BIOS version..... I dunno.... Might call up Dell.


BDOG

 

[grifterspawn]

Think the AGP memory settings would do anything? I.E. if its set to 32 or 64 try it higher, etc...

 

[Bulldog7000]

tried the memory thing too! no avail. hmmmmm

 

[grifterspawn]

Could it be that the card is agp 2x/4x and your mobo only supports 1x?

 

[Bulldog7000]

My MB is an i815 which supports 4x. I run a GF2MX at 4x, so it can't be that. The Dell BIOS just doesn't like the card.

BDOG