No Video or post with several GF cards on my 8KHA+

[KaRRiLLioN]

I am having a strange strange problem. I have the following hardware:
Athlon XP 1800+
on Epox 8KHA+
Antec 400W Server case (black)
Asus T5 Deluxe GF3 Ti 500
1.5 GB Mushkin High perf DDR
SB Audigy
Plextor 24/10
Toshiba 16x DVD
Sony G520 Monitor

This computer works great and I've had not problems with it at all. I did have a LeadTek GF3 Ti500 that was replaced by the Asus because I wanted the extra options. OK now to the strange part. I ordered 2 Athlon XP 1900+ chips, one with an Epox 8KHA+, and the other with a Soyo K7V Dragon Plus mobo. As far as the other stuff went it was identical to the first computer.

When I tried the Epox and 1900+, I got no video at all. I tried several cards and got nothing. It also wouldn't do anything without any cards in it at all so I RMA'd it. With the Dragon Plus I put in my LeadTek GF3 Ti500. It wouldn't POST, no video. I tried my old Geforce 1 card. No POST. I tried an old Intel based AGP card..No POST. I tried my old Matrox G200 AGP card and it POSTed! I took out all of the cards except Video and one stick of Mushkin RAM in the first DIMM slot and tried all of the vid cards again. None of them would post except the Matrox G200! I tried pressing each card down as hard as possible without breaking it and still none of them would work right. I called Soyo tech suppt and they had no idea, so I RMA'd the board.

About that time, my new Epox 8KHA+ replacement came in. I put the system together, put my LeadTek board in and, guess what...no POST. I tried the same tests with it, I even pulled out an old TNT2 card of mine and NONE of them would post EXCEPT the Matrox G200!!! Actually the TNT2 looked like it was going to post one time, but I never got any video. Anyway, the LED codes would just stop at FF whenever I put in anything but the MAtrox card. With the MAtrox card it would go through each error code as it POSTed and the video and such would work just fine. Just to make absolutely sure, I found my old Geforce 2 Ultra and tried it in the mobo and it wouldn't post either. I even pulled the mobo out of the case to make sure the case wasn't keeping them from being seated, and I still got no POST.

I am going crazy trying to figure this out. 2 different brand name mobos, 5 different video cards and only the Matrox G200 POST's. Just to test things even further, I put each of these cards into a P3-733 box I have and they all worked just fine. I am sure power is getting to the cards, because their fans come on (if they have one). I just cannot fathom what the problem could be. I'm even more perplexed that my first machine with the Athlon XP 1800+ works great without a hitch! I even tried out my Asus T5 Deluxe GF3 Ti500 in the new mobos and couldn't get it to POST either. I've been searching everywhere for some hint, some answer as to WTF is going on.

If anyone has ANY ideas at all, please help! I'm going freaking crazy! I'm typing this right now on one of the new Athlon XP1900+ systems I built, but my vid card is that Matrox G200. I will be miserable if I'm stuck using this vid card in this powerhouse machine.

Thanks!

 

[FalseChristian]

This might seem like a simplified answer but you may want to try an ABIT motherboard. I've had one for years with not one problem. Try setting AGP to 2x and if that doesn't work 1x. Make sure your AGP aperture size is set to 64MB.

 

[munki]

god damn, man. it sounds like you own the most amount of computer hardware of anyone ive heard of in a while. lol, i wish i had 5 or 6 vid cards like those laying around.

i dunno about the trouble, tho. that is truely screwy. doesnt sound like a fsb related deal, does it? i dunno

and you're using 1.5GB of mushkin high perf ddr?!? damn, dude, im trying to scrape together for 256mb, lol (oh yeah, and the price just went up on them and theyre not even off backorder... damn)

 

[KaRRiLLioN]

LOL!
Well this is what I do for a living, so I have some nice perks that go with it, like being able to build the fastest machine I want to for my personal use. Someone suggested that I try a different power supply in the machine, so I'm gonna give that a whirl. Who knows, maybe the voltage isn't right from it or something. That's about the only thing I can think of with 2 different mobos showing the same behaviour.

 

[Mem]

You like giving us the easy ones ,hmm all I can think of and I`ve the same board as you with Audigy and GF2 TI (all working with no problems) is try booting with minimal setup and check the 100/133 FSB jumper on the motherboard as well,did you also have the latest official bios if not flash it to that,it`s possible your Antec might be faulty and not giving enough power or correct voltage so trying another PSU is a good idea.


I did hear there was a GF3 TI 500 problem with the Epox and a later bios update fixed that so that might explain while your G200 works and your GF3 TI500 did not but as for your TNT2 card and the rest you got me beat there.
As for your Soya well not sure on that.

You got me curious now and would love to know what the problem is .Last resort is to speak with Epox tech support I hear they are good.



<< If anyone has ANY ideas at all, please help! I'm going freaking crazy! >>



It seems you have tried everything different boards, cards and your problem is so weird that it`s not logical as MR.Spock would say,one last thing you tried it out of case I wonder if shorting could be causing erradict behavior,yes all long shots but as you said even Soya Tech support are out of idea`s.

 

[KaRRiLLioN]

Yep when I tried the Soyo and this one I pulled them both out of the case and tried them and again only the G200 worked. I found an extra stud bolt or whatever those are that you screw into the case and then fasten the mobo on to, so I though perhaps it might've been a short, but that was on the first Epox mobo that I RMA'd, and it wasn't present when I put in this new Epox. I'll look at the BIOS version as well. I just downloaded motherboard Monitor. I'm gonna check the voltage on there.

This is rather perplexing, especially because 2 different mobos exhibited the same behaviour. I'm beginning to suspect either the Power supply, or the VIA chipset, but since my other machine with an almost identical config (Athlon XP 1800+ instead of 1900+) works perfectly, I doubt it's the VIA chipset.

I've never had any problems whatsoever with my home PC. Anyway I hope I can dig up the problem soon. I've posted this question on about 8 forums to see if anyone out there in techland has ever experienced this. I didn't find much info on Google.

 

[KaRRiLLioN]

OK I've gotten it! Someone on Toms Hardware suggested I replace my PSU, so I stuck in a 300W sparkle PSU to test it and now everything works perfectly! I tell ya, it's amazing what a tiny difference in voltage or something can do to your PC.