Preparation for installing 9800 Pro

[UnatcoAgent]

Hey guys, I just picked up a 9800 Pro today, the 128 DDR version. It was on sale, I couldn't resist.

Anyway I was hoping for any pointers when installing a new video card. Basically what the process should be for replacing the card I have in now with this 9800. I currently have a TNT2 PCI and a Sapphire 9100 (main adapter) for running dual displays, both will be taken out.

Issues I'm worried about:

The first thing in the manual it says to do is to make sure you have proper AGP drivers installed, do I have to worry about this since I had a Radeon 9100 AGP card in prior?

Will my Antec ColdBlue 350Watt be enough to run this thing without having to worry?

System is as follows:

Barton 2500+ running @ stock settings
ASUS a7n8x Deluxé
1 Gig 2700 DDR
350 Watt Antec Cold Blue PS
160 ATA Westedn Digital
80 SATA Maxtor
LG Burner
LG DVD

Sapphire Radeon 9100 DDR + TNT2 PCI being removed.

Any tips are appreciated with this process guys, I realize it's very minor but I don't want to screw anything up.

Thanks.

 

[OMGoddess]

You're fine. Just make sure before you pull out the the others, go to device manager and disable them, then, unistall any drivers. Turn off put in your computer pull them out and put in the 9800pro. I think you know what to do from there.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Originally posted by: OMGoddess
You're fine. Just make sure before you pull out the the others, go to device manager and disable them, then, unistall any drivers. Turn off put in your computer pull them out and put in the 9800pro. I think you know what to do from there.

Roger that, so I should disable each of those display adapters individually, and then remove the drivers for them, powerdown/remove - put 9800 in and install latest Catalysts, correct?

 

[ApacheChief]

Well, windows SHOULD recognize the card when you boot up the computer, I'm about 100% sure on this. So no need to get drivers before hand.

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

Plugging in what you have, you only require ~300 watts, so you should be fine all around, goahead and plug 'er in

 

[OMGoddess]

Originally posted by: Sabot

Originally posted by: OMGoddess
You're fine. Just make sure before you pull out the the others, go to device manager and disable them, then, unistall any drivers. Turn off put in your computer pull them out and put in the 9800pro. I think you know what to do from there.

Roger that, so I should disable each of those display adapters individually, and then remove the drivers for them, powerdown/remove - put 9800 in and install latest Catalysts, correct?

Yes. Be sure you at least have the drivers of the 9100 handy in case something goes wrong. Congrats on a new card.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Is there a way to make sure all the previous Catalysts are off the machine? I seem to remember there being a utility that would make sure everything was wiped out, or does this really matter that much, as long as they are uninstalled?

 

[OMGoddess]

Doesn't really matter, if you uninstall it the normal way, most of it if all is gone. There won't be anything left for the OS to run because all the required commands are missing. It's just useless code. Eventually disk cleanup will get around to it.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Originally posted by: OMGoddess
Doesn't really matter, if you uninstall it the normal way, most of it if all is gone. There won't be anything left for the OS to run because all the required commands are missing. It's just useless code. Eventually disk cleanup will get around to it.

Amazing, thank you for all of your help.

I can't WAIT to get this thing in!

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: Sabot
Is there a way to make sure all the previous Catalysts are off the machine? I seem to remember there being a utility that would make sure everything was wiped out, or does this really matter that much, as long as they are uninstalled?

DriverCleaner

I never found it necessary, but for some people it has caused problems.

 

[deadken]

I would say that your power specs are fine for the power requirements you will now have. OMGoddess, was on the money in his suggestions, and you are right in your reply. Insolence is also correct that Windows should be able to detect the new card, and locate the driver files that you were using with the last ATI card you had. From there, just visit ATI.com and see if there are any new driver versions available.

BTW: What price did you pay, and where did you get it? You are killing me with the suspense!

 

[deadken]

Damn, this thread moved fast from the time I started my reply to the time I hit the 'Reply to Topic' button!

 

[OMGoddess]

One more thing is to be hassle free is to download the Catalyst onto your computer first.

here's a direct link to it: http://www.ati.com/support/dri...it.x=15&submit.y=8

That way you can boot up and install.

 

[OMGoddess]

Originally posted by: deadken
I would say that your power specs are fine for the power requirements you will now have. OMGoddess, was on the money in his suggestions, and you are right in your reply. Insolence is also correct that Windows should be able to detect the new card, and locate the driver files that you were using with the last ATI card you had. From there, just visit ATI.com and see if there are any new driver versions available.

BTW: What price did you pay, and where did you get it? You are killing me with the suspense!

I wouldn't mind knowing either.

 

[mauiblue]

I know there is freeware called "Drivercleaner" that suppose to remove all remnants of the Catalyst drivers. But when I installed the updated Cat drivers (4.10) I just used the Windows uninstall utility and then installed the updated drivers. I didn't have any problems after that.

BTW, I recently flashed my 9800 Pro 256mb/256bit card to the 9800XT BIOS. Now I have a little better performance in my core and memory speed and the Overdrive tab on the Catalyst Control Center is activated. I don't know if you can flash the your version (128mb) to the 9800XT BIOS though.

Good luck and happy gaming

 

[OMGoddess]

Originally posted by: mauiblue
I know there is freeware called "Drivercleaner" that suppose to remove all remnants of the Catalyst drivers. But when I installed the updated Cat drivers (4.10) I just used the Windows uninstall utility and then installed the updated drivers. I didn't have any problems after that.

BTW, I recently flashed my 9800 Pro 256mb/256bit card to the 9800XT BIOS. Now I have a little better performance in my core and memory speed and the Overdrive tab on the Catalyst Control Center is activated. I don't know if you can flash the your version (128mb) to the 9800XT BIOS though.

Good luck and happy gaming

Did that for a friend, I was actually suprised that there was a noticable difference.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Originally posted by: OMGoddess

Originally posted by: mauiblue
I know there is freeware called "Drivercleaner" that suppose to remove all remnants of the Catalyst drivers. But when I installed the updated Cat drivers (4.10) I just used the Windows uninstall utility and then installed the updated drivers. I didn't have any problems after that.

BTW, I recently flashed my 9800 Pro 256mb/256bit card to the 9800XT BIOS. Now I have a little better performance in my core and memory speed and the Overdrive tab on the Catalyst Control Center is activated. I don't know if you can flash the your version (128mb) to the 9800XT BIOS though.

Good luck and happy gaming

Did that for a friend, I was actually suprised that there was a noticable difference.

Yah I think I'll do this in a year or so when it's time to upgrade again, but for now this card should be fine for all my gaming needs. The card was 279$ in CANADIAN funds, so 100 something for the American users, not sure what the exchange would be.

 

[OMGoddess]

In a year or so a 256/256 9800 will be worthless, in a year you can pick up a 6800ultra for the price that you paid for your current one.

Oh and you can't flash your 128/256 9800pro to an XT.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Originally posted by: OMGoddess
In a year or so a 256/256 9800 will be worthless, in a year you can pick up a 6800ultra for the price that you paid for your current one.

Oh and you can't flash your 128/256 9800pro to an XT.

Ok, I'm not huge into overclocking anyway. Thanks again OMG!

 

[dguy6789]

Take a deep breath once you get it. Now do yoga or pilates for the next 6 months to prepare you for the experience. Once you have done this, install it and use it.

 

[mauiblue]

Originally posted by: OMGoddess
In a year or so a 256/256 9800 will be worthless, in a year you can pick up a 6800ultra for the price that you paid for your current one.

Oh and you can't flash your 128/256 9800pro to an XT.

OC or not, the card you got is a great piece of hardware especially at the price you got it at. It definately will keep you busy until the next great sale that comes along.

BTW, remember alway to reload your weapons before going around a corner or a Imp or Maggot (Doom3) will get you:evil: