Reports of Radeon 9700 Pro not working in AGP 8X mobos!!

[Rick67]

We need to get to the bottom of this! I've read reports of people not being able to get their 9700 Pro to work in a 8X mobo. This is just one post I've found: rage3d.com

 

[308nato]

Interesting. Thanks; now, be prepared to be called an NvIdi0t shortly.

 

[Mootorks]

Lets not panic here.

As far as we know these are just isolated incidents. According to ATI there are no problems found with AGP 8X and the Radeon 9700. Here's a direct quote from an ATI representative on the Rage3D forums:

As far as I know, we haven't found any issues with AGP8X chipsets. I don't have the whole test data with me but I know we tested a lot with VIA P4X400. No problem. We got a newer version of SiS648, no more crashes with this chipset. We also test KT400 but I don't have the test result.

I guess we'll have to wait see. Once people start getting their new motherboards, we'll know for sure.

-Mootorks

 

[Rick67]

The reason I'm a little concerned is because I'm getting my 9700 Pro tomorrow and my ASUS P4S8X on Monday or Tuesday. I'm not going to be a happy camper if I have the same problem.

 

[Soulkeeper]

" Lets not panic here. " --rational people are great
haha i agree

 

[Rick67]

It looks like there is a problem with the Radeon 9700 Pro working with AGP 8X mobos. Take a look at this thread: 3drage.com

 

[ToBeMe]

Yep, there definately is........I also found the 9700 I have will not do ANYTHING on my SR7-8X BUT, it works fine on my P4S533. Also, my 8500 and my Ti4600 will work fine on the SR7-8X!

 

[jamesbond007]

ATi had better get their arses in gear! I hope a remedy will lie within a BIOS update.

:-/

 

[VSEKH]

I am going to have my 9700 board RMAd if I need to get one that will work as a few people have according to Rage3D if a bios update does not come out soon. Let's hope that the bios update comes out soon since I lot of us have or are getting a modo with the SIS648 chipset and the 9700 board.

 

[Rick67]

I just got off the phone with ATI Canada tech support and they ARE aware of the 9700 Pro not working with AGP 8X mobos!! I was told the card requires a BIOS update. Unfortunately, the BIOS on the 9700 Pro can't be flashed. If your card doesn't work in your mobo then you'll have to contact ATI and they'll send you a new card.

My mobo doesn't get here until Monday and ATI won't send me a new card until I try it in my mobo. I got the feeling he new my card was one of the bad ones based on my part number but he didn't want to do anything until I actually tried it. So it looks like I'm on hold until Monday.

I know someone of you will have your card and mobo this weekend. Please get back with us on how your install went.

 

[tcsenter]

Anyone know whether this is affecting 'built by' ATI or 'powered by' ATI cards, or both?

 

[Rick67]

That's a good question. My card is a built by ATi retail box from newegg.

 

[Airdale30]

AHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! Sorry but I couldnt help but to laugh, some of you are so anxious to see the results of a 8x agp combined with the 9700 pro. I would too if I were you but let this be a lesson to all of us that sometimes its worth waiting too see the bugs get worked out before hopping on the bandwagon so soon. Hey guys HEY!!!!!!!!! slow down doom 3 still isnt out yet. LOL!!!

 

[Rick67]

Airdale30,

I needed a mobo and didn't see any reason not to buy one with all the bells and wistles. I guess I've learned a good lesson. Next time I'll let someone else test the latest and greatest.

Building my first PC is turning into a real bummer. :frown:

 

[gooddayeh]

I have just installed a Radeon 9700 Pro (built by ATI) in an Asus P4S8X. the bios is set to 8X. it boots fine.
The bios rev is 1003a
I am loading Windows Xp right now.

 

[Rick67]

gooddayeh,

Well, that's good to hear! Now where did you get your Radeon from and what's the P/N (Part Number)?

 

[Thraxen]

Well, I'm about to find out. I just got a P4S8X and Radeon 9700 in the mail today for a new PC I'm building. Getting ready to start now. It best work or I'm going to ship this card back and go buy a Ti4600 and just wait for the next Nvidia card.

 

[gooddayeh]

The P/N is 1029420611 064189
I bought it through a distributor in Markham (Toronto)
Althon Inc.

 

[gooddayeh]

The Board i just got through a distributor in Toronto. It was new stock. The bios is a beta version.(rev a)
Maybe that's what they had to do to get the 8X card to boot??

 

[Rick67]

gooddayeh,

Are you talking about the mobo BIOS or the Radeon BIOS? If you're talking about the Radeon BIOS, how did you find out what version it was?

BTW, my part number is the same as yours. Maybe mine will also work. Anyway, is your system up and running now?

 

[gooddayeh]

The 1003A is the mobo bios. It must be a beta.
Asus website only shows 1002 as the first and only bios release and the 1003 is in the beta section.
I have had one stop error (stop 7A) loading XP. I left the ATA controller and the lan enabled.
I disabled both and am waiting to load again.

 

[LethalDose]

Well I have bad news for some Abit SR7-8X users. They don't work well together. Seems they like to freeze, reboot and generally cause havok with my machine. I have even called ATI tech support and those jokers dont know whats up. They said that they had some reports of 8X compatability with certain chipsets, SIS beign one of them. Now this is a brand new machine. New, never used parts. I did a fresh install no hitches. I installed all drivers like AGP, IDE and video. I have done all the windows updates, even XP Sp1. Updated the mobo bios, tried the chipset drivers from SIS and even tried the beta drivers from ATI. All to no avail. I then got pissed and put my GeForce 3 back in and BAM!!!!!!!!! It worked like a champ. I even went as far as to put the card (9700) into one of my other machines (KG-7 Raid) and got benchmarks like never before. Not only that, the machine hasn't crashed once with the 9700 in it. So my conclusion is that ATI needs to fix the issues before it gets out of hand. I mean come on saying the card will work with 8x AGP and then it doesnt on all boards is crap. Just my 2 cents.

 

[tcsenter]

So my conclusion is that ATI needs to fix the issues before it gets out of hand. I mean come on saying the card will work with 8x AGP and then it doesnt on all boards is crap. Just my 2 cents.

Of course, that some flaw with the motherboard and/or BIOS may be contributing to this problem seems to have been overlooked.

 

[Rick67]

I don't think anyone thinks it's a mobo/BIOS problem because the card doesn't work on any of the 8X mobos! ATI has already said it's a problem with the Radeons BIOS.

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Most likely a timing issue with the AGP bus, does the card work if the mobo bios is forced to 4x mode? If nobody has any problems on the new Intel boards, then the 8x timings must either be perfect on the Intel board and bad on a large number of others, or Intel may have given ATI test boards that are out of spec to *ahem* piss *ahem* everyone off that buys mobos from other vendors. (why not)