DescentBB

After I install the drivers for my Powercolor x1950 AGP card and reboot Windows (Server 2003), after the loading bar screen I get a black screen.

This is a fresh install, and I have also tried it on a fresh XP Pro install, same problem.

I have an Antec Neo He 550 PSU
Tyan Tiger MPX Mainboard
2x Athlon MP 2800
3 sticks DDR
5 HDD's
1 CD
1 Floppy
RAID card
TV Tuner
Wireless Card
Sound Blaster X-Fi

The video card is on it's own 12 volt line, not sharing power with any of the drives.

I have tried various different drivers, all have the same problem.

Try another card in this system or try that card in another system.

I was using a BFG NVidia 7800GS in the system, just returned that to BestBuy because the ATI card came in the mail.

Right now, I don't have any systems in my dorm that can take this AGP card.

Your PSU seems rather small for such a beast. I'd try disconnecting the TV tuner and all your hard drives 'cept the main one and see if that helps any. You did plug in the power connector on the card, right? (hey, gotta make sure )

ive got the video card on it's own 12 volt line

550 watts is not enough?

550 watts is plenty, you would only need more if you were pushing SLI/Crossfire and overclocking.

well, i've got a dualie cpu setup

I've been able to figure out part of the problem, I installed some chipset and agp drivers from 2001 off AMD's site (I have an AMD chipset) and now I can get into windows

I ran a 12 hour loop of 3dmark06, no lockups

But, after playing Battlefield 2142 for a while (less than 2 hours) the game will freeze, my 2 monitors will blink with input not supported, the sound will still be playing, and i will have to reboot my computer using the switch on the front panel.

I checked the IRQ's and I cannot find any conflict, the VGA Card has its own IRQ, the sound card usb and nic all share an irq, and everything else has its own irq.

Card is probably overheating.

case is at 27 C.

Funny thing is, the case runs cooler with the side panel on, it runs about 10 degrees hotter with the side panel off

The airflow inside the case seems to be better with the side panel on. That's not surprising.

Diedel wrote:Card is probably overheating.

Most probably not the case, since he didn't have any problems during the 12hs of 3DMark.

heftig wrote:The airflow inside the case seems to be better with the side panel on. That's not surprising.

Diedel wrote:Card is probably overheating.

Most probably not the case, since he didn't have any problems during the 12hs of 3DMark.

Nah, it Diedel could still be right. Different applications will heat up different parts of the system. It could be that 3dmark isn't stressing the GPU as much as Battlefield. Since his video locks up but his sound keeps playing it is most likely the GPU going out. If it was the CPU/memory/chipset, the system would most likely BSOD or crash to desktop. Try blowing a fan over the GPU and playing battlefield again, or open the whole case and blow a large fan in. Running the system like that should be able to narrow it down for sure if it is heat or not.

Well, if the vga card is causing the problem, thats a good thing, I'm \"renting\" this one from Best Buy until my x1950 from Newegg comes in. This one has the stock cooler, the Newegg one has an Accelero cooler, it's supposed to be better.