Graphics Card issues

(SenF|Doddsy) #1

I have recently upgraded my system to the following:-

AMD XP 3000+ “Barton”
Mach4 XFX Nvidia mobo
512Mb ram
80Gb HD with 8mb buffer

and had a 2nd hand ATI radeon 9600 Saphire XT with 256Mb from a m8 that I was gonna buy.

I had some freezing issues with ET so decided to buy a brand spanking new ASUS Nvidia FX5700 with 256Mb.

Got it yesterday but am having no end of trouble getting it to run. I have tried the ASUS drivers on the CD with the box and also the Nvidia drivers direct from the web all to no avail. For the most part XP just loads up with a low resolution and 60hz refresh rate. Changing this resolution up higher can result in the monitor going blank and placing itself in standby mode (orange light). No response unless I reboot, and I can then only reboot in safe mode without it doing the same thing again. Rebooting in safe mode reverts the resolution back to 800 x 600 and I am now able to access XP properly again.

The next thing I am trying (with ALL the various drivers) is running ET. I dont even get a chance to select anything from the menu before the monitor goes blank and the orange light makes an unwelcome re-appearance. I have to go through the same start up sequence again! This has happened no matter what I seem to install and whatever resolution I attempt to force ET to run in (800 x 600 usually). :banghead:

I have now reinstalled the ATI card and it seems to be fine… but I wanna get the nvidia running!

So whats going on?

Please help!!!

(chr0nicles) #2
  • Make sure you’ve uninstalled ALL previous drivers
  • Uninstall all NVIDIA drivers
  • Uninstall all ASUS drivers
  • Uninstall all ATI drivers

Download the latest NVIDIA drivers from www.nvidia.com

  • Install the latest NVIDIA drivers you just downloaded.

Seems to me you still had some ati drivers.

(SenF|Doddsy) #3

Cheers Chronicles although I must admit that I thought I had done that - certainly there were no programmes showing in the add/remove software section that had anything to do with either ATI or Nvidia when I tried to get the drivers in. I have also just been told about this site http://www.driverheaven.net/cleaner/ which will apparently will make sure they have all gone!

Will try that once I get home tonight but if anyone knows of anything else just say!

Thanks again…

(Sick Boy) #4

Yes… you need special “tools” to completely remove drivers from windows…
MS gives a whole new meaning to “uninstalling” something, it basicly means it’s still there :weird:

(mouse) #5

Not entirely the blame of MS, the devellopers of the drivers often have a not so good working uninstall function I think.

(SenF|Doddsy) #6

Well I tried the driver cleaner tool but still couldnt get it to work!! GRrrrrrrr… Maybe I didnt run it properly (I’m not too techy tbh!) but either way I am staying with the ATI until I get a m8 round to try to work out an answer!! Any other solutions still gratefully accdepted… or if you know more about driver cleaners and can point out things that could go wrong… Thanks again!

(chr0nicles) #7

You could try the following:

Boot into Safe mode ( F8 ) and view the hardware properties,
then select video and there it should list the current card your using ‘ATI’ if there’s another card in there also, make sure you delete it.

(=ABS= SparhawK) #8

Ati has some driver utililitys here

http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/misc/catalystutils.html

Theres a cat uninstaller and smartgart uninstaller, both worked for me with issues like these

SH

(fattakin) #9

THis prob aint relevant but ive had a similar problem with certain cards before on my system, motherboard related. the Video program ‘rivatuner’ cured it without me having to do anything. Didnt need to use it when i changed card later on down the line.

(SenF|Doddsy) #10

Cheers again for the help… I will check both of these out and see what I get… Otherwise I have a returns number with Overclockers at the ready to replace the card!!

Also… the ATI card that is currently in the machine (well…in and out of the machine lol!!) is freezing and then crashing frequently… it used to do it less but is happening more and more! Does this in both ET and when I am going through RTCW SP for a laugh… ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

(=ABS= SparhawK) #11

Also… the ATI card that is currently in the machine (well…in and out of the machine lol!!) is freezing and then crashing frequently… it used to do it less but is happening more and more! Does this in both ET and when I am going through RTCW SP for a laugh… ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

The cat uninstaller should do trick, but first delete C:\ATI folder (or which ever drive you used for installation)

Then install 3.9 for me, seems best for ET, and plays painkiller/farcry fine.

SH

(pgh) #12

Check other things like Direct X and make sure when, you think at least, the card is installed and setup correctly check with the Hardware Profile (Right Click My Comp > Props) and make sure the machine has picked up, setup and installed the card correctly.

Also, check the mobo drivers… its amazing how many pieces of hardware conflict without manufacturers either knowing about it or just not bothered to print it somewhere.