GF2GTS vs. NF3 250GB

[CharmyBee]

I have a BIOSTAR K6NHA Grand motherboard (nForce3 250GB) and a Hercules 3D Prophet II (Geforce2 GTS 64MB) and I get LOADS of video artifacts on boot, in any video mode (including text mode). Hard freezing when acceleration is in use (2d or 3d).

* RAM is okay, no stick is bad.
* Actual video card is okay, tested in other, older systems without any artifacts. Fan is also working and the card is cool.
* HT Frequency does change the amount of artifacts, but 1x doesn't prevent them still.
* AGP slot has met the air compressor. No effect.
* AGP mode 1x, 1x/2x, 1x/2x/4x, fast writes off, sideband off does diddly squat.

What bothers me is that one of the ways to possibly solve this problem is to raise the AGP voltage... and there's no setting for that in the BIOS! (only CPU and DDR voltage) The only tool that comes with the nForce3 chipset I can find is the mixer for its onboard audio.

 

[vulcanman09]

what operating system are you running
if it is vista , then you need a card with minimum of 128 mb of video card ram
64 mb is not enough

 

[CharmyBee]

what operating system are you running

Windows XP, but that's irrelevant since artifacts appear at every point where video is displayed regardless of any OS running or even if nvidia drivers are used or not (even xvesa in linux gets them). I get artifacts in the video card's BIOS splash even.

I should also mention the monitor is fine, the artifacts occur on other screens too

 

[DragoXT]

have you tried that monitor on another system? Have you tried clearing CMOS on the mobo?

 

[CharmyBee]

have you tried that monitor on another system? Have you tried clearing CMOS on the mobo?

Yes and yes. No effect for either (and the monitor is fine, no artifacts on the other computers it's been on)

 

[Trap05]

Bad AGP slot sounds like

 

[QuietIce]

to OCF!

Is your system OC'ed or not ...?

 

[CharmyBee]

Is your system OC'ed or not ...?

Nope, though before dealing with this GF2 I regularly bumped the Sempron 2600 from 1.6GHz to 2GHz without issues.

 

[QuietIce]

Then I'd have to agree with Trap05 - seems like a bad slot.


Don't suppose you've tried (or even have) a PCI video card? That would pretty much prove it one way or the other ...

 

[EarthDog]

Like the others have said, sounds like its a bad slot. One thing to note though, I doubt changing the voltage on teh AGP slot would cure your ills if it was a bad card. All that does is allow more voltage to the card, that doesnt mean the card gets it. Its set via the bios. You would be stressing out its power components more though.

Good luck!

 

[CharmyBee]

Slot is good. An AGP Radeon X850 was just tested in it without errors and artifacts.

(x850 itself has poor cooling however and requires a fan replacement, so I won't be using that. It's also not mine. I don't have any other 4x/8x card to test with.)

 

[EarthDog]

Windows XP, but that's irrelevant since artifacts appear at every point where video is displayed regardless of any OS running or even if nvidia drivers are used or not (even xvesa in linux gets them). I get artifacts in the video card's BIOS splash even.

I should also mention the monitor is fine, the artifacts occur on other screens too

what operating system are you running
if it is vista , then you need a card with minimum of 128 mb of video card ram
64 mb is not enough

Nor is that true. It will run with onboard set at 64mb.

 

[CharmyBee]

Ok now it has the worst AGP4x/8x card ever, the evga GeforceFX 5200. No artifacts here either. Slow performance of course, which is why I really wanted to use the Geforce2 instead

 

[Old Thrashbarg]

Why not just get a newer card off eBay and be done with it? Just taking a quick look through the listings, I see a 9600XT currently at about $10 with shipping, a 9000 Pro for $10 with no bids, an FX5700 for $20... all sorts of cheap cards that would be better than what you have.

 

[CharmyBee]

I don't want to.

Oh also the problem is solved. Turns out that the power cable isn't mounted into the motherboard fully. :S Geforce2 works without artifacts now.

 

[QuietIce]

Woops ...!

 

[CharmyBee]

Yeah very woops. Lowering the HT Frequency to 1x and raising the AGP to 4x also made it more stable and speedier too. TBH I don't think HT Frequency makes an actual performance difference for me.

 

[QuietIce]

It's funny - I worked for H&R Block one tax season as an OS/net and basic hardware tech, just a general trouble-shooter. For years I had made jokes about trouble-shooting instructions (for appliances etc.) that always included "Check the power plug and power circuit" - often at or near the top of the list. After spending four short months as a trouble-shooter I found out it wasn't so funny - it happened with me three times during that four months (and only working 20 hours/week)! LOL!!! Sometimes it's those too obvious, little nit-picking things that get us.


I'm not sure how AGP ties into the system but if it's the same as PCIe video then running the HT Link too slow could cause a drop in video performance ...