14 replies to this topic

[MeanMachine]

Well I may not be playing for a while as I now have weird PC problems. I just installed a new Nvidia GeForce 6800GT graphics card and soon after was experiencing strange stuff happening.

First of all I noticed that opening up My Computer after a booting reveals a flashlight searching for my drives. If I go into control Panel/System Admin/Computer Management I can see all disks no problem. It takes anywhere from 5 to 15 mins for this to resolve itself. I can do other things but just can't see any of my disk drives or CD/DVD drives using My Computer or Explorer.

Second problem is that when I load up BF1942 the initial credits and movie lag every 3 to 4 seconds. This is very annoying and game play is also not smooth. I have re-installed BF with the same result.

I installed windows on my second SATA drive to see if I could eliminate theses problems. This is not the case and I still am getting the flashlight looking for my drives after a boot.

I thought it may be a power problem ast he 6800GT graphics card requires a second power supply connected. I have a Jeantech 450Watt supply, which according to my calculations, should be plenty.

I think this my be a network type problem but just don't know what windows is doing when can't display any of my drives.

Here are my specs:

Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro 2 MoBo
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ Barton
Geforce FX6800GT 256MB graphics card
1 GB DDR333 RAM
2 x 80GB SATA drives
1 x DVD+/-RW drive
1 x CD-RW drive
Hercules Muse 5:1 Sound card
Linksys Ethernet 10/100 PCI card
3 x 80mm case fans
1 x Floppy drive

[Why Two Kay]

Power Supply is fine,

I dont really know what to say else, did you try swapping back out the Graphics Card or using Integrated Graphics, not to play, but to see if this helps? If so, then it is the Graphics Card (which doesnt make sense), did you remember to connect the additional power supply cable to the 6800? (If there is one that is........)

[Lin]

450w for all of that works? Did you use the calculater on our links page? Also, did you try to go back to your old vid card and get the same errors?

Oh, and wth haven't you bypassed the initial credits and movie a long time ago? You can make it so you boot right into the User screen, or even right into Moon!

[commando]

how wired.. i just got me a new graphics card (radeon 9800 pro) no problems with that!

[LeadPoison]

Is it an AGP or PCIe gfx card?

[MeanMachine]

UPDATE:

Not sure what is going on. I can play HL2 with no problem. I have connected the additional power cable. This is an AGP card not PCI Express.

The problem I am getting now is that the initial credits and movie are not smooth. I get jerky lag every 5 - 10 seconds where the the frame rate must be around 1 to 2 per second for about 3 to 4 seconds then it is okay again. I haven't tried in game yet and cannot skip the movie because that disables my secondary mouse options.

I am in the process of downloading Futuremark's 3DMark03 benchmark tests to see what they reveal.

I will let you all know what I find out.

Thanks for the advice.

[HUMANITE]

Have you tried removing the old drivers for your old video card.. Sometimes that can be one of the main issues for some of the newer cards out there..

Also what was your old video card, sometimes ati drivers just dont mix to well with nvidia driversTry this out
Even if you uninstall them through the windows uninstall program some parts of them can still be left behind.

[MeanMachine]

UPDATE:

The old graphics card was an Nvidia GeForce FX 5700. The drivers were removed before installation of the new card. I have just played CS Source and BF 1942. Apart from the little bit of lag the games all seem to play well.

I have downloaded and run the 3DMark 03 Benchmark software and the results are a little low. I think I may go out and buy some decent Corsair XL 512MB 400DDR RAM to replace the odd stuff I am currently running with.

It seems that games run fine once they are loaded. I need to talk with Jody to see if he had any problems with his GeForce 6800 Ultra.

Thanks again for all the advice.

[Cosa Nostra]

try to see if your MoBo chipset drivers are that latest
here is the link for your MoBo mean
http://tw.giga-byte....Driver_List.htm

[Lady-Sapphire]

the flashlight is windows checking all drives. This included local, CD, USB, 1394, network, and virtual drives(Direct CD, In CD) ect. As far as some of the lag, it could be the drive needs defraged or remnates of the old driver is in the registry. (this tends to be an issue we ATI lovers deal with)

[MeanMachine]

Well the flashlight thing has gone away thank god. I have run the Futuremark 3DMark Pro Gamers benchmark application. The results were less than expected when compared to other similar setups.

I have just gone out and purchased two 512MB Corsair DDR 400 XLT sticks of RAM. My benchmark scores are a tad better but not where they should be. It looks like my big problem is when the 3DMark tests the CPU. That's where, compared to other similar setups, my score goes to hell.

I am going to take my PC into my local computer store to see if they can determine what is going on.

[MeanMachine]

Well I am still not happy with my PC's performance so I have decided to go the extra bit and build a new one. I will probably be offline for a few days while I do this but I am hoping it will fix my problem.

New PC Specs:

Case: Coolermaster Centurion 5 Black/Blue
Mobo: ASUS AV8 Deluxe Socket 939
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500 Winchester Core 90nm
Vid Card: Sparkle GeForce 6800GT 256MB
Mem: Corsair XMS 2 x 512 MB RAM 2.3.2
Sound: Soundblaster Live 5:1
HD: Matrox 80GB x 2 SATA
DVD: Lite-On DVD +/- RW 16x
CD: Lite-On CD-RW 52x32x52
PSU: Jeantech 450W

Can't wait to see what the end result is.

[KAOPECTATE]

Yo MM,
When we got the computer I currently have I had to update to the driver at nvidia. That made the jerky games run smooth.

A little too little, a little too late?

[Striker]

Ok for starters did you read what the card required before you bought it?

The end result is that you might not have sufficient ram for the stuff you already have installed.

Second is that the power can not power all the works and graphics card at the same time taking into account what lin said.

Another thing might be also with cooling, you will need double for cooling suffice.
If that or you could just pop off the side panel for better flow.

Did you before you installed read what the install instructions said it would do with the drives(if any.)

Or did you accidently delete these folders? Some how during setup or beforehand.

Hey it could be a number of factors, but try checking for all if any of these and let me know with a reply.

[Striker]

well good luck to ya. You should probably of checked your internet connection for a slowdown, just forget what i said before if you want.


I forgot to read the updates!

Ooooooppppsssss!

oh well anyway check the internet connection. BEFORE you BUILD a new one.

Then Check for viruses.

If all else fails scrub the hard drive through the command prompt by typing:


format c:

and follow instructions.

Good Luck!


If you still want to build a new one than go ahead, and sell the old one on e-bay! $

Striker