Suspected AGP 4x/8x incompatibility issues, maybe CPU - HELP

[Urden]

----further background information given in bottom of post----


Right now I have an AGP 4x (1.5v) mobo and three video cards: a damaged leadtek A6600GT (agp 4x) that worked fine before, a radeon 9600 pro (agp 4x) that lets me see the BIOS sometimes but displays "OUT OF RANGE" every time, and an xfx 6800XT (agp 8x) that lets me see BIOS more consistenly but still gives me "OUT OF RANGE."

The 6600GT was running fine, set at 1680x1050. It was damaged in transport and now displays complete gibberish.

I'm suspecting the radeon of not supporting the current widescreen resolution since I have no other theories on this.

After receiving the 6800XT from Newegg, where it was listed as AGP 4x/8x, I realized it was 8x only. It also requires a 500W power supply, and mine's only 400W. I've read conflicting information about the AGP 2.0 and 3.0 compatibility, and I'm here telling you my 3.0 videocard won't run on my 2.0 mobo - but I don't know if that's the cause.

I need help determining the incompatibility issues here. If the 6800XT card won't run due to the power supply issues, I can just order a leadtek A7600GT; however, if it's because of the AGP 3.0 vs. 2.0 then I need to do some more looking. Or maybe it has something to do with the resolution, though I seriously doubt a 6800XT doesn't support widescreen res's. I figured the power demands wouldn't be an issue until I at least ran a game.

Since this all started I haven't gotten anywhere past BIOS, unless you count saving changes and exiting.

Help? Please? I'm stuck and it's depressing...


----background information----

So I originally built this system in June '02 for school and it's had some slight upgrades since:

asus a7v333 mobo (AGP 4x (1.5v))
athlon xp 2200+ (dead and replaced with 3000+ recently)
geforce 6600GT (dead and in need of help)

It ran fine up until some shipping issues in September - the heatsink (volcano 7+) managed to fall off the processor, chipping the edges of the cpu, and fall onto the video card, damaging it as well. I replaced the 2200+ cpu with the 3000+ because that's the fastest my current mobo will allow, and then the system booted into BIOS, but they were displayed unintelligibly.

 

[GeneticWeapon]

The 6800 you just bought will run fine in agp 4x, the 6600 and 9600 you mentioned owning are agp 8x and 4x also btw.

6800XT's do not require a 500W p.s. to run, your 400W p.s. should do fine

 

[Urden]

If the 6800XT card will run fine in an AGP 4x slot, then what's my problem? Also, I got that 500W requirement right off the box which I have in front of me.

I thought that AGP 2.0 ran at 1.5v for 4x mode and 3.3v for 2x and 1x, and AGP 3.0 ran at 0.8v for 8x and 1.5v for 4x. That way an AGP 3.0 mobo could support 4x and 8x cards, but an 8x card wouldn't run stably on a 2.0 mobo since it wants 0.8v. Before trying this 6800XT in my a7v333 though, I had no experience with the 2.0 / 3.0 issues, so I'm definitely no expert.

Still confused over here...

 

[Urden]

...or the AGP slot in my mobo could be shot. Anybody know how I could pinpoint that as the cause?

 

[Morton]

Here is a link to a really excellent site containing quite advanced info and troubleshooting on graphics cards:

http://www.playtool.com/pages/agpfix/agpfix.html

 

[megame255]

If I read your post correctly, your newer XP3000+ has never ran since you installed it and even though you've tried 3 different video cards, you're still convinced it's a video incompatibility issue, possibly connected with the psu not being enough.

Your motherboard is ancient, even older than your XP3000+. It's possible that even though it supports the bus speed of the 3000+, it's not set up to recognize it. Try checking for a bios update for your motherboard on Asus's website.

In any case, your entire setup is pretty outdated and if you plan on doing any gaming or anything else even somewhat intensive, you might be best off just saving for a new computer.

 

[Urden]

Morton, thanks for the link. I'm now convinced that my problem doesn't have anything to do with the AGP 4x/8x issue, and since I doubt the problem is the power requirement, the video card is probably compatible. IF it's video related, it sounds like my AGP slot is fried.

megame255, it could also be the CPU. I don't think it is, because with the 2200+ installed my computer will only stay on for ~2 seconds before shutting itself off - displaying nothing. Installing the 3000+ allowed me to notice the video problems and at least access BIOS. I don't have enough experience dealing with damaged CPUs to completely rule it out, though.

The BIOS recognizes the CPU as 2167MHz on a 13.0 multiplier. Based on that recognition, do I still need to update them?

I'm still leaning toward it being a bad AGP slot, but I still don't know how to pinpoint it.

 

[megame255]

If your computer posts but won't load windows, that isn't exactly a good thing. It's obvious that your 2200+ is wrecked. Also, if your AGP slot was "fried" you wouldn't even get into bios, you would have a dead display.
Try this: http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socka/kt333/a7v333/av33317.zip
There's an updated bios here for your motherboard that is specifically provided for processor upgrades, hopefully your 3000+ will work now.
Good Luck

 

[Urden]

Yea, I thought I had 1016 (required for this 3000+ CPU) but I actually have 1015, so that sounds like it. However, I can't even flash the BIOS before it crashes. It's set up in BIOS to boot from the floppy first, but it hasn't managed to get that far yet. Is my only option to get a functioning CPU and then flash?

 

[Unolocogringo]

The "Out Of Range" is your monitor saving itself. Your refresh rate in windows is set too high.
Try starting in safe mode. right click desktop, properties, settings, advanced.
Now click the monitor tab. Set refresh to 60hz. Click the checkmark that states "hide modes this monitor can not display" apply save and restart. Your problems should now be fixed.

 

[Urden]

hm. Well I can't start up in any mode right now - it either crashes before or in BIOS or displays 'out of range' right after I exit BIOS. I'll keep that in mind as soon as I can actually boot...