XFX geforce 8800gs xxx edition biostar conflict

[nareshpunjabi]

Hey there!

I purchased a Biostar: p4m900 m7 SE board and have problems installing XFX geforce 8800GS 384 mb XXX edition!

the computer works just fine with integrated video but when I put in the video card it doesnt respond on the screen at all! My Bios has PCIEX as first option and I have an omega 500 watt power supply with 12v rail on it! I would like to know if this is a common issue or I just have to get my card replaced because it might be defective!

I have 2gb ddr 667 dimm
intel e2180 2ghz dual core
biostar p4m900 m7 se board

 

[r223f4]

I'm having the same problem with and Asus A8V-XE board. Did you have any luck with yours?

 

[spathotan]

Make sure the onboard video is DISABLED in the BIOS. Just setting PCIe to the primary graphics adapter isnt enough for some boards.

 

[Peperix]

The thing is that your Mainboard is not compatible with the xfx 8800gs - gt series. The bios that xfx puts in these cards with G92 chips have incompatibility with the VIA chipset that your mobo has. I am talking of a self experience with an XFX geforce 8800gs alphadog I bought myself, and my MSI PT890 wouldn't catch it either. However, there's a fix for this. You have to flash the videocard with another manufacturer bios. Is not a complex thing to do, just google for the process, but basically is like this :


1. You will need another pc with pci-express that reads your 8800gs (with intel or nforce Mobo, not VIA), a diskette drive and a clean bootable diskette loaded with DOS (make one at www.bootdisk.com, there is an special one to flash bios, u can't miss it. In this disk you are going to load the new bios and the NvFlash DOS utility. I used a Palit 9600gso bios, tweaked to match your 8800gs clocks (GPU : 680MHZ - SHADER : 1700MHZ - MEMORY : 800MHZ), cause palit's bios are a little higher and u don't want to fry your card. You can tweak the bios with Nibitor (a little program used for modify the bios). Where u can find it?

Here : http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/ , just look 4 palit, 9600gso, there are two of them, the one that says samsung and don't forget to modify it with nibitor before you flash it to your card.

2. You will need also in the diskette the nvflash utility, a DOS program that lets you flash the bios of Nvidia videocards. Here :

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Video-Tweak/nVFlash.shtml

IMPORTANT : Backup your original bios in the remote case of something goes wrong (usually flashing is a safe and simple process, but u never know). To do this, once in the command prompt of the diskette write this :

a:\ nvflash -b backup.rom [Enter]

----(to backup the Original BIOS, where backup.rom is the name u will give to your old bios)

Then you can go to the flashing procedure writing this :

a:\ nvflash -4 -5 -6 newbios.rom [Enter]

--- where newbios.rom is the name of the palit bios u downloaded and tweaked. Then the program will ask you if you are sure to change the bios, and maybe doesn't match and things like that, you just answer Y (yes) to everything, and the flashing process will begin. Once is done, it will give you a message that is successfully accomplished.

NOTE : I suggest you change the original name of the palit bios that is very long for DOS, to newbios.rom. Other thing, sometimes bios comes with *.bin extension. If so, rename it first within the DOS command prompt like this :

a:\ ren newbios.bin newbios.rom [Enter]

This is because some versions of NVflash will ask only for *.rom extension.

3. Then pull off your flashed card, install it to your system, download the 9600gso drivers from Palit website, and you are ready to go! I have my xfx 8800GS running on my PT890 VIA mobo like a charm!

If you don't feel you have the expertise enough to do this, ask for help someone that does. I hope this will help you, since the other option is buy another mobo (intel or nforce) or another graphic card that fits well in your system. Good luck, and sorry for my english.

 

[Momoni]

The thing is that your Mainboard is not compatible with the xfx 8800gs - gt series. ... However, there's a fix for this. You have to flash the videocard with another manufacturer bios. ... I used a Palit 9600gso bios.

Peperix, thank you! I had the same problem with the EVGA 8800GS in the Biostar TF7050-M2. My hardware components had been sitting idle for nearly a year - I had given up on them.

I followed your advice and instructions and reflashed the video card with the EVGA 9600GSO firmware. The clocks matched, so I did not have to tweak any settings - it was just a simple reflash. I did build a DOS bootable USB stick from these instructions http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/FreeDOS_Flash_Drive . Now the video card and motherboard work perfectly together.

Thank you so much for your helpful response.