8800GT: issues getting a blank screen after driver install

Hey all

Here is my prob:

i currently have the following set up :

mobo: GA EP45T-DS3R
RAM, 2x1GB G.skill, 2x1GB Asus (1333 FSB)
CPU: E8400
HDD: and ol 160GB IDE., seagate 250GB Sata1 (not relevant but ill add here anyway)
CASE: Antec 900
PSU: Antec 550W newpower
O/S: Win XP (32-bit with SP3)

ok here is the story, my video card that i put in was 8800GT (GV-NX88T512HP) with 512 MB ram
i had this on an older system then i changed my mobo and cpu + ram and got myself a new system (yay)
the video card though went weird (or was from the start - random freezes on ol mobo) and in the end
didnt let my comp to post and well didnt work..

So store replaced it with a 7600GS while they took it back to supplier.. it worked fine
played games on it while i was waiting, without a glitch

today brought my 8800GT home after getting back... its not a rosy picture
anyway i put the card it and it would get stuck at that windows screen,
so well it looked like a driver issue, so i went into safe mode uninstalled drivers
and reinstalled ones from the DVD.. what would happen is that once
it installed, it looked like it was configuring it, then the screen would turn black
like it was activating the actual card...

well thinking it was a hang up i just rebooted windows
and yeap stick on loading screen

well thinking it was a driver prob again, i downloaded latest version of driver off nvidia website

did the same thing again and yeap same crap, screen goes blank when driver was installed

i can work in VGA mode quite well, im posting and doing everythin in this degraded mode

now the questions i have:


(1) is it the PSU? that is what the store thinks now.. im not so sure, last time i isntalled
this card i forgot to install the PCI-E plug, nvidia picked it up and just told me to plug it in
(i.e.) the program... Another thing i have a modular PSU that i can stick in a pcie power cable
straight in there, also you can just put 2 rails into the card via the adapter you get from the
vid-card, used those and didnt work

(2) driver problems? has anyone had similar driver issues?

(3) supplier screwed it up yet again??? i would like to have ppl's thoughts? if so
how can i check that? its weird that it only happens when i install the driver, its like when
i activate it , it does this. Also i find weird is that when my card came back i had a different
fan on it the model no. is still the same on the card but it jsut a lil strange

desperately seeking your help,
Kev

cheers though yeah PSU might be an issue, well i hope the store checks it out

When the drivers install, the screen blacks out and resets res to 800x600 for a second then switched back to the native resolution. You shouldn't have rebooted..

I believe your PSU is to blame, maybe it's +12v rails don't supply enough amperage or it's too old.

roadrunner197069, WTF are you talking about, man?

http://www.antec.com/ec/productDet [...] odID=05550
this is the psu im using (maybe a yr old at most)
well the rail inputs are an option, i also tried to use pci-e direction connection
still no change

Your PSU has 3 +12v rails. Each provide 18 amps each, for a total of 504 watts. I believe the true amps it's able to supply is 42 amps. I got the number by dividing 504 watts by 12.

54w/12v=42a

An 8800GT equipped PC needs somewhere between 22a - 26a so you're probably fine. I'm powering my 8800GT 512 using an Antec NeoHE 430w I bought 1 or 2 years ago at Fry's Electronics along with my Antec P150 case. It has 32A on 3 +12v rails rated at 16A each. For multiple rail PSU, you can't simply add up the Amp ratings. If you have another PSU, it wouldn't hurt to test it, your PSU may be at fault.

Before you installed the 8800GT, did you uninstall the drivers you had before that? That may have caused the problem. It would be wise to uninstall all video drivers before changing video cards.

Nope, simply uninstalling from add/remove programs is fine.

Well, do try the safe mode install of new drivers and see if it works. I have the 177.83 drivers which aren't beta drivers. I used beta drivers from Nvidia as well.

If that doesn't work, I think you should buy a new PSU or borrow one and see it that relieves the problem. If it fixes the problem, great! If it doesn't you can probably return the PSU, check the stores return policies.

I think that the 7600GS worked because it uses less power. If your system worked and gamed fine with a 7600GS but doesn't work when a more power taxing graphics card was installed, I'd have to say it's a PSU issue.

The new ones haven't been updated on the site. You can find beta drivers by clicking on Beta and Archived drivers under Other Drivers below. For the newest 177.83, go to:

http://www.nvidia.com/content/forc [...] wnload.asp

I fixed the link up there. It was missing a "p" at the end. It read .as instead of .asp
It now works, as well as the one just 2 lines above this sentence.

Lol, I want to know too.

No problem kevlon. Good luck getting your 8800GT running.

Hopefully a new PSU will make your PC work properly again. Remember to check the stores return policy. Also, look at brands like Antec, Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, Seasonic.

That's a very, very unusual coincidence.

that what might be the issue maybe its gone bad
well if not the psu power output wattage what are your thoughts on it trackman? to add to this i noticed when i installed the driver it wasnt just blank i had a cursor (well underscore) ( _ ) flashing after the driver was installed (either one that i downloaded and used)

I really can't tell, as this is the first time I've heard of such a problem.
It could be the card itself, but you said you had it replaced (are you sure they didn't just send you back the same card?).
If the PSU has gone bad somehow, then it might be that. My point in the post above was that the PSU has more than enough power, assuming it's working right.

The only way you can check is to use the card in a different machine, or use a similar card in yours. Perhaps a friend could help.

Then I must have misunderstood you.
I thought you were saying the PSU was not enough. My bad.

I understand that the 8800GT takes up to 75w from the PCIe slot, and 75w from the PCI-E 6pin plug. Thanks for the link.

Yes, UP TO is the keyword. Meaning if it needed to, it could.
It doesn't need to, though.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/v [...] 0gt_5.html

Thanks for the article link, it's a very interesting article even after I've read over a dozen 8800GT reviews.

You're welcome.

Anytime.

In my defence, I meant to click thumbs up [using a laptop touchpad].

and thanks for all the help too