Problem with 865PE Neo2-FIS2R and 8x AGP

Hi all,

I recently acquired an MSI motherboard - the 865PE Neo2-FIS2R (info)
That's been working fine for some time, but I came to replace the old 4x AGP Siluro GeForce 4 Ti4200 (info) with a Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/2100LE GeForce® 6800LE (8x AGP) (info) from a reputable seller on eBay. This, I am assured, was working fine when it was dispatched!
Obviously I observed proper precautions regarding static, and fitted the card.
On starting up, the POST screen is visible, but lots of small green horizontal lines (appearing in 10-12 columns) flicker and distort the screen. Past this, i.e. changing video mode to boot Windows or Ubuntu, anything on the screen is not recognisable at all.

Theoretically, the motherboard supports 8x AGP at 0.8V, and the video card is 8x AGP and requires 0.8V. So this should be compatible. But there's a problem somewhere.

What I know: the motherboard is working fine with the 4x GeForce 4. The motherboard was using a 4x Radeon 9800 Pro with its previous owner. It hasn't been used with 8x AGP before.
The BIOS wasn't upgraded until recently (was v1.2 I think) but while trying to sort out a boot problem I flashed it to the "current" (i.e. 2004) BIOS. Hopefully that's not the reason that this problem has been introduced...

So, the questions - has anyone found similar problems with 8x AGP on this mainboard? Does anyone have 8x AGP working fine - and, if so, what BIOS version are you using? How can I be sure that the motherboard is operating in 8x mode and supplying 0.8V instead of 1.5V?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Paul

^ +1. IMHO, buying a used GPU off eBay is asking for problems, especially an old AGP card. Just asking for trouble, I don't care what the seller says. The display patterns you describe are the signs of a failing or trashed GPU.