Problems with ATI Radeon x1300 Pro

[Xardas2012]

Well, after stubbornly holding onto this graphics card for 3 years and it not working, I've decided to come onto one of these forums to seek out some help. I'll start off with my system specs:

Model: Dell Dimension 4600 (I know, its old haha)

CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.66GHz

Mobo: Dell 0N2828

Current GPU: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 (PS2.0, VS2.0 250MHz, 128MB
DDR 2x405MHz, AGP 3.00)

Memory: 1.25GB DIMM DDR (Two 128 MB and One 1 GB card)

Power Supply: 250W (came with the computer)

OP: Windows XP Home (Service Pack 3)

Here's the new card specs:

ATI Radeon x1300 Pro. 256 MB DDR2. AGP 8x/4x

Situation:

I bought this card along with the extra gig of memory and a DVD-rom drive in order to play a game (Gothic 3) that came out several years ago. It worked fine for a couple weeks in the computer and then stopped working; the monitor wouldn't post (the amber light would never turn green), but everything else on the computer sounded like it was working.

I returned the card and got a new one since I figured it was faulty. I re-installed the new one and it worked fine for about a month or so and the same thing started happening. This was all about 3-4 years ago. A couple days ago, I got back in the spirit of wanting to get back into PC gaming (for older games of course since this system won't run any of the new ones in the past several years) so I tried to tackle this problem again.

I searched on the internet for solutions including ones on this website. I tried to update the AGP drivers, but they were already fully updated. I couldn't remove the drivers for the Nvidia graphics card since it wasn't on the add/remove hardware list so I went into the device manager and tried to uninstall it. I clicked on uninstall, but nothing really happened.

I went into the BIOS and set the default card to AGP instead of Auto like someone on here recommended to something else. Basically, I've done everything that I can think of and things still aren't working. I set up the AGP card like directed with the 4-pin connector hooked up to the card, a cord hooked up from that to the HD and another to the power supply.

Anyone know what I'm doing wrong if anything? I appreciate the help in advance since this is basically the reason why I gave up on PC gaming all those years ago lol.

 

[wa1]

maybe try different PSU (300W is fine)?
It could be your current PSu is dying, well, it's old...
So try with different PSU, see if the problem still exist or not...

 

[Xardas2012]

maybe try different PSU (300W is fine)?
It could be your current PSu is dying, well, it's old...
So try with different PSU, see if the problem still exist or not...

Well, I'd like to try to refrain from buying any new parts for this old computer. I'm currently in the process of getting ideas for building a brand new one myself.

If there's no way I can fix this problem w/out buying new hardware, I think it may just be time to stick this reliable dinosaur on the shelf. =P

 

[wa1]

Well, try to clean your PC from dust and re-apply the thermal paste for CPU and GPU...

 

[nforce4max]

Well load up speedfan or pcwizzard and check your volts on the 12v rail. Low is any thing less than 11.5v. Maybe this is why the card doesn't work or it is overheating. You can try running the pc with side panel off to help keep temps down. Beyond that there really isn't much you can do.

 

[Timop]

Other than the PSU problem, It could be a case of thermal damage. Can you test the X1300 on another computer?

 

[Xardas2012]

Other than the PSU problem, It could be a case of thermal damage. Can you test the X1300 on another computer?

None that I can think of off-hand. The Dimension 4600 is the only computer I own. Short of asking someone else to test it on one of their's, there's nothing here that I can test it on.

Downloaded PC Wizard and Speedfan, but neither of them show me the voltage/temp/fan details. For PC Wizard, I clicked on that button and nothing happened.

 

[nforce4max]

-_- try again software these days is crap at beast. For pcwizard just click the voltages and tamp tab at the very bottom to the right and it will show you what it can detect. As for speedfan it used to be popular but there are other programs that you can use.

 

[Timop]

Id say just use a multimeter.
Honestly spending too much effort in this isnt worth it, sell it and move on would be my say.

 

[Mousemonkey]

I set up the AGP card like directed with the 4-pin connector hooked up to the card, a cord hooked up from that to the HD and another to the power supply.

So the HD and graphic card are sharing the same power line?

 

[Xardas2012]

Id say just use a multimeter.
Honestly spending too much effort in this isnt worth it, sell it and move on would be my say.

Yeah, I'm already in the process of trying to get recommendations in the New Build section of the forum for a computer build I'm working on. Selling it seems to be the best option.

So the HD and graphic card are sharing the same power line?

Yeah. The card came with one power cable connector with a 4-pin power connector and two regular connectors. There was only one outlet on the HD that I could see where one of the connectors would fit, so i put one there, attached the 4-pin to the GPU and then connected the second connector to the main power line.

Just saw that this GPU requires a 300W connection. Next time I'm off the computer, I'll open it up and see what I have (I still have the factory one that came with the Dimension 4600 if anyone knows what wattage that is off-hand).

 

[Mousemonkey]

I would not put any other devices on the same power line as the GPU myself.

 

[vaalun]

I have a Dell Dimension E520 with a 305W power supply and X1300 Pro and its been running fine for 3.5 years. I just wanted to know the power consumption of the X1300 so that I could see if a new video card like HD 5750 doesn't use more power than the old one and bog down my 305W supply.