- Apr 8, 2012
- 2
- 0
- 10,510
Hello people,
Recently my 8800GT died, and I suspected it was because of the PSU not working properly. So, I not only bought a
Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 to replace the 8800GT, but I also bought a Seasonic S12ii 520W PSU.
The rest of my system is this:
Intel Q6600
2x2GB ram
Asus p5n-e Sli
Anyway, when I plug in the 8800GT, which according to several tests I've ran has no card memory anymore (so that's probably what died?) I do get a signal, and the screen is normal, except it has almost horizontal lines over it (white or different colours) and I can't put the resolution higher than 800x600. I also can't run 3d software, like games. As far as I can tell, all other components of the rig work fine (RAM/CPU).
The situation with the 8800GT plugged into the new Seasonic PSU is exactly the same, so I think it's definitely the 8800GT being broken. So, I plug in the Sapphire 6850HD. When I turn my system on, I can hear my system booting up to windows just fine (the beeps are the same as when the 8800GT still worked.), except my screen is black and there's no signal to the monitor.
So, bummer. I switch the cards, and turn on my pc. It boots normally, except with the lines and low res. I delete all drivers having to do with the Nvidia card, and install the AMD Catalyst drivers. I turn off my pc, put in the 6850 again and boot. I get a normal screen, albeit low res. It seems to be working. After some fiddling with the drivers the resolution is where it needs to be and I can run 3D applications (Sins of a Solar Empire).
So everything's good, right? No!
I turn my PC of and after some time, on again, and there's again no signal. Hadn't I just fixed this?
There's two things I've changed since the magical working 6850 state.
1.) I installed Nvidia PhysX so I could run Mass Effect 2 with my new AMD card. Could this have installed or reactivated any of the old Nvidia drivers, that are now interfering with my HD 6850 working properly? I switched the cards and with the 8800GT removed the PhysX program. There weren't any other Nvidia programs installed. This didn't help.
2.) Thinking I was done, I tie-wrapped all the PSU cables I didn't need together and did a little cable management. Everything does have power (the 6850 too! the fan is moving!). I also fixed my card into the case with some screws (throught the holes that are meant for that, mind you..).
Anyway, it didn't work.
So, I think it's either a software problem (drivers interfering) or a hardware problem (the card is not slotted properly).
The hardware problem is something I've checked over and over, so I'm guessing it's a software problem.
Problem is, I can't install anything or access my bios, except with the half-working 8800GT. Should I wipe my drive and reinstall Windows?
At first I thought my new card was faulty, but it worked for a while, I even played Mass Effect 2 for 20 minutes just to test.
Recently my 8800GT died, and I suspected it was because of the PSU not working properly. So, I not only bought a
Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 to replace the 8800GT, but I also bought a Seasonic S12ii 520W PSU.
The rest of my system is this:
Intel Q6600
2x2GB ram
Asus p5n-e Sli
Anyway, when I plug in the 8800GT, which according to several tests I've ran has no card memory anymore (so that's probably what died?) I do get a signal, and the screen is normal, except it has almost horizontal lines over it (white or different colours) and I can't put the resolution higher than 800x600. I also can't run 3d software, like games. As far as I can tell, all other components of the rig work fine (RAM/CPU).
The situation with the 8800GT plugged into the new Seasonic PSU is exactly the same, so I think it's definitely the 8800GT being broken. So, I plug in the Sapphire 6850HD. When I turn my system on, I can hear my system booting up to windows just fine (the beeps are the same as when the 8800GT still worked.), except my screen is black and there's no signal to the monitor.
So, bummer. I switch the cards, and turn on my pc. It boots normally, except with the lines and low res. I delete all drivers having to do with the Nvidia card, and install the AMD Catalyst drivers. I turn off my pc, put in the 6850 again and boot. I get a normal screen, albeit low res. It seems to be working. After some fiddling with the drivers the resolution is where it needs to be and I can run 3D applications (Sins of a Solar Empire).
So everything's good, right? No!
I turn my PC of and after some time, on again, and there's again no signal. Hadn't I just fixed this?
There's two things I've changed since the magical working 6850 state.
1.) I installed Nvidia PhysX so I could run Mass Effect 2 with my new AMD card. Could this have installed or reactivated any of the old Nvidia drivers, that are now interfering with my HD 6850 working properly? I switched the cards and with the 8800GT removed the PhysX program. There weren't any other Nvidia programs installed. This didn't help.
2.) Thinking I was done, I tie-wrapped all the PSU cables I didn't need together and did a little cable management. Everything does have power (the 6850 too! the fan is moving!). I also fixed my card into the case with some screws (throught the holes that are meant for that, mind you..).
Anyway, it didn't work.
So, I think it's either a software problem (drivers interfering) or a hardware problem (the card is not slotted properly).
The hardware problem is something I've checked over and over, so I'm guessing it's a software problem.
Problem is, I can't install anything or access my bios, except with the half-working 8800GT. Should I wipe my drive and reinstall Windows?
At first I thought my new card was faulty, but it worked for a while, I even played Mass Effect 2 for 20 minutes just to test.
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