Ok over the holidays one of my presents was a new videocard. A Chaintech GeForce FX 5600 XT 128mb in case it matters. When I got back into town I installed it but I got the motherboard error message (1 long beep 2 short beeps) that means non-functional display board. So I rebooted a few times, reseated the card a few times but nothing changed. I was talking to the company that sold it and they will replace it but I have to pay all this shipping garbage so before I do it I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of things I might want to try before I waste a bunch of cash sending it back? I really cant think of anything I can do besides making sure the card is in the AGP slot all firmly and reboot a few times.. so if anyone can think of anything Id love to hear it. Thanks

Master Damoiel Mindbend
Retired Enchanter of the 60th Season

Do you have integrated graphics that you need to turn off first or did you replace an existing card?

Kad

No its not intergrated, I was replacing my old ASUS GeForce 256 32mb card that has been acting up recently.

did you try putting old card back in?

try a friends computer with your new card or junko machine. Sometimes if you are real nice or real mean (whatever your style) you can get someone at the computer store to try that stuff out.

try cleaning contacts on motherboard.

try resetting bios if you think there might be a change to something that might matter, but this is a guess.

then there is the shady method of buying the same video card new at your local store and returning the one you have with that receipt.

good luck

If your motherboard and the card are compatible (some cards absolutely will not run under 4x AGP, while not all motherboards support 4x+ AGP. Similar issue with the voltages that different AGP revisions use.) and you're sure the card is securely seated in the slot, but it still gives that beep code; the card is DOA.

I recently upgraded my sisters PC and had a similar problem but it turned out that I hadnt pushed the card in quite far enough, have you made sure it's firmly pushed into the AGP slot?

Apologies if this was already covered

did you try putting old card back in?

Yeah the old card is the one Im using now to read and respond with. I put it back in right after I tried the new one and repackaged it and stuck it in its box :p

try a friends computer with your new card or junko machine. Sometimes if you are real nice or real mean (whatever your style) you can get someone at the computer store to try that stuff out.

...

then there is the shady method of buying the same video card new at your local store and returning the one you have with that receipt.

Unfortunately the only other computer I had easy access to just walked out the door and isnt coming back. I would try 'returning' it to a computer store but I live in a piece of shit podunk town in south Georgia, and the only computer store I know of is totally anal and doesnt carry this model of card anyways. Pretty sure that would be fruitless.

try cleaning contacts on motherboard.

Would this be valid if the old card did/does work? Would be a hassle to find some alcohol and something to clean it with but if its a real possibility I will try it out.

try resetting bios if you think there might be a change to something that might matter, but this is a guess.

God I hope not.. I flashed the BIOS once more than a year ago and remember it being a hassle that I dont think I want to tackle again. Is this a real possibility?

If your motherboard and the card are compatible

Well I have an ABIT KT7A-RAID and according to the manual it supports 2x and 4x AGP, and according to the card manual it supports 1, 2, 4 and 8x AGP. I tried a cursory glance at the two manufactures websites and I dont see any compatability issues listed.

have you made sure it's firmly pushed into the AGP slot?

Well... I thought I pushed pretty hard... I cant imagine that the card would need to be pushed any harder than the old one but Im tempted to pull the computer apart and try that again to make sure...

Master Damoiel Mindbend
Retired Enchanter of the 60th Season

Would this be valid if the old card did/does work? Would be a hassle to find some alcohol and something to clean it with but if its a real possibility I will try it out.

compare thickness of cards (years ago I had this problem with a pci card, but I bet there are standards now) if new card is thinner than other you'll need to make sure contacts are very clean. I've used alcohol before, but it does contain quite a bit of water depending on your distill. Easiest and somewhat effective way to clean contacts is to put in card, remove, clean card contacts with dry lint free cloth, repeat once.

contacts on agp cards are tight and double layered so its gotta be super snug in there, but dont go flex'in.

Send me that card.... I'll test it then send it back...yea thats what i'll do! =)

Well I pulled the old card out again and tried reinstalling the new one a few times, reseating it and it seems as snug as it could possibiliy be, the bracket is flush against the case so I dont think it could go down further. As a side not, the chip fan does come on when its plugged in, so if nothing else I know that it is getting power.

Easiest and somewhat effective way to clean contacts is to put in card, remove, clean card contacts with dry lint free cloth, repeat once.

Ok Ill try that within the next 12 hours before I send it back to GameVE and see if it helps. Thanks for your suggestions everyone! (Except you Osgil you beggar :) )

Master Damoiel Mindbend
Retired Enchanter of the 60th Season

there shouldn't be too much of a variance in the two cards you are switching out, its more then likely the card you got is busted and just need a new one, it happens every now and then, happend to me on my first GeForce and freaked out...

only real way to figure out is getting another box to test its functionality, you covered the newness of the MB so the bio's aren't the problem, also 99% of the time the connectors aren't dirty

most likely the card got either a slight shock, did you handle the card barehanded with out a wristwrap or grounded? it does sound like a bunch of crap but even the slightest touch can screw up the most significant circuit on the board rendering it useless, even with out hearing the snap or feeling it

most likely the card got either a slight shock, did you handle the card barehanded with out a wristwrap or grounded? it does sound like a bunch of crap but even the slightest touch can screw up the most significant circuit on the board rendering it useless, even with out hearing the snap or feeling it

Yeah I am always kinda afraid of ESD so I do try and at least keep in touch with the frame of the case as much as possible when Im messin around inside. Since I handled both cards in the same sitting without getting up and runnin around between the two Im pretty sure I didnt shock it. But I know its almost impossible to tell if thats what happened so I guess its possible and Im still stuck sending the card off :p

Master Damoiel Mindbend
Retired Enchanter of the 60th Season

Actually...board thickness could be a potential problem. I worked at a circuit board manufacturing facility for four years. The raw circuit board material comes in a few standard thicknesses. Specs for circuit boards can either call for .059" fiberglass material (what decent circuit boards are made of) with a .001" copper sheet bonded on both sides making the total thickness of .061" with the circuit traces actually making that total width...or the other common material is a .061" thickness for the fiberglass material with the extra .001" copper sheets on both sides making it a total of .063". Obviously, the .063" board will get better contact because it's a little thicker...your AGP connector might be spec'd for the wider board...and technically Chaintech might have told their circuit board mfr to use the .061" material and they used the .059" material. I found that some people used these interchangeably before I was in charge of materials...which is bad.

Anyway...file this under useless information and good luck on your video card dealie!

**Update**

Ugh. OK I sent the card back and and I just got it today - Installed it and had the exact same problem... Im totally lost here I dont know what to try. I was reading BIOS/Chipset update lists and didnt see any changes regarding the AGP bus, and I cant seem to find anything that says there should be a problem between the two :( I just want my Christmas present to work this SUCKS. Can anyone else offer any advice? Neither of the companies is the least bit interested in helping me now that I have the product.

Master Damoiel Mindbend
Retired Enchanter of the 60th Season

return it and get a radeon 9800 =/

Cant :p

did you totally uninsatll the old card in safe mode (including the old card's drivers?)

The motherboard beeps you describe seem to indicate video card not seated. It has to click twice on "a lot of" motherboards, jam that fucker down!

At boot up, it shouldn't give a fuck what drivers you are using, only that the card works.

If upon reseating it FIRMLY, you still have an issue, take out all the memory but one stick, and then try to boot up.

seeting in a new agp slot requires a sledge hammer, works every time

Well I cross-posted this on the Abit forums and someone said that the voltage on my board wont support the "newer" AGP 2.0 cards.. which pisses me off to no extent but it looks like at least I wasnt doing anything wrong. Thank you everyone that offered suggestions, I guess Im going to have to sell this card on Ebay or something and hope to get back a percent of what it cost me :(

Master Damoiel Mindbend
Retired Enchanter of the 60th Season