Geforce 9800GT not compatible?

Moejoe · **Geforce 9800GT not compatible? -** 02-08-2011, 17:27 | posts: 8

Sorry I have just notcied i posted this in the drivers section could an admin move my thread please?

Hello everyone,
First time I have posted here so apolagies if i say anything stupid

About a year ago I bought Nvidia Gefore 9800GT 1Gb Gfx card, hadn't installed a graphics card for quite a few years so i paid the shop to install it for me (which i wish i didn't), when i picked it up they told me it was not compatible with my motherboard resulting in a conflict with the network card. To counter this they installed a second network card to bypass it and told me it was fine (all of this they had gone ahead and done without telling me first). So lovely paid for the install, the Gfx card and the network card.. not a cheap day, took it home and yes its operational but is pathetic when it comes to games. most games crashed the computer within minutes of starting, the only way i have found to play games is by setting it up with dual monitors (which makes no sense to me lol).

I can play some games like crysis on full spec no problems, yet other games such as CS/CSS i struggle to get 20-40fps (falling to below 10 in some firefights etc) on the lowest settings i can use, which i managed years ago with a fraction of the system i have now. I called the shop after i picked it up and said look it works when using basic windows functions but as soon as i try to use it for games it's clearly not right and they told me basicly tough i payed them to install it which they did and sent me on my way. I know nothing about motherboards, is there any way around this or should i just look at upgrading my MB or saving for a new computer?

Apolagies for the essay style question, any help in the slightest would be much appreciated as im fedup with a decent(ish) gfx card that i may as well use as doorstop

Thanks

sykozis · 02-08-2011, 17:57 | posts: 13,489 | Location: US East Coast

Well, they lied about the integrated network controller conflicting with the graphics card. Game performance is going to vary by game and graphics settings. As for the crashing....could be software or hardware, so without some sort of error message it's difficult to help with.

Quite honestly, I'd recommend saving for a full upgrade. By current performance standards, your processor is low-end and your graphics card is mid-range at best. The chipset on your motherboard prevents you from upgrading to a faster processor without a motherboard replacement, which by cost...it's not really justified. You can move to a Sandy Bridge LGA1155 based system with little extra cost (requiring replacing the memory as well). Not sure exactly where you're from, so I'm sorry if this example is just completely wrong.

ASRock P55 Pro/USB3 $100 (motherboard)
Intel Core i5 760 $210 (CPU) or Intel Core i7 870 $290
G.Skill Ripjaw Series 4GB (2x2GB) $50

That's $360 for a Lynnfield based Core i5 760 system....$430 for a Lynnfield based Core i7 870 system

Now...to simply upgrade your processor...

Core 2 Quad Q9550 $280 (CPU)
Gigabyte GA-P43T-ES3G $90 (Motherboard)

That's $370 just to upgrade from your current Core 2 Duo, to a Core 2 Quad processor using a mid-range motherboard.

The Sandy Bridge P67/H67 chipsets are currently in the process of being recalled by Intel, so I couldn't price Sandy Bridge components.

prices via newegg.com

Moejoe · 02-08-2011, 18:24 | posts: 8

Thanks for the fast reply,

I thought upgrading my system would be a bit pointless as i gathered it would cost just as much as a new system, which i will be looking into in the summer.

In the meantime however is there anything i can do to try and improve my low end games like cs/css which is what i mainly play. I understand that my system is not up to todays standards but still it should not have any problem playing such games.

There is no error message, it just freezes with coloured lines/pixals, the sound also freezes (loops) forcing me to manually restart (not only css but other games such as Cod4 and medieval total war etc). before this happens I do get decent enough fps, but the only way to stabalise it is to run my gfx card with dual monitors(1 for game and 1 just at desktop) which at a guess is clearly not going to be great for gaming resulting in my poor fps. I have tried a few old and new drivers with little results.

Is there a way to find an error message after crash that could be of some use? Oh and im in the UK btw so that system would probably cost me twice the price over here

Thanks again

Xtreme1979 · 02-08-2011, 18:51 | posts: 1,224 | Location: Bay City, MI

Sounds like a hardware conflict between your video card, sound card, and or network card. I feel for you cause it sounds like that shop really took you for a ride. Do you have any friends who are tech savvy and might be able to come over and help you out? I would pull all the cards out of the system, stick to the bare minimums, and troubleshoot my way down till the problem reared its ugly head. Have you checked device manager for conflicts? I'm not trying to overwhelm you, its just that you have a technical problem that is going to involve troubleshooting to solve.

The General · 02-08-2011, 19:49 | posts: 2,807 | Location: MD, CA

are you using win7, if so, install WINXP sp3. its better.

Moejoe · 02-08-2011, 20:15 | posts: 8

Hey thanks again,

Unfortunately most of my friends come to me for computer help lol, i can normally sort most problems myself but computers progress so fast everything i know is out of date or i've forgotten especially when it comes to hardware.

I removed the second network card(im still on the internet as well so im still struggling to see how they justified saying i needed it or does that mean it's been running through my original net card all this time?) and unplugged the cd drive, cant really see anything else i can remove. I think this will be my main problem as my soundcard and original network card are integrated with the system, im also guessing the old gfx card is as well though i could be wrong.

Anyway still the same problem when using a single display, I looked in the device manager, There are two things flagged, both under other devices one being SM Bus Controller, and the other one which wasn't there after i removed the second net card was Ethernet Controller (i think though it was 10 mins ago

)

Any ideas? Thanks

P.S To add insult to injury, when i called them about the gfx card i had brought from them and payed to install it, they told me i would have to pay for them to even look at it. muppets lol.

Moejoe · 02-08-2011, 20:23 | posts: 8

Oh and im using XP with Sp3 btw, Vista put me off upgrading from XP for a good few more years yet lol

Xtreme1979 · 02-08-2011, 20:44 | posts: 1,224 | Location: Bay City, MI

SM Bus Controller error indicates your chipset drivers aren't properly installed. I would look there next.

sykozis · 02-08-2011, 20:58 | posts: 13,489 | Location: US East Coast

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xtreme1979

SM Bus Controller error indicates your chipset drivers aren't properly installed. I would look there next.

^

Start there with installing your chipset drivers then see if the problem continues.

The chances of a sound card, network card and graphics card conflicting at the hardware level is astronomically low.... Most hardware level conflicts come from shared IRQs....which wouldn't be the case here. I'm unaware of any network card that uses IRQ11 (previously used for AGP graphics cards and Creative audio cards)

My graphics card uses IRQ16....and my NIC uses IRQ 2-7

TheSarge · *Last edited by TheSarge; 02-08-2011 at 21:21.*

There's no way that your graphics card was "incompatible" with the on-board LAN adapter. That's complete bull****. You got ripped off. Never do any business with that shop ever again.

Anyways, ASRock has made two different revisions of that motherboard, labeled R1.0 and R2.0, respectively. The main difference is in the physical arrangement of the two DIMM slots, and the fact that R1.0 uses a Realtek 8101E 10/100 LAN chip, while the R2.0 uses a Realtek RTL8111B Gigabit LAN chip. Otherwise, the two boards are functionally identical.

In both cases, the chipset is:
Northbridge: Intel® 945GC A2
Southbridge: Intel® ICH7

So, grab the chipset drivers from http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...eng&iid=dc_rss and install them.

You may also want to update your system BIOS, but that is board-specific. You should be sure of which board you have before you try and update it's BIOS or you could brick the motherboard.

H-Ackermans · 02-08-2011, 23:17 | posts: 187 | Location: Ammerzoden

Quote:

Originally Posted by The General

are you using win7, if so, install WINXP sp3. its better.

Wahahahaaaa, that's really an incredibly stupid and downright untrue remark. I'd take Windows 7 over ANY other Windows version, no question!!

I have a system with 9600GT in Sli, C2D E8400 and 4 GB DDR2 and it works excellent, I get 1920*1800 resolution and it performs brilliant. Stalker, Crysis, excellent framerate and gameplay. On Windows 7 x64.

So just drop this "Windows 7 is bad" nonsense.

Moejoe · 02-09-2011, 22:56 | posts: 8

Hey, again thanks for the help

I have upgraded the chipset drivers and the Bios (p1.80 => p1.90) and still no such luck, though it has gotten rid of all flags in device manager.

Moejoe · 02-12-2011, 13:23 | posts: 8

any idea's? I'm really stuck with this one

Xtreme1979 · 02-12-2011, 17:41 | posts: 1,224 | Location: Bay City, MI

Did you uninstall and then re-install the video drivers after the chipset driver update? I dont have high hopes in this working, but its worth a shot. If I were you I would start with a fresh install of your O/S. What brand power supply do you have? 30A for a 600w sounds low to me. Also how old is it? A weak power supply can give you all sorts of headaches.

Moejoe · 02-13-2011, 17:19 | posts: 8

It is a Colorsit atx 600u as best as i can see from looking at it anyway. I think a full re-install is in order as well, pretty sure i tried that to fix it before though so im not holding my hopes up. The thing that really bugs me with this hole problem is why does it work for dual monitor and not for single display lol? Computers just hate me

stryfe2010 · 02-13-2011, 17:47 | posts: 100 | Location: OR

Have you checked to see if there's a conflict with the intel onboard graphics and your 9800? Try removing the 9800 and uninstalling the nvidia drivers completly and just use the onboard graphic for testing if that elimates the problem, then I would reinstall the 9800 making sure it's properly seated into the PCI Express x16 slot (also check if the 9800 needs 2 or 1 power plugs should be able to tell by looking at the end of the card) after it's properly installed power up you pc and enter the bios and disable the onboard graphics. There should be an option where you can select if the board looks at the pci express slot for video. Once that's done load up windows and install your nvidia graphics drivers.

One other thing I've noticed on my 9600gt is that it matters which dvi output I use to get a proper display. Looking at it from the top down if I use the port on the right it won't mantain my display and I have to keep readjusting it but if I use the one on the left everyting works perfectly.

TheAgeOfMen · 02-16-2011, 19:32 | posts: 307

Let someone that knows clean your CPU and graphics card inside out, make your case dust free etc etc, new thermal paste on them, might do wonders.

If u dont know dont do it yourselfe ofcourse

Gortex · 02-16-2011, 23:01 | posts: 3

If I were you I would do a clean install of your OS , Install the latest driver then see how it runs then .

Moejoe · 02-17-2011, 20:37 | posts: 8

Ok so had the day off yesterday, thought id get stuck in. I've Reformatted, installed xp and updated it back to sp3, Installed the audio drivers, Internet and gfx card, Reupdated the chipset drivers as well. Did not do anything else to keep it simple.
In Bios i cant disable the onbaord gfx, i can only tell it which one to use first (PCI-e) though for the onbaord it does give a choice of [Auto], Onboard 1mb, Onboard 8mb, left it on auto. I'm assuming DVMT bits shouldn't really affect much? (set to max)
I've tested for a mixture of which input the monitor(s) are connected to and still the same issue.

I dont know anything about cleaning computers, i generally just take an airgun lightly over it to get the dust and bits out, probably bad for it but never blew it up yet.

I doubt it has anything to do with dirt buildup or anything like that anyway, i've had this problem since the gfx card went in the computer new and the computer was only a few months old then as well.

One thing i have found though, i can now play on a single monitor with better fps if i run it in window mode instead of full screen though could be wrong only tested it quickly.

With a fresh install of everything really cant see anything else i can do lol

TheSarge · 02-17-2011, 22:39 | posts: 609 | Location: The Frozen North.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moejoe

Ok so had the day off yesterday, thought id get stuck in. I've Reformatted, installed xp and updated it back to sp3, Installed the audio drivers, Internet and gfx card, Reupdated the chipset drivers as well. Did not do anything else to keep it simple.
In Bios i cant disable the onbaord gfx, i can only tell it which one to use first (PCI-e) though for the onbaord it does give a choice of [Auto], Onboard 1mb, Onboard 8mb, left it on auto. I'm assuming DVMT bits shouldn't really affect much? (set to max)
I've tested for a mixture of which input the monitor(s) are connected to and still the same issue.

I dont know anything about cleaning computers, i generally just take an airgun lightly over it to get the dust and bits out, probably bad for it but never blew it up yet.

I doubt it has anything to do with dirt buildup or anything like that anyway, i've had this problem since the gfx card went in the computer new and the computer was only a few months old then as well.

One thing i have found though, i can now play on a single monitor with better fps if i run it in window mode instead of full screen though could be wrong only tested it quickly.

With a fresh install of everything really cant see anything else i can do lol

OK, since the stupid BIOS won't let you disable the onboard integrated graphics chip

, set it to the 1 MB option in the BIOS setup. Since you're not using it, you want it to use as little system resources as possible. Then disable the on-board graphics chip in the Device Manager, re-boot the PC, and then when you boot back into Windows, run a game and see if your performance has improved any.