AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3600+ (2 CPUs), ~1.9 GHz nForce 430 chipset nVidia (EVGA) GeForce 8600GT 256mb DDR3 PCI-E Sigmatel High Definition Sounds 1GB RAM (2 X 512 DDR2 667mHz) 350w PSU I recently made my first purchase of an aftermarket video card. I thought I had everything figured out from top to bottom....man, was I wrong. I concider myself much better than the average joe at computers, but this has burned my ass.....literally! The card is the one listed above....EVGA 8600GT 256mb purchased from www.newegg.com I have never had any blue screens/system crashes before getting "emotionally" involved with this card, but I guess there's a first time for everything. I did it by the books with this card. I flashed my BIOS with the newest updates, installed chipset drivers, used driver cleaner, and even changed VP programs. This card is just not cooperating with me at all. It continues to run very unstable on BF2(the only game I have right now) and provides me with not much more smooth gameplay than the stock nVidia 6150LE. It runs decent on low settings(same as 6150LE 64mb), and runs poor on anything past low. I know its video card issues, but just need some help to figure this one out. I have contacted EVGA, newegg, and some chat servers and found no or little info. Please guys, any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
It automaticaly disables the onboard video, but I went ahead and uninstalled the 8600GT and let it find the 6150LE again so I could manually disable it. That did not change anything.
First, I'd like to know exactly how you contorted yourself so that you managed to let the card literally burn your ass. Second, do you have a second PCI-e slot you could try the card in? I know nothing about the nforce 430 and a brief googling didn't turn up anything useful.
No, it has only one pci-e (x16) slot and two pci-e (x1) slots. I have never had anything in that slot before the video card, so its unlikely that it would be a defective slot. Any other suggestions?
Oh, and here's a link to the specs on my motherboard. http://www.nvidia.com/page/gpu_mobo_tech_specs.html
Or you never would've known about it. I'd suggest trying a different card in the slot, if you're able, just to rule out a bad mobo. Also try the card out in a friend's system (again, if you're able), to make sure the card doesn't need to be RMA'd.
Cool, I will try it in my girlfriends computer tonight. Do you think that the video card stability test is alright for a good comparison? I dont have another copy of BF2, so I cant use that. Any suggestions?
I took a look at my gf's computer, and she has 3 pci slots and 1 agp slot....no pci-e slots to try. You think I should just sent it back??
Before you do that, see if you can get your hands on somebody else's card and give it a shot in your mobo just to see if it's not only your card. But do get in touch with evga and see if their customer support can help you.
I did this instead, I bought a PC gamer mag with a Crysis demo, and it worked really well on all medium settings. It had very little hang ups, so im thinkin its something with bf2 or my computers compatibility with bf2.
I had a problem like this and discovered a memory timing problem, You could try this simple, ~ 10 minute test. Go here http://www.memtest.org/ and Download - Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS - Win) reboot, and after it loads, hit C. This would at least rule out memory as the cause. Also you should be uninstalling the drivers when changing cards, and then re-installing them as registry keys are changed even though the driver may be the same.
I suspect your power supply may not be up to the task of powering your 8600 GT properly; not enough amps on the +12V rail.
I do know that BF2 hated it when i overclocked my cpu...BSOD evetytime at random intervals...put it back to stock and no more crashes Not sure if it was the memory or cpu that was causing the probs but....
My PSU is perfectly capable of running with this video card. It is only rated at 305 watts(+12V @ 24amps), but has plenty of extra power to run this card stock. Now overclocking....thats a totally different issue. I wont be trying to overclock it with the stock PSU.
It sounds like BF2 is the issue, because running Crysis at medium is about right for an 8600. Are there any updates/patches for the game you can try downloading?
BF2 does have issues always has and always will but what most don't realize is that the BF series has always been a powerful game engine. It can require alot to make it smooth. Your card should be fine for BF2 as my 6600 gt that I use to use ran BF2 at medium settings just fine. You already know your card is fine because you were able to play Crysis at medium settings, that's one of the most demanding games out today. For your PSU, it is only 350 watts? If you have 24 amps on a single 12v rail then your good there but only having 350 watts is pretty weak. Having 2 512 sticks is already a problem. I know for a fact that if you switch to 2x 1 gig sticks, your game will be smooth and will even load you faster into a game, you might even get in first which can be critical. BF2 really does need 2 gigs of ram. BF2 only requires 512 to play but does NOT say that it will be smooth just simply playable. They do state online may vary. That's how they cover themselves. You always want to beat the recommended requirements in order to fully enjoy a game. Not all can do that but it will help you in the long run if your able to.
