Need advice quick , new video card installation today!

[Genenut 8]

Lord and I have HP 6310f systems. They have on board intergratd nvidia 9100 chips. There is a bios setting for pci, pci-e and onboard so I know at some point I have to enter the bios and disable the onboard graphics. What I'm looking for is the order in which to do it. I have windows 7 64 bit.

 

 

Do I

 

a) 1. uninstall the nvivia drivers, 2, go into bios on reboot and disable the onboard graphics , 3) shut down and physically install the new cards (ati xfg hd 4350 w1gb of ddr2, limited by the psu in our choices unfortunately so no 5 series or such atm) then 4) restart and install the new ati drivers?

 

or

 

b) 1) reboot into bios disable the onboard graphics, 2)complete the boot into windows and shut down 3) install the card and reboot 4) install the ati drivers.

 

 

 

Will disabling on the onbard graphics allow me to boot into windows to shut down or will I have to shut down from the bios screens? Last time I installed a card over intergrated graphics the system was set up to auto check the slot and auto disable the onboard upon detection. The xfg instructions conflict with the HP instructions a bit.

 

Any advice Great appreciated in the next couple of hours please!

[locolagarto 15]

I would recommended you install the new card and drivers first. Make sure windows is OK with your setup.

 

Then reboot with your monitor plugged into the new card.

 

Once you are confident that you new card is working. You can go into the hardware settings in windows and disable the built in video. Reboot

 

After a successful install of new card and disable of old then I would change the BIOS.

 

Note. If any of the first steps fail to boot. Then I would consider changing the BIOS to your add on card.

[Genenut 8]

okay installed card last night. worked great. Today lord starts computer, lights go on on cpu and monitor, hard drive does its stuff, no beeps heard but monitor goes into power saver mode and wont wake up .... We tried doing manual discharge of the systems ( disconnect the power cord, hold the power button in 1 min then reconnect and restart) ... computer came up, briefly got the starting windows 7 screen but with garbage artifacts on it and then again power saver mode.

 

I think its either the new video card or the power supply since windows starts and the hard drive works. System came with intergrated graphics and worked just fine (mine is the same and its still working fine). New card draws power only from the pci e slot. I'm told its about 75 watts. So the new card would be a bigger draw on the power supply. Then again I have read alot of my video card died after 24 hours stories too.... Lord had a small issue I didnt think was related but might be when he first started the system after physically installing the card, he had to unplug and replug his usb keyboard to get it to register which now leads me to think power supply but I'm a bit out of my league here.......

 

 

Suggestions? Advice? Known Prayers to the tech gods that work?

[piscikeeper 1]

try to boot in safe mode (keep tapping the f8 key while booting). if this works uninstall all video drivers and reboot. windows should detect new hardware and ask about drivers for install.

 

and please tell me that box doesn't really come with a 300 watt psu?!

[Schot 407]

Maybe reducing the Win 7 theme down to a low graphics setting in Safe Mode could help you troubleshoot mom? If it's a power issue that might help. Start in Safe mode.

[Timotheus 416]

I'm stomped, really. You should not be experiencing any issues. PSU should not be any problem with those cards.

 

Let's go back to the basic steps of installing a new card, changed to your specific needs.

 

 

 

 

First off, download Driver Sweeper and the latest ATi drivers.

 

 

 

Now, the actual work:

 

1. Make sure your system is running normal prior to installing it, currently not the case, but make sure that your pc is able to boot into Windows, at least in Safe Mode (press F8 during the startup process).

I don't expect any issues with Safe Mode, though should this requires taking out the 4350's, so be it, take them out. Don't forget to switch the BIOS back to "onboard" graphics in that case.

 

2. Boot into Safe Mode (press F8 during the startup process). Remove the drivers from both Nvidia and ATi.

During de-installation, your pc may ask for a reboot. Do so, but make sure that both drivers are deleted with this procedure until you go to the next step.

 

3. Normally, this step is optional, only if you really want to be thorough. Given your current situation I'd recommend it.

If, however, you feel unsure about using this program, forget about it for now.

Use Driver Sweeper and delete any leftovers of the Nvidia AND ATi graphics drivers. You will have to tick the two boxes. Leave all other boxes UNticked.

 

4. After using Driver Sweeper, or deleting the drivers if you've skipped step 3, power down.

 

5. Install the 4350, and don't forget to put the BIOS option to PCIE.

 

6. Boot into Windows normally & install ATi driver.

 

That should be it...

Edited June 1, 2010 by Timotheus

[Genenut 8]

unfortunately the issue is the monitor goes into power saving mode before the windows log in.... matter a fact we tried rebooting to hit f8 and try safe mode and it never displayed anything on that boot. We havent had a chance to get into bios or safe mode ... *sigh* .... at this point I'm thinking of resetting the bios to the normal onboard setting and just trying to get the system to boot. Other than the temp glitch with the usb keyboard last night the system ram fine and rebooted multiple times as the drivers were installed. He played guild wars and assasins creed on the system and had the system on for 3-4 hours straight with no issues, no crashes, etc..

 

Maybe the graphics card died .... *sigh*

[piscikeeper 1]

two of the same system...........swap cards. if the problem moves with the card, the card is dead.

 

are you getting a bios screen or splash screen of any type?

[Genenut 8]

the blue hp screen didnt come up, briefly twice got the black starting windows screen (like 10 sec of it) . but that was with alot of garbage on it (distorted graphics). the cards were add ins I bought separately. I havent opened mine yet, was going to do it today til we came home to a dead system.... I would like the option to return it for full price back if possible ...

[Timotheus 416]

Well as it's still unopened returning shouldn't be an issue, here it's not anyway.

 

For the opened one, it would be a bit less straightforward, therefore I would suggest some troubleshooting.

As pisci says, if you are able to reset Lord's pc to onboard graphics, I recommend trying the card in your pc. And then just follow the steps I described above to get it working. If it were to fail again, then the problems lie in the graphics card.

 

By the way, prior to resetting the BIOS, take the 4350 out .

Edited June 2, 2010 by Timotheus

[Genenut 8]

This is what we plan to try tonight

a) trying the system with a different monitor (incase the system set the display to a ref rate his new lcd one cant handle, a diff crt non wide screen one should force a new setting and will also eliminate it being the cable for the monitor

b) trying the system with a non usb keyboard (less power draw )

c) trying the other card (same type) in his system (I checked the return policy, shouldnt be a problem to open the other package)

d) re seat the ram sticks (we've already tried reseating the grafics card)

e) take the card out, reset the bios and reboot using the onboard graphics.

 

if these all fail we will either contact HP about a new computer or take it to the local professional gurus to do more testing.

 

gotta love technology .... *grumble*

[Genenut 8]

Lord's computer lives again!

 

Now on to the next step post repair diagnosis. what worked in the end was removing the ati card and resetting the bios to reinstate the onboard graphics. We forgot to try the other card in his system.

 

What would cause the card to die after only 3-4 hours of use and nothing very strenous (5 min of gw at high settings and 2 min of assassins creed with no setting changes)?

 

Could a wonky power supply do this?

could it just be a bad card?

the case is wide, the card has massive passive heat sinks and the case has lots of room in it and is well ventilated so over heating should not have been an issue. plus it should have crashed while he was using it for this reason, not die either as he was shutting it down correctly (he didnt notice anything out of the ordinary during shut down) or after he shut it down.

 

Looks like best buy is getting atleast one of their cards back soon.

[locolagarto 15]

if you are concerned about the powersupply you can check your requirements here with this nifty PS calculator. it lets you plug in all the specifics of your system and tells you how much watts is required to operate safely.

 

http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

[piscikeeper 1]

the pciex slot itself can provide up to 75 watts. your 4350 only uses about 25. myself, I don't trust a 300 watt psu to push more than a 1ghz p3 system.

 

you could do a quick visual check of the card to see if there are blown/leaking caps (most likely the one closest to the retention hook).

[Timotheus 416]

the pciex slot itself can provide up to 75 watts. your 4350 only uses about 25. myself, I don't trust a 300 watt psu to push more than a 1ghz p3 system.

 

you could do a quick visual check of the card to see if there are blown/leaking caps (most likely the one closest to the retention hook).

 

I do. I've had a Core 2 Duo E6420 and a 8500GT on a 300 watt power supply, without any problems.

Someone I know ran an AMD X2 5200 and a g80 8800GTS on a 350 watt power supply.

Of course, they have to be of a decent brand.

 

I'm still thinking it's a driver issue...

 

@ Loco: psu calculaters always strive to a PSU with optimum load, which means if all components function at max, the load on the PSU should be roughly between 40-60%. That's why there are so many 500+ watt power supplies now...