Diamond X1600 - No 2D or 3D Acceleration

BitVector · Aug 11, 2006, 08:46 PM

I bought a Diamond X1600 AGP 256mb in the beginning of the year, and it worked fantastic for about 6 months. I've been able to play Oblivion and Prey without any problems whatsoever. Recently, I decided to replace one of my smaller hard drives with a bigger one, and I re-installed Windows XP.

For some strange reason, my video card can't run any 3D application. Also, I noticed that when I drag my folder windows around the desktop, they are very sluggish. My temporary fix for the sluggishness is to turn off Video Hardware Acceleration so that Windows can render the folders using software acceleration. Of course, I have Hardware Acceleration turned on whenever I'm trying to run a 3D application.

In DxDiag, it shows that DirectDraw Acceleration, Direct3D Acceleration, and AGP Texture Acceleration is Not Available, and the program can't seem to figure out how much VRAM is on the card. I have the latest DirectX installed (9.0c).

I've tried many different drivers, including several older versions of Catalyst and also the Omega drivers. I've tried using Driver Cleaner. I've tried changing BIOS settings many times in various ways. I tried unplugging and plugging in the card and several other components. So far, nothing has worked.

After trying everything I possibly could, I decided that I probably shorted something on the card accidentally, so I RMA'd my card back to NewEgg, and they quickly sent me a replacement (I love NewEgg). They sent a brand-new Diamond X1600, and I put it into my computer. Guess what? Same problems as before.

I have a 350w PSU, and the power cord is plugged into the card like instructed. Hardware Acceleration is on.

Other system information:
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2200+
MB: FIC HB11
Chipset: KT400
BIOS: Phoenix Tech. 6.00 PG
Graphics Interface: AGP 3.0 with 8x Interface
Memory: 1280mb DDR

I've seen only one other person on the Internet who has this problem, but he has tried everything too and can't figure out how to fix it. Does anyone here know what to do?

kn00tcn · Aug 14, 2006, 04:19 AM

is that 350w strong enough?

&... have you tried fastwrites off? or other settings in smartgart

The_Neon_Cowboy · Aug 14, 2006, 07:29 AM

put the settings you changed back
install the latest drivers
install the latest chipset driver for your board
install all the available windows updates autopatcher is a good tool forthat

H3X4D3C1M4L · Aug 14, 2006, 12:02 PM

Try dusting out your PSU and see if that fixes it .... or just dust out the WHOLE system and see if that helps. It sounds like that PSU is barely strong enough and the dust is making more heat and robbing you of power.

BitVector · Aug 14, 2006, 05:11 PM

I've dusted out the whole system several times. I've updated the drivers on all of my components including my motherboard. I've changed FastWrites on and off, and I tried every combination of BIOS settings I could.

I'm pretty sure that the PSU is strong enough, because I've unhooked all of my other hard drives, my DVD drive, and my sound card to see if it's a power shortage, but none of that worked either to fix the 3D problem.

I installed my card into a friend's computer, and it worked perfectly. He has almost the exact same set-up (motherboard, etc) as I do. Afterwards, I tried installing an ATI 9200 AGP into my computer, and the card won't show anything whatsoever after it loads Windows. Right now, I'm using an old ATI 7500 PCI, and it works. My only guess is that the one AGP port on my motherboard is messed up.

I will probably have to put in a different motherboard. I don't know any other solution.

Yousaif · Aug 15, 2006, 05:16 AM

If you haven't done it try resetting the CMOS and going into the BIOS and re-setting it up. You're probably right that something with the AGP slot isn't quite right, but it may just be a setting instead of a hardware failure.

*rhyinem* · Aug 17, 2006, 10:14 AM

This is actually a known issue with VIA chipsets (which you have) and the Catalyst 6.7 drivers.

737-22933: No Direct3D Acceleration or failure to boot into Windows on some VIA-based motherboards

The information in this article applies to the following configuration(s):
Catalyst Display Driver 6.5, 6.6, 6.7

VIA KT400 chipset

Radeon® X1300 series

Radeon® X1600 series

Radeon® X800 series

Radeon® X700 series

Radeon® 9800 series

Radeon® 9650/9600 series

Radeon® 9550/9500 series

Windows XP Professional

Windows XP Home Edition

Windows XP Media Center Edition

On some VIA chipset motherboards configured with an ATI AGP graphics product, attempting to boot into Windows may fail, producing a black display or causing the system to restart. Other symptoms may include the desktop starting up in low resolution or color depth settings, or Direct3D is disabled within the DirectX Diagnostics.

Other configurations may be affected.

As a workaround, users are encouraged to install Catalyst 6.4 display drivers.

BitVector · Aug 17, 2006, 03:31 PM

rhyinem, you're a life-saver!

Everything you described is EXACTLY what my system is using and why it wouldn't work with my X1600 or my 9200. With Catalyst 6.4 drivers installed, everything works perfectly like it did before.

Yesterday, I almost bought a brand-new Intel processor for a motherboard that my friend gave me, but instead I decided to wait a few days. Your advice came at the right time!

Yousaif · Aug 18, 2006, 05:24 AM

That's awesome that it helped and I'm going to file this one away for a few of my friend's machines just in case it happens to them.

Now I know why I have steered away from builds involving VIA chipsets the last few years.

*rhyinem* · Aug 18, 2006, 10:35 AM

Glad I could help out. It should be fixed pretty soon.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Aug 24, 2006, 11:09 AM

Funny I don't get this issue and I'm running a KT600