EN7950 GX2 compatibility problems

KvT · Sep 20, 2006, 09:09 PM

Hi,

I'm having problems with my new Asus EN7950GX2 card on a brand new rig. After installing windows xp pro (32bit), I installed the motherboard drivers (chipset, Lan, audio and RAID) and then here I go installing the video drivers (I've tried multiple versions including the latest beta). Now things get messy. My screen flashes black randomly after some time. The monitor shows me "no signal" a few times repetedly and it doesn't take long until the computer goes into a sudden reboot. And this happens no matter what I try to do on the computer.

The comp config is this:

Asus P5B Intel P965 chipset (<- I suspect this to be the actual problem as it has a P965 chipset and doesn't support SLI, meaning it doesn't support multi-GPU setup)

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4 GHz (1066MHz) 4MB L2 CacheSocket 775 Processor
Asus EN7950GX2/2PHT/1G
OCZ DDR2-800 PC2-6400 Platinum XTC 2GB (2x1024MB) Dual Channel Kit
Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Mid Tower ATX with Antec TruePower Trio 550W PSU
Western Digital (WD3200KS) Caviar 320GB SATAII 7200RPM 16MB Buffer
ViewSonic Xtreme VX922 19" LCD 2 ms 650:1 1280 x 1024 DVI
LG GSA-H10N 16X 10x DL+R 6X DL-R 12X

Now, I know it can't be the power supply because the PSU has over 27A on the 12V rail and 550W are enough for this system. The cooling is also fairly good. The videocard stays at 52 degrees with a normal load of applications.

But I suspect the mobo is just not compatible with the 7950gx2. The P5B is not listed on NVidia's website for mobo compatibility ( http://www.nvidia.com/content/geforce_gx2_sbios/us.asp ) but I thought the list was just not updated. I should've avoided this and get myself an Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe from the beginning. Now my comp is back at the retailer shop and I'm waiting a reply from them (<- probably not positive).

Do you have any advices? Should I change the mobo ? Did you have problems like this ? Should I suspect a motherboard incompatibility ???

Regards

PS: this is a kick-ass forum.

mike2h · Sep 21, 2006, 12:34 AM

welcome to the forum!
my mobo is not on that list either & my card works fine. yours should to.
is anything oc'd? d0 you have the latest bios for that mb?
you do have the pcie power lead hooked to the vid board(got ot ask

)?
i would supect 3 things - the psu, faulty card, mb not supplying enough volt at slot. the voltage supply sounds like the most like;y culprit.
do you have a freind who can lend you a psu? vid card? &/or has comp that is suitable for your card & u could take it over there & give it a whirl.

just so you know, a mb does not have to have dual pcie slots to run this card.

KvT · Sep 21, 2006, 08:45 AM

so,
nothing is overclocked.
the pci-e power supply is hooked to the video card
when I bought the PSU of 550W (ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V) the tech representative told me it should do more than fine with my system specs which are minimal (excepting that power hungry videocard). ( http://www.antec.com/specs/TP3_550_spe.html )
the PSU connects the mobo with a 24 pin and a 4 pin cable so I think it gets enough voltage. also, the mobo's BIOS has been updated by the retailer after I had problems starting it up. the initial BIOS didn't recognize my OCZ 800MHz RAM. I suppose they've installed the latest version.

Could you tell me what should be my system like so that it is capable or running that video card ? I think everything is suitable up to that modest, mainstream mobo. ( http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_cont...d=c2dmb&page=2 )
I told the retailer to test my system with the Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe. Hopefully they'll find the problem, but I wanted to ask you about the issue so that I'd know what to expect.

mike2h · Sep 21, 2006, 12:42 PM

if you can afford that mb - go 4 it!! better mb all around. that being said, i still believe that ur mb should have no probs running that vid card. also, if you are considering going with an nv chipset i would highly rec going with the new '5' vers.
for now i would wait & see what they have to say. good chance this prob is just some faulty hardware.

KvT · Sep 21, 2006, 01:30 PM

thanx for the reply. I'll post more on this when I get the comp back from the shop.
cheers

mike2h · Sep 21, 2006, 01:47 PM

good luck

KvT · Sep 22, 2006, 05:40 PM

well,
the solution came quite unexpectedly. I just got my comp back from the shop and they told me they've changed the DDR2 ram (OCZ PC2-6400 dual channel kit) with the same type of course. Apparantly it was a faulty memory stick. Who would have thought.

Anyway, I'm just testing it now and so far it looks okay. Hope this thread could help others that come into this kind of problems.

Cheers

mike2h · Sep 22, 2006, 07:05 PM

great! glad that worked out 4 u.

KvT · Sep 24, 2006, 08:04 AM

Still
the computer crashes to BSOD (because I've turned off automatic reboot in system failure) in most games at any random point.
what would be the possibility to have a faulty RAM again ?
on top of that I can't disable bios or video shadowing from bios (amibios 0509)

can it be due to the onboard sound driver (soudmax) or it is most likely a hardware failure again. I have no idea of what course of action should I take. One thing is for sure, I'm not buying from that computer shop ever again.
as for the motherboard I'll be waiting for the new P5N32-SLI Premium on the new Nforce 590 chipset for intel

mike2h · Sep 24, 2006, 05:31 PM

guess iy wasnt a faulty mem stick? maybe the mb does have a prob. if u got the new one on the way, you will be goos soon(nice mb bty). if you are still having probs after your new install with that mb i would consider rmaing that card.
in fact you might want to do that anyway. that wya you will start out new & wont have to have your comp down again while waiting for card. jus tell support about all your issues, without mentioning the mem stick thing or anything along those lines.

KvT · Sep 24, 2006, 07:49 PM

I believe it's the mobo as well. I read on another forum (anandtech) that other people had problems with P5B and OCZ ram or with P5B and 7950gx2. most of them solved their problems by replacing the mobo with a different model (p5w or p5n or some gigabyte). I returned the comp to the store to let them have a look again. If they are smart, they'll replace the mobo which is anyway mych cheaper than the ram. I even mentioned twice in the service form that I want that board replaced with p5n (their pricing isn't very different and if that saved me the agony of all the frustration than it's worth to the last penny).

will update with soon when I get the rig back

jfarinhote · Nov 17, 2006, 07:15 AM

Hi guys

This is actually interesting, I'm having exactly the same problems as you!

I recently bought a new machine, intel core2 duo 2.4, kingston 1GBx2 dual channel, p5w dh deluxe and the famous en7950gx2 pcie 1GB. I had exactly the same problems as you, pc was reboting in 3d games or restarting from itself randomly, I thought it was because p5w dh deluxe was not a sli board so I asked for a change and switched with p5n32-sli premium wich I did and I'm using now but alas, the problem presists, random reboots in 3d games or crashes...

When i had p5w dh deluxe i turned off multi gpu processing and i solved the problem but that was not the prupose of this vga card is it? A dual video card working only as a half?

MarcusFenix · Aug 4, 2007, 10:14 AM

Sorry for the thread necromancy, but I need help on this.

A friend recently upgraded and is offering me his 7950GX2 for cheap, and i've done some research on the mobo compatibility for this card and some are having problems.

I've checked the nvidia site, and though they support like 2-3 Asus A8N boards, mine wasnt on the list (its a A8N-LA)

I just wanted to ask if the 7950GX2 is almost compatible with most mobos out there, or should I expect some problems along with it?

mike2h · Aug 4, 2007, 12:22 PM

while i couldnt find your mb at their site, most of that series are nf4 so i dont see a problem. unless your psu aint cutting it.
if he is your friend he shouldnt have any problems letting you put it in & trying it out.
if you dont mind me asking, how much is he charging you for the card?

MarcusFenix · Aug 4, 2007, 12:51 PM

He's selling it for about $180, I know the prices on these are still on the $200's range so im thinking its not to shabby

Yeah, i'll probably try asking him if I can try installing it first should any incompatibilities occur. Im also on the verge of upgrading my Antec PSU to 550w, and i've checked the amp requirements so it should be sufficient.

Oh yeah, my mobo is from a hp pavilion pc, with the website stating it has a GeForce 6150 chipset?