ATI versus VIA chipsets

[spiritfalcon]

I built my system about a year ago and it has never been quite stable. It is tempermental with games and sometimes the internet. I was able to stablize it a bit by updating the BIOS on my MOBO, but it has never been completely solid. In my attempts to stablize it I have tried new graphics drivers, VPU recover off, lowering graphics acceleration, etc. I am going to try updating the VIA drivers and then my graphics drivers tonight to see if that helps.

Well just I read on a forum for Sapphire that ATI Radeon cards don't get along with VIA chipsets on MOBO's. Has anyone heard of this before? I don't have a problem with getting a new MOBO if it will make my system solid. I just don't want to tear my system apart if it isn't going to help. Suggestions?

[Nav]

Hi there. I have personally dealt with several ATI-VIA machines at work and this isnt the first time i have heard of such problems. It was a different solution for every machine. For one, I remember replacing the video card, another, a stick of RAM, a third, changing the cpu. Once a fresh install of Windows 2000 did the trick. I would recommend that you try out a different video card, and ram. If the problem cant be solved, you might want to take it to a shop that offer free estimates and get another opinion. I would try the fresh install first. Just my opinion. I would wait for more opinions before taking any plan of action. Good Luck.

Cheers

[Alfie]

You would need the Via agp driver to enable 8x.
If you install new video drivers,be sure to uninstall all previous drivers.
If the only card that's been on the computer is ATI,go to the ATI folder in programs file and look for the uninstall all file,this will remove all ATI drivers,and then install the new drivers.
Your problems,may be power supply related or a heat issue.
I'm currently using a 9800 pro on a Via 600 board with no problems.

[Panama Red]

I may be wrong on this but I think the problem is ANY gaming on a Via chipset board of the type you're using. The A7V series of boards are fine for general purpose use. The problems seem to come when you stick in a top end graphics card and try to play the latest games. I've built several machines for office or general internet use based on the A7V8X-MX SE board and use the on board video. I've not had any problems with those machines. If you're going to game with an AMD processor, like your socket A, you're much better off using a mobo with the nForce2 chipset.

[nicolaus corelius]

changing the mobo would be a cheaper solution