Windows doesn't detect graphics card!

[DungNoahDing]

I had an agp nvidia tnt2 it got fried someway, some how, im not sure why. i buy a new geforce4 mx420.
-----------------------------------------------------------
1) i install an old pci graphics card, for the time being.(leaving the fried agp intact) and plug my monitor to the pci. starts fine. I can see again. so far so good.

2) (some time later) I take out the tnt2 and plug in the geforce. i plug my monitor into agp, black screen, doesn't even show a thing. i turn it off and plug monitor bak into the pci. it works. i goto windows and it doesn't have any add new hardware screens or anything. I plug my old agp bak into my comp. and leave my my monitor connected to my pci(else i cant see). I detects new hardware added.

2c) I updated my bios, and my VIA 4-1, and graphics card driver, shut down, plugged monitor in new card same black screen.

2b) I uninstalled graphics adapter drivers and pci card, tried just the new card same black screen.

3) I take my tower to my cousins house and put my old card in his comp.it is still fried.

4) I plug in the my new agp in his comp.I can see!!! it is detected fine in windows.

5) I plug HIS agp card(also a tnt2)into my motherboard. leaving my pci intact and plug monitor into his card. I can see!!!!! woo hoo!

6) finally i plug the new card bak into my comp and his monitor into the new card i still see nothing.

i came to the following conclusions:
it is not the agp hardware because it runs his tnt2
it is not the geforce hardware because it runs on his comp
it is not the monitor because same monitor, same card, but different system, different result.

my comp meets all the requirements of:
IBM PC or 100% compatible i think so
266MHz or higher cpu (AMD K6-2 or Pentium II or higher) 800MHz PIII
AGP 2.0 Compliant Socket my asus p3v4x has a 4x AGP slot
CD-ROM have cd-rw and DVD (which is detected by bios and windows but doesn't detect cd.....
Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, XP tried ME,and XP(my two HDs) and my cousins 98se
64MB of RAM 384 MB

any idea what factors might affect my comp from detecting the card? CPU to AGP bridge drivers? (ALL of my drivers are newer than my cousins...)

[HAL9000]

I have to question, why are you running the PCI card? Pull all the video cards, insert you new one and try.

[DungNoahDing]

oops forgot to mention that i tried that too. same black screen.

[wolfie]

try to take out old card and drivers.reboot and load in reg. vga drivers.if they go in ,shut down ,put in new card,start up, it should dedect the card.then put in new drivers.

wolfie

[oosik]

....makes me wonder if it's a power supply problem. P/S's can do some funky things. Right now my screen goes black every once in a while, have no idea what it is, doesn't happen often enough for me to really care tho.

The newer GeForce cards are power hogs. What kind of P/S do you have, rating, etc.?
oosik

[DungNoahDing]

how do i check the power rating? or power supply?

[wolfie]

what kind of case do you have? you need at least a 300 watt power supply.

[DungNoahDing]

I have a DR-250ATX it says max 250 watts , my cousin has the same tower......and it runs on his....

[oosik]

250 watts is pretty low rating for what you have.....


....he may have the same tower but may not have the same P/S? With a little work you can remove his p/s from his system and put it in yours and see how your system runs, if he's a good enough friend to let you do that. If his p/s runs your system fine, then that's what you need. If you still have the same issues with his p/s, consider a mobo issue. I heard some mobos had AGP power issues in the past, not sure how old your mobo is. I pretty sure my present mobo is questionable in the agp power department.

oosik

[mrjohnsonjr]

the agp slot may not be supplying enough volts and is therefore incompatible..

[mike breck]

Yes try a new PSU first - becuase you're going to have upgrade it anyway. Get a good quality 300W, 350W or 400W PSU from Enemax, Sparkle, or Antec. As the guys said, 300W is now the recommended minimum for Geoforce cards.

However, I suspect the Geoforce may be incompatible with your AGP slot.

I had an Epox mobo (two-three years old) that worked with a TNT2 Ultra but wouldn't work even with a Geoforce2. However, it did work with Radeon cards. However, I didn't buy one because by that time I had decided to upgrade the mobo.

If you can, return the Geoforce and try any of the ATI Radeons. They use universal AGP connectors and support 3.3V and 1.5V.

If that doesn't work, then you just might have to consider upgrading the mobo.


HTH

[piasabird]

Maybe it is the power rating on the agp slot and the video card. Also try removing all drivers for all video cards and install the new drivers and install the new card. There is always the possibility you bought a dud?

[postman]

your GeForce 4 requires a 350W power supply. Just installed same card went relatively smooth