popuptoaster 2009-01-21 07:37
I have been trying to run 4 NEC 15" lcd monitors with my AGP 6800 which has been working fine and a newly purchased PCI fx5200, i got so annoyed i've done a completely clean XP install, got everything updated and run the most current drivers.
Basically i can run two screen on the 6800 as i have been for over a year, but as soon as i plug the 5200 in my radio network card loses its wirelss signal (no conflicts, all devices working properly) if i then plug a monitor into the VGA socket on the 5200 it will run three screens, but its not stable or reliable, and if i attempt to plug the 4th screen in, i get blue screen of death on restart with the message pointing at NV4_disp as the problem.
I assume both cards are using the same drivers as the 5200 pick up and works right off the bat and if i try to install the drivers for it it tells me they are older then the ones on my sytem that i installed for the 6800XT
HELP! :)
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bubbachuck 2009-01-22 12:02
what makes you think the two cards use the same drivers? when you try to install the 5200 using XP default drivers, does it complete or does it ask you to insert a new disk?
I ask this because on nVidia's site, there are different drivers sets for different generations of cards.
The 6000 and up cards are at 181.20 right now and the legacy cards are 74.xx something I think.
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popuptoaster 2009-01-23 00:48
It doesnt use the default windows drivers if the drivers for the AGP 6800 are installed, it picks up on them straight away instead, if i install the PCI 5200 first then it uses the default XP ones untill i install the correct drivers for it, and then the the 6800 picks up on those ones untill i install its correct drivers.
I was thinking about it in bed the other night (couldn't sleep) and i have started to suspect my PSU isn't man enough for the job, i have a 520 watt unit and with 4 HD's and the radio card and the AGP geforce 6800 in there i reckon plugging in the the other card is over stressing it which may be why it will run but occasionally crash with three screens but then blue screen with 4, could also explain why my radio network card loses its connection even though it supposedly still works fine, maybe not enough power for it to transmit signals.
I'm gonna buy an 800watt job and see if that helps, if not its no loss as theres no harm in having a decent PSU.
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popuptoaster 2009-01-23 00:57
Forgot to mention, both my cards are Geforce series cards, both my cards are in this list of supported cards for these drivers
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_175.19_whql.html
although if i let the Nvidia software scan my pc and detect which driver my 6800 needs it downloads the newer one which does not support the older 5200 card, i shall try it again with both drivers and see what happens.
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popuptoaster 2009-01-23 04:50
Definately wont work whatever driver combination i try.
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bubbachuck 2009-01-23 05:03
From reading other posts about this, try going into your BIOS and having it boot up to PCI (instead of AGP which was likely what you had before for your 6800GT). Make sure you know how to reset your BIOS also in case you get a blank screen...your manual should have info on that.
IMO, 520 watts is plenty. before you go out and drop another $100 on a power supply, read http://archive.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=2&c=7&t=9354
PCI ports provide 25W and AGP provide 41W max.
you can also calculate your power usage here http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
it'll give you a good, over-estimate. unless your 520W is a bad power supply--which is possible--I think it's very unlikely that its a power issue. It sounds more like the 5000 series video card may be bad...if warranty/exchange is possible, give it a try. You could try removing the 6800GT and only using the 5200 to test that.
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popuptoaster 2009-01-24 02:15
I'll check out those links, cheers.
I already tried booting the PCI card first, i get the same issues, the PCI card will run two monitors but when i try with screens plugged into the AGP card it all falls over, both cards run fine if i try them by themselves, maybe i just cant run two such similar cards?
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bubbachuck 2009-01-24 13:03
could be. i didn't see any the FX5200 in the Ultramon database in the "Resources".
try http://www.realtimesoft.com/multimon/results.asp?Search=Config3Mon&OS=WinXP&SearchType=SearchSpecial for possible 3-monitor combinations.
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bubbachuck 2009-01-24 13:05
last things you may want to try:
1) Driver Cleaner (tho you said you reinstalled XP, say maybe unnecessary)
2) changing which PCI slot you use
could be a motherboard issue, PSU issue
you could try removing some of the other PCI cards (radio card) and HDDs to test PSU issue.
i'm trying to get a PCI card myself and am wondering if I should get an ATI card instead to pair with my 8800GTS.
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popuptoaster 2009-01-25 02:36
I'm starting to think its the cards not compatible, i stripped the pc down to bare bones and tried the 5200 in all the pci slots, i used the PSU calculator and it showed mine as using under 400watts, my PSU is a good one and its not giveing my any greif other tahn when the card is plugged in so i've changed my mind about it being underpowered especially as i noticed its got a peak rating of 600watts, i have another couple of VGA cards here somewhere, i'll try running those and see if it cures the issue.
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Bubbachuck 2009-01-27 08:49
yea the 5200 might be problematic. try going with an ATI card to avoid the "different-generation-driver" problem.
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