Need help with my 9800GT graphics card

[ReneV]

I was given this card as a Christmas gift and I recently installed it (or tried to, at least)as well as a new PSU on my Windows 7 PC. The card is a 9800GT 1GB GDDR3 PCI-e graphics card. The problem is that it was never detected as new hardware, nor does it show up in the device manager.

I have an onboard video card that is a 6150 LE. I can see video when I hook it up to the onboard video card, but when I connect my monitor to the graphics card, there is only a black screen.

I was wondering if anyone could provide some helpful tips for this. I'm getting desperate; I tried getting the card to work all day today with no luck. I know there are some other threads with this same video card, but the majority of them do have the video card in the device manager. This situation may be more unique. I'll provide my comp specs if needed.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[d4v1d]

Windows should detect the new gfx card on a reboot typically.

You may have to go into the bios of your computer and disable the on-board video before it will detect. I would try that first. Look for anything in the bios related to your on-board video.

Also in device manger try disabling and uninstalling the on-board gfx adapter and rebooting the machine with the new 9800gt. I think though, with a little looking around in the bios, you will find once you disable on-board gfx, windows will detect.

Good Luck

 

[ReneV]

Windows should detect the new gfx card on a reboot typically.

You may have to go into the bios of your computer and disable the on-board video before it will detect. I would try that first. Look for anything in the bios related to your on-board video.

Also in device manger try disabling and uninstalling the on-board gfx adapter and rebooting the machine with the new 9800gt. I think though, with a little looking around in the bios, you will find once you disable on-board gfx, windows will detect.

Good Luck

So I disabled and uninstalled the on board video and tried to start up using the graphics card. The problem is that my monitor shows no signal when I start up the comp. The computer automatically installed the drivers for the on board video card.

Everything seems to be running fine. The card has power going to it. There's no beeps or anything that might cause alarm. I tried removing and reinstalling the graphics card, but that does not let windows pick it up. Is there anything else that might cause this problem?

 

[Zepher]

Give us the make and model of your computer or your motherboard if you know it so that we can tell you how to enter the BIOS and turn off the onboard video.
Deleting/disabling the onboard video in Windows won't do anything to solve the problem with the 9800GT.

 

[ReneV]

Give us the make and model of your computer or your motherboard if you know it so that we can tell you how to enter the BIOS and turn off the onboard video.
Deleting/disabling the onboard video in Windows won't do anything to solve the problem with the 9800GT.

My motherboard is an Asus A8M2N-LA. I have updated the bios as well as the southbridge chipset. Would the graphics card appear in the bios if it isn't detected in windows?

 

[Dwarf]

Hi ReneV and welcome to Windows 7 Forums

Double check to make sure that the card is seated correctly and that it is in the correct slot (see motherboard manual). Check your power connections, and ensure that the auxiliary power connection(s) is/are made to the graphics card correctly. If your monitor has VGA input and you are using a DVI-VGA converter, check that the pins in the converter aren't damaged.

 

[ReneV]

Okay so here's a little update:

I removed the card and checked all the connections. Everything seems to be in working order. Card is connected correctly. I have three different cables: a VGA, DVI and a HDMI. My monitor has connections for all t hree. I tried using a different monitor and I get the same thing: it will boot up through the on board, but no the card.

I just flashed the Bios on my motherboard by removing the battery for a couple of minutes, hoping that would help my situation. Now my computer is frozen on the blue HP startup screen. Did I do something wrong? Is there any way to fix this?

 

[chev65]

Removing the battery just resets the bios to original preadjusted setting. Your bios will need some further adjustments to work correctly. Removing the battery is like clearing the cmos but also resets the bios clock.

Flashing the bios means to update the bios, usually to a newer version of the bios.

You will need to go into bios and enable your SATA drives and also it's very important to reset the bios time/date to current time/date.. There may be other required adjustments like setting the memory to manufacture specs but it's very difficult to see those settings from here so I can only guess.

I'm not sure why your GPU isn't being picked up by Windows but usually just cleaning the contacts on the card and reinstall making sure it's seated correctly in the Top pci-e slot will fix those types of problems.

 

[Coolness]

Newer cards have a AGP Power Connector (or pci) in the top right corner of the card. Its a six or eight pin connector, from your PSU to the card. Some have two six pins, or one six and one eight pin. If theese are not connected properly, the card will not function. Also, Are you sure that you have a x16 PCI-E slot, not a x4, since this will cause the card to not work.

 

[ReneV]

I'm not sure why your GPU isn't being picked up by Windows but usually just cleaning the contacts on the card and reinstall making sure it's seated correctly in the Top pci-e slot will fix those types of problems

I have not tried this. I'll try this out as soon as I fix this bios issue. But if it wouldn't read it, would the card still be powered up (i.e. fans moving)?

Also, Are you sure that you have a x16 PCI-E slot, not a x4, since this will cause the card to not work.

My PSU has the 6 pin connection for this, and that is attached to the card. And my PC has a x16 PCI-e slot.

Thanks everyone for your valuable input. I'm sure with your help, I'll be a happy camper again.

UPDATE: I removed the card, cleaned the connectors as well as the motherboard slot. Ran the computer without the card, shut down, reinstalled card, and the device manager still does not list the new video card. I have contacted PNY to see if it may be a faulty card. I hope that it is not my motherboard. Dunno how to check that. Thanks everyone for your help. Hopefully the manufacturer will have some answers for this.

 

[smsff7]

After you install the card and try to run it are you connecting the monitor to the card or the onboard video? The only thing I can think of is to disable the onboard video and connect only with the new card.

 

[ReneV]

I have tried disabling the on board video, uninstalling all the old drivers, then installing the video card and connecting the card to the monitor. I always just end up with a black screen on my monitor. Computer will run normally, graphics card is powered. No signal is picked up on my monitor, though. I wonder why the card does not appear on my device manager at all. Shouldn't it be under the display adapters as a vga controller or something of that nature? I'm starting to think that it is a faulty card.

 

[AMDbrando]

I'm having the exact same problem with the exact same card.

http://www.sevenforums.com/graphic-cards/57894-card-not-found-device-manager.html

One problem is that the latest set of Nvidia drivers does not contain the 9800GT in the inf file, but I fixed that and mine still isn't working.

Which driver version are you using? The 196.21 is the one that does not look for the 9800 GT...gotta either use a modified NVAM.inf file or use the 186 driver set.

 

[ReneV]

I'm having the exact same problem with the exact same card.

http://www.sevenforums.com/graphic-cards/57894-card-not-found-device-manager.html

One problem is that the latest set of Nvidia drivers does not contain the 9800GT in the inf file, but I fixed that and mine still isn't working.

Which driver version are you using? The 196.21 is the one that does not look for the 9800 GT...gotta either use a modified NVAM.inf file or use the 186 driver set.

Yeah, I've been looking at your thread as well, hoping your fix could be mine as well. This is just frustrating the hell out of me. I know nothing about modifying any type of code. I don't want to risk messing things up further.

 

[Frostmourne]

This is easy - if the card doesn't work, replace it. If that doesn't work, your PCI x16 slot is dead. If it does the card is dead. One last option - if you have a Plug N Play option in your BIOS disable it. Is your slot v1.1 or 2.0?

 

[ReneV]

My PCIe is 2.0. The only plug and play on my bios is for usb and it's currently set to enabled. Is that what you're suggesting that I disable? I'll try that and see if it works. The only thing is that I use a usb mouse, so that might not let me get into my computer.

I'm probably going to file an RMA with PNY. Couldn't hurt, right?

 

[paulson31]

Could be IRQ related, try this, download and save your driver to your computer. Disable your onboard graphics from device manager. Power off your computer. Remove the 9800GT from your PC. Remove your memory chips. Remove the power cables from your cd drive. Put your 9800 GT back in. Put your memory back in. Leave your CD player unhooked. Hook your monitor to your 9800 GT, and power on your pc. Your pc should now recognize your 9800GT. Install the drivers for the 9800GT and unintall the onboard graphics. Restart, make sure everythings recognized then power off and rehook your cd player.

 

[Frostmourne]

My PCIe is 2.0. The only plug and play on my bios is for usb and it's currently set to enabled. Is that what you're suggesting that I disable? I'll try that and see if it works. The only thing is that I use a usb mouse, so that might not let me get into my computer.

I'm probably going to file an RMA with PNY. Couldn't hurt, right?

USB is most likely for navigating the BIOS - I would try a different card. As for IRQ's disable the serial and COM ports in your BIOS to free up resources assuming you don't use them.

 

[paulson31]

taking off all peripheral hardware, speakers, cd/dvd, and using minimum ram should free up enough adress space to get the card recognized

 

[RichB]

From your description, the onboard video is always the active one even with the card installed. You'll need to adjust your BIOS settings to boot the 2nd video card first. On the advanced page of the BIOS setup, change the PCI to PCI-E or SLI if that is an option.

Second item down, currently set to PCI boots onboard video and not any installed card.