New machine (yay), issues (boo)

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ambershee

Nimbusfish Rawks
Apr 18, 2006
4,519
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Nomad
sheelabs.gamemod.net
Hi guys!

I'd like some input, and I need a fairly quick turn-around before I throw this hunk of crap right back to sender, so I figured you guys were likely to give me a decent response.

I recently purchased a new computer to replace my old one; i7 860, 8Gb Ram, 1Gb 9800GT, 1Tb HDD - pretty reasonable. Purchased it all without an operating system and paid extra to get a three-day turnaround on it.

Anyway, machine finally turned up this morning (nearly two weeks after placing the order, not three days), and I was pretty eager to get it up and running. I didn't purchase an operating system, since I already have several copies of Windows on disk. I figured I'd give Windows 7 64-bit a swing for a few days, and if problematic, revert to Vista.

Booting the machine for the first time, and it appears a 32-bit Windows 7 is already installed. No biggy, I didn't pay for it, so I formattted the HDD and installed my copy from scratch. When booting windows however, the video signal goes out of range and my monitor won't display it. It takes me a **** load of ****ing about, and at present I'm using a real old TFT with a 4/3 aspect ratio, because it's the only one that would actually display anything.

Get into Windows, next step is to install graphics drivers. Using dXDiag, I take a look at the machine specs, and it's all looking good, save for one thing; the 1Gb 9800 GT is only reporting that it has 440mb of available memory. Time to install the drivers and see if it makes a difference.

Crashes to a blinking cursor every time you begin installing drivers. I've been faffing about with this machine for a good five or so hours, and can't find anything similar online.

I'm willing to bet the GPU I've been given is quite badly ****ed - although it's supposed to have be brand new and tested before I recieved it. Anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? Could something else be causing these issues? Or am I sending the damned thing back and spending another two weeks without a ****ing computer?
 

Capt.Toilet

Good news everyone!
Feb 16, 2004
5,826
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Ottawa, KS
Who did you purchase it from? From experience working with Dell and Alienware, it's pretty bothersome if you try to put your own OS on. They either blue screen the moment Windows loads files(dell) or half the **** doesn't work upon boot up(alienware). Also do you have a spare pc around that you could pop that card into to rule it out being a video problem?
 

ambershee

Nimbusfish Rawks
Apr 18, 2006
4,519
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Nomad
sheelabs.gamemod.net
Purchased from PCSpecialist - they include the option to purchase without OS by default. My previous machine was a Dell machine (the one I'm replacing) - but it's fried from the motherboard up, so I don't know if it's going to get me very far testing on that machine either, seeing as my (working) graphics card didn't function properly in it either.

Edit:

Bah, this is my problem:
http://www.techsupportforum.com/har...2475-solved-9800-gt-cant-install-drivers.html
 
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ambershee

Nimbusfish Rawks
Apr 18, 2006
4,519
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38
36
Nomad
sheelabs.gamemod.net
Not sure I can test the PSU, but it should be fine, it's supposed to have been tested before I recieved it. I'm not sure the motherboard is the problem either, since it works perfectly fine with the generic VGA drivers, just not with NVidia's proper drivers.

A lot of people seem to have had problems with the 8800/9800GT and Windows 7 64-bit it seems, but still noone with the exact same one as me. Pain in the arse.


Anyway, and update; ran a driver sweep and cleared some leftovers - then it defaulted back to stone-age resolution on the reboot. Successfully installed the latest drivers, but then it failed to boot at all on restart - ended up using start-up repair. Now I'm back to a more normal resolution again, but it's telling me to install my display drivers - whereupon it is almost guaranteed to crash to the active cursor again.

Edit: Did indeed crash, and I'm being prompted to reinstall my display drivers again.
 
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DarkCrow

ლ(╹◡╹ლ)
Jun 13, 2004
681
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Brasil
Not sure I can test the PSU, but it should be fine, it's supposed to have been tested before I recieved it. I'm not sure the motherboard is the problem either, since it works perfectly fine with the generic VGA drivers, just not with NVidia's proper drivers.

A lot of people seem to have had problems with the 8800/9800GT and Windows 7 64-bit it seems, but still noone with the exact same one as me. Pain in the arse.


Anyway, and update; ran a driver sweep and cleared some leftovers - then it defaulted back to stone-age resolution on the reboot. Successfully installed the latest drivers, but then it failed to boot at all on restart - ended up using start-up repair. Now I'm back to a more normal resolution again, but it's telling me to install my display drivers - whereupon it is almost guaranteed to crash to the active cursor again.

Edit: Did indeed crash, and I'm being prompted to reinstall my display drivers again.

Try to manually install them with the Device Manager instead of the nVidia installer. Also try to install the 182 or 185 drivers made for Vista, instead of the 190 released for Windows 7
 
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ambershee

Nimbusfish Rawks
Apr 18, 2006
4,519
7
38
36
Nomad
sheelabs.gamemod.net
Had a look in the BIOS, but didn't find any onboard VGA. Couldn't find any physical switches or jumpers either.

Going to take a stab at going from the device manager / using older drivers now.
 

ambershee

Nimbusfish Rawks
Apr 18, 2006
4,519
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38
36
Nomad
sheelabs.gamemod.net
Attempting from the device manager just results in the same crash - but a bit worse.

I also can't install any older drivers - the installer first tells me that the installer is intended for 64-bit versions of XP/Vista/Windows 7 and that my OS isn't one of those (eh?), and then tells me that I'm trying to use a 32-bit uninstaller on a 64-bit system.

Something very wrong there somewhere :|
 

SkaarjMaster

enemy of time
Sep 1, 2000
4,870
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Sarasota, FL
Then do an internet search of bios problems with that motherboard and see if it needs to be flashed. If that doesn't work, then it sounds like you need to get a new motherboard (maybe even different kind/brand/whatever).