9600GT's infant morbidity?

Splot · 10-07-2008, 09:09 AM

Shalom!

I bought this card by Gainward yesterday. I was attracted by it's price, the manufacturer's reputation, and the fact that it's got 1024mb RAM on board. I hoped it would mean a significant improvement to the system compared to my previous card but since I installed the card it's been going uphill.

Primo: the system now has a hard time starting itself. Yes, the power supply works and all the fans are working and all the LED's are lit, but it seems, that the graphic's card sends no signal to the monitor, as it's LED stays orange (stndby). Eventually, I believe, the POST comes to a halt, and the system gives out one long and three short beeps. Apparently this means a RAM failure, but I didn't even touch the damn thing! Both RAM modules sit tight in their ports, and Windows shows the right amount of RAM. Still, the system eventually starts properly, after I give it a few more shots.

Secundo: when I listend to Winamp and surf the 'net every time I open a new page, scroll down, watch flash animations and whatnot the music gets obstructed: it slows down and I hear cracks and stuff. Very annoing.

Tertio: the general performance is less than satisfactory. The system seems stoned, and operates as we Poles say "like flies covered in tar". It's not that bad, but I didn't expect the card to alter the general performance. At least not in a negative way. The games also run slower than I would expect. Take Oblivion as an example: I almost killed myself, when I saw the ingame performance in the sewers at the beginning. I mean it seemed worse, than with the previous card. When I went outside it seemed a bit better than the old card, but I expected more. Judging by other people's opininons on the card I believe this to be another part of the issue.

Ok, so here's my system:

C2D 2.0GHz @ 2.1GHz (slightly OC'ed the FSB, it's been working for a while that way with no problems experienced)
2x1GB DDR2 @ 800MHz (plus the ~5% FSB OC)
ASUS P5B Deluxe
Audigy SE
460W Power Supply (main suspect)

Any ideas?

Big B · 11-07-2008, 11:34 PM

While a properly proportioned 460W probably could run that setup, most don't have the proper +12V amperage (at least 30A) you'll want to have with a modern video card.

It does sound like the PSU isn't bad, but simply not designed to deal with modern components.

Splot · 12-07-2008, 01:18 PM

Thanks for Your reply. I managed to deal with the problem. All it took was taking out the card and putting it in again. There must have been an issue with the connection somewhere. The sound problems are gone, my PC starts up perfectly and the performance is satisfying.

After taking the card out I noticed, that two of the connector pins (I don't know how they're correctly callled. I'm referring to these tiny, rectangular copper plates located on the part of the GPU, that is inserted into the slot) are significantly (about 1/4 of lenght) shorter than the others. Is that bad? Are they broken? There doesn't seem to be any damage in the vicinity, and the copper plates are perfectly cut.

Swansen · 13-07-2008, 01:35 AM

A 1/4 inch seems a little long, but are just speculating or did you measure them? As card will have a slight variance in pin sizes. On that, you were having audio issues?? so you have a 9600 that also does audio, correct? If that is the case, i think those two shorter pins are shorter for that reason, they deal with audio, i ran across a thread that was talking about audio and the 9600GT.

10-07-2008, 09:09 AM	#1 (permalink) Top
Splot Geek Trainee Join Date: Jul 2008 Age: 23 Male Posts: 2 Status: Offline	9600GT's infant morbidity? Shalom! I bought this card by Gainward yesterday. I was attracted by it's price, the manufacturer's reputation, and the fact that it's got 1024mb RAM on board. I hoped it would mean a significant improvement to the system compared to my previous card but since I installed the card it's been going uphill. Primo: the system now has a hard time starting itself. Yes, the power supply works and all the fans are working and all the LED's are lit, but it seems, that the graphic's card sends no signal to the monitor, as it's LED stays orange (stndby). Eventually, I believe, the POST comes to a halt, and the system gives out one long and three short beeps. Apparently this means a RAM failure, but I didn't even touch the damn thing! Both RAM modules sit tight in their ports, and Windows shows the right amount of RAM. Still, the system eventually starts properly, after I give it a few more shots. Secundo: when I listend to Winamp and surf the 'net every time I open a new page, scroll down, watch flash animations and whatnot the music gets obstructed: it slows down and I hear cracks and stuff. Very annoing. Tertio: the general performance is less than satisfactory. The system seems stoned, and operates as we Poles say "like flies covered in tar". It's not that bad, but I didn't expect the card to alter the general performance. At least not in a negative way. The games also run slower than I would expect. Take Oblivion as an example: I almost killed myself, when I saw the ingame performance in the sewers at the beginning. I mean it seemed worse, than with the previous card. When I went outside it seemed a bit better than the old card, but I expected more. Judging by other people's opininons on the card I believe this to be another part of the issue. Ok, so here's my system: C2D 2.0GHz @ 2.1GHz (slightly OC'ed the FSB, it's been working for a while that way with no problems experienced) 2x1GB DDR2 @ 800MHz (plus the ~5% FSB OC) ASUS P5B Deluxe Audigy SE 460W Power Supply (main suspect) Any ideas? Last edited by Splot; 10-07-2008 at 09:12 AM.

11-07-2008, 11:34 PM	#2 (permalink) Top
Big B HWF Godfather Join Date: Dec 2001 Age: 27 Male Posts: 9,593 Times Helpful: 584 My Mood: Devilish Status: Offline My Computer	While a properly proportioned 460W probably could run that setup, most don't have the proper +12V amperage (at least 30A) you'll want to have with a modern video card. It does sound like the PSU isn't bad, but simply not designed to deal with modern components. __________________ Hardware Forums\|HWF Rules\|My DVD's\|PSU FAQ\|HWF Folding Team\|2CPU

12-07-2008, 01:18 PM	#3 (permalink) Top
Splot Geek Trainee Join Date: Jul 2008 Age: 23 Male Posts: 2 Status: Offline	Thanks for Your reply. I managed to deal with the problem. All it took was taking out the card and putting it in again. There must have been an issue with the connection somewhere. The sound problems are gone, my PC starts up perfectly and the performance is satisfying. After taking the card out I noticed, that two of the connector pins (I don't know how they're correctly callled. I'm referring to these tiny, rectangular copper plates located on the part of the GPU, that is inserted into the slot) are significantly (about 1/4 of lenght) shorter than the others. Is that bad? Are they broken? There doesn't seem to be any damage in the vicinity, and the copper plates are perfectly cut.

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