8400gs drivers cause blank screen after boot!

[raz3rkun]

Hi i recently bought a Gigabyte GV-N84S-512I GeForce 8400GS 512 MB card to replace my recently problematic geforce 7650gs 256MB card. I am able to initially boot to install the drivers, however once i have installed them and the comp restarts there is a blank screen immediately after the windows boot! The thing is everytime i try and install the drivers the same problem occurs.
I have 300W psu which i thought may have caused the problem, so i did a check on the voltages and temp using hwmonitor. Its seems i my 12V is running at 8.92V, which seems too low, im not sure if this is causing the problem!

 

[mister g]

These are all entry level cards that shouldn't be pulling much power anyway. Does the motherboard have an IGP you could try to boot from?

 

[raz3rkun]

Unfortunately my motherboard doesn't have a an IGP.
The main reason i bought the 8400gs was so that i could have a working display. i was planning on getting a radeon 5670-5770 after my previous card went bust but realised that i needed to uninstall the drivers before hand, hence i bought this card. But it just doesnt seem to respond to the drivers at all so i dont know if i should get the radeon card now. I have windows 7 32 bit atm.

 

[mister g]

I don't think it's your power supply because it booted up before. Have you tried both the VGA and DVI inputs?

 

[raz3rkun]

iv only tried the VGA, my monitor only has a VGA input.

 

[mister g]

IS there any way to test the card on someone else's PC? I was fiddling with my card and for some reason it fixed some of the problems after I swapped it my another card.

 

[raz3rkun]

i do have a brand new pc that i bought to so that i cud do my work on it, but it is a simple model Packard Bell Imedia and only has 250W PSU.
In the next few days i will try and find a way to get my card to work and see wat happens. Even if i cant get it to work im planning on upgrading both my psu and my card to do more gaming!
When choosing a psu upgrade does the amperage as well as the mobo compatibility matter? (I kno iv gone slightly off topic )

 

[mister g]

Yes it does, look especially carefully at how many As is supported on the 12V rail. Generally stick to name brands and you'll be safe. The motherboard compatability you don't have to worry too much about as most power supplies support the 24-pin mobo connector anyway. Try taking out the card, booting up, and when that fails shut it down, put it back in and boot. I was having huge graphics troubles with my 4870 and I fixed it by taking it out and putting it back in.

 

[raz3rkun]

Currently my 300W psu supports 18A on the 12V rail and the 450W psu i was lookin into for upgrade has 35A (12V), i didnt know if this would cause problems for the mobo or not. The motherboard i have is an old BTX and the new psu have ATX2.3 support, again wasnt sure if there would be issues or not!
As for the graphics card i will try your solution, if that doesnt what do you suggst i do?

 

[mister g]

BTX? I'm using an old BTX right now to type this. As for the graphics card i would suggest looking for another graphics card (the 8400 tends to be both old and buggy) or try to fit it into your Packard Bell case and try to boot it up.

 

[raz3rkun]

I tried doin wat u told me and its got the same probs
If i boot it in the packard bell which has a 250W psu will there be problems?

 

[mister g]

Probably not unless the power supply couldn't handle 18A on the 12V rail. Maybe the card is faulty.

 

[raz3rkun]

Bought a Sapphire 5670 512MB card, put this card in and everything seems to be working fine i guess the 8440gs must have been a faulty card! Theres been a giant leap in graphics from b4 can play most of my games in high with decent resolutions!
Planning on upgrading my core2 cpu but not sure exactly which to, the intel pentium dual core E6xxx sereis seems pretty good!
Thanks so much for your help

 

[raz3rkun]

And replaced my 300W psu with a XFX pro 450W

 

[mister g]

Good for you, but with an upgraded power sopply you could go far higher than just a 5670. If you have a Core 2 upgrade to another Core 2 as the Pentium only has at most 2MB of onboard cache, which would be important when you start playing graphically intense games (the Pentium could become a bottleneck). It all depends on what motherboard you have.

 

[raz3rkun]

I know i was originally planning on getting the 5770 but missed out on getting a good deal for it, so just got the 5670 which in hindsight is just fine as i dont have a large monitor! Well my motherboard has the LGA775 socket so it should be able to handle all the Core2 processors, would i need to get a new cpu heatsink as the newer Core2 have a higher thermal spec?

 

[mister g]

No the thermals are pretty much similar. Just get some good thermal paste for your heatsink and fan so it could dissipate the heat effectively. Something like Artic Silver 5 or IC Diamond would do the trick. The reason i asked for the motherboard was that in my experience the chipset really matters for processor support. I have a '07 Dell Dimension E520, it has a BTX motherboard thst is based on the G965 chipset. It's an older chipset rushed as a stopgap to support older Pentium 4s, Ds and then the new Intel Core 2s. However that means that I'm restricted to 65nm CPUs 'cuz that's the smallest lithography the Pentium 4s were shrunk to. So I put in the best 65nm Intel CPU I could, the Core 2 Quad Q6700.

 

[raz3rkun]

My motherboard doesnt have an IGP.

System Chipset:
VIA PT890CE (North Bridge)
VIA VT8251L (South Bridge)

These are the only chipset info i could get from the online manual. The cpus i could find that are within my budget are the Core2 E7500 and the Core2 Q8400.

 

[mister g]

There's your problem, the VIA chipset is old and there is no mention of which CPU it supports even though it says it supports Core 2. In theory your E7500 would work but your Q8400 wouldn't. Go to your PC manufacterer's website and check for the latest BIOS updates and download them, then tell me the date the BIOS was made (if possible). I got all this info from VIA's website about this chipset.
http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/chipsets/p4-series/pt890/

 

[raz3rkun]

Ok my motherboard specs are:

Manufacturer: MSI
Mobo Model: MS 7318 (BTX)
Phoenix-Award BIOS v6.00PG (Phoenix Technologies LTD)
SMBIOS Version: 6.00 PG
BIOS Date: 02/02/2007

Its really hard for me to find an update for this BIOS, its also seems to have limited features, cant overclock or check on health status.

 

[mister g]

The BIOS usually contains a list of CPUIDs so that it could recognize what CPU you had just placed in. Unfortunately back in February of '07 the E7500 wasn't even released yet. That leaves you with at best the E6700 to upgrade to. On the other hand the Q6600 was released a month earlier, and if you feel like taking a risk that might be a CPU you could aspire to.

 

[majorgibly]

A big risk at that.

 

[raz3rkun]

Its annoying how there are more and more roadblocks the more you research lol. I guess i will leave the cpu as i dont want to take any unnecessary risks. Instead will save up to build a new gaming rig in another year or two!
I have one last question, will changing my current DDR2 667Mhz RAM sticks to their 800MHz counterpart make any difference?

 

[mister g]

A little, but not much. Faster memory is better, but isn't too significant unless you're tring to OC the rig and the RAM is holding you back, but the RAM isn't the bottleneck here (though I did replace mine with 800Mhz ones). I would go for the E6700, at least for the time being. Just looking on eBay the E6700 is going for ~$65, buy that sell, the E6400 for ~$35 and to me the upgrade isn't too bad. Another thing you could consider is the Core 2 Extreme X6800 which boasts a 2.93 Ghz stock speed (no clue if it works though, it is technically a dual-core released before 02/2007). Research is a good thing it finds potential traps that you don't want to fall into (like returning an E7500 to an online retailer). I had high hopes while upgrading my PC too, but now must settle for a BTX mobo that I can't replace, a Q6700 I can't go past, and a case that won't let me fit any card that has a dual slot i/o backplate (highest possible is a single slot Radeon 6850). I plan to upgrade too, but maybe in two or three years/

 

[raz3rkun]

Ok, i will follow your advice and purchase the E6700, it seems like a pretty good upgrade from my current cpu and its affordable. I guess i will get the 800Mhz RAM sticks along with the E6700, as long as it can speed it up a little. I had a look at the Core 2 X6800, it seems pretty much the same as the standard Core2 except for the extreme version having an unlocked clock multiplier and increased speed.
I cant fit a dual slot graphix card either thats why I was looking for the single slot 5770, but missed out on getting it for an amazing price . So bought the 5670 instead, however it came as a dual slot aswell (didnt read specs properly), had to do some minor changes and was able to fit it in the case!