8400gs drivers cause blank screen after boot!

[mister g]

Nice, my case is kind of restricted and the integrated ethernet port is right above the graphics card, and I don't plan to rip it out and buy an ethernet card!

 

[raz3rkun]

Yeah true it would just be a waste of money, its the same for me. My PIEx16 slot is at the top of all the other slots, the 24pin motherboard power connector and the integrated Ethernet are located just above it! The only way i cud fit it in was by changing the metal connector on the card from the dual to a single from my previous card! However because of tight space around the card it was heating up to ~70-80C when playing Witcher 2, im using an external fan to keep it cool atm
Have you got a single slot 4870?

 

[mister g]

Yeah, but sorta. It's got a dual slot heatsink venting into the case, but with its power requirements and the fact that it doesn't get too hot I've always wondered why Asus didn't use the orignal design for next gen cards since it works pretty well (it requires two 6-pin PCI-E power plugs!). For me I replaced the thermal grease between the H&F and I haven't seen the temps go higher than 58C. Is your card a shrouded design where all the air is forced out the vent above the VGA port? If it is there isn't any place for the air to go and I suggest opening up the shroud to keep that card cool. It shouldn't be approaching the 100C ceiling since it doesn't use that much power.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ASUS-ATI-Radeon-HD-4870-EAH4870-2DI-1GD5-GDDR5-SDR-/220822317755?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item336a092abb
However like you I stuck a case fan behind the card next to the case grille to pull the heat out so the fan won't rev up too much

 

[raz3rkun]

The card doesn't have a shrouded design, it did have a grill for the air above the connectors, but as i said i replace it with the single design so it could fit. However my previous card had extended tv connectors above it (Scart, Component etc.) which i removed to increase ventilation and airflow, i also left the slot below the card empty and open as well. Of late the highest the card has been is around ~60-65C, which isn't too bad!
I tried to update my bios using MS-DOS while booting from disk but it didn't seem to work

 

[mister g]

Then try to boot Windows into safe mode to rule out any potential Windows conflicts. Did you get the BIOS from the OEM?

 

[raz3rkun]

Yep, i a have medion pc, i downloaded the update file from their site. Whenever i try to run the batch file it keeps saying that the 'awfl884a.exe' file is missing when its clearly in the same directory!

 

[mister g]

Weird, does Medion still provide tech support?

 

[raz3rkun]

Yeah they do, i called them a month or so back when i had the graphics card problems! They ensured that it was a graphics card problem and thats when i decided on getting a new one.

 

[mister g]

Don't worry too much about the BIOS since you plan to do a new build in a year or so anyway. Just remember that the PCI-E bus you have could only support at most a 5850 without the bus bottlenecking the card.

 

[raz3rkun]

Yeah i just thought i would give it a try, might aswell upgrade when i can, but it didnt work so im not too bothered. Im not planning on getting a card higher than the 5770 for this comp anyway so that's fine.

 

[raz3rkun]

i installed the core2 duo e6700 today an it seems to be working fine however it seems to go above the thermal spec of 60.1C, on 100% load it tends to go as high as 74C, it that normal? I used the thermal paste u recommended.

 

[mister g]

Not really normal at all. Have you spread out the paste correctly?

 

[raz3rkun]

At first i put a spot in the middle and then spread it using card, and then used the heatsink to spread it around more. But then when i read the instructions on the arctic silver website i decided to clean it and then apply it again, this spread it in a vertical line, then using the heatsink to spread it! However either way the temp remains the same! Have had to leave case open with a fan running into the it, this way the temp remains at 45C when idle! I have read that the paste takes 200 hours before it starts working properly but without the external fan it stays around ~51-55C at idle and has gone to ~76C when under load!

 

[mister g]

What was the temps on your old CPU? I have the Q6700 which is basically two E6700 sandwiched together. My temps are at 51C for one core (using SIW). Not sure about your temps but I agree their a little high, but not too worried sicne this CPU hasn't given me any trouble for the last 8 months (and cuz its the summer, everything's hotter ).

 

[raz3rkun]

True it has been hot even here in the UK, and my room can get quite warm from time to time! The last time i checked the temps for the E6400 it was around 41-45C at idle and that was a few moths ago. I hope this maybe due to fact that i just installed the cpu, it may take some time for it cool naturally with the help pf the heatsink and paste! Im thinking of increasing the ventilation in the case by drilling a few holes in the detachable case sheet around the cpu area.

 

[mister g]

I would clear otu the dust in the PC and add a case fan or two. Maybe leave all the expension slots open and the I/O plates off. For my BTX case I got a front fan blowing directly onto the CPU heatsink, a power supply fan blowing downward, the GPU fan also blowing downward, and a case fan I put on the card pulling air out of the case.

 

[raz3rkun]

Wow thats a lot of fans!! Yeah im planning on leaving all the slots open, and getting a few fans, especially replace my cpu fan (its just not that good anymore) and place it so that it blows into the heatsink. My psu fan blows downward, however my GPU fan blows up against the psu fan, so i mite have a problem there. But once i get a fan to blow into the cpu it shud blow all the air out of case!

 

[mister g]

Since its a BTX case and Intel intended airflow to be fairly straightforward does your case have an open grille in the back?

 

[raz3rkun]

Yes it does

 

[mister g]

I would buy a cheap case fan and stick it near the back of the card to pull hot air out. It at least gives a directions for the air to go overall.

 

[raz3rkun]

Will do having a look at few now.

 

[mister g]

I didn't attach it to the case, I just found a flat surface on the card and then placed the fan perpendicular to that.

 

[raz3rkun]

I seem to have found a solution to the problem. I turned the cpu fan which was facing away from the heatsink to face it! Now the idle temp is around 45C! Im gonna buy the case fan anyway to further increase the airflow inside! This has also seemed to cool the GPU now without the need of an external fan, at 35C when idle!

 

[mister g]

Very nice, wonder why the fan was turned away in the first place?

 

[raz3rkun]

No idea i guess they must have made a mistake when building it. At the moment when playing games (Witcher 2) the CPU goes as high as 65C (without the casing panel). And the GPU has gone as high as 64C, i hope the extra case fan that i have bought lowers the temperature further and increases the airflow even with the side panel!