Nvidia GTX 260 and Windows Vista 64

[flat_bloke]

Hello:

I am having a recurring issue with my new system build (see specs below), specifically with my eVGA GTX 280 graphics card.

I was able to install the drivers for the GTX 280 using those found on eVGA's website (180.48_VISTA64). However, if I completely power off the system, the next time I turn on the PC the display adapter under device manager lists indicates "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter." At that point if I try to reinstall the graphics drivers I get an error indicating the "Nvidia setup program could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current hardware setup."

At this point I must uninstall the Nvidia drivers. Then the PC wants to restart. I must then uninstall the standard VGA Graphics Adapter. Again, I am forced to reboot. At this point I need to power off the system completely. When I boot it up again I am sometimes able to reinstall the Nvidia drivers. The system will then reboot again and the system will recognize the GTX 280 again. I have been able to repeat this process numerous times.

Any idea why this is happening?


PC Specs
OS- Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit SP1
MB- Gigabyte EX58-Extreme
CPU- Intel i7 920
GPU- eVGA GTX 280
RAM- 6 GB of Corsair DDR3
Storage- WD1001FALS 1TB (x2)
Optical Drive- SAMSUNG DVD±R DVD Burner
Display- Dell 1907FP

 

[V3NOM]

hmm clean em off with driversweeper and try again i think... other than that try a different driver (ie 177 or 178)

 

[flat_bloke]

Small correction to the title of this thread: "Nvidia GTX 280 and Windows Vista 64"

Thanks for the reply V3NOM.

I used Guru3D’s Driver Sweeper to clean all instances of the Nvidia display files from my system (in safe mode). I then tried to install earlier versions of the drivers from Nvidia's website with the same (unsuccessful) results as I mentioned above in my original post.

I reseated the graphics card and reconnected both power cables on the GPU. I also checked the modular power connections to the PSU. This did not solve the issue.

I decided to reformat the system and set up everything but the graphics drivers. I then downloaded and tried the various versions of the Vista 64 drivers from both eVGA's and Nvidia's websites. My logic was that I might have originally installed a 32 bit graphics driver from the manufacturer's CD and this might have been causing the issues. These steps did not solve the problem.

Next, I contacted eVGA's tech support. The tech indicated that it was probably not a driver problem but an issue with the actual graphics card and/or the PSU. He suggested that I try testing the system with another graphics card. I am planning to borrow a GTX 260 from a friend and test it out in the system tonight.

Is there any way to test to make sure the GPU is getting enough power?

Is it possible that something might be wrong with the PCI-E slot that the GPU is currently plugged into? If so, should I move the graphics card down a slot?

I really hope that I have just encountered a faulty card and that replacing it will fix the issue.

 

[Nexx]

Well I'm having the same issue as you are except I'm having it with 2 of
my PCs at once and with 2 of the BFG GTX 260 cards. I know its not the 1000w thermal take psus in BOTH of my rigs...lol I'm running an evga 750i in one pc and the other is an evga 780i BOTH running windows vista 64. But I have the exact same problem with BOTH pcs so if you find a solution please let me know too!!

 

[slickrick]

I also am having the same issue... gtx 260 p5q pro.... I had my system working with the drivers until I powered down then got the standard vga display adapter popup and get the no hardware detected response when i try ad reinstall. Please share if anyone has found a solution. thanks a lot

 

[flat_bloke]

My friend's EVGA GTX 260 worked without an issue in my PC. While the 260 requires only two 6 pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors (as opposed to one six pin and one eight pin power connector for the 280), I concluded that my PSU was not the issue and that it was the actual graphics card. I RMA-ed the 280 back to EVGA. It's been almost five days since I installed the replacement GTX 280 card and I have not encountered any issues. I wish I had a more definitive answer to why this happened with my first GPU but I am chalking it off to a defective card finding its way to my doorstep.

Nexx- Yikes, two PCs with the same issue! Are both these PCs new builds? I am assuming you have tried to reseat the GPUs to their respective boards. Have you checked the supplementary power cables on both the GPU and PSU ends (the Thermaltake Toughpower looks like it comes with modular cables). Is it possible that you might be able to get a hold of a graphics card (as in my case from a friend) that you know works and then try it in both of your systems? Also try to establish more constants such as using a PSU that you know works. Have you contacted BFG tech support (http://www.bfgtech.com/contacttech1.aspx)? Please keep us posted on what happens.

slickrick- Sorry to hear read that you experiencing the same/ a similar issue as I had. My problem was with the actual graphics card rather than drivers. Who makes your graphics card? What sort of PSU do you have? What sort of troubleshooting have you tried so far?

 

[chris_5haw]

Im having the same problem with my EVGA GTX260, Installs fine, but once you power the computer off fully, it starts up in VGA mode and says it cant find the correct hardware when trying to install the 180 Nvidia drivers. Its an upgrade to my old ATI2900 card, which still works find in my P5K-E Motherboard. Also Im using a 750watt Corsair PSU. Such a shame for my first Nvidia card, maybe I should of got the 4870...

 

[a_lamp]

Hello, I am having the same issues as the above posters with the same message when i tried to reinstall the new drivers that i downloaded. I have a 750w PSU and am running the EVGA GTX 260 on an ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe mobo. It was installed just fine for about a week playing games such as world of warcraft and fear 2 at max settings just fine. i had restarted it multiple times but after one night it just stopped working and came up with the VGA found new hardware wizard. I am not sure ifs the card or not but i would like to see if its something i can fix here or will need to send in for =/. thanks for the help!

the only difference is that i run windows xp home 32 bit as opposed to vista 64.

 

[tom1960]

I just finished building a new system.......

I'm having exactly the same problem with my EVGA GTX 260
Latest Nvidia drivers installed, everything looked OK, Next day my GTX 260 was not listed in the device manager (unknown PCI device)
After two restarts the GTX 260 shows up again...


Mobo: Asus PQ5 PRO Intel P45 DDR2 Crossfire
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 2x3,00GHz 6MB Box
RAM: A-data 2x 2GB 800Mhz DDR2
Videocard: EVGA GeForce GTX260 SC 896 MB DDR3 with CUDA
H-disk: 1 TB Samsung SATAII 32MB 7200rpm
PSU: Coolermaster Silent Pro 600W PSU
OS: WIN XP Pro SP3

 

[leon2006]

I just replaced my BFG 8800GT 512 with BFG GTX280. I dowloaded the latest driver from Nvidia and installed the new card. I never had any issue with the 8800GT and so far everything is working well with the BFG-280. I run vista-64 Ultimate.

I use Antec 850 Quadro PS....

 

[Guest]

Same problems abound. I have the 260 on an Asus mobo. Ran the card for a week and then it died. Asus said the PSU was the problem, had it checked out, runs just fine. Boot, reboot, change Bios settings...... I finally reinstalled Vista 32 and it was running fine but I can't get any sound thru my HDMI cable! EVGA just keeps saying it is an Asus issue. Looking at all of these posts, it has to be more than that.

 

[shfreeman]

Same Issue. Any ideas? I haven't seen a solution or anything even identifying the source of the problem? Which part is bad? Which do I need to replace? I think it is a Nvidia/Vista compatibility problem on certain cards/mobos.

I am using:

ASUS P6T
Corsair CMPSU 650TX
EVGA GTX 260
Intel I7 920
Windows Vista 64 Bit

New build. First driver install for Nvidia drivers from the disk. BSOD. Remove drivers. Install new drivers from website. BSOD. Remove drivers. Roll back to three or four older drivers. BSOD.

Power supply is hooked up and working. BIOS is current. Disappointing to have put everything to gether and have a piece of junk setting on my desk. It would be easier if somebody knew what the problem is, so I could RMA whichever part is the culprit. I fear that it is just a combination of things and I may have wasted money on Vista and an Nvidia card.

Does anybody have the above specs or similar and have their machine working?

 

[xivxiv]

Shfreeman: i don't know if u already read my reaction on the EVGA forums, but I managed to fix this problem.

The problem occured after I tried to Install Vista 64 (incl. SP1) from a installation disk I downloaded from the MSDN site.

Now I tried to download (again from MSDN) Vista 64 WITHOUT SP1, installed it and *suprise* the problem was fixed. Then I downloaded SP1 standalone, and installed it, and all was still working OK.

So, in conclusion: try Vista 64 without SP1, and then install SP1 separately. I guess our problem is more of Software issue than Hardware.

 

[shfreeman]

Now if I just had a free copy of Vista 64 Bit pre SP1 laying around. Maybe a can RMA my version back to Newegg for the pre SP1 one.

Glad you got yours fixed.

Btw- Do you remember your stop code on your BSOD?

 

[thegoodone]

hi guys,

I have exactly the same problem you described in this thread with my gtx260, vista 64, asus p5q.

Have all of you been able to resolve your problems by installing the nvidia drivers before installing SP1?

How about updating the drivers, do I have to reinstall vista everytime I change the forceware version (ie from 180 to 190?)

Thank you

 

[Guest]

I just had a build from fry's, an Asus P6t Motherboard, I7 P920, 2- EVGA GTX 260, 6mb of Corsair Domintor DDR 3 Triple channel, Corsair 850W power supply with an Antec 1200 case. Anywho they updated the drivers and the Partition crashed on Vista 64. So they uninstalled the updated drivers and everything is zooming now.

 

[annonymous]

Hey guys, same problem with windows 7. After restarting about 3 times, windows will find the card again. But doing this every day make me loco ^^.

 

[Okinyo]

MY PROB WITH EVGA GTX 260

[#][/#]I need some help, my knowledge of hardware and software are a bit on the undesirable side. My OS is Vista 32-bit, MOBO is an ASUS M3N78-VM with onboard 8200, 3.1 gig processor AMD Athlon x2 dual core, 4 gig RAM, 500 gig Seagate HDD, Creative Audigy 4 sound card, Nvidia Geforce gtx 260 8996 mb 448-bit video card and 750 watt power supply. All displayed on dual monitors.

I originally had an ATI RADEON HD 4870 256- bit 1 gb card on my present computer. I was told that I would not see the full potential of the card because the MOBO is configured more for NVIDIA Video cards ( I had to uninstall some of the drivers for the MOBO because of the onboard 8200, in order for the ATI 4870 to work properly ). I had a retailer benchmark the 4870 and got around 1200, the retailer said I should be getting around 1500. He suggested that I try the NVIDIA Geforce gtx 260 superclocked card for compatibility with the M3N78-VM MOBO. I bought the gtx 260 and had it bench tested, it did WORSE and got around 1100. Is the 4870 a better card or am I just doing something seriously wrong? I hope it's the latter.

The 4870 was easy to overclock and looked great on flight sims and mmo's. The gtx 260 runs a little choppy, colors not as vibrant, and I got a black screen when I tried to log into a game after I overclocked the card more, ever so slightly though. I tried to run the latest drivers for the gtx 260 rather than the initial cd drivers but that only caused more problems. I tried to find better drivers for my mobo but no luck yet. I'm thinking of solving my own problem by buying the 4870 again but somewhat hesitant to put myself back in the same fix again. If someone has some insight to my problem please HELP! I am sooo confused.