NVIDIA instability on VIA chipsets

[Sumadin]

Im looking to purchase the last component for my new system.
The video card.
I have A7V133 w/ 900mhz T=Bird
A freind burned win98 for me so thats what I'll use.
(so far Bill Gates and the copyright SWAT team have not appeared at my door)
I've been looking at NVIDIA cards GTS and Pro
Instability is a problem with VIA chipsets from what Ive heard.
Will updated drivers solve these instabilities?
Or should I look for something other than NVIDIA?

Any advice would be tremendously appreciated.

Also. If you have the same board as me, what are you using and what's your experiences.


Thanks Again

<font color=red>Sumadin</font color=red>


<font color=blue>"A mind is a terrible thing"</font color=blue><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Sumadin on 03/13/01 05:20 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

it is a pain in the a**... trying for 2 days to install asus v7100/2vid.. it barely works,, constant crashes, unless i find the "secret" it's going back.. have tried 8 different drivers.. asus doest help but to tell u try driver "xxx". my system uses via appollo plus

 

[ejsmith2]

You'll get good results with a 32mb GTS on that motherboard, but win98 will be slightly faster than win2k as far as framerates. So the best move is to dual boot.
Which brings up the next point: everything hinges on what version drivers you use for the card, and which OS. From what I've been reading, the 10.80 drivers either get the exact same frame rates or better, though there may be some tearing. The 6.67 are the equal of the 10.80, without the graphic anomalies.
But all that's for Win98. I use 7.56 for Win2k, and it does really well, but won't play certain games. That's why I dual boot.

 

[Sumadin]

Forgive my ignorance. What the heck is dual boot?
2 Os ?



<font color=red>Sumadin</font color=red>


<font color=blue>"A mind is a terrible thing"</font color=blue>

 

[Guest]

Yes. Dual boot means having two operating systems loaded on your system. As far NVIDIA and Via I recommend using the latest 4in1 drivers from Via, version 6.50 NVIDIA drivers, and making sure your BIOS is correctly configured. After that everything should be good.

John Garrett
System Admin - www.elementk.com
Editor - Exploring Windows NT Professional

 

[Guest]

I'm a reseller who's had problems with the same asus v7100 card. I've installed 3 of them in 3 different PCs, all with different OS's and drivers etc etc. I'm convinced the cards are all faulty. If you like, send me a quick description of your system with your name and email. I have been able to contact asus via my ditributors but they don't seem to beleive me. I'm am trying to collect as much info to throw in their face as possible. send email to asusv7100@home.com

 

[Guest]

I have a question, I have a 1000 Athlon on an A7V, and hate to admit, a TNT-2 Ultra, along with a SB live card. I have a dual boot,98/NT, system, there isnt a game that will run on my 98 partition. Ive downloaded mech warrior 4, gunman chronicles, quake demo which all lock my system up, even using the cheasiest of the settings.

What do ya think??

Has anyone heard of this before, is there anything I can do??

Thanks


-Insert clever phrase here-

 

[Crashman]

I think I went to PIII for the EXACT SAME reason! Same card even!

Suicide is painless...........

 

[mjdunn]

I have had the same problem like this on intel and via chipsets with intel chips and amd chips. The only way I can play my games are with the nVidia reference drivers. I have 4 different nVidia cards from different companies. NONE of their drivers worked, but nVidia's did. So for all those out their try that. Don't forget the monitor drivers.

Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and most of them stink

 

[Guest]

Is it the combination of VIA and AMD or is it more of one than the other?? The A7V has been nothing more than a new born baby since I've had it, constant problems, needs constant attention, just when you think everything's ok, it flips out again!!

I was always a Intel person and never encountered theses problems!! I've had my 1G Athlon since November, 2000 and have had more problems, using the exact same components, than the two years I had my PIII-400 and PIII-600eb, during which I dont remember having any!!

One thought, is the price/performance of the Athlon chips and mobo's worth the constant problems and needed updates???

Intel is more expensive, but its becoming more and more apparent, you get what you pay for!!

maxdog92

-Insert clever phrase here-

 

[HolyGrenade]

I used to have similar problems, when I had a 230Watt power supply. Now I have a 300Watt PSU, and everything is happy. even with the GeForce256 DDR card, it takes way more power than most other cards.

Also, there are loads of people that have AMD systems without problems. I resent your accusations of amd being an inferior product.


<i><b><font color=red>"2 is not equal to 3, not even for large values of 2"</font color=red></b></i>

 

[Guest]

Maxdog,
You say "using the exact same components"... Not all of your old components will work correctly with your new Athlon. Did you, for example, check to see if your power supply was listed as approved on the AMD website, and if not, upgrade it?

Regards,
Warden

 

[noko]

Here is a article which addresses your initial question dealing with nVidia and Via chipsets:
<b>VIA chipsets: myths and reality</b>
<A HREF="http://www.digit-life.com/articles/viachipsets/index.html" target="_new">http://www.digit-life.com/articles/viachipsets/index.html</A>
Look in section under <b>Problems: VIA chipset based boards and NVIDIA chip based video cards</b>

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by noko on 03/17/01 03:01 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

warden,

Sorry about the misleading use of "exact same components"!! When I say that I mean TNT-2 Ultra,SB live, CD Writer, LS-120, and memory 256 MB (PC-133). The new components I bought for this system are: West Dig 20 G ultra ATA 100 disk, new case with 300W Power supply, A7V, 1 G Athlon, cooler master 6000 rpm fan, and el cheapo 5000 rmp case fan.

I've tried everything to run a game on 98, I just loaded the latest nVIDIA drivers, I've load 4in1 28(a) and bios flash a7v1006. I can't run downloaded demos or older games I bought: Half life, SOF, Resident Evil. I've checked all of my IRQ's and bios settings, which all seem to be fine - no conflicts. I don't have anything overclocked except my memory running at 133, but I lowered it to 100 and my system still locked up.

I had a PIII-600eb on an ASUS P3V-4X, never flashed it, never HAD to update VIA drivers, the above mentioned games ran fine. You'd have to admit, this can be a bit frustrating with the constant patches, fixes and flashes coming out, all of which haven't helped. The only "outdated" component I have is the TNT-2 Ultra, but the games I'm trying to run flew on the Pent system so should run even better on this.

Let me know if you can help

Thanks

maxdog

-If you, your sister, aunt, and cousin can sit at a table for TWO, please dont reply!!-

 

[Guest]

Maxdog,
Thanks for the clairification Unfortunately it means that I don't have any fixes for you But I will keep my eyes open.

And by the way, me, my aunt, my sister and my cousion would need a table for at LEAST 5, and 6 if my aunt forgot her mdeication.

Cheers,
Warden

 

[lrmv]

I'm running my A7V for about 2 months now, together with a Hercules Prophet 2 GTS PRO 64MB DDR, a SoundBlaster Life Player 5.1 and 2 3Com 3C905B network cards and I haven't had a SINGLE problem, not with WinME nor with Win2000!
Everything runs with settings set to optimal (AGP 4x)


<i><font color=purple>Running within specs is the key to a stable computer!</font color=purple></i>

 

[Guest]

Hey,

Thanks for the info, Im running a dual boot, 98se/NT 4.0, and have been thinking about upgrading to me or 2000. It seems that these are the test platforms used most. The only other thing I can thats different from what everyone else is using so far is my video card. I know its outdated for serious gamers but the TNT-2 Ultra has always been a solid performer on the games I've previously listed so I cant see why it would cause problems now?? Esp since it uses the same nVIDIA drivers as their new cards. Again, it comes down to money and how I can afford to spend it. New card or new OS??

maxdog

-If you, your sister, aunt, and cousin can sit at a table for TWO, please dont reply!!-