Problem with new PNY GF4 Ti4200 64mb - PLEASE HELP

[Myystical1]

Ok heres my problem:
About two weeks ago I bought a PNY GF4 Ti4200 64mb AGP video card
I also bought a Thermaltake G4 VGA Copper Cooler kit, with heatsinks for ram, GPU, and a 6000rpm fan for the GPU.
This card was to replace my old PCI Radeon 7500 64mb
So I put it in, and everything loads fine, except I notice one thing
My 3.3v rail on my 350w PSU had dropped from its normal 3.23 to 3.12!
I tried playing a 3D game, and after about an hour of play, my computer restarted. I played the game again, this time the computer restarted sooner into gameplay, about 15 minutes in. I tried again, and this time it restarted right when the game loaded. I had no idea what was going on. I posted my problems on other forums, and they all said it was probably a bad PSU, because my 350w was a generic brand that came with the case, and that it couldnt handle the load of the new video card. So, rather than buy a new PSU, I tried a dual PSU rig. I used the 350w generic to power the motherbaord, and plugged everything else into a 250w antec. Everything booted up and worked fine on the dual PSU, except the 3.3v rail on the 350w generic PSU was still at 3.10!! I tried playing the 3d game (postal 2) with the dual PSU setup, and my computer still restarted! I was still convinced, though, that the problem was with the power supply. So I went out and bought myself a new Antec 400watter. I plugged everything in, and waited for the hardware monitor. But, the 3.3v rail on the new 400w antec with the Ti4200 in is a low 3.07!!! So I decided it wasnt a PSU problem, as im sure the antec 400w can handle a ti4200 and everything else in my case. I also knew it wasnt a heating problem, because my card stays cool with the Thermaltake fan and heatsinks on it. So I decided to finally email PNY tech support, and here was their response:

Dear Customer:
Thanks for your e-mail. PNY graphics cards only use 1.5 volts and does
not support 3.3Volts. You need to change your motherboard if you want
to use Ti4200 graphics card.

In my tech support form though, I didnt tell them what motherboard I used, so I guess they just supposed that the problem was my motherboard. Heres the thing though - I cant find ANYWHERE on the web wether the AGP slot on a Biostar M7VIG-Pro is a 3.3v or 1.5v slot! Its not in the manual, on the biostar website, or anywhere! So now I believe the problem with the dropped 3.3v rail and restarts during gaming is the motherboard AGP slot compatibility with the card. So Here are my questions:

Will getting a new motherboard, probably a A7V8X-X, fix my problem? (I.E. the 3.3v rail jumps back up to around 3.25, and no more restarts during gaming)
Or is there some way to change the AGP voltage through bios?
Does everyone agree that the problem is a compatibility one between AGP slot and my ti4200?

Thanks a lot to anyone who replies, this problem is really bugging me.

My Rig:


AMD Athlon XP 1700+ with 2500rpm Speeze heatsink + fan
PNY GF4 Ti4200 64mb AGP (replaced stock fan with Thermaltake GF4 VGA Copper cooler and fan, with heatsinks on memory.
512mb stick PC2100 DDR generic
400w Antec PP412x PSU
30gb Maxtor HDD
2gb Fireball HDD
52x/24x/52x Liteon CD-drive
Toshiba DVD-ROM CD-drive
no floppy drive
Biostar M7VIG-Pro
Windows 98SE 4.10, Build 2222

 

[Myystical1]

i hate to bump this, but i really need help on this

 

[gravy]

ok breathe... lol just kidding

what program are you using to read voltages? try looking at the hardware/power monitor in the bios on re-boot to see what the actual motherboard sensors are reporting

i can't tell you what voltage your motherboard supports in terms of the AGP slot, as you said, and I looked, their documentation doesn't say, but i am not surprised, their tech support don't even understand your question, however, it looks safe to assume that your AGP slot is 1.5v capable, that's why they replied the way they did

the 3.3v you are referring to is the output voltage of the PSU with the load on it

the 1.5v they referred to is the maximum voltage the AGP slot will supply, or that it will allow a video card to pull from the AGP slot on the motherboard

those two are not even the same thing

my bios does allow me to adjust the AGP reference voltage from 1.5v to 1.8v i think, maybe 2.0v
you will have to look around in your bios to find out if your's does or not, but I don't think that has anything to do with your issue, and it probably wouldn't even let you decrease it to under 1.5v, but whay would you?

i am no guru, but, i think you have two possible issues since you have eliminated the PSU, and the issue didn't start until you added the Ti4200

1. You have a slightly damaged or out of spec video card, or a component on the video card anyways (this is where I put my money)

-or-

2. you have a slightly damaged or out of spec AGP slot or other motherboard component (where does the voltage sit with the old 7500 in it?)

hope this helps



Celeron 2G @ 2672Mhz
Asus P4GE-V motherboard
512MB PC2100 DDR RAM
GeForce3 Ti200 @ 225/500
19" monitor

 

[Myystical1]

K thanx a ton for your response
The PC Health Status in BIOS shows the 3.3v as 3.07 also
Oh adn the 7500 was a PCI, so I had never used the AGP slot on the motherboard before the Ti4200
BUT there is something I can do to help solve this
My brothers computer uses a GF4 MX440 so...Tomorrow were gonna switch video cards and see what happens
Ill check to see what happens to his 3.3v rail, and if he can play 3d games, and Ill see how his GF4 MX440 works on my Motherboard. This will tell me wether its the card or the slot
Ill post results tomorrow

 

[gravy]

great idea, good luck, i'll check you out tomorrow

XP-Pro SP-1
Celeron 2G @ 2672Mhz (133fsb) stock voltage
Asus P4GE-V motherboard
512MB PC2100 DDR RAM
GeForce3 Ti200 oc'd @ 225/500 with lapped TT Crystal Orb and ram sinks
19" monitor