Problems changing a GeForce 9600GT to a GT520

[leecarpenter]

I recently have purchased a ZOTAC NVIDIA GT520 video card as a replacement for a dying NVIDIA 9600GT I currently have installed. I have Windows 7 installed on my PC and have attempted a direct replacement. When booting the PC, I see the BIOS splash, followed by the typical "Loading Operating System..." output from my BIOS, but my system then displays a blinking cursor and never loads Windows 7.

I have replaced the original, which proceeds into Windows. I then attempted to uninstall the old NVIDIA drivers with the old card installed, and boot again with the new card. No success. Out of curiosity, I inserted both graphics cards and booted into Windows with no problems. Windows proceeded to download drivers for both cards installed and asked for a reboot. After rebooting, everything operated the way it should as if dual graphics cards were installed. I was able to set up either card as a primary or secondary display, and they both output normally.

My problem, then, is no matter what uninstallation I attempt, I cannot boot from the GT520. The PC only recognizes the original 9600GT that existed when I installed Windows. I have also tried an automatic startup repair from the existing Windows Partition's boot menu. I had to have both cards installed to do so, though, since pressing F8 when booting doesn't result in a menu with only the GT520 installed. What am I missing? I have tried everything I can think of.

Any help is appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[GI_JONES]

Aside from not working correctly, you do realize thats a pretty significant decrease in graphics power, dont you?

 

[smorizio]

see if the new video card is using an irq of something in the system. most video cards if working right should use the irq that set for that pci slot. also check to see if your pci irq are set to auto or are set to 9/10/11... they should be set to auto.
also have you tried booting into safe mode and see if windows will see the card.?? also what mn and chipset does it use. some nvida video cards have issue with ati chipsets.

 

[leecarpenter]

Aside from not working correctly, you do realize thats a pretty significant decrease in graphics power, dont you?

Unfortunately, I do realize the decrease. I am working on a budget, so as of this point, this is all I can afford. It is only being used as a HTPC right now, so I don't need huge processing power.

see if the new video card is using an irq of something in the system. most video cards if working right should use the irq that set for that pci slot. also check to see if your pci irq are set to auto or are set to 9/10/11... they should be set to auto.
also have you tried booting into safe mode and see if windows will see the card.?? also what mn and chipset does it use. some nvida video cards have issue with ati chipsets.

I will take a look at the irq settings when I return home this evening from work and update. I have an Intel board, so I should hope there are no negative interactions. Booting in safe mode doesn't work with only the GT520 installed. It hangs directly after POST. Booting into safe mode from the 9600GT has not helped. If I boot into Safe mode with the 9600GT or both cards installed, I am still running into problems. I have tried to uninstall all graphics drivers/software and have installed just the GT520 driver from safe mode, but am still having problems.

 

[bucknutty]

how old is the mother board... My board would not boot with a hd5850 with out abios update. Maybe there is someting similar for your board.

 

[willard]

What's your mobo? Might be a compatibility issue.

Also, Zotac is synonymous with garbage in my book. I've got a Zotac mini ITX board in my wife's computer, and hardly anything works. Here's a quick list of things that have never worked on the board.

1. Audio over HDMI to any TV or monitor.

2. SSDs are not recognized.

3. Discrete GPUs are only successfully detected about one in ten boots. No way to manually disable onboard video, you just have to keep restarting until it works.

4. Front panel USB ports do not deliver enough power to charge a smartphone.