Swapping out cards has made my system fruity

[Ananan]

I'm no tech head; I need help.

So I traded the 7800 GT for the 7600 GT. I was impressed with the initial results (all of the benchmarks ran great), but I didn't have a lot of time. Been busy.

But today I did have time, and my system starts acting weird.

Certain games won't run at 1680x1050 at all anymore. They'll run at other res, but not that one. Some games will only run at very low res. When I try to change it in the option menu it has no effect. As an experiment I ran the Doom 3demo. No matter what I do it looks like the original doom (very blocky). Oblivion crashes every time I try to start it in 1680x1050, but runs at other res. The weapons bar in HL 2 is corrupted, but the rest of the game looks great. None of this happened with the 7600 GT.

Textures also tend to look very washed out. Sort of like they're bleached. But only in certain games. Far cry was a huge offender.

So I call the guy who traded me cards. Turns out he still has my 7600 GT. He let me take it to help test my system (He swears the 7800 GT never gave him a problem). To my surprise: The problems remained after I put the 7600 GT back in.

WTH did I do? I've swapped out tons of video cards. Did I miss some all important 7800 GT installation step?

I would appreciate it if the answer was as simple as "You idiot. All you did was forget to......".

I'm at my wit's end here. I've tried everything I can think of. I'm afraid I might have to do a complete reformat and reinstall.

 

[slashzapper]

After looking at your post i am pretty sure you have accidentally corrupted your graphic card drivers.

I would suggest that you uninstall your current Video card drivers and reinstall them.

You can use a software like driver cleaner professional etc to help you to completely uninstall your drivers.

Another thing have you installed anything new on your computer since it was last working good in games .

:?:

 

[Ananan]

I tried reinstalling the drivers. I haven't installed anything since I put in the 7800 GT.

I was afraid maybe my PSU isn't good enough. I have an Antec truepower 500 W that came with my case. When I installed the 7800 GT and powered up the computer unexpectedly shut down halfway through boot. But it hasn't happened again. And why would the problems remain with the 7600 GT reinstalled?

 

[Ananan]

When I start up my PC it used to emit one beep. Now (since my adventure) it emits the beep followed by a lower pitched one thats sort of a beep/buzz.

I guess that could mean the PSU is in trouble.

I was mistaken - it's an Antec Smartpower.

 

[JonnyDough]

If your motherboard doesn't come with a reference on beeps...

http://bioscentral.com/beepcodes/ibmbeep.htm

Those are the fair standard of beeps. Some motherboards vary though. I agree with everything that was said here. Try removing ALL graphic card drivers and reinstalling after you reboot. Reboot again after installing.

If it doesn't work, the likely culprit is your PSU. Those 7800's take a good deal of power. They're a significant jump over the 7600's which don't require the extra connector. BTW, who would swap a 7800 for a 7600? Do you know how rare 7800's are? You could sell it online for a fair price probably and upgrade to a 7900.

 

[Ninjaz7]

Moving from a power miser(7600gt)to the power hungry(7800gt)probably made your psu croak(as small as it is),but dont forget to reinstall the graphics driver for their more than likely corrupt.gl .P.S.I'm getting ready to do the same thing,hopefully my Silverstone Zeus 520w hangs in there,I feel your pain.

 

[Ananan]

Again, thanks for replies.

I guess a lot of things went wrong. I cleared the CMOS, and the double beep has disappeared. Performance seems to be crisper, although Oblivion still won't run at 1680x1050. Some textures on certain games still look a little washed out.

Any benchmark I run is still consistently at least 5-7% slower than it was before I began having these problems.

I have to assume it's the PSU. It just can't handle a 7800 GT. That's just amazing to me. A newer 500 W PSU can't handle a card that's at least a year and a half old and is stated to require only 450 W? I'll have to get a new one. All I wanted was a GPU that could push 1680x1050 better than a 7600 GT.

The best I can say is I've learned a lot about high end products and mobos the past few days. It was like going to class.

PS - it was 7600 GT + $50 for 7800 GT.

 

[JonnyDough]

Well it's the total amperage coming from the +12v rails thats more important then the total wattage of the unit. Just because its a newer 500W unit dosn't mean that unit can provide the amperage needed to power that system. Especialy if it's a cheap PSU. You can exspect a good quality 500W PSU to cost you about $90 to $150.

Yep yep!