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Maxwell
05-21-11, 07:09 PM
As part of the Frankenbox I'm putting together (thanks to the parts sent to me by several folks), I acquired a 9800GT. When I stick it in my current box, Win7x64 doesn't see it.

I have a 570 in there already with the 266.58 drivers. The driver series is (supposedly) compatible with the 9800GT, but the OS doesn't even see a card in that slot. In the Device Manager, it only lists the 570. Nothing else there. The card is seated well in the slot (slot is not bad - moved the 570 there and it was fine) and all connections are solid. The fan on the card spins, but Windows refuses to detect anything.

I've seen others online with similar problems, but no one actually links to a solution that I can find.

Help? Thoughts?
Zytozux
05-21-11, 07:15 PM
Have you tried it with just the 9800gt in there?
Maxwell
05-21-11, 07:49 PM
No, but I don't really want to try it if Windows can't even tell there's something in the slot... even an old 9500GT PCI card gets detected...
joker
05-21-11, 08:00 PM
Got all the power cords plugged into the card?? ;)
Maxwell
05-21-11, 08:03 PM
Got all the power cords plugged into the card?? ;)
Yep. :confused:
joker
05-21-11, 08:12 PM
I am going to guess that you have reinstalled the drivers at least once and switched the cards to different slots........Any BIOS mods to the new card?? Did you switch around the power connectors between the 2 cards?? Im just throwing stuff out there at this point. I have never tried to run 2 Nvidia cards in 1 box before.
Fire$torm
05-21-11, 09:16 PM
No, but I don't really want to try it if Windows can't even tell there's something in the slot... even an old 9500GT PCI card gets detected...

Well, if the card was going to kill your system it would have done so already :P So it will not hurt anything to try the card alone. When you boot up with just that card hit the F8 key after the BIOS startup screen but before you see the Windows logo. Then highlight Safe Mode and press Enter. Why do a Safe Mode boot? Because this will force Windows to do a fresh read and load of essential drivers and programs.

On a normal boot Windows loads from its system cache folders. And anything read from these, Windows has defined certain assumptions about the hardware that uses them from previous boot-ups. So Safe Mode bypasses all this.
Al
05-21-11, 09:49 PM
WIN 7 needs a dummy plug on the 2nd card or it won't be seen.
Al
Fire$torm
05-21-11, 10:05 PM
WIN 7 needs a dummy plug on the 2nd card or it won't be seen.
Al

Hi Al,
If that card was an ATI then that would be true for all current versions of Windows. nVidia cards do not have that handicap.
Maxwell
05-21-11, 10:15 PM
What F$ said - plus, I had a monitor plugged into the card anyway...

So, I just tried it with only the 9800GT in the system. Nothing. The computer turned on, but nothing ever showed on the screen. Couldn't boot into Safe Mode since I could see nothing.

Is there a system tweak I can make somewhere to force detection of something in a PCIe slot?
DrPop
05-21-11, 10:57 PM
Max - I would be tempted to try Nvidia BIOS flash software - the DOS version on a fresh DOS boot - you can download it from techpowerup.com ...
There is a string you can type in that "lists" the video cards the system BIOS has detected. If it doesn't detect it with that BIOS program on a fresh DOS boot, then something about the card may be bad? :confused:
Al
05-21-11, 11:14 PM
Hi Al,
If that card was an ATI then that would be true for all current versions of Windows. nVidia cards do not have that handicap.

Interesting, my 2 x gtx 570's have that handicap in Win7 (not in XP) and the 2nd card will is not seen by Win 7 without the dummy plug or a 2nd monitor.:confused: Maybe it's just me.
joker
05-22-11, 12:59 AM
I have always read that Nvidia cards did not need dummy plugs???
Fire$torm
05-22-11, 04:47 AM
OK, the 9800GT is solo and your system won't boot........

So you never see even the BIOS/POST screen?

Have you tried both video ports on the card?

If your answer to both questions is yes then the card might be bad.

Does the card's cooling fan get its power from the card or the MB/PSU?

If power comes from the card, does the fan keep spinning even after a few minutes of the system being on?

If yes then the card's electronics are probably good so that could mean the card's female DVI connectors are bad.

It could still be a totally different problem but without being able to see first hand its at best guess work at this point.
Maxwell
05-22-11, 09:49 AM
It's not necessarily a soul-crushing blow if the cards don't work. I was sent the card with the understanding that it didn't work, hoping I could fix it. I hadn't seen an error quite like this, so I was hoping it was software related...

Anyway, I ran out of patience with it for the time being. When the Frankenbox gets put together, I'll circle back to this card.