Problem With GeForce 5200 Graphics Card

Hi gals/guys

I have purchased a new Graphics card (GeForce 5200 PCI card the one with 128 MB memory), the reason for purchasing the card is my brother wants to play some 3D games...... Now let me first tell you about the BOX in which i have installed this card.

Its 3.0 GHz Intel Processor with 1 MB Cache (HT Technology)
Intel 915 GVLG M/B
256 DDR
LAN/VGA/Sound card (Built-in)

Now I deleted the builtin VGA driver and restarted computer and then I put the external graphics card in it, when I insert the CD (Auto-run) of that graphics card it gives me error message "No GeForce Card found" ..... I thought may be the driver is outdated... so i manually browse the CD and installed the driver........

Rather than getting better graphics result i got worst result then before...... even games which were running perfectly alright eariler were not working properly...... When i Run DirectX diagnose i could see that the AGP Texture was disable which used to be exactly like this before ...... Even in the GeForce properties i could see the OPEN GL option but it was grey (Couldn't change it settings).

I went to the website, downloaded the latest driver of the card, plus i downloaded the chipset driver of my board too. Now when i remove the previous driver and updated with the latest one i could see the AGP texture enable and running the test things were working alright...... But now the OPEN GL tab from the properties of the card is gone...... And games again worse..... Most of the games which were working alright on builtin VGA are not even working on this card....... I have too the Online support but problem still not rectified.......

I have checked from the setup (BIOS) for display external PCI card is selected........ Now it would be pleased to to know what is wrong with this card? Is it not compatible with my M/B? I am really upset after getting this Card...... and i really need help.......

Hi,

I suspect that the card is not compatible/powerful enough for the games you are trying to play. Have you got any older games you can test it with?

Also, can you try the card in another PC, there is a possibility that it is faulty.

I did find this though in a review:

Quote:

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and an Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 graphics card. The latter is a weak link for game fans. It's powerful enough for a just barely acceptable 42.2 frames per second (fps) on our relatively forgiving 1,024x768 resolution Unreal Tournament 2003 test (60fps is the goal for ideal playability), so you can forget about playing games, new titles especially, at higher resolutions

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:(

I am experiencing problem in all the older games which used to run ok on builtin VGA...... When i run the directX test the first phase where it diagnose the Direct 3D .... i can see the box is resolving a little slow than before and even its like pausing in b/w rotation..... rest test are ok and smooth..... WHy is this so?

Here are the few options from the BIOS..... please tell are they Ok or do i need to change them....

Frame Buffer: 32MB
IGD Aparture Size 256MB
DVMT Both
IGD DVMT/6 Menu (This option is greyed i cannot change it.... in order to change it I need to change the both tab from the DVMT option above.)

Hi,

Try changing the resolution and refresh rates to see if it makes much of a difference.

I would try the card in another machine, and in another slot if you have one..............is it PCI-e? or plain PCI?

I would reinstate the onboard video drivers. Use the BIOS to select.

Try turning off the sound, sometimes there are conflicts between the sound drivers and the video.

When you go into hardware and look at the video card does it tell you that the device is working properly?

:)

When I goto the Hardware it says device is working properly...... No difference when i disable the sound card..... The default refresh rate is showing is 65.... I have changed it to 75 and 85 no much difference...... Now i will try to check this on another machine.....

Might be i am doing something wrong with the settings of this card......And yes this a plain PCI slot not an extended PCI slot..... My board has only 2 slots both PCI..... One having external sound card..... It reminds me something as i said i have a bultin sound card and i have another external sound card too although i am using it for gamin purpose only (Joystick)..... Might be this sound card making some confliction i would remove it and then i will see what difference it will make......

When i contacted the XFX Force website technical support the last solution they gave to me is try re-intalling the windows..... I am also running windows 2000 advanced server on the same machine..... I think i should try to see how does this card works on that Operating system.

What options does it give you for the frame buffer size in the BIOS?

It is currently 32Mb which sounds about right for the amount of RAM that it would share with the onboard video. See if you can set that to 128Mb which is the amount of memory on your graphics card.

I think that the IGD Aperture size is OK.

:)

Nope i can have 8 MB, 16, 32 and 64.... no 128MB option in frame buffer....And by the way what is this IGD?

OK, please try the frame buffer at 64Mb.

IGD Is the amount of system memory that your graphics chipset can use. It isn't being used at the moment as you have a graphics card. You might as well set it to 128 whilst you are there.

Here is a useful link regarding all sorts of BIOS settings:

http://www.rojakpot.com/freebog.aspx

:)

As frame buffer is the amount of memory shared with on board VGA and i am not using onboard VGA anymore (disabled it and removed the driver) so shouldn't I select the least value for it which is 1MB....... max value is 32MB... 64 and 128 MB not available....

I have removed the external sound card and put the Graphics card in the other PCI slot, Still nothing happen...... Even changed the refresh rate and screen resolution..... Oh yes i remember when i was playing with this sitting I select the resolution 1024X786 and the monitor got hanged (all the LEDs started blinking and no display).

I will have to install a new copy of Xp in order to check it as i have forgot the windows 2000 advanced server password (as i was not using it from last 4-5 months).


Somebody suggested me that i should increase the RAM too....

Hi FanacooL,

1. I wouldn't disable the onboard Video AND remove the driver. I would leave the driver there and just disable the onboard video. I suspect that might be your problem, as the BIOS cannot activate the onboard video without a driver.

2. The frame buffer is the amount of memory that the video can use to build images before displaying them. As the memory is now on your video card, I would try 64Mb, but I don't know your MoBo or BIOS. If you are still "sharing memory" all that will do is slow your computer as the system will have less RAM to play with. It should not give you the display problems that you are describing.
I believe that you are confusing this with the IGD which is tha memory address space that the onboard chipset can use.

3. That board has some quite advanced onboard graphics, so adding a lower to middle end video card may not improve things and may indeed make them worse.

4. The Intel 915 Chipset is intended to support PCI-E, (Express) so have you got the right video card. What is the exact model of your MoBo and your Video Card ?

My approach would be :

1. Remove video card
2. Reinstate onboard video and get it working
3. Install video card
4. Select the videocard in the BIOS
5. Set frame buffer to 64
6. Test it all works properly
7. Install audio card

I would also try that video card in another machine, if the above does not work............there is still the possibility that it was defective when you bought it. Unfortunately with the fall in price of components the testing standards have also fallen so more defective items reach the consumer :(

Good Luck :)

Some more questions for you... You mentioned that this is an External video card...
1. What type of port do you have it plugged into, USB1.0 USB 2.0 Firewire, etc.
2. Next question is why did you go for an external card, based on the description this sounds like a new machine, probably with a PCI-express slot, which will allow alot faster processing, while also using the internal BUS instead of a serial link from the external. Even if its an AGP slot you'd have better results with it.
3. What's the onboard Card ?
4. (I hate to ask this one, but it helps in comparison with #1) Cost of the external card.
6. What exact video card did you get, include a link if possible.

Quote:

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I have removed the external sound card and put the Graphics card in the other PCI slot, Still nothing happen...... Even changed the refresh rate and screen resolution..... Oh yes i remember when i was playing with this sitting I select the resolution 1024X786 and the monitor got hanged (all the LEDs started blinking and no display).

Somebody suggested me that i should increase the RAM too....

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Now this sounds like an INTERNAL card that your using. I thought they stopped building PCI Regular cards with GF4, MX series... Do you have the manual for your Motherboard, based on the picture that I found of the board, and the configuration, it says there's 2 PCI slots and PCI-Express, its possible since this is such a small board, that you may have to enable PCI-Express through a Jumper setting, bus technology is rarely auto-sensing

http://www.intel.com/products/mother...glvg/index.htm is the link for the MB

If your going to run any games on that system, you'll need more RAM... 256 is minimum for XP imo. You need more if your going to run a graphics intensive application.

Next statement is that the internal board is almost the same as the one you purchased, although its taking away from your internal RAM by using it. the 915 video card has 128MB of ram, supports DirectX9, with OpenGL 1.5... Now I know most games are starting to only support ATI and NVidia; but why only go with a 128MB card when 256mb cards are pretty cheap at this time.

Sorry for rambling on, but more information is definately needed.

Galiath

Hey Galiath , I think that our friend means "independent", "stand alone" or whatever (like NOT an integrated chipset)..........there is no such beast as an external video card................and I have ISA ones with a massive 256Kb in my collection :D

Until we have the precise model data we can only speculate, but I can tell you that the I915 chipset is designed to support PCI-E. Unlike AGP, the two technologies are slot compatible, although the results would be unpredictable due to the different number of contacts.

This is certainly NOT a RAM issue, as he was getting better results with the onboard 900 chipset that was sharing memory.................although I do agree that with XP used in a gaming context I would not build below 1024Mb for a "good" experience. Obviously with that kind of processor and 333 or 400 DDR, XP will run quite happily, it is the gaming that will cause problems.

He did mention that he was having problems with "older games" as well so it does not sound like a frame rate problem, unless his settings are wrong?

256Mb DDR video card RAM?......................it depends.............some of the 128Mb offerings are actually faster, but you would only spot this with a framerate dependent game.

As I posted earlier the 5200 card is considered "marginal" by gamers, and the onboard 900 chipset is pretty good for integrated video.

I still suspect the settings and "removing the driver", particularly the latter.





:)

Sorry its been a few years since I've looked at external hardware. Figured they'd go further by now with these.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/avcards/805c/
http://www.ati.com/companyinfo/press/2000/4335.html
(there's all sorts of "beasts" just some of them arn't worth mentioning)

I've thrown out all of my ISA boards now, as I rarely use my systems that still have the slot, and prefer PCI cards in comparison.

I should have edited my post more after I deciphered his actual post.

He listed his model of motherboard, which I linked above...
http://www.intel.com/products/mother...plwd/index.htm which only shows 2 pci slots, although it lists 2 pci and a PCI-express.

I wasn't trying to say that this was a RAM issue. I was just trying to say that if he was going to be using games, etc. that he would need more of it to enjoy the experience.

I agree that "some" of the 128mb cards are faster, but normally the x200 (x=variable) low end nvidia cards are not included in that listing. Sorry I didn't read your quote that mentioned tbe information on the 5200, otherwise I would have left that comment out.

Hi Galiath , no worries pal................I have stuff that is almost as old as me, historical kit is a hobby of mine:D

We have a slight problem in that our friend is in Pakistan, I am in the UK and you are in the USA............the product specs and numbers are different.

He said that he only had two PCI slots? In which case I suspect that they are PCI-E? if there are 3 then yes, one would be a legacy PCI slot?

OK on the memory though....................for gaming (or any advanced graphics for that matter) you need a lot to get the best experience.

:)

nihil

I have followed your instructions carefully, I reomved the graphics card, re-install the on-board driver and then re-inserted the card and disable the onboard one.

Still the new games aren't working at all ?
Older ones are Ok but not much difference in them.... I mean with an External Graphics card one would expect higher performance in terms of graphics.....

I am just curios about one thing, which i though mention in my posts..... that when i run DirectX 9.0 Diagnose on that On-Board graphics card my AGP Texture feature is disable (as that VGA doesn't support this feature) ok with me and which i click Test Direct3D the first test where it says testing with Directx 7 or something like that .... the logo rotates fine withourt any flickering or pauses......

While when i run the same test on the external card i am feeling it pauses or rather slows down during this phase 1 of Direct3D test..... Rest works ok....


So what i wanna know is why this external card is having problem in first phase rather than my internal on-board VGA?.

And my board doesn't have PCI-Express slot both are normal PCI slots :-(

And as far as RAM is concern apart from gaming issues..... I will get another 256 chip in it......

Hi FanacooL ..............thank you for your patience brother :)

All I can say is that we seem to have tested most of the possibilities? just clear things up for me...........

Have you tried setting the frame buffer to 64?

I suspect one of two things..............

1. That MoBo has very good onboard (internal) graphics, so it may well perform better or equal to a weak, independent (external) video card.

2. Your 5200 video card may be defective, which is why I would like you to test it on another machine.

I would try another video card in that computer, and try the 5200 in another computer. I know that is easy for me to say as I have a lot of machines and components, and friends who would help.

As for memory (RAM) that advice has nothing to do with your video problem, but it would improve your machine's performance

:)

Well as i said eariler the highest value in memory buffer is 32 so how can i select 64 there..... Well the only reason i have bought an external graphics card is that most of the games my bro bought says needs graphics card..... so i thought I should get one for him, although i was quite unaware of the fact that it could result in humilation.....

Anyways the last option is checking that card in another machine... for which i have to wait for a while as i dont have any other system.....

Sir!

Quote:

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i was quite unaware of the fact that it could result in humilation.....

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I demand a 50% share in that humiliation, as I have also failed?

I will have one more attempt, other than testing the card elsewhere.............

With more memory, allow it the maximum share that you can....................I guess that will be the best you can do?.............. Windows XP does some interesting stuff behind your back with an onboard (internal) graphics chipset ;) I know that your intel board supports this feature ;)

Good luck brother :)

OK..... So I will try it with more memory slots in the system and see the result......

Since this an FX series card, it should support Direct x9.0 which is needed for newer games.
I'd still like to know what the model information is, what brand, etc.

Also whats the wattage on your Power Supply. I'm wondering if this is a barebones case where they threw a 250PS in. I'd definately be :fpissed: If I bought a barebones and thats what they put in...

Of course I prefer to build my own for that very reason
Galiath

Its GeForce Fx5200 Made in China..... 128MB Ram.... PCI Graphic Card...64 bits....

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