Dual video card problem

[adilux]

Here's my situation.
I have a GeForce AGP 2-port (VGA) video card and a GeForce PCI (2-port) video card (1 VGA/1 DVI). I plug both in and the POST screen comes up, but before Windows loading/logo is supposed to appear, a black screen with a cursor blinking on the top left corner of my screen appears and keeps blinking, I've left it for about an hour and it stays like that.

This happens if i have both cards in or if i only have the PCI card in, but if i just have the AGP card in, it boots to windows with no problems.

i'm trying to get a 3 display setup.

does my PCI video card have to be the 1st PCI device right below the AGP slot? currently it's not, because my SATA card which my OS drive connects to is in the first PCI.

In bios I've set the priority to search for PCI, then AGP.

 

[adilux]

update,
i plugged my PCI video card in the first slot and i got the same black screen with the blinking cursor.

my motherboard is an ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe, PCI video card is a PNY Nvidia GeForce 8400G GS 512MB DDR2

 

[BadBigBen]

The PCI card could have a defect and the OS can't continue to load...

have you tried SafeMode with the PCI Card, to determine if it is a driver issue or a hardware fault?


Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[adilux]

good idea. i'll try safe mode before returning the card.

 

[adilux]

thanks.

 

[adilux]

i can't even get into safe mode.
the cursor blinking screen is before the windows logo screen, so i don't think windows has started to load yet, F8 has no effect.

so the card does work. my PCI card screen displays the POST information (connected through DVI)

 

[BadBigBen]

So the issue is that with the PCI card installed, POST goes through but does not connect with the HDD...

possible power issue, IRQ conflicts...

what is the power rating of the PSU, what and how many drives are attached, mainboard?

you could attempt to clear CMOS, then load the default values...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[adilux]

350Watt PSU
do i check IRQ conflicts in bios?

i have 4 SATA drives

same thing happens if i remove the AGP, but leaving the PCI in. I think i'm going to return the card and get an AGP card and forget about more than 2 monitors.

 

[adilux]

the PCI video card i have has a requirement of a minimum 300W system power supply, so maybe it's a IRQ conflict, but I returned it and got an AGP card.

thanks.

 

[BadBigBen]

well, IRQ's are controlled by the BIOS, but also by the OS, depending on the BIOS setting: Plug'n'Play OS

350W is pretty much low these days...

at 80% (namebrand) efficiency, that translates the above to roughly 280w, then depending on age you would reduce it further down... generic PSUs are not as efficient more like 70% to 75% (240-250w)...

but let us know how it goes with the AGP card...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[adilux]

just ordered it yesterday, should arrive next week. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[rclarke250]

Just for giggles check the caps really well by the agp/pci slots, I had the same board that ran OK till I entered world of warcraft and had a skype call going at the same time, my computer would hard down itself. I found 1 bulging cap in the expansion card area. The reason skype and wow were causing the crash, Is I run 2 sound cards, one for normal sounds, and one just for skype and vent and other com programs. And I found a blown cap in the power supply, so one of the 12v+ rails was unstable just enough to stress the caps in the agp area, and blow one of those, and a cascade effect from there.

 

[adilux]

yikes,
i don't have the card anymore, i sent it back to my vendor.

what do you guys recommend? ATI or Nvidia?
i remember back in about 2005 Nvidia cards were the better of the two.

i went with ATI because the reviews for the card was better than the competitor's equal spec card.

 

[rclarke250]

Generally AMD cards, (they dropped the ATI name)will take less power, but above that, nowadays either will suffice. I use both. I generally like Nvidia because they have better driver support, but AMD has some nice cards out there, and for AGP, AMD is better than Nvidia, in my opinion. PCIe is a toss up debated by the fan boys of each.