New graphics card cause failure to boot

[tomaso11]

My Dell Precision P4 2.66 had a noisy graphics card fan (failing bearings)so decided to fit a replacement.
I only have an AGP 4x slot so found an X1600 pro 8x/4x AGP card to replace the Fire GL card previously fitted.
Having removed drivers installing new card etc my machine will not boot up.
On reinstalling the original card I get a message flash up
Previous failure to boot at system checkpoint [Vcls].
I have the latest bios A02.
I think this may be some sort of bios problem but am rather stumped.
Does anyone know about this problem?
All suggestions appreciated.

Thomas

 

[ski]

Your power supply may be only 250 watts, which is not sufficient to run that card.

http://ati.amd.com/products/RadeonX1600/Products.html

 

[tomaso11]

Hi Ski, yes they recommend a 350watt mininimum but then say "assumes a fully loaded system" so I think it needs 350w to run at full tilt but I think it should at least boot up.Of course a with it being a Dell upgrading the power supply is probably going to be another pain.

Cheers Thomas

Thomas

 

[ski]

You should be able to easily check your system's PS watt rating by removing the computer's cover. I know that some of the Dell Precision models come with a 180 watt PS, which will really choke with that card.
I'm not sure what your Dell system's exact situation is wrt upgrading the PS, but I do know that some of them use proprietary PS's, and like you say it's a pain to upgrade them.
Also, it's possible that the card is defective, or it's not compatible with your MB, even though the specs say that it should work.

 

[tomaso11]

I checked the psu its rated at 250w there is a 450w replacement available in the U.S but I can't find it in the U.K I guess some more research is in order.
I would like to know what the failure at system checkpoint [Vcls] thing means though.


Thomas

 

[ski]

Before investing in another PS, make sure the new card is fully inserted in its slot.
If no luck, then check that it's not defective by installing it in another system, if possible.

 

[tomaso11]

O.K I replaced the power supply with a 600watt unit it involved some cutting but it is working fine.
Unfortunately the graphics card still fails at boot.
New error though it now gives a single beep and fails at [WRIT] whatever that is.
I only get to read the message after reinstalling old card.
Ideas anyone?

Thomas

 

[ski]

The card may either be defective, or it's a mislabeled 8X only card(instead of a 4X/8X).

 

[tomaso11]

Hi Ski, I found the problem the X1600 and X1300 agp cards dont work with a lot of Dell computers it is on the ATI knowledge base # 737-21875 .
If its an ATI made card they will re-engineer it under warranty.
So for once the maxim seems to be "It ain't broke we need to fix it"
It appears that although I had asked 3d Connect's technical help service (Propellorhead) with details of my card and PC and the fault they didn't know about the compatibility issue.

Thomas