Inno3D 6600GT AGP garbled display on boot

tlangdon12 · 05-21-2005, 03:06 PM

I've a problem with an Inno3d 6600GT AGP card fitted in an Acer F1 PC.

Initially I couldn't get any display from the card until I upgraded the PSU. The new PSU is an Xpro 460W.

Now the PC boots and I get some output from the 660GT but it is garbled. The card's BIOS message is displayed as random characters all over the screen, then the PC's BIOS screen is displayed in vertical bars, with some bars being correct, and others being scrambled. Finally XP fails to start.

BUT when I turn the machine off and on again, everything is okay (The card's BIOS mesage displays ok, the PC's BIOS screen displays correctly and XP starts okay - after reporting it did not start correctly the previous time, the card plays 3D games, including the bundled Colin McRea Rally '04, fine).

(It's almost like the card needs to warm up before it will boot correctly!)

The monitor is a Nokia 446xPro.

I'd really like to sort out the problem as XP sometimes has to do a CHKDSK/SCANDISK before it will start - I'm worried that one day it won't pass this point.

Can anyone help?

Thanks if you can.

**UncleMacro** · 05-21-2005, 04:38 PM

Quote:

It's almost like the card needs to warm up before it will boot correctly!

That's no joke. Hardware which refuses to run stone cold is not uncommon. My mother's computer refuses to boot properly until it's been on for about 30 seconds.

If you turn the machine on and go into the BIOS, do the characters on the screen eventually clear up or do they stay garbled even if you wait a couple of minutes and then move around through the pages? What if you sit in the BIOS for a few minutes and then let it boot? A garbled BIOS screen could be the 6600GT but it could also be a power supply with a low voltage rail. I know the PSU is brand new but it still may have a problem. It's probably worth trying to measure your power supply voltages to see if they're the problem (instructions here).

You could also try to prove that it's really the video card by getting a heat gun (or a blow dryer) and blow hot air on the video card and see if it fixes the problem. Be careful not to roast the video card. You could also try that with the power supply. From your symptoms it could be either the video card or the power supply and it would be good to know for sure which is the problem.

lt_jameslennard · 12-02-2005, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlangdon12

I've a problem with an Inno3d 6600GT AGP card fitted in an Acer F1 PC.
Thanks if you can.

Hey Guys,
Could you solve this issue?
I have the exact same problem with my board.
Is this common for all 6600GT or only Inno3d does have this?
I'm wondering if I should change the board to a different vendors'
tlangdon12 what did you do to solve the problem?

Thanks
Regards
Balazs

dai · 12-02-2005, 01:20 PM

borrow a power supply to put in
get someone to try your card in their computer

lt_jameslennard · 12-03-2005, 03:29 AM

I already tried an other PSU (Chieftec 450W)
I'm currently trying the board in a different PC. Prob is that it's with the same mobo, the BIOS is different though. I already experienced that in one case of my power ONs digi output gave coloroed boxes on my LCD. Analog monitor was ok.

lt_jameslennard · 12-03-2005, 04:00 AM

I am almost 100% sure that UncleMacro had right.
I put the board outside on the balcony for 10 minutes. It is currently around 2 degrees celsius out there. I put back it to the PC and voila, the board was doing wrong again.
Then reset. Same. Then Poweroff and poweron, issue solved.
It seems it really needs to heat up a bit before working correctly. This very very strange.
I will have to replace this board :(

**UncleMacro** · 12-03-2005, 05:19 AM

I long ago gave up trying to figure out which component caused my mom's machine to refuse to work when it's cold. All the components work fine in most combinations but some combinations (I think it's her motherboard and one particular video card) refuse to work until they've warmed up a little. But once the machine is just a little warm, it runs perfectly with no graphics corruption and never crashes. So I stopped worrying about it. It still annoys me that it won't boot stone cold but I have to use another video card to solve the problem and I'd rather have her current video card stay where it is. Since it has never caused any reliability problems, I just ignore it. It's just an extra 30 seconds I have to wait before the machine will work. My mom's machine has been in this state for a couple of years and it doesn't seem to take any longer to boot now than it did when I first put it together so it's not getting any worse. By the way, I believe the most common reason that this sort of thing happens is because of a problem solder joint. When the machine is cold, it isn't making a connection. But once the chips have warmed up a little and expanded, the connection is made. Years ago (okay, decades ago) they used to have the same problem with connections inside the chips being flakey because of mechanical expansion and contraction inside the package due to heating and cooling.

Luk07 · 12-03-2005, 12:18 PM

wow this is a strange problem i have never heard of before, but the last post by uncle macro cleared up why exactly it happens, an annoying problem but better than your graphics card failing completely as my 9600 did a while ago.

lt_jameslennard · 12-05-2005, 12:44 AM

Belive or not, when I changed the board to a new one (exact same type of board but a different one) (my friend has a computer shop where I bought the board so I could easily play around) it didn't make any problems. So currently I'm having a new Inno3D 6600GT AGP and this one works flawlessly. None of the above problems happended so far in 2 days. And the fan unit is also much more silent!
In my oppinion some boards can be faulty since i'm not the only one having had experienced this problem earlier. But it seems that this is rather some quality issue than design problem, because this board I'm currently running is fine.
Strange issue though.

I made also the discovery that I only have the problem with the other board when putting 2 monitors on it. SO I use the analogue output for a ViewSonic PF-790 monitor and the digital out for a Belinea DVI LCD at the same time. I love multimonitor mode :)
If you put only an analogue monitor onto the board the problem rarely comes.
Very strange.

But my new board works now, so i'm happy about it :)

Cheers

05-21-2005, 03:06 PM	#1 (permalink)
tlangdon12 Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 1 OS: XP	Inno3D 6600GT AGP garbled display on boot I've a problem with an Inno3d 6600GT AGP card fitted in an Acer F1 PC. Initially I couldn't get any display from the card until I upgraded the PSU. The new PSU is an Xpro 460W. Now the PC boots and I get some output from the 660GT but it is garbled. The card's BIOS message is displayed as random characters all over the screen, then the PC's BIOS screen is displayed in vertical bars, with some bars being correct, and others being scrambled. Finally XP fails to start. BUT when I turn the machine off and on again, everything is okay (The card's BIOS mesage displays ok, the PC's BIOS screen displays correctly and XP starts okay - after reporting it did not start correctly the previous time, the card plays 3D games, including the bundled Colin McRea Rally '04, fine). (It's almost like the card needs to warm up before it will boot correctly!) The monitor is a Nokia 446xPro. I'd really like to sort out the problem as XP sometimes has to do a CHKDSK/SCANDISK before it will start - I'm worried that one day it won't pass this point. Can anyone help? Thanks if you can.

12-02-2005, 01:20 PM	#4 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,576 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	borrow a power supply to put in get someone to try your card in their computer __________________

12-03-2005, 12:18 PM	#8 (permalink)
Luk07 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Kettering, Northamptonshire, UK Posts: 447 OS: Windows XP Pro SP2 My System	wow this is a strange problem i have never heard of before, but the last post by uncle macro cleared up why exactly it happens, an annoying problem but better than your graphics card failing completely as my 9600 did a while ago. __________________ It's all fun and games until the monkey craps on the carpet! I've got your nose Mr. Anderson and i intend to keep it!

12-03-2005, 03:29 AM	#5 (permalink)
lt_jameslennard Registered User Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 4 OS: WindowsXP	I already tried an other PSU (Chieftec 450W) I'm currently trying the board in a different PC. Prob is that it's with the same mobo, the BIOS is different though. I already experienced that in one case of my power ONs digi output gave coloroed boxes on my LCD. Analog monitor was ok.

12-03-2005, 04:00 AM	#6 (permalink)
lt_jameslennard Registered User Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 4 OS: WindowsXP	I am almost 100% sure that UncleMacro had right. I put the board outside on the balcony for 10 minutes. It is currently around 2 degrees celsius out there. I put back it to the PC and voila, the board was doing wrong again. Then reset. Same. Then Poweroff and poweron, issue solved. It seems it really needs to heat up a bit before working correctly. This very very strange. I will have to replace this board :(

12-03-2005, 05:19 AM	#7 (permalink)
UncleMacro TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: San Diego Posts: 2,133 OS: Vista SP1 My System	I long ago gave up trying to figure out which component caused my mom's machine to refuse to work when it's cold. All the components work fine in most combinations but some combinations (I think it's her motherboard and one particular video card) refuse to work until they've warmed up a little. But once the machine is just a little warm, it runs perfectly with no graphics corruption and never crashes. So I stopped worrying about it. It still annoys me that it won't boot stone cold but I have to use another video card to solve the problem and I'd rather have her current video card stay where it is. Since it has never caused any reliability problems, I just ignore it. It's just an extra 30 seconds I have to wait before the machine will work. My mom's machine has been in this state for a couple of years and it doesn't seem to take any longer to boot now than it did when I first put it together so it's not getting any worse. By the way, I believe the most common reason that this sort of thing happens is because of a problem solder joint. When the machine is cold, it isn't making a connection. But once the chips have warmed up a little and expanded, the connection is made. Years ago (okay, decades ago) they used to have the same problem with connections inside the chips being flakey because of mechanical expansion and contraction inside the package due to heating and cooling.

12-05-2005, 12:44 AM	#9 (permalink)
lt_jameslennard Registered User Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 4 OS: WindowsXP	Belive or not, when I changed the board to a new one (exact same type of board but a different one) (my friend has a computer shop where I bought the board so I could easily play around) it didn't make any problems. So currently I'm having a new Inno3D 6600GT AGP and this one works flawlessly. None of the above problems happended so far in 2 days. And the fan unit is also much more silent! In my oppinion some boards can be faulty since i'm not the only one having had experienced this problem earlier. But it seems that this is rather some quality issue than design problem, because this board I'm currently running is fine. Strange issue though. I made also the discovery that I only have the problem with the other board when putting 2 monitors on it. SO I use the analogue output for a ViewSonic PF-790 monitor and the digital out for a Belinea DVI LCD at the same time. I love multimonitor mode :) If you put only an analogue monitor onto the board the problem rarely comes. Very strange. But my new board works now, so i'm happy about it :) Cheers