I have a really annoying problem with my G400!

[Brian R.]

Power supply... yes thanks guys for continuing the thread.

What a night...

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I love it... "G400 whines at me.." thats a switch.

[This message has been edited by Brian R. (edited 01 January 2000).]

[jasonk]

No, No, NO, NO, NO!

I have had this problem with 1 of the Athlon systems I built. It uses a 250W PS on the AMD recommended list. The system is perfectly stable without TurboGL (Powerdesk 5.11 off the CD) but will lock up on cold boot after installing TurboGL and playing games for a while. The lockup occurs right on startup, and the screen displays ugly multicolored lines. If it's a PS issue, then why the heck do the old drivers work???

I haven't tried forcing AGP 1x, though when I checked, PCI List showed it was running AGP 2x. I gave the customer the RegHacks for PD5, since he didn't have time to bring in his system. I have yet to hear if forcing 1x fixed it, but it's the only solution I've heard of so far that works for this problem. What I'd like to know is, why does it work? What does forcing AGP 1x do, and why would it stop this problem from happening? More to the point, why the hell does this happen at all? I'm most likely gonna have to trade his G400 MAX in on a GeForce if I don't get his problem solved.

[Rags]

Hi jasonk,

I don't know if you have read anything about the GeForce and Athlon systems, but there are quite a few issues with them. One of which is a power problem that is fixed by, you guessed it, switching the card to 1X operation. The thing is that you WILL need a beefy 300W or higher PSU if you are going to be running any new video card, and we will soon see the same thing for Intel boards, I have already seen a few problems with G400/GeForce/V3 3500 and Intel boards with a poor PSU causing havoc.

Rags

[paulcs]

Jason, what drivers did you use with TurboGL?

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[jasonk]

Yeah Rags, I have read some of the stuff on Athlon/GeForce combos. I just read recently that they've fixed the problem on the ASUS 6600 GeForce card with a reg hack. I've got a 300W Sparkle PS purchased for just such an occasion, and maybe here would be the perfect time to try it. I never noticed the correlation between the GeForce/Matrox problem before though; thanks for pointing that out!

I'm using a Palo Alto ATCX case and QFI PS, both recommended by AMD. I figured sticking to the list would help stay away from these problems, but it has also introduced new ones. (A Diamond MX300 caused repeated lockups on the same system, where a SB Live worked fine.) I switched from using Pioneer DVD drives to the Toshiba SD-1212 on the recommended list - what a piece of junk! The Pioneer 104s works fine in Athlons, and is much more reliable than the Toshiba drive - which I've had to return about 25% of the time due to faulty drives. I've had DVD-related problems with a few G400 cards, but since I like Matrox so much, I put up with the hassles

Paulcs:

I've tried PD 5.11, 5.3, and 5.41. With 5.11, you have to install TurboGL separately, and you don't get the TurboGL manager. He's pretty much stuck using 5.11 at the moment, since it appears to be related to TurboGL in some way. (5.11 works just fine until you introduce it to TurboGL) But this isn't gonna work forever, because obviously when you pay for a MAX, it's speed you're after, and the MAX don't shine without TurboGL. I just hope the PS thing fixes it Thanks everyone!

[speeder]

Jasonk: same exact problem, it works on lower driver releases... and since you have a 300w power supply ready, can u please try it,and tell us the results, cause i can buy a antec ps-303x PS, and I know (i ased some ppl) that it will give me 3.41v, and its good, but i dont want to spend $50 for something that will not fix my problem, please respond ASAP!

[paulcs]

Jason, did you try 5.30 *and* the TurboGL update (version 2)? I don't think 5.11 supports TurboGL at all. It's the earliest of the G400 driver releases and should be avoided at all costs.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[jasonk]

No paulcs, I haven't tried the TurboGL update. Didn't even know it was out. Just got v1.0 that came with Powerdesk 5.30. As for avoiding 5.11 drivers, well, they're the only ones that are stable (but slow) on this system. I've never had any problems with 5.11 in fact, except that the Techdemo locks up on faster systems (>500MHz). TurboGL does work with 5.11 if you install the standalone drivers. I've installed dozens of G400s using the 5.30 drivers, which I think are the most stable so far, but for some reason they just won't take on this system. This is the only MAX I've had the (dis)pleasure of working with, though

Anyway, if I get a chance, I will try the bigger power supply and let speeder and the rest 'o ya know if it helps.

[speeder]

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