It's a sad day :(

[xortam]

Why don't you post your problem in the Matrox Hardware forum along with your IRQ listing? There are several folks there who'll probably be able to resolve this for you.

[paulcs]

Sorry to hear about your problems. Just a heads up on the GeForce2:

Most of the problems associated with the G400 are identical to potential problems associated with the GeForce and GeForce2. The nVidia board will most likely seek out IRQ 9 or 11, depending on the motherboard. Like the G400, it should be on IRQ 9, 10, or 11, and not share with another device.

Having said that, I've noticed that both the G400 and GeForce2 can often get along with ACPI on the same IRQ. The SCSI board is another matter entirely. If you have problems, try moving the SCSI card to another slot.

It's the same deal with getting the board properly into the IRQ slot. I'm pretty sure many of the problems people are having with the GeForce are related to this issue. Guillemot went so far as to not connect the top of the plate on their 32 MB GeForce2 to the top of the PCB. Now the board can go one way while the plate bends the other. I thought it was a design flaw, but now I suspect it is just a smart move.

The GeForce2 will ship with AGP 4X disabled in drivers, and, most likely, AGP sidebanding disabled in the BIOS. If the latter is true, the only way to enable sidebanding is to hack the BIOS files and reflash. It's a dangerous fix, and I believe it is just not worth it. AGP 4X can be enabled with a registry hack. In the case of Creative's GeForce2, I've read that AGP 4X and sidebanding can be enabled via their drivers.

NVidia disabled AGP 4X and, I believe, their OEM's disabled sidebanding because of stability issues with VIA chipsets. I enabled AGP 4X with a GeForce2 and a VIA Apollo Pro 133A-based motherboad, got a tiny performance increase, and eventually lost stability.

The Detonator 5.XX driver sets before 5.14 had serious compatibility problems with VIA chipsets, particularly with the KX-133. I haven't had problems with either 5.16 or 5.22, the most current "official" release and my VIA Apollo Pro board. If you do, you might want to try 5.14.

I recommend coming here if you have problems. They don't call them nVidiots for nothing.

Good luck. With that big Althon, it should be very fast.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[JC]

It's a sad day

It is indeed.

Having recently upgraded my old P3 system to an Athlon 850 with Abit KA7 mobo, it seems that given my setup almost every time I boot up - the graphics card (G400 MAX) conflicts with my SCSI card and ACPI thingy. I've looked through issues posted on MURC and tried altering BIOS settings and reinstalling windows. The settings for these 3 items cannot be changed manually in Win98SE and therefore I'm a bit stuck.

I'm replacing the G400 with a GeForce GTS (have ordered) - it better work or it's going back

At least the G400 can go back in my P3 where I know it will work.

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Athlon 850, 128MB PC133 Ram, G400Max, Abit KA7 MoBo, AWE64 Gold, 2940AU Scsi with 32x Reader and 4x4x16 Writer, Jaz and Zip, Card Cooler.

[JC]

Thanks guys, it is a bizarre problem as there are no interrupt conflicts and it's not particularly consistant. I have infact got the Geforce GTS from Creative now - it may not be the best but it does fly and no problems at all so far.

Q2@800x32 = 200fps, @1024x32 = 150~
3dMark2k@800x16 = 6600~

Just in case you do wander by and were interested in the IRQ's i will post them.

IRQ 9 = Adaptec 2940 SCSI card
IRQ 10= 3Com Network Card
IRQ 11= G400
IRQ 15= ACPI 'thingy' - 2nd IDE Channel disabled.

All other IRQ's are as you would expect. It is as i think i mentioned, a memory conflict - which seemed to have no predictability. BIOS tweaking made no diff' and you can't modify those settings in Windows. All latest drivers installed and BIOS.

I'm not overly concerned as the G400MAX will go back in my old O/C P3 where it will continue to look good for a long time.

Did i mention i have a G400 32 in my Celeron too - just so you know im not deserting

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Primary System: Athlon 850, 128MB PC133 Ram, GeForce GTS 32DDR, Abit KA7 MoBo, AWE64 Gold, 2940AU Scsi with 32x Reader and 4x4x16 Writer, Jaz and Zip, Card Cooler.

Seconday System: P3 @ 560
Tertiary System: Celeron 400

[motub]

JC, I don't see that you took xortam's advice, so I'm going to pop you over to MHW.

Why should you spend extra money on another video card if we can get your G400 running?

Good luck!!

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Holly