New 6600gt scrambled screen on startup

[mcjlmb]

Hi, I just received an XFX 6600gt in the mail earlier today. I am upgrading from a Radeon 9600se, so I uninstalled the ATI drivers, and took the card out. I replaced it with the 6600, and plugged in a connector from my power supply. I booted up, and heard a loud beeping coming from the computer, followed by a long string of more annoying beeps. I looked at the screen, and where the Windows startup text (that displays all my stats, lets me go into my bios, etc) would normally appear there was just a scrambled mess of white text. I kinda freaked out and just shut off the computer as soon as I saw and heard what was happening. After this, I took out the card and inspected it, but I could see no visible damage to the card or any part of my motherboard. I put it back in and tried it again. The same thing happened, but this time I let it ride out, and when Windows actually started, I could see the desktop, but there were colored vertical lines cutting through the screen. I downloaded and started installing the nVidia drivers, hoping maybe once I got the software installed the problem would fix itself. But, as I was installing the drivers the screen cut out. The monitor and computer were still on, but there was just a black screen. I shut it off and double checked the card, but it still looked fine. This time though I tried a different connector from my power supply (although in hindsight this really shouldn't have made a difference since the card should still at least work even without the extra power connection). After this I tried multiple other power supply cords, and tried putting the video adapter into the other DVI slot. Nothing worked, so I just put the 9600 back in to make sure I didn't screw up the AGP slot or the whole motherboard. This card still works fine though, so theres obviously something going on with the 6600.

I've been scanning these forums, trying to find a similar problem, and while I couldn't find anyone with the same thing, it seems like a lot of other XFX and 6600 users in general are having hardware problems. Is it likely I just got a defected card sent to me?

I also thought about my power supply, since I know power is an issue with the new generations of nVidia cards, but I have a 420w RAIDMAX power supply, which I'm pretty sure should be enough. And if it was a problem with juice, I would think the card would at least load properly, it just wouldn't run to its fullest.

My other specs:
Abit KV8 Pro motherboard
AMD 64 3000+
2x 3200 GeiL RAM
420w RAIDMAX psu

I hope someone can help, thanks

 

[brady]

Try Safe mode driver installation.

 

[mcjlmb]

I guess I'll give that a shot if I can't think of anything else, but I really don't think the solution will involve drivers, since the card already messes up before I've done anything with the drivers. Anyone else have suggestions?

 

[PZEROFGH]

might need to RMA the card

 

[brady]

I think the reason that it was having troubles before any driver installation is the fact that radeon and nvidia don't really like each other. I think there are still some remnance of radeon in that system, and I think thats why it looks the way it does.

assuming its not a hardware issue. ( bad card )

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

Well if it's scrambled before windows, just send it back.

 

[mcjlmb]

eh, I guess that's what I'll do. Very disappointing though, I waited all weekend to get it, now I gotta send it back. Well, anyone wanna give a last opinion before I go through with it?

 

[Rouen]

Put your ATI card back into the computer and see how it works.

Brady is right. ATI writes code into their drivers that cause Nvidia cards to go crazy or not even work. Use something like Drive Cleaner Pro to get rid of all ATI drivers. It worked for me. However, Nvidia DOES NOT write code that upsets ATI drivers. So you should be ok if you swap it.

Then try the Nvidia card again. Is your Power Supply stable enough to run such a powerful card? Read off the ratings that should be printed on the side of your PSU.

Example 12V+ - 14A
+5V - 24A

Write all those on here. Also post the complete build of your computer, including parts with model numbers, your case, the number and size of your fans, and the wattage of your PSU.

If the numbers are good, I would just RMA it. Relax though, I RMAed my first nvidia card i ever bought, it was an eVGA 6800GT 256MB/256bit. It caught on fire when I ran a separate power dongle to it while i was on the phone with the technician. He was so sorry that they paid for shipping BOTH ways, I got it back in a week (Amazing time, my RMA for my mobo was almost 5 weeks) and it came with a free copy of Battlefield 1942, fully playable. Make sure you call them first and talk to the technician. Be sure not to say anything self incrimating like "I dropped it the other day" or "I overclocked my CPU" Just be wise while on the phone with them.

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

^^^ If it goes funny in the BIOS it's not dependant on ATI or Nvidia drivers.

 

[mcjlmb]

Thanks for the help Rouen, but Chris has a point. If it were something with software, or power, why would it scramble the screen like that, which shouldn't be dependant on the video card anyway. From all the problems I've read about concerning power, the card still works normally, just at very low speeds, or the computer freezes.