Galaxy Geforce 6600 128MB AGP problem

Hi,
I've recently bought Galaxy Geforce 6600 128MB AGP and I can't make it
work correctly. In 3d games there're some weird effects like green/red
triangles or something as if there'd be a problem in rendering. After a
while it usually get worse and as an effect game is unplayable.

my computer is:
AMD Athlon 1Ghz
Asus A7V133 (VIA Apollo KT133A Chipset)
512MB SDRAM 133
Windows XP SP2
DirectX 9.0
Chieftec 350W PS

At first I thought that my old 300W PS is the problem so I bought new
Chieftec 350W but it didn't help.
Then I tried various drivers (81.95, 78.01, 77.56) but it didn't help
either.
I read that my chipset - VIA KT133A - may cause some problems and 75
release of NVIDIA drivers exclusively does something to workaround it
but... I tried 78.01 and 77.56 and problem remained.
Is there anything else I can try?
What can be the source of all this problems? (chipset?)

Thanks for your help

Get Coolbits, and Rivatuner, and set AGP to 4x, and turn
Fast Writes off ... for a start. You don't have enough ram
for that card in games. You need 1 gig at least. You
probably can't run AA, but worth trying. Problems
with that VIA chipset were generally that the mobo
BIOS was not compatible with high end cards, but
I imagine that by now, a BIOS upgrade would help
.... and new mobo chipset drivers at the same time.
I get those color triangles every time I do a sloppy
job of removing the old video driver. Also get down
DriveCleaner and reinstall your video drivers. The
81.95 is fine. Start a suspect game at the lowest
possible settings. You might want to try telling
Coolbits to NOT use in-game settings, and do
the settings at the driver screen ... for a start.
Eventually you want to use the in-game settings
that are low enough to work.

johns

On Tue, 20 Dec 2005 21:34:20 +0100, Towarzysz 47
wrote:

Hi,
I've recently bought Galaxy Geforce 6600 128MB AGP and I can't make it
work correctly. In 3d games there're some weird effects like green/red
triangles or something as if there'd be a problem in rendering. After a
while it usually get worse and as an effect game is unplayable.

my computer is:
AMD Athlon 1Ghz
Asus A7V133 (VIA Apollo KT133A Chipset)
512MB SDRAM 133
Windows XP SP2
DirectX 9.0
Chieftec 350W PS

At first I thought that my old 300W PS is the problem so I bought new
Chieftec 350W but it didn't help.

That doesn't mean the PSU isn't the problem. I checked out the
specs on that PSU, and it says the 12V+ rail was only 10Amps. It's
usally recommended to use a PSU with a 12V+ Amp of 20, or more. I'm
using a 650W Chiefmax with 6600GT. It has 34Amps on the 12V+ rail.
Although this is what the manufacturer claims, but it still works
flawlessly with my system.
I would however try some other software related fixes before
buying another PSU. Have you tried doing a format, and fresh reinstall
of the OS + updates, chipset drivers, and device drivers? This is
usally a last ditch effert, before purchasing new hardware, but it's
fixed problems I've had in the past.

On 20 Dec 2005 13:52:27 -0800, "johns" wrote:

Get Coolbits, and Rivatuner, and set AGP to 4x, and turn
Fast Writes off ... for a start. You don't have enough ram
for that card in games. You need 1 gig at least.

I'd say that might be a problem if he where playing the newest
games, but with that old of a mainboard, and CPU, he's problably not
playing anything as demanding as Doom 3. Even so, extra memory won't
help much. I was using 512MB DDR on an Athlon XP 3000+ (VIA KT400)
with a 6600GT, and upgraded o 1GB. No performance change in Doom 3, or
any of the other games I played. Games like CoD2, and others in that
performance league may benifit from 1GB, or more, but others that are
older don't.

Last time I saw green/red blocks or whatever it was with my ATI 9000 card.
It turned out the memory was bad. Once I changed the card to a 9600xt the
problem disappeared completely.

"Towarzysz 47" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I've recently bought Galaxy Geforce 6600 128MB AGP and I can't make it
work correctly. In 3d games there're some weird effects like green/red
triangles or something as if there'd be a problem in rendering. After a
while it usually get worse and as an effect game is unplayable.

my computer is:
AMD Athlon 1Ghz
Asus A7V133 (VIA Apollo KT133A Chipset)
512MB SDRAM 133
Windows XP SP2
DirectX 9.0
Chieftec 350W PS

At first I thought that my old 300W PS is the problem so I bought new
Chieftec 350W but it didn't help.
Then I tried various drivers (81.95, 78.01, 77.56) but it didn't help
either.
I read that my chipset - VIA KT133A - may cause some problems and 75
release of NVIDIA drivers exclusively does something to workaround it
but... I tried 78.01 and 77.56 and problem remained.
Is there anything else I can try?
What can be the source of all this problems? (chipset?)

Thanks for your help

Larry Roberts wrote:
That doesn't mean the PSU isn't the problem. I checked out the
specs on that PSU, and it says the 12V+ rail was only 10Amps. It's
usally recommended to use a PSU with a 12V+ Amp of 20, or more. I'm
using a 650W Chiefmax with 6600GT. It has 34Amps on the 12V+ rail.
Although this is what the manufacturer claims, but it still works
flawlessly with my system.

I checked this card on my friend's computer (P4, 1GB ram etc.) and the
card worked correctly. He's got Chieftec 360W and he's got no problems
with his GF6800GT so I don't think it's the PSU.

I would however try some other software related fixes before
buying another PSU. Have you tried doing a format, and fresh reinstall
of the OS + updates, chipset drivers, and device drivers? This is
usally a last ditch effert, before purchasing new hardware, but it's
fixed problems I've had in the past.

After checking the card on another hardware config I'm pretty sure that
my old A7V133 causes the problem. I read a lot about KT133A chipset and
it's problems with NVIDIA cards. Seems like I'm experiencing one myself.
I updated bios to newest aviable, updated chipset drivers, checked few
nvidia drivers and it didn't help.
Perhaps I'll try fresh OS reinstall, but since I'm going to buy new
motherboard, processor & ram to finish upgrading my hardware I consider
sticking to my old GF2 GTS for a little longer just to avoid another
full reinstall (I really hate doing that )

Thanks for your help.

Larry Roberts wrote:
On 20 Dec 2005 13:52:27 -0800, "johns" wrote:


Get Coolbits, and Rivatuner, and set AGP to 4x, and turn
Fast Writes off ... for a start. You don't have enough ram
for that card in games. You need 1 gig at least.


I'd say that might be a problem if he where playing the newest
games, but with that old of a mainboard, and CPU, he's problably not
playing anything as demanding as Doom 3. Even so, extra memory won't
help much. I was using 512MB DDR on an Athlon XP 3000+ (VIA KT400)
with a 6600GT, and upgraded o 1GB. No performance change in Doom 3, or
any of the other games I played. Games like CoD2, and others in that
performance league may benifit from 1GB, or more, but others that are
older don't.

Well - I can't make it work on any specs in any 3d game even after
applying changes you suggested (Coolbits, Rivatuner etc.). Since on
another - newer - config card worked fine I think that KT133A chipset is
the source of the problem. I'll be upgrading motherboard & CPU shortly
so for now I'll probably stick to my old GF2 GTS.

Thanks for your help.

In message , Towarzysz 47
writes
Larry Roberts wrote:
That doesn't mean the PSU isn't the problem. I checked out the
specs on that PSU, and it says the 12V+ rail was only 10Amps. It's
usally recommended to use a PSU with a 12V+ Amp of 20, or more. I'm
using a 650W Chiefmax with 6600GT. It has 34Amps on the 12V+ rail.
Although this is what the manufacturer claims, but it still works
flawlessly with my system.

I checked this card on my friend's computer (P4, 1GB ram etc.) and the
card worked correctly. He's got Chieftec 360W and he's got no problems
with his GF6800GT so I don't think it's the PSU.

I would however try some other software related fixes before
buying another PSU. Have you tried doing a format, and fresh reinstall
of the OS + updates, chipset drivers, and device drivers? This is
usally a last ditch effert, before purchasing new hardware, but it's
fixed problems I've had in the past.

After checking the card on another hardware config I'm pretty sure that
my old A7V133 causes the problem. I read a lot about KT133A chipset and
it's problems with NVIDIA cards. Seems like I'm experiencing one myself.
I updated bios to newest aviable, updated chipset drivers, checked few
nvidia drivers and it didn't help.
Perhaps I'll try fresh OS reinstall, but since I'm going to buy new
motherboard, processor & ram to finish upgrading my hardware I consider
sticking to my old GF2 GTS for a little longer just to avoid another
full reinstall (I really hate doing that )

Thanks for your help.

It does sound it's a conflict with the M/B chipset. The best route is
probably to quickly look at the FAQs on the M/B website and see if there
are any workarounds, also look on nVidia's website, they may mention
something.

Shame really as I know the Galaxy cards are damned good, I have a 6600GT
128MB AGP version (clocked at 525/1050MHz OOTB) and it's a cracking
card. I'm running it on an Abit An7-uGuru M/B (nForce2) with an Athlon
Barton 3200+ and 1GB (2x512) TwinX Corsair XMSPRO RAM, and it's a
blast.

Before you upgrade make sure you check cross-compatibilities first to
avoid problems later - good luck, and I hope you find a solution, there
are too many incompatibilities for my liking in the market - it's the
general users that don't know *all* the technical inconsistencies that
end up losing out!

Neil.
--
Neil J Bundy