Need help in Assembling Budget Gaming + Entertainment PC

M

Please HELP - Blank Screen after Installing Catalyst Drivers

1. What is the purpose of the computer?
A: Quite a lot of gaming. Generic Hometheatre stuff + Some Programming + Casual Image & Video Editing
2. Are you open to alternate ideas/products giving similar better performance but offering more VFM/ sellers?
A: Yes
3. What is your MAX budget?
A: 30k
4. Planning to overclock?
A: Not immediately. Probably will do later.
5. Which OS are you planning to use?
A: Windows 7
6. How much hard drive space is needed?
A: None. Cuurently have a 250 GB SATA drive. Will use it for now.
7. What resolution will the screen run at & whats the size of the screen you want?
A: Already have Benq G2420 24". So max resolution will be 1920x1080. Anyone can comment on 720p gaming with max settings on HD monitors from a distance (ie. will help in buying a cheaper graphics card) ?
8. How would you rate your hardware knowledge from the count of 1-10?
A: 8 becoz I havent ever overclocked my P4 rig and because I am yet to try all these water cooling things sometime in future.
9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
A: Yes. Don't really mind getting it done by assembler too as long as I can supervise.
10. When are you planning to buy the system?
A: Soon. Maybe will wait for AMD 6000 series cards to hit.
11. Are you one of the types looking out for "future proof" configurations?
A: Yes. I know all AMD/Intel platforms are close to dead now, but still want the system to be as upgradeable as possible 2 years down the line.
12. Are there going to be any components that you don't want to include in this new rig? If yes, do mention.
A: No Monitor, HDD, Sound cards, Speakers, Keyborad+Mouse
13. Which city do you live in and are you open to buying from shops from other city/states?
A: Hyderabad. Not really interested in buying online, unless its a part I cant get locally.
14. Mention any other points if deemed necessary

Note : Please excuse my many questions. Spending a hard earned 30k on technology which gets easily outdated is hard :-|

A: Already thought of most things as below:

Processor - AMD Athlon II x4 635 - 5k or maybe the 645 if its available soon
Question : Considering the AMD Phenom 955 too. Is the stock HS Fan really noisy that I would have to consider an aftermarked HSF = 7.7 k + 2k = 9.7k? In that case does it make sense to consider the Quad Core i5 760 at nearly the same price? The stock i5 fan is quiet right ?
Assuming the room is quiet and in winter without any ceiling fans, is the 955 fan noisy while surfing the web (no sound from speakers) and watching movies too or only under heavy gaming ? A slight hum is OK but it shouldnt sound like a small vaccum cleaner. My P4 3.2 Ghz with HT is so damn noisy that when I shut it down, I feel so peaceful and the quietness is just amazing

Should a Thermal Paste be considered like the Cooler Master Arctic Silver or the factory supplied ones will do?

Motherboard - Some 880 Chipset USB3 Motherboard - 5.7k
Question : A non USB 3 880 chipset motherboard will be around 4.5k. Does it makes sense in saving the money right now since I dont have any USB3 devices and dont know when I would be purchasing one? Want a ATX motherboard preferably too, but all these new mother boards are all Micro ATX. If going the intel way, should I consider H55 or P55 for my purposes? I guess H55 or P55 can be had for 5-6k, making it almost equal in price to an AMD config (with a 955+HSF).

Ram - 2+2 GB Corsair 1333 MHz Ram - 4.5 - 5k
Question : Will the Corsair XMS3 1600MHz Rams give any additional benefit for an AMD config?

Graphics Card - Nvidia GTS 450 (8k) or 5770 (9k) or GTX 460 (768 MB. 12k?) Or wait for AMD 6000 series
Question : Which card seems best for my requirements. Does it make sense to wait?
Even if i get a GTS 450, will it be able do a 720p gaming for ALL current games at close to max settings ? Why i asked for 720p is that, I am in the habit of sitting at a distance (5 feet min - 10 ft max) from my PC while gaming, either with my cordless Keyboard+Mouse or my Wired XBox 360 controller. So if I sit a distance, will 720p (or a little higher resolution) look good when compared to 1080p ? I like playing sandbox games like GTA and Mafia. FPS games, I like only a few like COD:MW2.

Optical Drive - LG Sata - 1k
No questions here at all :razz:

Hard Drive - None - 0k
Question : I have a old SATA I 1.5GBps 250GB Seagate 7200 RPM hard drive.
Will this slower Hard Disk affect performance a lot for the new rig? Will consider a new HDD down the line. Wanted to know which is better and economical - Seagate Barracuda or WD Cavair Blue (say 1TB) and the current prices?

Cabinet - Cooler Master Elite 430 - 2.8k
Question : Are extra fans required for this? Are the CM 310, 330 worth? The NZXT Gamma doesnt look good to me and not available locally as well. The Zeronics cases (Bijli/Reaper) are good or better to stick with CM? PSU at the top or bottom should be preferred?

PSU - Corsair vx450 (For Nvidia 450/Radeon 5770) - 3.5k.
For NVidia GTX460 - vx550 - 4.7k.
Question : There is also a Corsair GS600 in the market priced equally to the vx550. Is it good? Since the GTX460 needs 2 PCI-E power connectors and a little more power, is the vx450 sufficient for it? Are there any cheaper alternatives for a vx550 capable of powering a 460 or some future graphics cards ?

If I choose all the ideal things in my list, the cost comes to 38k :sad:

. Where can I tone things down and sacrifice minimum performance?

And does anyone know of a really great shop in Hyderabad. I spoke to Shweta Computers to a guy called Vivek and he was pretty up to date with everything and not like lame guys who need to call to someone to know the prices and about hardware. Most prices seemed to be gr8 as well, but no bargaining at all. Is anyone else also going to purchase a new pc in Hyderabad? Maybe we can go together.

AMD Athlon II x4 635 @ 5k
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H @ 4.5k
G.Skill 2GB DDR3 1333MHz @ 2.3k
Zotac GX460 768MB @ 10.5k
WD 500GB Blue @ 2k
LG H55N DVD @ 1k
Corsair VX450W @ 3.7k
CM elite 310 @ 1.5k

Total - 30.5k

processor - yes AFAIK 955 fan is noisy. a good cooler such as cm hyper tx3 @ 1.3k will be good if someone not into oc. but 955 and i5 760 are out of your budget. 635 is a good capable processor.

motherboard - motherboard is a non usb3 and sata3 but those are not the things to worry. these features will take time to enter mainstream..

ram - for amd 1333mhz is recommended. 1600mhz wont give significant performance boost. also add another 2gb later.

gfx card - gtx460, hd5770 will handle 720p and 1080p(in most games)..gts450 will handle 720p but 1080p with lowered details.

hard drive - better upgrade your hard drive as its within your budget.

cabinet - cm elite 430 out of your budget. cm elite 310 will serve good.

psu - vx450w will easily handle the above config. its got 1pcie power connector. but molex adapters are provided AFAIK. better confirm..

M

Thanks Jaskanwar for the reply. Even I felt the 635 to be the best. Will decide 2GB Ram VS Hard Disk as well & consider the vx550 (1k More) with the NVidia 460 so that I can overclock later or have room for future upgrades too.

Instead of The CM Elite 310, how is the Zebronics Bijli (it comes with some extra fans as well) ??

Zotac GX460 768MB @ 10.5k --> The price I am getting for this is 11.8k at least.. From where can I get it for so less ? And How is the Galaxy GTX 460 768MB (its factory overclocked too with a custom fan)

As just as a thought .. In case I decide to Increase my budget (by 5-6k more) , which would be better in respect to all round performance, overclocking and being a little more future proof ?? Price would be more or less same I guess.
955 + CM Hyper 212+ Cooler
vs
Intel 760 + Stock HSF + P55/H55 Motherboard

Also, should branded thermal pastes like CM Arctic Silver be considered for 300-400 for the 1. Athlon 635 2. Phenom 955 or 3. I5 760 ?

Even for GTX 460, VX450 will be enough. If you are in Kolkata, processor will cost around 4.5-4.6k.
For USB 3.0 mobo, you can consider Gigabyte GA 880GMA UD2H or MSI 880GMA E45
Considering your budget, you better stick to AMD or you will have to compromise on the graphics card.

better get a new hard disk. also if you can spend 1k more on vx550w it will be nice. it will give you more upgrade headroom in future.

zebronics bijli is also good one. check the build quality, no. of fans etc when buying.

zotac is available at lynx india at that price. Lynx Chandigarh - Largest Audio , Electronic And Computer Online Superstore In India. galaxy is also good. go with any of them.

if you increase your budget by 5-6k more then get -

AMD Athlon II x4 635 @ 5k
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H @ 4.5k
G.Skill 2GB DDR3 1333MHz @ 2.3k
MSI HD5850 TWIN FROZR II @ 15k
WD 500GB Blue @ 2k
LG H55N DVD @ 1k
Corsair VX550W @ 4.7k
CM elite 310 @ 1.5k

Total - 36k.

that msi card is available at smcinternational.in

also first concentrate on the things that you cant upgrade easily. things such as ram can always be bought later.

yup, if you will oc 635 a lot say upto 3.5ghz, then get a good thermal paste. stock thermal paste is not that good.

manish- you already know so much of what you exactly want.
If possible, don't compromise for little.

Here is a config i had for a friend's gaming rig in approx 30K-35K
As buying good gfx card, he prefer motherboard without onboard graphics and ATX.

X4 635 - 5K approx (also had X2 550 BE in mind but new batches mostly don't unlock succesfully i have heard)
ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 - 5.7K approx (ATX, SB850, USB3.0, SATA 6Gbps, dual intelligent processors for good overclocking and low power consumption, ...)
2x2GB Corsair DDR3 1333Mhz/1600Mhz - 4.5K approx
HD5770 - 8.5K-9K approx (or GTS450/GTX460 768MB)
Corsair VX450 - 3.5K-3.7K approx
1TB 7200.12 Seagate - 2.9-3K approx
NZXT Gamma - 2.1K approx/CM Elite 430 case - 2.8K approx (if wants windowed sidepanel)

Ideally, i would like a GTX460 1GB and a VX550 at least for gaming at 1080p, budget permitting of course.

If you can spare a little more for a 880G ATX motherboard, take a look at the ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 (ATX, lots of great features)
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

suggest you keep 4GB RAM, especially as you will use Windows 7.
You may get a GTX460 1GB for little more than the price you got for GTX460 768MB.
A friend had Corsair XMS3 1600Mhz 6GB kit and that had SPD data for 1333Mhz at CL8- 4GB kit may have too but have to check.
For cards like GTX460 1GB that need 2 power connectors, it is recommended and preferable to use good PSU that has 2x PCIe power connectors like VX550.
Zebronics Bijli used to be flimsy but ok to use as it was a cheap case with option for 120mm exhaust- new ones don't have 120mm fan support for exhaust i have heard.
With a quad, a GTS450/GTX460, psu at top, single 120mm or smaller fan exhaust- things may get a bit hot inside the case.

hd5850 is your best deal as you can afford it.

@pegasus
a mobo with onboard gfx wont give performance troubles.
also windows 7 runs flawlessly on 2gb ram.
as i mentioned earlier first concentrate on the things which are not easily upgradeable.
also gtx460 will run on vx450w. molex adapters are there for compensating a less pcie connector..
also avoid asus as its distributor rashi sucks..

^ Jas- please consider this a casual discussion.
I am only replying to your post as you addressed me directly- else i do not comment on other posts unless there is some error or important addition.
I really appreciate all the time and effort you take to help everyone.
But i don't want a difference of opinion/s to turn into a debate or argument.

- If someone is buying a good gfx card and one can get a ATX mobo with newer and better features for not much more, i see no harm in doing so.
- And there are people who think 2GB is just about ok even for casual work.
Depends from person to person i guess.
- Sometimes some things don't get upgraded even if planned initially. I feel it's usually better to buy balanced rig at one go.
- convertors/adaptors are best avoided. It's a temporary fix imho to get things up and running thats ometimes end up unfixing things..
They are provided as backup just in case somehing is lacking/missing at user's end but only point out the fact that something is lacking in what user has.
- A few friends in Punjab, somewhere around where you may be located, said they buy ASUS as the sales and service there is good. Things have been improving for sometime now. I hope you shall notice it soon too. If you see anyone having any issues related to ASUS, please help by starting a thread with all details.
I hope you have heard of this>
ASUS Unveils the Bigger & Better - E.L.I.T.E. 2.0 Service for Motherboards

ya sure buddy, i know its a casual discussion and everybody has a right to express himself and suggest.

but the main concern is buying that mobo will not enable him to get a good gfx card like hd5850 twin frozr or gtx460 1gb or 768mb.
i personally still use 2gb and windows 7, play games, everything lag free. depends as you said on our personal mental satisfaction also. he can always add another 2gb later.
the rig i mentioned is very much balanced one IMO. also remember his main purpose is gaming.
when i got my rig i found that my eps12v connector is not able to reach the mobo. ordered a lian li extension and everything is fine. also converters are provided with gfx cards in the package...
about service we shall see it in this forum only..if no probs sometime from now, asus becoming good!!
BTW where do you live...

M

Hey guys ... no need to start a fight in my absence

I was looking for a motherboard with onboard video coz it helps when u have troubles with graphics card and it has gone for replaceement. Had to wait for nearly 20 days once with my P4 and used onboard graphics during...so 880G motherboard it will be.
Regarding the gfx card to buy, Radeon 6000 is nearly out, so would be best to wait for price cuts and better cards. Maybe we continue this Graphics Card+PSU dicussion in a few days. My P4 still does everything perrty well except play games so it will give me good company till either i sell it or buy a new rig whichever is earlier.

And why has the Athlon x4 645 not hit India yet ?
And yes once can work with 2GB on Win7 very well if expecially its 32bit.

And Jaskanwar, i found my 250 GB 7200 Seagate Barracuda is Sata-II after all, my old motherboad was SATA-I and HDD was running backward compatible. Since am not in any particular space crunch can save on the HDD for now and add it anytime later.

Pegasus, was thinking of an adapter free system as well ie. vx550. And tell me one thing, does the vx550 have problems reaching up to the motherboard on a bottom PSU Cabinet coz I was thinking I skip the good looks bit and get a NZXT Gamma and not worry abt a bad cabinet later. Also saw the Zebronics Invader with the LCD Display and fan control though...so new consideration on that too.. guys, how is the cabinet it practice? If all fail the CM 430 it will be.. I guess my budgets all gone haywire

Other guys (apart from Jaskanwar and Pegasus), please comment on Asus current support, because even I "heard" abt bad service.

pegasus said:
X4 635 - 5K approx (also had X2 550 BE in mind but new batches mostly don't unlock succesfully i have heard)

.
I'd like to beg to differ here, two of my friends who have Phenom 55xBE (bought on summer.10.) successfully unlocked their cps to 4core.
And I am not so sure but between the two, 550 & 635, i think 550 performs better at gaming.
But i'l opt with 635.

manish_bhaumik said:
Other guys (apart from Jaskanwar and Pegasus), please comment on Asus current support, because even I "heard" abt bad service.

To be honest, Asus' distributors Rashi Peripherals are crap [my own experience] and I will suggest you to avoid them.

R

^heard they getting better,true?

rajan1311 said:
^heard they getting better,true?

Personally, I wouldn't give them another chance. Asus motherboards are fine though. It's just that I'd prefer to avoid Rashi.

manish_bhaumik said:
Hey guys ... no need to start a fight in my absence
I was looking for a motherboard with onboard video coz it helps when u have troubles with graphics card and it has gone for replaceement. Had to wait for nearly 20 days once with my P4 and used onboard graphics during...so 880G motherboard it will be.
Regarding the gfx card to buy, Radeon 6000 is nearly out, so would be best to wait for price cuts and better cards. Maybe we continue this Graphics Card+PSU dicussion in a few days. My P4 still does everything perrty well except play games so it will give me good company till either i sell it or buy a new rig whichever is earlier.

And why has the Athlon x4 645 not hit India yet ?
And yes once can work with 2GB on Win7 very well if expecially its 32bit.

And Jaskanwar, i found my 250 GB 7200 Seagate Barracuda is Sata-II after all, my old motherboad was SATA-I and HDD was running backward compatible. Since am not in any particular space crunch can save on the HDD for now and add it anytime later.

Pegasus, was thinking of an adapter free system as well ie. vx550. And tell me one thing, does the vx550 have problems reaching up to the motherboard on a bottom PSU Cabinet coz I was thinking I skip the good looks bit and get a NZXT Gamma and not worry abt a bad cabinet later. Also saw the Zebronics Invader with the LCD Display and fan control though...so new consideration on that too.. guys, how is the cabinet it practice? If all fail the CM 430 it will be.. I guess my budgets all gone haywire

Other guys (apart from Jaskanwar and Pegasus), please comment on Asus current support, because even I "heard" abt bad service.

corsair has long wires provided..the problem was with fsp.
gamma is good, you can get it.

R

the shop guys seem really confident of asus quality, they say their service is also good,but i dont trust them at all, get their stuff if there is no other option...

ASUS Unveils the Bigger & Better - E.L.I.T.E. 2.0 Service for Motherboards

E.L.I.T.E. 2.0 - India's Largest Service Network for Motherboards Now Offers Burnt & Corrosion Warranty on All ASUS Motherboards & Expands Reach to 798 Indian Cities
...

ASUS Unveils the Bigger & Better - E.L.I.T.E. 2.0 Service for Motherboards

M

now that the 6850 and 6870 performance is out, what do u think about the GTX 460 768MB vs 1GB vs Radeon 6850.
What do you think all the revised prices in India will be at and by when ???

M

none of the Experts here want to comment on the new AMD Radeon 6850 and 6870 cards released ? Very strange...

I am a expert.
I want to comment.
Can i have the link to the performance charts of 6xxx gpus please.

M

The site has all the links to various reviews of the 6850 and 6870

*www.eliteb*stards.com/index.php?op...d=9&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Replace the * in the above url with "a"

its not fair to comment till we know the pricing in india.

Jaskanwar Singh said:
its not fair to comment till we know the pricing in india.

.
.
6850 = 11k
6870 = 13.5k
.
toad baba ki bhavishawani.. Wanna bet??

that pricing will be toooooo much sweet.
6850 beats gtx460 and at 11k as your bhavishawani goes will be excelllent. and so goes with hd6870 and hd5850.

6850-12.5k
6870-15k

M

Hey Guys.
At last the day of waiting is here.
HD6850 seems to be finally available (almost) in India @ 11.2 as per Lynx Website.

So this is the better buy comprated to the GTX 460 (1GB/768Mb) Right ?

Once this is decided I'll finally get my rig

The newly launched Sapphire 6800 series would be available starting tomorrow. Please book your orders for 6870 1gb and 6850 1gb. Preorder and be the 1st one to give the review.Click here for the pricing. ? Lynx - The Audio , Electronics And Compute

The newly launched Sapphire 6800 series would be available starting tomorrow. Please book your orders for 6870 1gb and 6850 1gb. Preorder and be the 1st one to give the review.Click here for the pricing.
The Sapphire 6870 would be available starting tomorrow and 6850 would be by the week end. Only limited pieces are arriving. Prices would be 14700 tax paid for 6870 and 11200 for 6850.

go ahead with 6850, its better than gtx460.

@11.2k 6850 is a sweet deal as it performs better than GTX460 which is for almost the same price range!!
Someday we'll c GTX470 down to 13k!!

M

hey .. a sudden offer I got ...

Instead of a new Athlon 635 + 880G Mobo + 4GB DDR3, I am getting a used Core2Quad Q9550 + 4GB DDR2, just need to buy a LGA 775 Mobo which should be under 3k i hope. Suggest a good Mobo please.

How will the gaming performance be with the Q9550. Oh and I need a HSF for the 9550 too. How much will that cost? Mobo + HSF. Shall i look for a used/new stock Intel HSF or shall I take a cooler like CM 212+?

I know the LGA 775 is already end of life, but so will be the new 1156 or AM3 sockets in a year max. And as it is I wont be upgrading probably. At max I may upgrade to a 6 Core Phenom after 1-2 years.

So guys, used Q9550 vs New Athlon 635 ???

Rest all stuff (Cabinet CM 430 +SMPS vx 550 +Graphics Card HD6850) will be common.

manish_bhaumik said:
hey .. a sudden offer I got ...

Instead of a new Athlon 635 + 880G Mobo + 4GB DDR3, I am getting a used Core2Quad Q9550 + 4GB DDR2, just need to buy a LGA 775 Mobo which should be under 3k i hope. Suggest a good Mobo please.

How will the gaming performance be with the Q9550. Oh and I need a HSF for the 9550 too. How much will that cost? Mobo + HSF. Shall i look for a used/new stock Intel HSF or shall I take a cooler like CM 212+?

I know the LGA 775 is already end of life, but so will be the new 1156 or AM3 sockets in a year max. And as it is I wont be upgrading probably. At max I may upgrade to a 6 Core Phenom after 1-2 years.

So guys, used Q9550 vs New Athlon 635 ???

Rest all stuff (Cabinet CM 430 +SMPS vx 550 +Graphics Card HD6850) will be common.

If you are getting the C2Q 9550 and 4 GB DDR2 in a very good price, then you can actually go for it. Performance wise C2Q 9550 is on the per with Phenom II 965 because of its large L2 Cache.
If you are getting the package within 10-11k then I think it is a good deal indeed.
For LGA 775 based mobo, you can go for Gigabyte G41M-COMBO. This board is an unique one as it supports both DDR2 and DDR3 ram. It has 2 DDR2 slots for max 8 GB and 2 DDR3 slots for max 8 GB 1333/1600 MHz DDR3.
So upgradation in future will be little easier. Price is 2.6k

M

@Cilus --> Thanks for the suggestion. Even I saw this MOBO on the Delta Peripherasls price list. Hopefully can get one locally in Hyderabad too.

how much should a Intel Stock HSF cost for the Core 2 Quad ?? New or used ??

ASUS P5G41C-M LX (DDR2 or DDR3 as reqd, EPU for power saving, all solid caps, Anti-Surge protection, Express Gate, ...)
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Approx 2.5K iirc.

Also the SATA ports are located near the lower edge of the pcb.
Seems very unlikely that SATA ports might get blocked in case one wants add a good gfx card (with dual slot cooler).

CM Hyper TX3- not my fave but ok for the price i feel
*www.primeabgb.com/index.php?page=s...tegory_id=161&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53
If you are not overclocking and need something stock or stock-like, check if you can find this or something similar>
*www.techenclave.com/dealers-paradise/coolermaster-lga-775-cpu-cooler-oem-144927.html

M

Thanks Pegasus....

How are the original intel motherboards .. G31 or G41 chipsets .. i donno exact names compared to these Asus/Gigabyte ones ??

I know that I loose quite a lot of overclocking features right ? But at stock conditions which motherboards are better ?

M

Hey Guys. Purchased a few things yesterday Locally
NZXT Gamma - 2250 (Shocked to find it @ Hyderabad. Question here is what minimum fans to get now for decent cooling?)
LG SATA DVD Writer - 950 (Doesnt have any LG marking except the sticker)
Gigabyte G41m-Combo Motherboard - 2300

HD 6850 is still not available here. Will need to wait for that. Zotac GTX 460 price 1GB seems to have come down to 11.5 as well.

Didnt get the Corsair VX 550 (the guy said he can get but in few days but @ 5000). Is that price good? Are there any alternatives?
There seems to be a Corsair GS 600 available at near that price too.

Regarding the CPU cooler, got a few options. Stock Intel Cooler @ 450 (the box says Core2Duo). Will the cooling and noise be fine for Core2Quad?
Apart from this getting the CM 212+ (donno if thermal compound comes along) and Scythe Katana 3 (seems to have a little thermal compund) @ around 2000-2200, i forgot which is which. Which one is better for overclocking?

M

Somone please tell me which CPU cooler is better .. the Cooler Master Hyper 212 + or the Scythe Katana 3 ???

Katana 3!!tho both r good!!

R

CM 212+ goes for Rs1800 incl tax in bangalore buddy...you will get a small amt of thermal compound,i got with my cheap TX3

M

Hey guys ... which will be better ??
MSI 6850 (11.5k) vs Sapphire 6850 (11.something .. yet to get pricing. I guess a little cheaper around 11.2k) ????

Or is there still some better card than this in similar price ?? Like some GTX 460 ??

Go for either MSI or Sapphire..both r reputed brands!!
6850 is better than 460 in gamin.So go for 6850!!

M

Hey Guys, thanks for all the help so far. I bought all the stuff and now am having problems

Please HELP Me.. The PC Details:
CPU - Intel Q9550
Mbd - Gigabyte GA G41M-Combo
Ram - 4BG DDR2 800MHz Running in Dual Channel Mode
Gfx - MSI Radeon HD 6850
PSU - Corsair vx 550
OS's Tried : Both XP and Win7 32 bit

The problem is before the graphics card everything was fine with the onboard graphics. Yesterday I purchased the gfx card and put in in the mobo and booted with monitor (LD - Benq G2421) connected to one of the DVI ports. The system started in vga mode with no drivers. I installed drivers (latest Catalyst drivers) and later tried with the display Drivers in the CD as well. Drivers installed and restarted the machine. The Windows boot logo came and after the animation when the login screen comes, showed a blank screen (the monitor did not indicate the cable is not getting input) and then nothing happens.

You can start the system in VGA mode (by pressing F8 while boot), it boots fine. As soon as I try to increase the resolution it immediately shows the blank screen. Pressing ESC does not help after that (ie to cancel the change in resolution) indicating perhaps the system is stuck.

All restarts, both OS's, fresh OS install, both supplied and downloaded drivers, all have the same issue. I tried with the DVI cable, with a D-Sub cable (with converter in the gfx card), and with an old CRT monitor, tried both the DVI outputs too. Same problem

Looked in the bios too and checked that Onboard VGA is set to "Enable If No Ext PEG". PEG here is PCI Express Graphics. Also tried the Always Enable option. (There is no disable option). Doesnt make much of a difference.

The motherboard is PCI-E 1.0/1.1 (not sure which) and the card is PCI-E 2.1. I know it shouldnt make any difference but cud there be a remote chance ??

The motherboard is a latest one (in terms of manufacturing date, only a few months old as per the sticker) and seems to have a fairly recent bios.

Please help me

Hope d GPU is properly installed,I mean not loose!!

M

Yes the GPU is sitting quite correctly and is not loose.

Say if it was not sitting correctly, then in VGA mode it should not work right ?

set the IGP to disable in BIOS. also i think a fresh install of OS should solve the problem. or you already tried it?

its the problem with the drivers

first remove the gfx card
uninstall the drivers for the graphic card
then do a fresh install of drivers and then insert the gfx card

hope this helps

NOTE:the same problem was with a fellow forum member(hdknitro) and he did the exact same thing which i have pointed out and it worked out

M

@Sam.Shab --> there is no Disable IGP in bios. Only "Enable If No Ext PEG" is there which is selected. And already tried 2 fresh OS's. Both XP and Vista 32bit.

@piyush --> Didnt try installing the gfx drivers first and then putting in the card. Will try once. But what you said means every time I need to install an OS, I would need to take out the card. Install OS + Driver and then put in the Graphics card ?? It doesnt really sound like an Ideal real world scenario

I want a good PC that can play games like GTA Vice City,IGI etc. I want it under 30k.
I am an eleven year old boy. Please suggest me some good racing and GTA titles.

^^Wat abt d PC?U bot it yet?or gonna buy it?

piyush120290 said:
first remove the gfx card
uninstall the drivers for the graphic card
then do a fresh install of drivers and then insert the gfx card

i doubt this ever gonna work. ok, you try install driver. but the driver will try search the H/W & it'll fail or should fail cause the graphics card isn't there at all.

manish_bhaumik said:
@Sam.Shab --> there is no Disable IGP in bios. Only "Enable If No Ext PEG" is there which is selected. And already tried 2 fresh OS's. Both XP and Vista 32bit.

did you (mistakenly) installed the Intel graphics drivers before installing the graphics card drivers?

M

@Sam.Shab --> Initially when I hadnt bought the card, the intel driver was there .. when i bought card I plugged it, it loaded to vga mode and I installed driver and restart. Got problem then...
But since then I have tried 2-3 fresh OS Installs and did not install any intel gfx driver in between. Same problem

Even connected a monitor each to the gfx card and onboard card, but the onboard is not displaying anything, indicating its disabled as expected.

Perhaps there is something wrong with the motherboard, or graphics card or some incompatibility issue somewhere which I dont know about. Pretty frustrated by now. Thinking of visiting the shop ASAP. Damn the vx550 + Gamma is heavy.. will have a hard time carrying it

to the shop. Good thing I got everything locally that too all from the same shop.

Will get them to with a diff gfx card and a diff motherboard.

I think there will be some option in your BIOS like Display and the options will be like PEG (stands for PCI Express Graphics), PCI and Onboard. Normally Gigabyte boards have this kind of BIOS setting.
For running it from on-board graphics, set that option to On-board and set a size of memory that you want to be shared from your ram.
Now connect the display output to your onboad output and try. I think now it will show you display from your onboard. Uninstall all the unnecessary drivers installed.
Again restart your system and go to BIOS, set the Display to PEG, save it and switch off the system as no display will be coming. Now plug your GFX card, connect the display output to it and start the system.
Now install the latest catalyst driver. Hope this will work.
Actually some in of Gigabyte boards, the Display source needs to be modified manually.

M

Cilus said:
I think there will be some option in your BIOS like Display and the options will be like PEG (stands for PCI Express Graphics), PCI and Onboard. Normally Gigabyte boards have this kind of BIOS setting.
For running it from on-board graphics, set that option to On-board and set a size of memory that you want to be shared from your ram.
Now connect the display output to your onboad output and try. I think now it will show you display from your onboard. Uninstall all the unnecessary drivers installed.
Again restart your system and go to BIOS, set the Display to PEG, save it and switch off the system as no display will be coming. Now plug your GFX card, connect the display output to it and start the system.
Now install the latest catalyst driver. Hope this will work.
Actually some in of Gigabyte boards, the Display source needs to be modified manually.

Cilius, I did fiddle around with that Setting ... It has 2 options:
1) Onboard always enable
2) Enable when no external PEG. (This one seems correct)
Note : There is no only PEG option here or disable onboard option.

I tried both settings. First initialized device option is also there .. with options as PCI, Onboard and PEG. I tried all of thise too (PEG obviously seems correct)

None of these is actually working. I did not try replugging the card as you suggested though .. Will try once. But I dont really think it should make a difference. There must be some hardware issue or at least some incompatibility issue somewhere.

^^ updated BIOS? many times these simple flaws are fixed in BIOS releases. so try updating BIOS once. maybe that'll fix the problem.

M

Hey .. dragged my PC to the shop and found out the new MSI 6850 was faulty. My system was able to run a Sapphire 5770 and a MSI GTX 460 without any issues.
The HD 6850 gave same issues on another Asus G41 chipset motherboard.

Just my luck. Banged my head and wasted so much time unneccessarily. New 6850s will take time till next week. Probably will get a replacement Sapphire card instead coz those are expected earlier than MSI. In the meanwhile have got the Sapphire 5770 as a standby card. Games are running fine (tried Mafia II and 007 Bloodstone).

Thanks for the help guys.

^^ finally the one that was least suspected. get it replaced than enjoy the games :smile:

^^

Its always the last place you think of!!

its good that the problem is identified and is about to resolved

M

@Sam.Shab --> Already can enjoy games. The 5770 runs Mafia II & some other games I tried at Max Settings. Will not miss the new card I guess so much. The guy was trying to give he a HD 4350 or some other crap as a standby though

@ssb1551 & @piyush --> I kinda already suspected that the card could be at fault, but didnt want to believe that a new purchase could be faulty. First time got something that came faulty out of the box. Hope these dealers dont try to pass faulty stuff from one customer to other and hope it works out for someone. Anyway mine seemed new with the type of platic fixed which once you take out cannot be reapplied.

And one observation regarding to one question I asked @ the very beginning of the thread.

"If I want to save money and take a lower end card like GTS 450, will the games look good @ 720p (1280x720) gaming on a full HD monitor rather than play @ 1920x1080 ?? "
The Answer is that I tried both these resolutions in Mafia at max settings. And sitting at a distance of at least 5 feet (I play with a Wireless K/M or Wired XBox Controller), I frankly couldnt make out any visual difference at all on my LCD monitor for the 5 mins each I tried. Maybe my monitor (BenQ 2420) really scales well at non-native resolutions.

Maybe this can be used as advice for ppl wanting to buy a system or graphics card on tight budgets. The details do matter very much but maybe resolutions not so much on 22-24 inch full HD screens.

5670 can easily run games at 1600x900 so 1280x720 aint a big deal for 5770!!I think u'll notice the difference if you game at 1920x1080!!

M

@ssb1551 -> What I meant was that I didnt notice any difference with the 5770 at 1920x1080 and 1280x720. With max details everything looked the same to me in both resolutions sitting a few feet away.

So what I was trying to say is that people looking to save some money can go for a lower end card and play at resolutions like 1280x720 on a full HD monitor with max settings and not really worry about missing out 1920x1080 gaming thinking it will be twice as good. High settings can be kept on lower resolution as well with a decent card like GTS 450 or as u said even a HD 5670.

Oh got it!!So you played Mafia at 1920×1080!!Well a nice find buddy!!I'll try that!!

M

Hi Guys. Finally got the replacement card. Got a Sapphire HD 6850 which costs 11,300 so got back 200 bucks. Spent a lot more on petrol going and coming quite a few times. Good news is card Works. Hopefully will last for quite a few years.
The reviews i read online say that this card comes with a HDMI cable but there was none in the box. Sapphire site says the cable comes with "Full Retail SKU" only.

Tried Mafia II again. Benchmark gives an Avg of 47fps at MAX settings @ 1920x1080. I hope thats not too bad.

Final System Details:
CPU : Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
Mbd : Gigabyte G41M-Combo
Ram : 2+2 GB Samsung DDR2 800MHz running in Dual Channel
Gfx : Sapphire Radeon HD 6850
Hard Disks : WD Cavair Blue 500GB + Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm 250GB + Seagate Barracuda IDE 160GB
Optical : LG Sata DVD-R/W
CPU Cooler : Cooler Master Hyper 212+
PSU : Corsair vx550
Cabinet : NZXT Gamma + Front cooler master 120mm LED fan (a little noisy)
Monitor : BenQ G2420 (connected through DVI but run @ 1280x720

)
Key+Mouse : Logitech Wireless Combo
Gamepad : Microsoft XBox 360 Wired
Speakers : 2 x Creative Inspire 2.1 (ie. A 4.2 speaker config running in Quad Channel Mode)

I guess that covers it

The system is more or less quiet, just that the front fan humming at full speed is a little noisy (ie when 12V are supplied to it) but not too much. Found out that forcefully plugging the molex cable other way around (so that it gives 5V) runs the fan quiet though slow. For now left it the correct way @ 12v.

THANKS A LOT GUYS FOR THE HELP