Gents,I have been leafing through the manual of my new Radeon 9600 while waiting for my Newegg shipment to arrive.Page 1 has me a little confused ( I know, not a good sign ). It states the following:Quote (with their bolds, not mine): To ensure a successful installation of your ATI graphics accelerator card, you MUST do the following BEFORE replacing your current graphics card with your new ATI card: Install AGP Drivers for non-Intel chipset based motherboards. Each non Intel chipset requires the installation of a custom Virtual GART driver. This driver is required by your new ATI card to function correctly with your motherboard. It is very important that the correct AGP driver be installed before installing an AGP video card in your system. An incorrect or missing GART driver result in AGP memory not being detected or a black screen after Windows loads. End Quote.So, can I not use the Radeon card right off the bat when I first assemble the system ?In general order, I was planning on assembling the hardware of the pc, then configuring the bios, then installing the OS, and then concerning myself with all appropriate drivers. How is this possible if Windows loads the first time with a "black screen" ? Does my soon to arrive motherboard, based on the nForce chipset, have a GART driver pre-installed ? Will I need to use my Nvidia Geforce card at first, and then add the Radeon later ?This is my first Radeon card, and I don't remember dealing with this GART issue before now.Thanks,Roger

Hmm, the plot thickens.I can't seem to find an authoritative answer as to the voltage of my Geforce2 GTS PRO ( 3.3v or 1.5v ). Apparently some Geforce2 GTS Pro's are notched 1.5v incorrectly, and are actually 3.3v : http://www.anandtech.com/guides/viewfaq.html?i=82The new motherboard is 1.5v AGP only, so using a 3.3v would be bad.This makes figuring this GART thing out all the more important.Cheers,Roger

Hi Roger,No need to worry... your new video card and motherboard will play very well together.I don't know what drivers ASUS is currently including on it's MB drivers CD, so it might be a good idea for you to make up your own (based upon the latest and greatest). First go here and download the nVidia 3.13 nForce chipset drivers. They have proven to be very stable.http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_udp_winxp_3.13Next, go here to get your video drivers. The 4.1 CATs are working well for most, and they seem to be very good with this sim. You'll need the full package.http://www.rage3d.com/Alternatively, if you wish to use the Omega video drivers (I prefer them), go here and download the 2.5.14 set. They are the Omegaized 4.1 CATs. They too work very well with this sim:http://www.omegacorner.comFinally, go to MS's site and download DirectX 9.0b.http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&displaylang=enBurn all this to a CD and you're good to go!The install routine should be:1) Fire up the computer and go into the BIOS to config it as you wish.2) Once done, slip your WD Data LifeGuard floppy in and EXIT and SAVE from the BIOS. If you bought and OEM drive go here to download Data Lifegurad: http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp3) Upon reboot go into Data Lifeguard to configure and format your new drive.4) Install Windows5) The first drivers you install will be the nVidia 3.13 chipset drivers. Then reboot.6) Install DirextX (it must be on your system before installing the video drivers). Reboot.7) Install the video drivers. Reboot, and then wait. After this first reboot your system will be rather sluggish for a minute or two. Not to worry... it's just the CAT's getting settle in with Windows.This should help you get started.

Greg,As always, thanks for the help. I appreciate it. I'm burning my disk right now with the distributable version of DX, CAT 4.1's, nForce 3.13's and a few other hardware drivers.As for Data Lifeguard, I'm not sure I want to use it. I have read that it can cause problems down the line with 3rd party partitioning software. Also read that it can make portability of the drive a pain. So I am going to boot from the CD-Rom and let the XP disk handle the formatting. If that becomes an issue, then I will try the Data Lifeguard Dos program.Once again, thanks for the advice,Roger

Cool! Hope your build goes well. Please post back here when you're up and running... always curious how another simmer's new build goes.

Greg,Everything seems to have gone fine. The OS is installed and I am finishing up with the drivers.One question about the Radeon though. I was looking in the Device Manager and the display adapter tree looks like this:Display adapter- | |_ Radeon 9600 series |_ Radeon 9600 series - SecondaryNow, both are listed as being located on PCI Bus 2 ? Is this normal ? Seems like an AGP card should list as AGP ? Keep in mind that I am new to XP, and PC building in general.Thanks for all your help,Roger

Congrats, Roger. :-beerchug The Device Manager description you mention is the same on my XP Home install... "PCI Bus 2, device 0, function 1" for both the Primary and Secondary cards.Once you get the system stabilized to your liking run dxdiag to insure all is well in DirectX. Your card should be shown in dxdiag's Display section as an AGP.Cheers,

>Congrats, Roger. :-beerchug >>The Device Manager description you mention is the same on my>XP Home install... "PCI Bus 2, device 0, function 1" for both>the Primary and Secondary cards.Hmm,I have "device 0, function 0" for the Primary. I have "device 0, function 1" for the secondary ? Is this ok ?Sorry to kill you with questions,Roger

"Sorry to kill you with questions,"No problem.I just checked my Device Manager again... I was incorrect in my previous post. Both the Primary and Secondary are on PCI Bus 2, device 0. The Primary is function 0, the Secondary is function 1.Seems like your set-up is OK. I would check dxdiag. It will offer you more info about the state of your video and sound systems.

Greg,Excellent ! Thanks again. I hope I can help you out with something in the future as much as you have helped me these last couple days.Xp is running smooth, all the firmware and drivers are installed.... guess I can relax for now.I'll be sure to update once I get FS installed. Not today though, I need a break :-lol I dang near had a heart attack today when the pc wouldn't boot after construction. I figured that something must have fried (due to the constant beeping, but no boot). However, it was just a loosely seated ram stick.Thanks again, especially for the nForce ( over via ) recommendation, and all the help.Roger

Glad to hear you've got it squared away. You're probably aware of these two sites, but I'll link to them anyway.http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htmBlack Viper's Services Tweaks are very useful. They can turn your XP install into a lean, mean computing machine.http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=13I visit NForceHQ often to learn what I can learn. Alot of cool info there.Cheers,

Regarding BlackViper's OS tweaks, see my second post in this thread: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...id=174960&page=