During the past weekend I upgraded my PC as follows:AMD 64 3200+ Venice, Gigabyte K8NS Ultra 939 (nForce3 Ultra, AGP8x),1GB RAM in 2x512MB modules set as Dual Channel.I kept my old SBAudigy and ATI Radeon 9600XT 128MB (AGP8x)The problem is that I can't make the ATI to work!!!!When EITHER the default MS drivers OR ANY version of ATI Catalystare installed, the computer freezes completely on the initial restart(and every restart afterwards) after the driver installation.The freeze seems to occur when the drivers try to change theresolution to 1280x1024 as they want by default.BIOS is updated to the latest. All Chipset/board drivers are thelatest (non-beta), WinXP Pro with both SP1 and SP2 after a CLEANinstall...!!!Any ideas? Anyone using this combination?As it is now, the PC is almost unusable!!!One more note that might her those who know and can help.When I do select to boot into the "last known good configuration" thesystem does boot and load normally with the exception (of course)that the VGA drivers are no longer there.The "Radeon 9600 (Microsoft Corporation)" device appears in thedevice manager with a yellow "!" and in properties all the resourcesare marked as forbiten with the notes below saying:"mem range xxxxx-xxxx, reserved by nForce3 250 AGP to PCI bridge"Also, when I let the system to try to install the default MS driversI get a 'cannot install hardware' at the end with a note:"Access Denied"!!!!And before you ask, I am logged on as Administrator!ANY help appreciated!Thanks!George DorkofikisAthens, Greecehttp://online.vatsimindicators.net/811520/1704.pnghttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpg

With SP2 loaded it's probably obvious, but is DirectX up to date? Another test could be to disable all non mandatory onboard stuff in the BIOS and remove all addon cards except the ATI ofcourse. (duhhhh :+). Also try with 1 512MB module. Could be some kind of conflict between hardware/drivers. If the 'virgin' machine still refuses to fully start XP, well can't think of anything else right now then. Good luck!

Thanks for the reply.Yes, DirectX installed is the latest 9c. All unneeded on-board stuff is disabled, and the only other PCI card existing on the board is the Sound Blaster Audigy which works fine.It's quite an ackward situation. I've already send email to both ASUS (maker of the VGA) and Gigabyte. I wonder what their answer will be.George DorkofikisAthens, Greecehttp://online.vatsimindicators.net/811520/1704.pnghttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpg

Without the Audigy? 1x512MB? Tried all?

Hi,Try to tune down to AGP4x in BIOS and see what happens.

Nothing worked so far...I even removed the ATI 9600 and put in an old nVidia Ti4200 64Mb.This one worked and drivers installed ok.But even then, when I try to get into 3D, i.e. starting FS9... It crashed with unknown error.I tend to think there is a problem with the chipset drivers.But I can't confirm it.George DorkofikisAthens, Greecehttp://online.vatsimindicators.net/811520/1704.pnghttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpg

Did you try chipset drivers from Gigabyte website? Don't know if there are any. Maybe the NVIDIA unified package is the only one.

George,I take it that by clean install you mean you formatted the drive.Did you install the chipset drivers as the first thing after sp1 and sp2? What I would do is re-format and start again as it only takes a couple of hours. After each driver install create a restore point. Immediately after installing the chipset driver install the ATI driver. This should help identify where the problem is.You will probably find the above quicker than waiting for e-mails etc.

With all the formats and re-installs I did so far I would have build four new PCs!!!! :LOLNope... Didn't work. Even on a full clean WinXP install without anything on (not even SPs) after installing DirectX (required by the chipset), Chipset drivers, ATI Drivers... Booom!... No good.There must be a conflict somewhere but it's so d@mn hard to find where!Is it hardware? Is it driver conflict? Noone can help.Gigabyte, although very polite and fast in their responce, did not say anything I haven't already tried.ASUS replied to try their own new driver. Will give a try tonight. Nothing to loose but just 30mins to download and install it just to see that it won't work. After all, the ATI original ones don't work, why should the ASUS driver work? But, you never know.And as I like consirancy theories, I think nVidia has done something to their chipset drivers to prevent usage of non-nVidia VGAs on those systems!!!! :LOLI don't know anymore. This is the weirdest thing I experienced so far and it's driving me crazy.George DorkofikisAthens, Greecehttp://online.vatsimindicators.net/811520/1704.pnghttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpg

Might be a long shot, but how about your powersupply? Strange things can happen if it has problems delivering sufficient power. You said your old NVIDIA 4200 also has problems when entering 3D mode. This is when most power is needed. Again, just guessing here... ;-) BTW: I also just upgraded to AMD64 3500+ on nForce4. My order of installation: format, install XP Pro (SP2 included), DirectX9.0c if needed -check with dxdiag-, ATI driver and finally all other drivers. You could try making your own slipstreamed XP SP2 boot/install disk. You do not need to install any servicepack seperately then. No logical difference, but who knows... If all fails I would try to swap the board at your reseller.

The power supply is an ANDRONICS 420W... So I don't think there is a power problem. The case is almost empty! Only things in there are the VGA, the SoundBlaster Audigy, 1 DVD-RW and 1 HDD !!!!With just that components, even a 350W PSU would be more than enough!There is definately an incompatibility. But it's not my job to find it.I have alerted all needed (ASUS, ATI, Gigabyte) and they should look into it. I'm just a user, I don't design those.If they want to keep their reputation they will do something about it.Otherwise they will get a loooot of bad publicity from me to all my friends... and their friends... etc...But what's frustrating me the most is that I have looked into the compatibility issue before ordering the motherboard, memory modules etc.and the information at the sites showed all the parts as compatible!George DorkofikisAthens, Greecehttp://online.vatsimindicators.net/811520/1704.pnghttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpg

I've looked in a very popular Dutch site (www.tweakers.net) for issues like yours. Can't find any. I'm sure you've also searched in forums etc. without any luck. All hardware you're using is quite recent so it should all work together. Therefor I suspect it might be related to your board then. No option to test with another board at your reseller?

Well.. If everything else fails I'll send the board back as faulty tosend me a new one. Maybe it is faulty!But to be sure I'm waiting for Gigabyte to say exactly that.George DorkofikisAthens, Greecehttp://online.vatsimindicators.net/811520/1704.pnghttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpg

GeorgeI have exactly the same mbo, with the Athlon64 3500+ and ATIX800XL, and I have had no problems. I did move from a Ti4200 and initially when I removed all my old NVIDIA drivers with the Detonator Destroyer, it took out the chipset drivers as well! I restored these from the GigByte site and all was well.I did have problems with an earlier installation with a GigaByte mbo when I changed from a GEForce2 to the GEForce4 Ti4200, and this particular mbo turned incompatible with the GEForce4 series. Gigabyte were not helpful on this issue and it cost me about$150Can for my dealer to locate the problem and install a new mbo (still GigaByte since my dealer strongly supports their line).I hope you get it fixed, a famous designer like you cannot afford to be without a working FS computer!!NigelVancouverMy System:AMD Athlon 64 3500+Gigabyte GA K8NS ULTRA-939 mobo ATI Radeon X800XL video card AGP1GB Samsung PC3200DDR RAMIBM 40GB 7200rpm hard driveMaxtor 80GB 7200rpm hard driveCreative Sound Blaster Live! with latest driversNEC FE950+ crt monitorCHProducts PCI yoke and pedalsWindows XP Home edition with SP2DirectX 9.0©iCute 400W power supply with five case fans

You might want to try going in your BIOS setup and enable IRQ for VGA,if there is that option. If not,see what other options are available,and try them. Does the PC boot up OK? Any beeps during boot? If you go into device manager,any problems listed with the video adapter itself? Also,if you can,go into safe mode and try your driver installations from there.