Help - new video card = BLACK screen

PC Hobbyist

PC Hobbyist

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I just got an EVGA eGeForce 7800GS AGP card from Newegg. I installed it and I only see a black screen. I have an HP Pavillion a250n, which has an ASUS P4SD-LA motherboard.

I checked the BIOS and changed the video card setting to AGP (it was on PCI - although my old card is also AGP).

Nothing works. The card seems to fit in the slot - although I can't totally snap the locking clip/hook back into place like I can with my old car. However, with the new card, it seems like it is all the way in. I can't push it any farther. I do notice that my old card (GeForce 6200) has two gaps in the connectors, whereas the new card only has one gap. They both say the are made for AGP. When I looked at the brown AGP slot on the MOBO, there appears to be a total of two regions where there are no metal contacts (which coincide with the location of the two gaps on my old card).

The video card box does say that "some motherboards violate the AGP specifications and therefore this card may not physically fit in some systems".

So, I am wondering if my motherboard is one of those that does not allow the card to fit right - or if the card is simply a DOA from Newegg.

Thanks for any input.
 
well, i dont remember what is your PSU, but it might be the problem as well as the reasons u said.
 
You have a 4X-8X slot so the card should fit fine, the notch just in the back is to keep you from putting it in a 3.3 volt AGP slot. But it should go in flush and the tab locked. Plus you did plug in the power connector to the end of the card?
 
Thanks for the responses. I still don't know what the problem is.
To answer to your posts:

@RoBBy: My PSU is a brand new 550 Watt Rosewill and I did connect the card to the PSU (if I don't, my MOBO starts beeping like crazy at startup). The card only requires 350W to operate.

@Strangehold: The card does go in flush, but I can't totally bring the locking clip on the slot to catch onto the tab on the card. I have an AGP8x slot and the card says AGP8x - so that should mean that they are compatible and should run at 0.8V, right? Or could they still be incompatible?

@Kornowski: Good to hear from you. Unfortunately, my wife's computer has a PCI-E slot and so I don't have another computer to try it on.

@skidude: Thanks for the links. They were helpful to learn more about AGP differences.

I'm kind of running out of ideas as to what the problem could be. I guess the card might be a DOA, but the chances of that happening are actually slim, so I wonder if there is something else going on. I guess I'll have to return it to Newegg if nothing else occurs to me. Bummer, I bought it while on vacation in the U.S. and now I am back in Europe. So, my only option is a refund back to my credit card and not a replacement. Bummer - it was a good deal - $119 after MIR.

Any other ideas on what I should try before shipping it back?
 
Just as an update:
I tried installing the card again and it worked. There are two things I did differently.
1. I made sure the locking tabs from the RAM weren't getting in the way of the video card being all the way.
2. I used a different cable from my PSU to connect to the card (and I used the extension provided with the video card).

I don't know which one was the solution. When I get a chance, I will try using the original PSU cable that I first tried to see if it works with it or not. Then I will know who the culprit was.

Anyway, card works now - so I'm happy. $119 is not a bad price for that card, and it is about the best card I can get for my AGP slot (probably in general, but definitely for that price). The next move would be a new mobo with pci-e, but I'm still a ways from that, since my PC does just fine for what I need.

Thanks again to everyone. If I figure out the culprit, I'll post a quick update.
 
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