PCI-E x4 and MoBo advice please?

[porterjw]

Not sure if this is better off in this Folder or the Motherboard one, but I think it better-relates to this one.

I have an e-GeForce 7100GS PCI-E card that worked fine with my old MoBo. I recently swapped boards and purchased an ECS 945GZT-M. All of a sudden, Ubuntu 7.04 and Kubuntu 6.06 wouldn't load or ever fully boot via Live CD. After fiddling, I learned that it would boot up when the video card was pulled out and I was using on-board graphics.

Further investigation pointed me to the fact that the PCI-E slot for this particular board is at x4 speed, not x16 as I had thought it was (and what my old board was).

If I get a board that supports x16 speed, everything should work again, yes? There are two I'm looking at, one is almost the exact model I have right now but with a full-speed PCI-E slot and the other is a bit more in-depth, but will serve me well for many many years to come. Links below.

ECS 945GCT-M (almost exactly like wht I have now, but with two PCI-E slots, one x4 and the other x16):
http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Pro...uID=44&LanID=9

Abit IL9 Pro (overkill for me, but I'll never have to worry about another MoBo in the mid-range foreseeable future (4 years at least):
http://www.uabit.com/index.php?optio...ge=1&model=330

Reviews I've read on various website said the Abit was awesome. My previous board that I gave away for another install was an IP-95, and I'd love to have another, but Tiger only has them through a bundle deal and I'm perfectly happy with my CPU and other hardware so it would be a waste of $.

Ideas or can anyone think of anything I've overlooked with getting my current board to work? I'd prefer to order my new one ASAP so it's shipped tomorrow and I'll get it on Wednesday and have everything back to normal Wed night. it actually feels a bit odd *having* to boot into XP again and not having Ubuntu as an option

Thanks so much for any ideas or feedback on the boards!

--Jay

 

[chupacabra]

I'd go with the abit, since the ECS is a piece of crap, i wouldn't be surprise that you get the same problem even with that new one

 

[porterjw]

Yeah. leaning towards that one too. Didn't have a chance to order yesterday so maybe sometime today or tomorrow.

 

[oscaryu1]

Almost everything that comes outta Taiwan is crap...

Abit for sure.

 

[cpthk]

Almost everything that comes outta Taiwan is crap...

Abit for sure.

Not really, I bet your motherboard is from taiwan. Taiwan designed 90% network product and 80% laptop also 90% GPS products. So of course have good ones and bad ones

 

[oscaryu1]

Not really, I bet your motherboard is from taiwan. Taiwan designed 90% network product and 80% laptop also 90% GPS products. So of course have good ones and bad ones

True.

Thanks for making me reread this thread. Look what I found.

 

[oscaryu1]

Not sure if this is better off in this Folder or the Motherboard one, but I think it better-relates to this one.

I have an e-GeForce 7100GS PCI-E card that worked fine with my old MoBo. I recently swapped boards and purchased an ECS 945GZT-M. All of a sudden, Ubuntu 7.04 and Kubuntu 6.06 wouldn't load or ever fully boot via Live CD. After fiddling, I learned that it would boot up when the video card was pulled out and I was using on-board graphics.

Further investigation pointed me to the fact that the PCI-E slot for this particular board is at x4 speed, not x16 as I had thought it was (and what my old board was).

If I get a board that supports x16 speed, everything should work again, yes? There are two I'm looking at, one is almost the exact model I have right now but with a full-speed PCI-E slot and the other is a bit more in-depth, but will serve me well for many many years to come. Links below.

ECS 945GCT-M (almost exactly like wht I have now, but with two PCI-E slots, one x4 and the other x16):
http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Pro...uID=44&LanID=9

Abit IL9 Pro (overkill for me, but I'll never have to worry about another MoBo in the mid-range foreseeable future (4 years at least):
http://www.uabit.com/index.php?optio...ge=1&model=330

Reviews I've read on various website said the Abit was awesome. My previous board that I gave away for another install was an IP-95, and I'd love to have another, but Tiger only has them through a bundle deal and I'm perfectly happy with my CPU and other hardware so it would be a waste of $.

Ideas or can anyone think of anything I've overlooked with getting my current board to work? I'd prefer to order my new one ASAP so it's shipped tomorrow and I'll get it on Wednesday and have everything back to normal Wed night. it actually feels a bit odd *having* to boot into XP again and not having Ubuntu as an option

Thanks so much for any ideas or feedback on the boards!

--Jay

You need to reformat with an motherboard change. The GFX and Mobo should have nothing to do with the live CD not booting. So it's something else.

 

[littleblackxj]

You need to reformat with an motherboard change. The GFX and Mobo should have nothing to do with the live CD not booting. So it's something else.

Nope, that definitly could be it. A live cd cant display the xserver (graphic interface) if it can't talk to the video card, and since it's the same video card then it's most likely the motherboard.

 

[oscaryu1]

Nope, that definitly could be it. A live cd cant display the xserver (graphic interface) if it can't talk to the video card, and since it's the same video card then it's most likely the motherboard.

Unless he's using onboard...

So your agreeing or disagreeing with me? The "Nope" got me confused...

 

[littleblackxj]

Unless he's using onboard...

So your agreeing or disagreeing with me? The "Nope" got me confused...

Same thing with on board. If it can't talk to the hardware it can't use it. So i am disagreeing with you.

 

[porterjw]

>Same thing with on board. If it can't talk to the hardware it can't use it. So i am disagreeing with you.

On-board video worked, it was just the PCI-E interface that wouldn't.

Anyway...
...I went with the Abit IL9 Pro and everything worked, but I noticed a *huge* increase in CPU temp (it idled hotter than when it was under load in the ECS). So I started a new Thread, got some feedback, and did some of my own investigating on temp-variation between ATX and m-ATX. Even went so far as to get another Board (Intel D945GTPL), and those temps spiked, but anyway, I digress.

On a whim, I cleared CMOS on the ECS board, and Feisty Fawn loaded right up via Live CD. I tried both versions (32- and 64-bit) as well as Kubuntu Dapper. Everything working normally, it seems.

I did a lot more testing on the temps from the Boards and will have another thread with the results either tonight or sometime tomorrow. The results were very surprising. I stuck with the ECS board as I do not need cutting edge and it offered the lowest temps. It's towards the low-end of features, but it's all I need for the time being.

 

[oscaryu1]

Nope, that definitly could be it. A live cd cant display the xserver (graphic interface) if it can't talk to the video card, and since it's the same video card then it's most likely the motherboard.

Now I'm getting you that the GFX is bad. That bull if it can display though POST, all that stuff. Correct?

If the motherboard cannot "talk" to the motherboard, then it would not be showing anything... rolleyes... And all you'd be doing it looking at an black screen with alot of beeping.