[GazzaT]

Hi all.

I have an ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA2 Mobo. I got an Inno3D 8800GT Graphics card for it. I then discovered that the card wont run on a Mobo that doesn't have an Intel chipset. Rather than flash the card to a "Gen 1", I switched an Nvidia Quadro FX560 from my video editing rig. My graphics are struggling with Flight Sim 2004, which it never did with my Nvidia 6200 AGP card.

So, I need a new motherboard. It is my General PC which does all the daily stuff and I play Call of Duty 4/ Ghost Recon as well as MS Flight Sim 2004 online. I need to run with the 8800GT, so it has to be an Intel chipset. I need PCIe x16 (just one, no SLI intentions), Slot LGA775 and take 2x 1 Gig of DDR2 5300 RAM. I'd like good, on-board HD Audio. I'd like to pay upto £100 but I want a good board that will do the job well.

Any suggestions here would be very much appreciated.

[Advertisements]

I then discovered that the card wont run on a Mobo that doesn't have an Intel chipset.

What lead you to believe this?

[Titan8990]

I then discovered that the card wont run on a Mobo that doesn't have an Intel chipset.

What lead you to believe this?

[GazzaT]

Forums on the web and an e-mail from Inno3D support;

"Dear Sir,

Firstly, thank you for your kind support of our product.

For the all latest G9x GPU (iei, 8800GT, 8800GTS 512MB), there is a
compatibility problem with the VIA chipset. And, no display issue will be
resulted.

It is suggested to replace with the motherboard which is intel chipset
based.

Any inquiry, please feel free to contact us.

Best Regards,"

[Titan8990]

It has nothing to do with the G92 GPU. If you have issues putting in your current board it is because you have selected a proprietary manufacturer.

What CPU are you using exactly? Most MOBOs only support 1066/1333mhz FSB or slightly older boards support 800/1066mhz FSB. If you are using a Pentium D or higher I would go with this board: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813128059.

Otherwise you can RMA your card and select one from a manufacturer that does not have compatibility issues with certain chipsets.

[GazzaT]

Thanks for the help Titan.

I am currently using a Pent 4, 3.8Ghz processor. Until I have better funds, thats what I'm stuck with as well as a 150 SATA HD. So you think it'll perform ok with this CPU?

[Troy]

Hi there,

The Gigabyte motherboard Titan linked would be my recommendation also.

Your Pentium 4 will work fine with the 8800GT, the only problem would be that as it's an older processor, it will hold back the video card in terms of performance.

Also, what PSU are you using with the 8800GT? They're pretty power-hungry cards, I should know - I have one! While you can read into the fine print about minimum specifications, I would recommend using a quality 500W supply as a minimum. Something like the Corsair HX-520 would be a good choice.

Cheers

Troy

[Titan8990]

Your Pentium 4 will work fine with the 8800GT, the only problem would be that as it's an older processor, it will hold back the video card in terms of performance.

This is very true. I had a 2.8Ghz Pentium 4 running on a 7800GT and the P4 was what limited my performance. The 8800GT offers more than twice the performance of the 7800GT.

[GazzaT]

Thanks for the reply's guys. I have taken Titans advice and threw in the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L mobo. Also swapped in an Antec Neo HE 550 W modular PSU that has the PCIe leads to power the card. Its all in and running now, which is great. All I have to do now is copy the C: drive onto the new SATA2 disc I got to replace the original SATA1. Think I'll try and find a download of Norton Ghost for that job!

When the money is flush I'll upgrade the processor. Thanks again for the help guys.

Gaz

[GazzaT]

BTW Titan. on the ASRock Board, I checked the manual for supported cards. The only 8800 card on there was the GTS. So it may be that its not happy with a 8800GT plus I seem to remember that the PCIe claims to be x16 but is infact lower.

[Titan8990]

I have actually seen ASRock boards with AGI (ASRock Graphic Interface) slots which was AGP/PCI-E hybrid that was very proprietary. Not only would it not accept certain cards but certain manufacturers as well. You will not run in to any compatibility issues like that with the Gigabyte.

I didn't even think about the AGI slot until you mentioned that your MOBO manual had a video card compatibility list (which is unusual).

Edited by Titan8990, 28 March 2008 - 02:03 PM.

[Troy]

Thanks for the reply's guys. I have taken Titans advice and threw in the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L mobo. Also swapped in an Antec Neo HE 550 W modular PSU that has the PCIe leads to power the card. Its all in and running now, which is great. All I have to do now is copy the C: drive onto the new SATA2 disc I got to replace the original SATA1. Think I'll try and find a download of Norton Ghost for that job!

When the money is flush I'll upgrade the processor. Thanks again for the help guys.

Gaz

Hi Gaz,

Glad we could be of service, and thanks for letting us know what you got and how it's working - enjoy!

When you've got the $$$ for a processor upgrade, let us know and we'll help you find the right one for you.

Here is the link for Norton Ghost, in case you haven't found it yet.

If you have a Seagate Hard Drive then you are able to use the Seagate DiscWizard. It's a free, basic tool that will let you "ghost" an image - it's based on Acronis True Image.

Cheers

Troy

[GazzaT]

Well, the rig is running fine and it's so quiet! As for the clone software, I actually went with something called "HD Clone", the free version which I got from download.com. I produced a bootable media and cloned in DOS. It took about 13hrs (overnight jobbie!) but it seems to have done the job fine as I have disconnected the original disk and am just running the new Seagate.

Thanks again and I'll be back when I can afford to upgrade the processor.

[Troy]

Hi there,

Great to hear it's working well.

Cheers

Troy