[Oniketsoku]

I've got a Zotac GTX 460 ZT-40403 video card and it's been giving me nightmares since I got it.

To get things rolling, making it clear that this is my second GPU and I already had the original card RMA'd. I'm having nearly the exact same problems as I was having originally.
I was studying statistics and listening to music one night when all of a sudden I got a grinding noise through my headphones and my screen froze(wasn't doing anything too intense). I couldn't shut down my computer by holding down the power button and had to pull the cord from the PSU directly. Now, whenever I start up the PC with the GTX 460 my monitor says "No response from DVI" and I can't do anything. So now I put in my old ATi video card in the mean time, and have to use my computer in safe mode with networking because the internet doesn't work when I boot up normally - if someone could help me fix that too that'd be cool, but it's not the long term problem here. It probably has something to do with the fact that I couldn't uninstall the nVidia card and its drivers before I installed the ATi card. Although I have, as far as I know, removed all the old nVidia drivers with control panel and Driver Sweeper & installed the ATi ones correctly.

Anyway, I ran into this thread: http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=187401

So I know other people are having somewhat? similar problems. Thing is, nobody says anything about biostar boards, so I don't know if mine is compatible or not. I also made my own thread here if you want to read it for more detail: http://forums.nvidia...5 but nobody ever wrote back.

I'll leave you with my specs:

Mobo: BIOSTAR Group TA790XE

RAM: 4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 400MHz (5-5-5-16)

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache http://www.newegg.co...tion&cm_mmc=AFC

GPU: Zotac GTX 460 ZT-40403-10P http://www.zotacusa....-40403-10p.html

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 http://www.newegg.co...ID=3463938&SID=

PSU: Corsair HX520W http://www.newegg.co...ID=3463938&SID=

OS: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit

Thanks in advance,
Oniketsoku

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I have three main questions for you
1. Have you overlcocked. If you have did you use your own settings or the BIOSTAR auto clock and if you used the latter which one.
2. Has that setup EVER worked satisfactorily with the Zotac GTX 460
3. Have you run the automated memory integration test on the BIOSTAR commissioned in set

Additionally I now know that the GPU is packaged overclocked.I have NOT studied the manual but as the ZOTAC card is provided overclocked did you account for that in the motherboard setup - on overclock.

As you may suspect the problem I think lies not with the Zotac GPU per se but with the motherboard, PSU and ram.. The actual max power demanded by the GPU is 190 watts and the motherboard is provided with a separate molex power connector for the GPU.
Have you searched what power that can supply.
I would at this stage suspect memory unsuitable unless settings manually altered that ram you have is NOT on the motherboard recommended spec.OR PSU although I see it is a certfied and therefore capable of supplying the required voltage/current on steady demand.
You will know of course that this is NOT the case with non certfiied PSU.
However I would still run tests to check.
Have you checked temps at all - it has all the symptoms of an overheat.

Edited by Macboatmaster, 01 April 2011 - 03:01 PM.

[Macboatmaster]

I have three main questions for you
1. Have you overlcocked. If you have did you use your own settings or the BIOSTAR auto clock and if you used the latter which one.
2. Has that setup EVER worked satisfactorily with the Zotac GTX 460
3. Have you run the automated memory integration test on the BIOSTAR commissioned in set

Additionally I now know that the GPU is packaged overclocked.I have NOT studied the manual but as the ZOTAC card is provided overclocked did you account for that in the motherboard setup - on overclock.

As you may suspect the problem I think lies not with the Zotac GPU per se but with the motherboard, PSU and ram.. The actual max power demanded by the GPU is 190 watts and the motherboard is provided with a separate molex power connector for the GPU.
Have you searched what power that can supply.
I would at this stage suspect memory unsuitable unless settings manually altered that ram you have is NOT on the motherboard recommended spec.OR PSU although I see it is a certfied and therefore capable of supplying the required voltage/current on steady demand.
You will know of course that this is NOT the case with non certfiied PSU.
However I would still run tests to check.
Have you checked temps at all - it has all the symptoms of an overheat.

Edited by Macboatmaster, 01 April 2011 - 03:01 PM.

[Oniketsoku]

1. I have not intentionally overclocked, nor run any software to do so. You claim that you know that the GPU is packaged overclocked, so it seems that I have been overclocking, however.

2. Yes, my experience with both video cards were satisfactory until the day they no longer functioned. There were several questionable hiccups within a couple weeks of them malfunctioning, yet nothing too serious.

3. I apologize, I'm not familiar with the automated memory integration test.


- I have not searched nor do I exactly know what power the motherboard can supply, in that regard.

- When I was upgrading my hardware initially, I sought help here. A member told me that the PSU that I'm currently using was suitable for the GTX 460, and that still seems to be the case. I do, however, agree that the RAM is unsatisfactory.

- All temperatures are stable and below 40 degrees Celsius. It has been over a month since it crashed, although the only thing that may have been running hot was the video card. I can't particularly recall, although I think it wasn't overheating.

- What tests do you recommend I run, to check? What kind of approach to the situation do you recommend I take?

Thanks for the reply.

Edited by Oniketsoku, 01 April 2011 - 03:28 PM.

[Macboatmaster]

In respect of your reply
1. Only because the Zotak site says that it is.

Ram is not of course the simple matter that it first seems and I, if I was in your situation, would email BIOSTAR or post a question on the BIOSTAR forum to ask about running that ram with that motherboard..
I do not opine that it is a simple matter of the ram will just be written to at its manufactured speed.
Whether or not this could cause the problem, is beyond my knowledge, as of course the GPU has its own ram.
OR there are hardware and memory experts on this site and one of them may well pick up the thread.

Is the answer to the 190 watts required by the GPU not in the motherboard manual in respect of the dedicated power connector for the GPU. DID YOU USE THAT MOLEX CONNECTOR or did you come straight of the PSU. There is also the questio of course of current in addition to voltage.

I think the PSU is suitable - if for that Zotec graphics - perhaps ONLY not with a lot to spare.

I apologise for the lack of response to the internet.
As Safe Mode loads a minimal set of drivers and the internet works it is not presumably a an actual direcltly related network matter but another driver or service causing the issue in normal mode.

To that end Clean boot it
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796 and go from there on ascertaining when the connection fails

[Oniketsoku]

Alright, tomorrow after work I'm going to email Biostar or try and find their forum and post back with results when I get them.

Sorry, but I'm not quite sure what you're asking in the second paragraph. As far as GPU and PSU connections go, I know that I always had two cables plugged into the back, one of them labeled PCI-E.

Thanks for the response about my internet, gonna try it out. I'm sure once I get this GTX 460 issue resolved I'm gonna have the same internet issue so I may as well learn now so I don't have to reformat yet again.

Thanks for the reply.

[phillpower2]

I see you have had this problem for some time and have posted elsewhere under the name Zetsurin;
http://www.tomshardw...ndomly-freezing
http://www.tomshardw...incompatability
http://www.sevenforu...t-normally.html
It is not a good idea to attempt following assistance from more than one forum
as the advice offered may sometimes be conflicting, be fair and inform Macboatmaster
if you wish for him to continue assisting you or not, that asides I suggest you check out
the Ram, from your MB specs;

MEMORY
•Support Dual Channel DDR2 533/667/800/1066(1066 by AM2+/AM3 CPU) MHz
•4 x DDR2 DIMM Memory Slot
•Max. Supports up to 16GB Memory

Your present Ram: 4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 400MHz (5-5-5-16) is not listed also what brand
name if any?
Run the Crucial System Scanner tool http://www.crucial.c...:20100901184937 to find the recommended Ram.
Also see http://www.geekstogo...sing-memtest86/

[Macboatmaster]

phillpower2
Thanks and I totally agree already pointed out this fact.

I would at this stage suspect memory unsuitable unless settings manually altered that ram you have is NOT on the motherboard recommended spec

[Oniketsoku]

Yeah, you actually found my old threads back when I had my first GTX 460. I sent that card to Zotac for a RMA and now I'm dealing with the same problem again.

I copy pasted over at Tom's Hardware simply as a preemptive measure in case nobody responded. I've been troubleshooting problems like this on my own at forums for a long time so I've gotten good at juggling advice.

I'll write back with data after I get off work tonight.

Thanks for the reply.

[Oniketsoku]

Do you guys know where i can get the details to fill this out? http://www.biostar-u...supportform.asp

[Macboatmaster]

Do you guys know where i can get the details to fill this out?

I am sure you may think this is sarcastic, but honestly it is NOT. Surely from the same place as I did to formulate my reply to your original post - YOUR POST ONE and the links you provided.
As to BIOS date it is on the BIOS setup or the post screen and otherwise it is on the BIOSTAR site under BIOS with coding.

Edited by Macboatmaster, 02 April 2011 - 04:54 PM.

[Oniketsoku]

I'm about to follow the intstructions to run Memtest.

However, it seems to be almost conclusive that I should get new RAM, regardless. So I'll check with crucial on what I should get. However, it's also safe to say that I want a new motherboard as well, right? If one were to think otherwise please explain. In the case of the former, I should hold off on acquiring new ram until I've invested in a board that is wholly compatible with the ZT-40403?

These are my speculations.

[Oniketsoku]

Zotac says they're going to upgrade my video card to a GTX 560 Ti for free. I'll let you guys know if I have any problems with the new card.

Memtest came out fine, but do you think it's worthwhile to upgrade my RAM?

Edited by Oniketsoku, 08 April 2011 - 08:22 AM.

[Macboatmaster]

Thank you for letting us know.
That is good news regarding the upgrade from Zotac.

Surely the ram was already indicated on the motherboard site, it listed all the ram speeds recommended and in fact all the ram that had been tested on the board/