Damn you windows!

Ok here's the situation; I've just got Windows XP and a brand new Hard Drive, I've installed the hard drive then set up Windows XP. I did all this with the graphics card out of the computer, to ensure I didn't get any problems. So fine, windows XP is working perfectly, I've gotten onto the internet, yada yada yada.

Now it comes to putting the graphics card in. It's a GeForce FX5200 128mb. I stuck it in there, booted up and BAM, graphics problems. I get into Windows XP and the screen is fuzzy, and I can hardly read anything. Random fuzzy colours follow my mouse and this is the best I can get it. I tried installing drivers, no luck. I've tried 4 sets of drivers with the same results.

Now I've come to believe it's something to do with the motherboard. It's a Matsonic MS8308EP(266). On matsonic's site it says that it doesn't support the FX5200 graphics card, even though it worked fine when I was on Windows 98SE.

I've tried almost EVERYTHING and I can't sort it out :/ I had the same problem when I tried Windows 2000 and gave up very soon -.- I want to stick with it for Windows XP, or else it's quite a bit of money down the drain...

So does anyone have a clue what to do? Anyone met this sort of problem before? Can anyone identify specificaly what the problem is? Any help is well appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

You didn't mention changing any BIOS settings. Have a poke around there for any relevant options if you haven't already.

Pretty sure XP itself has no problems with that card, don't blame
Windows. You're basically getting what you pay for with a combination
of cheap parts like that. Are the motherboard drivers the most recent?

Yes, the motherboard drivers have been updated. I'm ok for a while because the onboard graphics adapter is somewhat decent. This is just sooo annoying because this always happens to me with computers :razz:

And yes, I have played around with the BIOS quite a bit...

Reset BIOS to default settings, perhaps ? Maybe you played around a bit too much.

First of all you should have had the card in while installing Windows. THAT is the easiest way.

But, honestly, not sure. Maybe your board really doesn't support it. Or
there's a hardware failure somewhere. Try checking the ram speeds on
the video card through BIOS and such. Make sure the AGP slot is on the
right voltage and blah blah blah.

Gorb, I like how you used "cheap" as a negative term when speaking
about his hardware. Since I'd lump Windows into that catagory too.

Mess around with it some more, I suppose.

about the only time i ever had any problems installing a geforce card, was when i forgot to reset the graphics to its lowest level prior to installing the drivers.

you almost have to set them to nothing before the new drivers will take properly.

tis something to consider.

i got a fx5200 working perfectly wiht winxp. so that cant be the problem.

Right, thanks for the help. I'm almost certain it's the motherboard that's the problem. I have 2 choices now :/

I can either get a recommended graphics card for the motherboard (GeForce 3 at highest) or find a new motherboard -.- That'll be annoying, since this one uses SDRAM and a good one will probably use DDR RAM...

I'm thinking of staying put and getting a real cheap graphics card, since I don't have that much money to throw away at the moment :sad:

Thanks again.

What kind of monitor are you using? If you're using a flat panel one, there is usually only one native setting that looks decent for the monitor. Make sure your resolution is set to the native resolution.

Can you post a screenshot of your crappy screen? This will give us a better idea what's going on.

i think he pegged it when he mentioned his older motherboard.

perhaps, its just to powerful. shrugs

You really couldn't say that it was WindowsXP as it is the best OS Microsoft have produced at the moment.
Maybe if you could give us some more info,

What filesystem you installed with XP?
What brand graphics card it is?
Why didn't you have it in while installing XP?

Once upon a time I couldn't get WinXP running as I have a rubbish motherboard that wasn't supported ( Jetway ).
So I had to use 98 till I got an upgrade, I never bought a cheap brand again. :razz:

DDR IS SDRAM. It's just faster freqiencies and slightly different architechtures.

Not that it's a big deal. Right now old ram costs more then new ram.
Most places have 133 Mgz ram more expensive then 400 Mgz ram.

I'd say you should try to solve the problem, but it's pretty obvious
you probably need to upgrade anyway. To be honest even if you got it
working fine, your system would be holding back your video card.

Thanks Crono, I think I'll go with a motherboard update. I HATE messing around with my system, because solving one thing usually leads to another problem in something else, and everything explodes. If the motherboard doesn't support the video card, I wont use the video card, simple as that.

Neo: I think it used the NTFS file system for my new HD, I had no other choice :/ The card is a Galaxy Zeus 5200 (as it says on the box). I didn't have it in for the install because I thought there was a chance it'd mess it up. I wanted XP to install with all the hardware I knew worked perfectly, and the 5200 I usually had problems with so I thought I could install it later. I have no idea if that's the best way to do it, but it seemed logical to me.

Ever thought that maybe your card is broken? Got damaged in the packaging or just after they checked it. It is never the case that 100% of all stock shipped from the place of manufacture is working. Never know, might be an idea to say its broken and never worked to the people you got it off, get a new one and if that doesn't work then start blaming other things.

But don't blame windows, its what people who don't know what they are doing blame. Personally I like windows. It has taken me over 6 years, but I've finally started mastering the skills of keeping windows good n' fresh. It just takes a bit of thought. Defragging and good organization and maintenance are the key (and tuneup XP :razz: ).

PS. As for motherboards, I think you'll find it cheaper to get a new mobo than a GFX card. Alot of websites sell good motherboards for around the ?50 mark (about $100 nowadays cus of the crap exchange rate... haha would of cost you $75 earlier this year).

Should I have said 'damn you computers!'? :biggrin:

I'll speak to my pop about a new motherboard, and just to confirm it, my DDR Ram will work on a new motherboard, right? I'm guessing the only things I'll have to check is whether it's compatible with the graphics card and the processor (AMD Athlon 2400+), since they are the only things that didn't come with this old motherboard.

The RAM has been the only thing getting me about getting a new motherboard, I just need to sort this out once and for all, because it's getting on my nerves, and I haven't played hl2 in 2 days! AAH!

Err, so, yeah. If someone could just say it straight, that would be perfect, and I will love you and be your bestest friend forever.

btw Myrk, the thought did occur to me that the gfx card might be faulty. If it doesn't work on the new motherboard (If I get one), then I'll know for sure.

Thanks again (I'm a very thankful person).

Make sure you get a new mobo within 13 or 14 days of purchase of your GFX card... some shops won't take it back otherwise.

Should I have said 'damn you computers!'? :biggrin:

I'll speak to my pop about a new motherboard, and just to confirm it, my DDR Ram will
work on a new motherboard, right? I'm guessing the only things I'll
have to check is whether it's compatible with the graphics card and the
processor (AMD Athlon 2400+), since they are the only things that
didn't come with this old motherboard.

The RAM has been the only thing getting me about getting a new
motherboard, I just need to sort this out once and for all, because
it's getting on my nerves, and I haven't played hl2 in 2 days! AAH!

Err, so, yeah. If someone could just say it straight, that would be
perfect, and I will love you and be your bestest friend forever.

btw Myrk, the thought did occur to me that the gfx card might be
faulty. If it doesn't work on the new motherboard (If I get one), then
I'll know for sure.

Thanks again (I'm a very thankful person).

You just have to get a board that supports the frequency of ram you have as well as your CPU.

I would say try the video card on another computer if you can.

I can't think right now ... someone gave me their cold

goes back to bed