ECS M920 not working with 6200 video card

Kabongo

I have a really old MOBO (ECS M920, formerly PC-CHips M920LR) and as my last atempt of upgrading it I bought a MSI NX6200-TD256H video card (to replace my NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64/Model 64 Pro). Now my PC doesn't even start (well it starts but never shows image and then stucks) so now I'm trying to figure out if it's a compatibily issue. Some facts:

1) The MOBO has a universal AGP port (that actually works till 4x) and the video card is described as being AGP8x but I read somewhere that all Nvidia chips are backward compatible so this should not be a issue (maybe I'm wrong)
2) I have a 350W power supply (maybe I need more power)
3) I upgraded by BIOS (for a 2002 version) but it didn't seen to solve the problem. My BIOS has a option "AGP Comp. Driving" that is supposed to set the current to the video card, maybe I need the right value, but I really have no clue which value to set.
4) Maybe I'm not doing right the replacement procedure (basicly turn off computer, take off old video card, put on new video card, turn on computer), maybe I missed something (like singing a song or jumping in one leg).

I don't know. Right now I'm really opened to any sugestions but "replace your current motherboard for anything from this century".

Hope someone could help me.

Thanks.

Leonardo

To me, it seems that maybe your card is not inserted all the way into the slot. No matter how experienced one is with computer hardware, it's easy to not insert a card fully. I still do that sometimes...or forget to plug in the cable in the back of the computer.

Your motherboard should have plenty of power for that card. A 350W PSU is also enough power for your setup, unless it's old and that "peak" 350watts is painfully less under ordinary computer usage.

If it were my computer, I'd try this:

1) pull the card
2) blow out the AGP port with compressed air
3) clean the card's contact area with a lint free cloth
4) try again
5) if no go, see if you can borrow a PSU from someone and test with your computer

I would suspect the PSU before the video card. Do you have access to another computer that you could try the card in? Since you've never started it in your computer, you don't know whether the card is good or not. If your old card still works in the computer, that would mean your new card is probably defective. It happens.

You were correct about 8X AGP in 4X motherboards. That should not be a problem.

Kabongo

Leonardo thanks for the help. Infortunally nothing seems to work. I don't have an extra PSU to test, so what I did was to disconnect everything I didn't need (DVD, CD-RW, Floppy, secondary HD) to simulate a bust in available power, but nothing happened. I clean the board and the video card too. Right now I'm supposing it's not a compatibility issue so I'm going to the store to replace the video card (I don't have any AGP ported computer to test it, maybe at the store they'll have one). If it works, the problem was the video card. Otherwise... maybe it's the PSU or a compatibility thing. Eitherway I'll be back to comment.

Thanks

PS: I'm still open to other solutions or extra information anyone could have

Kabongo

Well, I went to the store today and unfortunately it was a compatibility issue (despite all my research I never saw it coming). The video card was fine and we try to use a 400W PSU (I really can't think in anything else to try). So the lesson here is "Do not try a NX6200-TD256H in your ECS M920 MOBO, it won't work". Hope someone would find this thread usefull (5 days ago at least I would).

Leonardo

Thanks for posting what you learned. I'm sure it will help someone else. Stick around! Be active. You are welcomed here.