Unusual Problems and Crossfire
Hello all,
about two weeks ago my mrs swithched on my PC and it wouldn't post. I couldn't get any signal out of the GPU. My first thought was that it was the GPU itself as there were no beeps or other oddities so I found another radeon x1950 in the b-grade clearance section.
Last night I got the new card, fitted it but the problem still persisted. I then decided to strip the PC down to bare bone (MB, proc, RAM, GPU) and I got a picture on the screen but it was the message from my GPU to say the PCI Express power cable was not plugged in which it was...
I am now starting to think that it is a power suply issue. So just to make sure I swap the cable for the PCI Express power cord (I have a Corsair HX520 Modular PSU) still no joy. I fidled around a bit swapping the cards around and suddenly it came to life. So I switched of and then at the next boot I get no signal out of the GPU again!!!
I next got a multi meter and check the voltages from the PSU. I get 12.16v across all PCI-Express terminals. 12.18 on the 12v rail from the molex plugs and 5.08 from the 5v rail. PSU seems to be OK...
Next I completely disasemble the PC Remove the MB remount the RAM and CPUand place the board on a sheet of card. Insert the GPU and boot. All boots fine so Im thinking something is shorting underneath the board? I have now made a cardboard isolater board which I have fitted between the MB and the mounting tray. I have fitted everything back into the case and booted no problem then one by one added back in the HDs and other bits and it all works fine????
Is it possible that my problems could have been caused by something shorting out under the MB?
Next question... I now have 2 Radeon X1950 GPUs and you know what Im Thinking... CROSSFIRE!!!!!
I know my MB does not support this but I can get a new MB for £50. The two cards are different manufacturers but the same chipset so can I run them in Crossfire? If so Is it possible to buy the crossfire conecter that links the two cards on its own with out the actual GPU?
about two weeks ago my mrs swithched on my PC and it wouldn't post. I couldn't get any signal out of the GPU. My first thought was that it was the GPU itself as there were no beeps or other oddities so I found another radeon x1950 in the b-grade clearance section.
Last night I got the new card, fitted it but the problem still persisted. I then decided to strip the PC down to bare bone (MB, proc, RAM, GPU) and I got a picture on the screen but it was the message from my GPU to say the PCI Express power cable was not plugged in which it was...
I am now starting to think that it is a power suply issue. So just to make sure I swap the cable for the PCI Express power cord (I have a Corsair HX520 Modular PSU) still no joy. I fidled around a bit swapping the cards around and suddenly it came to life. So I switched of and then at the next boot I get no signal out of the GPU again!!!
I next got a multi meter and check the voltages from the PSU. I get 12.16v across all PCI-Express terminals. 12.18 on the 12v rail from the molex plugs and 5.08 from the 5v rail. PSU seems to be OK...
Next I completely disasemble the PC Remove the MB remount the RAM and CPUand place the board on a sheet of card. Insert the GPU and boot. All boots fine so Im thinking something is shorting underneath the board? I have now made a cardboard isolater board which I have fitted between the MB and the mounting tray. I have fitted everything back into the case and booted no problem then one by one added back in the HDs and other bits and it all works fine????
Is it possible that my problems could have been caused by something shorting out under the MB?
Next question... I now have 2 Radeon X1950 GPUs and you know what Im Thinking... CROSSFIRE!!!!!
I know my MB does not support this but I can get a new MB for £50. The two cards are different manufacturers but the same chipset so can I run them in Crossfire? If so Is it possible to buy the crossfire conecter that links the two cards on its own with out the actual GPU?
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Comments
Instead of spending 50 on a new motherboard to salvage an old video card, why don't you just sell your second 1950, ad the 50 Quid to the pot, and then buy a new, more powerful card? Two X1950s in Crossfire probably won't run any games better than a single 4870 or 8800GT, but will suck down more power.
If you do decide to link the cards in Crossfire, you should be able to find the strap on eBay.