windows freezes at welcome screen upon adding new video card...

[Spencer]

Could this be the PSU not having enough juice? Because the card seems to work fine, I get a display and windows seems to boot OK until the welcome screen, where it freezes. I thought it was the driver, so I uninstalled it and cleaned it off but that didn't fix it. I have 2 hard drives, one with xp and the other with x64, and it freezes with both. my PSU is a vantec steath 520w. the new card is an asus radeon 3870. putting the x1600 back in works just like it did before. My system is:

asus a8r32mvp crossfire
opteron 175
2gb ddr400
raptor 150gb
maxtor 300gb
sb xfi fatality
bfg physx card
16x pioneer dvd burner

I tried unplugging non-necessary stuff, and turned off my overclock, reset everything to defaults, and it still won't go past the welcome screen. Thanks for any clue you might have.

[Nick04263]

Do you have another system to test with? Have you tried booting without the physx card? What about clearing CMOS (not just resetting bios to default).

[Exahertz]

Uhh, if you think it’s the PS start unhooking things you don’t need when booting. Like your other hard drive, cd/dvd drives, extra memory and any lights or unnecessary fans. That will free you up some watts.

But besides all that, why do you need a physics card? I had one and returned it the same week. It’s a good idea and all, but most high end vid cards have one already. Plus not many applications utilize a physics processor. IMO its not a waste but more of an inconvenience to have that card consuming one or your PCI slots, all that power, the money invested and the hassle of getting it to work properly with only the games that use it (which btw is only like 5 good ones).

Id say, take it back and put that money into another 3870 and CrossFire those mofos!

[s1nykuL]

I had 1900 CF before upgrading to 3870. After installing new card, no mouse, or keyboard response at logon screen Windoze appears to hang.

I reset CMOS, removed battery for a minute.

Like Nick04263 said reset your BIOS by removing battery. This worked for me. Some resources were remapped by the BIOS, those for the PCI slots. I had to reinstall drivers for my PCI cards.

[Spencer]

about the physx card, well I just had it since it came out, I had got it for 100$ which I thought was a good deal back then cause I thought it would get much more supported than that. the store I got it from is out of business so I don'T think I can return it. but however I play UT3 though so perhaps more physx maps will come out (two are out already, one of which I like).

I'll try to clear the cmos, thanks for the pointer. I already tried with no sound card, no physx, only the raptor, and less fans, and it still hung. but I'll get back after clearing cmos.

[Spencer]

oh god clearing the cmos worked!! thank you so much s1nykuL!! I'm off to the driver installing :D

chances are I'll still act like I need that shiny new pcp&c 750w though. :P

[s1nykuL]

oh god clearing the cmos worked!! thank you so much s1nykuL!! I'm off to the driver installing :D

chances are I'll still act like I need that shiny new pcp&c 750w though. :P
Cheers, but Nick did mention it first :)

I don't know of the quality of the Vantec PSU you have. But 520W is enough for a single 3870 and your hardware. I would certainly go for 750W or more if you plan on a second 3870.

A good PSU is vital to a stable system. Poor voltage regulation and overheating components probably account for the majority of system issues. As does cat fur clogging the fins of ya cooler. :rolleyes: