Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L refusing to boot with other video cards

[Murali]

Hey guys,

I've got a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L (pretty sure revision 1 since I'm not seeing a revision number on it) with a C2D E4300, 2x 2gb GSkill DDR2 800 mhz, and a eVGA Geforce 8800 GTS 640mb.

Lately, whenever I'm playing games, the computer will run great for a while, and then hardlock. I assumed it was the video card, since the computer runs great just doing Windows stuff, never had an issue. I tried to swap in my PCI video card, but nothing came up on the monitor... the LCD stayed in stand-by mode. I threw the 8800 GTS back in, and switched the BIOS to boot PCI first, and tried again. Still no luck.

I then found a 7600 GS PCI-E sitting around, so I figured I'd give that a try. Also no luck... Did the same thing. The really weird thing is that my computer will boot off the PCI video card if the 8800 GTS is also in it. If not, it refuses to boot.

I pulled the video cards, and the RAM, and attached a computer speaker... but it refused to beep. I then put the 8800 GTS and RAM back into it, but forgot to plug the 8800 GTS into the psu... Something in the computer let out a really loud noise (not from the speaker), and refused to boot. Held the power button till it shut off, plugged in the video card, and now its all happy again (Though its still hard freezing during games).

Do I have a foobar'd mobo?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[p3sty]

The sound came from your vid card and no you should be fine. Try removing all your video drivers then use driver cleaner pro then try a different card again see what happens. I believe your drivers are your problem with the card swap outs but is your 8800 running hot?

 

[xveshx]

Sounds like two separate issues to me. For the lockups your experiecing, its probably related to a heat problem. Could be your video card or cpu is overheating. I'd start by running some temperature monitoring software and see what your max temps are getting up to during games.

As for not being able to boot with other cards. Seems like some sort of configuration thing with the mobo. I'll have to check it out on mine to see for sure. Oh and that noise you heard is a warning from the video card since you didn't have the external power plugged into it, nothing to worry about there.

 

[Murali]

Oh and that noise you heard is a warning from the video card since you didn't have the external power plugged into it, nothing to worry about there.

Weird... The video card I had before this one was also external powered, and complained to me about it when it got into Windows... never had one scream at me.

Try removing all your video drivers then use driver cleaner pro then try a different card again see what happens.

Reformatted Windows, so the driver installed is clean. I can't get the computer to boot on any video card other than my 8800 GTS (Be it PCI or PCI-E).

Could be your video card or cpu is overheating. I'd start by running some temperature monitoring software and see what your max temps are getting up to during games.

Ran RivaTuner before I formatted and everything looked fine... but I don't have any specific numbers. I'll try it again and let you know what I get.

 

[timme]

What's your PSU?

 

[Murali]

What's your PSU?

Enermax MODU 82+... 525w, I think.

For the lockups your experiecing, its probably related to a heat problem. Could be your video card or cpu is overheating. I'd start by running some temperature monitoring software and see what your max temps are getting up to during games.

Playing the game (The Sims 3, don't judge ) right now (hasn't locked up yet), with Riva Tuner running on the other monitor. Heres what I get:

Core Temperature: Bouncing from 78C to 86C... Mainly around 81-82C
Ambient Temp: 66C... Pretty stable.
Core 0: 66C-69C
Core1: 66C-69C

I've got the side of the case open, thermostats set to 78F or so. Its definitely not the 66C Riva seems to think it is.

 

[Murali]

Finally, it crashed.

Video card: 81C
Core 0: 73C
Core 1: 71C

I don't really know what safe temps are for a C2D or 8800 GTS... Suggestions?

 

[Dangman]

Finally, it crashed.

Video card: 81C
Core 0: 73C
Core 1: 71C

I don't really know what safe temps are for a C2D or 8800 GTS... Suggestions?

81C is far below the 100C threashold, IIRC, for the 8800GTS. As for the CPU, the max temp is suppose to be 65C.

 

[Zero82z]

Core 0: 73C
Core 1: 71C

I don't really know what safe temps are for a C2D or 8800 GTS... Suggestions?

I don't know about the video card, but for the CPU, if you're using Real Temp or Core Temp to monitor your temperatures, they will list the Tjmax they are using for your CPU, which is the maximum safe temperature. There appears to be some debate as to whether the correct Tjmax for the E6400 is 85C or 100C, but either way, your CPU is still perfectly well within safe levels.

As for the CPU, the max temp is suppose to be 65C.

No, that is not correct.

 

[Murali]

Any suggestions for testing if my mobo or video card is shot?

 

[Dangman]

No, that is not correct.

Well I stand corrected. Wasn't it the 45nm CPUs that had a max temp of 65C? I know a few of the Intel CPUs had a max temp of 65C.

Oh well.

@ OP
[Testing the GPU]
Use Furmark or ATI Tool to stress test the GPU. If you see any artifacts, the GPU could be overheating, too overclocked, or faulty.

 

[Zero82z]

Well I stand corrected. Wasn't it the 45nm CPUs that had a max temp of 65C? I know a few of the Intel CPUs had a max temp of 65C.

You might be thinking of Tcase, which is a different thing entirely (measured from geometric center of the top of the packaging). No Intel CPU has a maximum core temperature of 65C. The lowest ever was 85C on early C2Ds and C2Qs, which was then changed to 95C for a few EE chips and 100C for everything else. Current Intel CPUs all have a Tjmax of 100C.