EVGA Nvidia 8400 GS

[Gaidin]

Grabbed this card cheap to hold me over until i can get the one I want, but I can't get it to run any nvidia drivers.

Every version I install, causes a BSOD under Win 7 Pro x64.

Anybody else using these cards?

What driver version are you using.


This system is a Dell Inspiron 518
3 gigs of ram
E2200 2.2G dual core processor.

Any help would be appreciated.

[DREDIOCK]

I am sure someone else will answer with something more helpful. But in the meantime. Lets look at the basics.

Did you remember to remove all of your previous video drivers And all of them completely before installing the new ones?

[Gaidin]

Yes, I was using a Radeon HD8400 or something like that, but the fan died on it and it burned up.  Just grabbed this one cheap so I could keep the computer up and running.  I use it for my business. 

I have tried every driver from NVIDIA from 266 to the latestest beta.

all BSOD.

[morfiend]

 Heya Gaidin,


  That a pretty old card,08/09 maybe even older. I would load xp on the comp and try that as your card might not be supported in Win7.

  I'm no expert but I'd think that you dont need a 64 bit OS for that machine and xp would use alot less resources,freeing up more for AH.



    Hopefully someone who actually knows about this stuff can chime in and steer you in the right direction.



   

[Gaidin]

The card does support win 7,

I have so much software dealing with my business, I really don't want to reinstall it all.

Radeon card I had in before was older and worked just fine.

[Tigger29]

It may be too much for your power supply too.. those dell's don't come with anything great in that department.

[Bizman]

It may be too much for your power supply too.. those dell's don't come with anything great in that department.

That might be the culprit. The original PSU is (according the documentation I found) 300W. According to the Extreme Power Supply Calculator it should be enough even with a 30% capacitor aging factor, but since the 8400GS doesn't have an external power input, it might just be possible that the amperage through the PCI-e slot isn't quite sufficient. After all, the Dell has originally been shipped with an integrated video card. It is also possible that your PSU has already blown a couple of caps. WARNING: If you don't know the risks, don't open the PSU! There might be lethal currents left even when unplugged. Instead try with another PSU. No need to unscrew the original, just change all plugs, boot and try to install drivers. If that works, you'd need to replace the Dell's PSU.

[Gaidin]

This is what I have come up with.  According to the card it needs a 350W with 18A on the +12 rail.  This one is 300.  I ordered a cheap 450 with 20A on both +12 rails.  Gonna see how they work.  I have never actually had a card only partially work before.  Thats why this is bugging me.  I have seen cards that wont do anything at all because of PS problems, but not one that would display etc using the default simple vga driver that is in Windows but not install the Card driver.

I have built 100's of systems for ppl, but I don't think I have ever used a PS lower than 500 even on office machines that I build.

[Bizman]

Sounds like you've found the culprit. If the card says 350W with 18A on 12V, then your current PSU is definitely too weak. Your problem is related to the symptom of forgetting to plug the GPU 4/6/8 pin power cord in, the only difference being that the computer boots up normally without nagging about a missing power cord. Sometimes I'd wish Windows failure notes would be more specific...

[Gaidin]

Just an update on this issue.

Turns out the 8400GS has a PCI to PCIe bridge built into the card.  This requires, according to EVGA, that a pci slot be left empty in the system, this older machine doesnt have an extra pci open.  I am waiting for the newer GT520 cards to get here now and try them.  I am running off an older nvidia 7600 until then.