Gigabyte GTX260 NVidia Boot-Up & Game Performance Issue

[sandzak]

Hi folks, I'm new around here but am in desperate need of assistance.

I have decided on purchasing a brand new computer but having problems with this Gigabyte GTX260 NVidia card!!

Product Info

• Product Line : Graphics Accelerator
• Model Name : GV-N26OC-896I
  BIOS Ver : 62.00.50.00.02
  Driver Ver : 6.14.11.9038

System Configuration:

• CPU = Intel i7 2.6
• Motherboard = Asus P6T Deluxe V2
• RAM = 6 GIG Kingston (3 x 2 GIG sticks)
• Power Supply = 900W Seasonic
• OS = Windows XP SP3
• 1TB Western Digital HDD
• DirectX = 9.0c

I am having problems with this card threefold:

1) When I start my computer I need to press the Reset button on my PC 4-5 times before the graphics card will change display from orange light to green light (signifying the graphics card has been properly detected and working and thus displaying what is required).

When I restart my PC from Windows I sometimes need to do this too.

It's fairly random but most times I am required to reset my PC to get the graphics card going. I can confirm I don't have this problem with an older NVidia 7600 256M graphics card, it works first time-every time I start my PC or restart Windows and doesn't have this symptom.

2) When I am playing games (really the only reason I purchased this card), either the game won't start or game starts (with lower settings which I'm not happy about) but eventually crashes mainly due to Out of Memory error message.

There is 896M compared to my old NVidia 7600 with 256M!! More than double the megs! Now this shouldn't be happening with the RIG I got!! I was able to play the same games with the NVidia 7600, albeit with reduced frame rates but it was still playable and didn't crash like this GTX 260 is crashing.

3) The card makes a high pitch squealing noise a lot of the time when the card is being used in high demand like starting PC or playing a game. I am not impressed with this and believe this a design issue with the card.

Even though I recently purchased this card with my new computer I am concerned this card is faulty. Problem the shop I bought it from says if they test the card on another computer and doesn't show the symptoms I have described they will charge me $45 dollars Labour Fee to try and update/flash the BIOS on the GTX 260.

Now I believe I can flash the BIOS myself, I've tried looking on Gigabyte's website (www.gigabyte.com.au) but found only the GV-N26OC-896H model not GV-N26OC-896I model (my model) and wasn't sure whether I should update the BIOS using a slightly different model?

I am concerned if I use the incorrect BIOS I could void my card to being used as a floor scrubber!

So I would appreciate a step-by-step explanation of which program to use to flash my BIOS (a link to the program please?) as well as a link to the correct BIOS firmware (including the version of the BIOS so I can download it along with the flash program) and steps on how to do the flash BIOS (i.e. can it be done in Windows or do you need to restart PC with Floppy Disk and flash the BIOS using a Floppy Disk?).

Please take your time to explain the steps very carefully using as much detail as possible so that if the flashing of the GTX 260 BIOS doesn't solve the problem I can take it back to the shop to get it replaced. Just don't give me a short 1-2 line answer please!!

Also my motherboard is running the latest BIOS revision 5.04 so is the GTX 260. All my motherboard drivers are running the latest drivers.

I would REALLY appreciate if somebody could give me a step-by-step explanation as to what I need to do to make this card work without the symptoms on my PC before I RMA it as I am not happy about the performance of this card and is unacceptable as I am running the best motherboard my shop had as well as the best CPU and plenty of Kingston RAM and 900W Power supply.

There should be no reason for these symptoms to occur. Again I state that I don't have these symptoms using my three year old NVidia 7600.

Thanks for reading this long post and thanks for your upcoming reply! :-)

[NimrodAUS]

Did you plug in the power cable in the back of the card? I have started my computer once and I forgot to plug the 6pin PIC-e Power cord in the video card and it sqeailled like a *****. If you have then try another PCI-e Power connector. I wouldnt flash the BIOS at all as this will most probably viod any warranty and you wont be able to RMA it. IM not sure on this but I doubt its going to help anyway. If you have power in it and it still doesnt work then i think its time to RMA it. maybe remove it and reseat it in the slot.

[sandzak]

Originally Posted by NimrodAUS

Did you plug in the power cable in the back of the card? I have started my computer once and I forgot to plug the 6pin PIC-e Power cord in the video card and it sqeailled like a *****. If you have then try another PCI-e Power connector. I wouldnt flash the BIOS at all as this will most probably viod any warranty and you wont be able to RMA it. IM not sure on this but I doubt its going to help anyway. If you have power in it and it still doesnt work then i think its time to RMA it. maybe remove it and reseat it in the slot.

Hi NimrodAUS,

I have tried all the things you mentioned but no change (ie. reseating the card, tried different PCI-E power cables, both plugged in separately into each power connection on the card as there are two power connections and YES the cable is plugged into back of card).

As I said the shop I purchased the card from have told me a BIOS update should fix this problem but as you said it may void the warranty so I'm not keen on doing this myself but they will charge me $45 Labour Fee if I return the card and if they flash the BIOS and it fixes the problem so I'm not happy to pay $45 either as I believe Gigabyte should have done proper testing of this card before releasing it to the public and I think it's unfair I need to pay an extra $45 on top of the card purchase of $249.

The card works once I reset the PC 4-6 times and it displays but this is not a standard practise to reset your PC 4-6 times just for the display to work. And once the PC boots up with display, there is the game performance issue which I'm not happy with. I feel the card is underperforming for what it should be performing at (i.e. at 896M).

I don't know what to do?
Help!

Regards,
Edin.

[NimrodAUS]

1st step is to take the card back to were you got it. Tell them they are a bunch of theiving wankers. (They should not tell you to flash something or charge you for it when they sold you a faulty product)
2nd Get your money back from them
3rd Go somewere else and buy an ATI card.

I would not flash the BIOS because if it doesnt fix it (I doubt it will) then u cant return it they will just tell you to get ****ed.

[blackhawk1]

MY SOLUTION:

My system, EX58-UD4p, gigabyte gtx260 video. I flashed the vga bios, using the software provided from gigabyte.us for my card. First it didn't work, I reflash with the original bios firmware. then Reflash with the updated one.

It is working beautifully now. Actually another hicup, in my Acer X233H I had to select from the menu whether I would be using DVI or VGA analogue input.

Now it's good.


It seems this problem has been going on and on with GTX260 and GTX275