A7N8X-E System Failed VGA test ATi Radeon 8500 64mb

[Technical I.T. Ltd]

A7N8X-E deluxe

After frying my CPU (so much for Asus COP). I'm now one step further.

I have an ATi Radeon 8500 64mb, problem is booting up get voice saying
"System failed VGA test".

AFAIK the AGP card is 1.5v (the card is a AGP 4x), worked fine in the old
mobo, hell works fine in my other computer ! Even swapped cards (other
computer has an 8500 too) still the same ! Would try different AGP card but
the only other one I have is a Matrox G400 which I know is 2x so is likely
to be 3.3v ...

I've put in an old PCI card and I get boot. In the Bios I disabled 8x
support and change to use AGP graphics, still get system failed message.

The bios is 1008 which is the newest on the Asus site.

Any ideas ?

Toby

 

[Chong Woo Paig]

A7N8X-E deluxe

After frying my CPU (so much for Asus COP). I'm now one step further.

I have an ATi Radeon 8500 64mb, problem is booting up get voice saying
"System failed VGA test".

AFAIK the AGP card is 1.5v (the card is a AGP 4x), worked fine in the old
mobo, hell works fine in my other computer ! Even swapped cards (other
computer has an 8500 too) still the same ! Would try different AGP card but
the only other one I have is a Matrox G400 which I know is 2x so is likely
to be 3.3v ...

I've put in an old PCI card and I get boot. In the Bios I disabled 8x
support and change to use AGP graphics, still get system failed message.

The bios is 1008 which is the newest on the Asus site.

Any ideas ?

Toby

That happened to me once, when I added some RAM, I slightly moved the
graphics card... Try seating the card firmly in the slot.

 

[Paul]

A7N8X-E deluxe

After frying my CPU (so much for Asus COP). I'm now one step further.

I have an ATi Radeon 8500 64mb, problem is booting up get voice saying
"System failed VGA test".

AFAIK the AGP card is 1.5v (the card is a AGP 4x), worked fine in the old
mobo, hell works fine in my other computer ! Even swapped cards (other
computer has an 8500 too) still the same ! Would try different AGP card but
the only other one I have is a Matrox G400 which I know is 2x so is likely
to be 3.3v ...

I've put in an old PCI card and I get boot. In the Bios I disabled 8x
support and change to use AGP graphics, still get system failed message.

The bios is 1008 which is the newest on the Asus site.

Any ideas ?

Toby

It sounds like more than the CPU failed. Perhaps the AGP interface
on the Northbridge is cooked too. It could be that some onboard
power regulator failed, damaging the processor and the AGP interface.
(There is no common element between the AGP interface and the
processor. The processor connects via the front side bus to the
Northbridge, but the AGP bus is separate from that. It is hard
to see how a dying processor could damage the AGP bus, leaving some
kind of power fault as the only other thing I can think of.)

If there were datasheets or reference designs for Nforce2 available
on the web, I'd suggest getting a voltmeter and checking any
regulated onboard voltages mentioned in the tech docs. (You can
try looking in the Hardware Monitor page, but it never lists all
of them, as there is a limit to how many channels are available
on a monitor chip. For example, there is a CM3708 near the
Southbridge, that regulates power for something. It gets real
hot under even normal operating conditions. I don't think the
voltage from that chip is monitored.)

Without tech info, debugging the board would be guess work and
not very exact. If the warranty is still valid, I would
return the board to Asus.

Have you done a visual inspection of the motherboard ? Maybe
you can actually see the damage.

HTH,
Paul

 

[Technical I.T. Ltd]

That happened to me once, when I added some RAM, I slightly moved the

graphics card... Try seating the card firmly in the slot.

Pulled and reseated 4 times now. I remember having a similar problem with an
Asus P2B, ah those were the days, those that can remember its a Slot 1
board. Kinda figured evolution and all that and Asus actually overcoming the
problem.

I have now removed the mobo completely and running outside of case.

Card definately works in my other PC.

Still cannot get AGP graphics !

 

[CS]

A7N8X-E deluxe

After frying my CPU (so much for Asus COP). I'm now one step further.

I have an ATi Radeon 8500 64mb, problem is booting up get voice saying
"System failed VGA test".

AFAIK the AGP card is 1.5v (the card is a AGP 4x), worked fine in the old
mobo, hell works fine in my other computer ! Even swapped cards (other
computer has an 8500 too) still the same ! Would try different AGP card but
the only other one I have is a Matrox G400 which I know is 2x so is likely
to be 3.3v ...

I've put in an old PCI card and I get boot. In the Bios I disabled 8x
support and change to use AGP graphics, still get system failed message.

The bios is 1008 which is the newest on the Asus site.

Any ideas ?

Toby

It is possible that your AGP port or controller is damaged. I would try and
see if you can borrow another agp card and see if it works. If it does,
then I don't know.

CS