System with X1900GT fails POST ... most of the time

[Jeff]

I've recently upgraded my GPU to a Sapphire X1900GT, and my system fails
POST most of the time ... ~3 of 4 times. (Everything was fine with the
Sapphire X600XT before the upgrade.) When it fails, the mobo beeps 8 times
indicating a problem with the graphics card. When it works, it works. XP
boots fine, and everything seems happy - particularly me.

I RMA'd the X1900GT thinking the card was DOA. I also upgraded the PSU to an
Enermax Liberty 500 thinking there might be a power issue. Neither helped -
same results.

Now I am on to the mobo. I've got Intel's Rapid BIOS Boot enabled, and I'm
thinking that the mobo is ready to go before the X1900GT is ready, but I've
really got no clue. I haven't tried to disable it yet, but will tonight.

Any ideas that might help are much appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeff

System:
Intel 915PBLL Mobo
Intel P4 3.2 Prescott
2x512 Mb Corsair DDR2-533
Enermax Liberty 500W
Sapphire X1900GT (Viewsonic VP930b)
1x SATA HD
2x Optical Drives
1x Floppy Drive

 

[Jeff]

...

Now I am on to the mobo. I've got Intel's Rapid BIOS Boot enabled, and I'm
thinking that the mobo is ready to go before the X1900GT is ready, but
I've really got no clue. I haven't tried to disable it yet, but will
tonight.

So yesterday evening, I diabled the Rapid Boot option in the BIOS, and now
it consistantly fails POST. So, I've loaded the old X600XT back in the box
and it works. Looks like a motherboard incompatibility problem with the
X1900GT. I'm thinking that I'll upgrade the motherboard with something
that'll be Core 2 Duo compatible ... and hopefully X1900GT compatible.

Can anyone corroborate this? Suggestions?

Thanks,
Jeff