GeForce4 and VIA board users please read

[Chiles4]

I've been cruising the VIA forums (http://forums.viaarena.com/categories.cfm?catid=6 if you're interested) lately and it appears alot of people are having problems with their GeForce 4 card when using a VIA-chipset motherboard. Some people have reported freezing and the infinite loop. The only remedy these people found was to uninstall the VIA AGP Driver. This cured the crashes but cut the video card's performance in half.

 

It appears that no solution currently exists. But this would appear on your system as more than just a problem with JK2. Other games would be affected too.

 

Of course, some people are using GF4s on VIA boards with no troubles. Just thought I'd mention this in case someone's pulling their hair out with their GF4.

[JoseyWales]

Chiles,

 

I've been considering getting an EPOX 8K3A board and a GeForce 4 Ti 4600. I looked through the thread you linked to, and it looks like at least one guy posting wasn't experiencing the problem with an EPOX 8KEM2 board. Have you by any chance seen (in other threads) anyone having problems with an EPOX board/GeForce 4 combo?

 

You replied to my request for advice in a different thread, and you (and others) just about had me sold on switching over to AMD, after having been an Intel guy for ages. Seeing stuff like this kind of makes me wonder if that's such a good idea though... I've got to decide soon, I'm planning on buying stuff in the next week or so.

[drack]

Try downclocking your BUS speed, It fixed all my freezing...

I dont have a GF4 but a radeon and a via chipset. I had those problems..

sure you'll be running slower but still faster than without AGP drivers. (Im running at 950Mhz/190fsb instead of 1000/200fsb)

[Chiles4]

Josey, I have no evidence to state that the Epox 8K3A isn't an excellent product. Alot of reviewers have stated that it's stellar. I even considered it for my next mobo. For the most part I've used Epox mobos exclusively since '98. They make excellent mainboards and have better support than most mfrs.

 

Same for the GeForce 4. I can't state that it's not an excellent card.

 

I have not heard of problems with that combo but THE best place to ask is the Epox forum at http://www.amdmb.com .

 

Keep in mind that EVERY mainboard forum will make you think that that mainboard is the worst POS ever made - that's because the people with problems comprise the majority of the posters.

 

I do have some concerns with the VIA mobo/GeForce 4 combination but there are enough people with this combo who are experiencing no problems to shed some doubt on this problem. But it concerns me enough that I'm now considering a non-VIA (SIS 745) chipset-based motherboard:

MSI 745Ultra or

ECS K7S6A

 

There's no cut-and-dry answer for your (and my) concern. The best I can recommend is to ask at that forum and buy your parts from Newegg.com. They are the best on the planet for returning merchandise. I exchanged two motherboards to them and it was cake. And I do think switching to AMD is a good idea. Unless you have an unlimited budget. Good luck!

 

Edit: Just took a look over there myself and people have posted about using Gainward and Leadtek GF4s on the 8K3A with no problems.

[Coor's Light]

I have been running a Abit KR7A-133 with the KT266a Via Chipset along with the GF 4 Ti 4600 for awhile now with absolutely no problems. This has been the best setup I have had in ages stability wise as I have had zero lockups or problems....

 

AMD XP2000

Win XP Pro

Abit KR7A-133

Corsair 512MB C2 DDR

Audigy X-Gamer

Visiontek GF4 Ti 4600

IBM 60 GB 7200

Toshiba 40x DVD

Antec SX1030 Black

Linksys 10/100

[JoseyWales]

Chiles,

 

Thanks for mentioning Newegg.com. They're as cheap as I've been able to find, and it's good to hear that they are easy to deal with. I noticed quite a few people over on the amdmb.com forum mentioning great experiences with them, as well. I was considering AccessMicro, because they're similarly priced, but I've been reading some horror stories about them.

 

I think at this point I'm going to swallow hard and go for the Epox 8K3A with a MSI GF4 Ti4600, and see what happens. I'm squeamish about SIS based boards, because of past problems I've had with one, and reading through the forums it seems like most (if not all) of the VIA/GeForce problems are occurring on WinXP machines. I'm still using Win2K & 98, so hopefully a nice clean install, decent memory and crossed fingers will do the trick!

[Death-Dude]

Originally posted by JoseyWales

Chiles,

 

I've been considering getting an EPOX 8K3A board and a GeForce 4 Ti 4600. I looked through the thread you linked to, and it looks like at least one guy posting wasn't experiencing the problem with an EPOX 8KEM2 board. Have you by any chance seen (in other threads) anyone having problems with an EPOX board/GeForce 4 combo?

 

You replied to my request for advice in a different thread, and you (and others) just about had me sold on switching over to AMD, after having been an Intel guy for ages. Seeing stuff like this kind of makes me wonder if that's such a good idea though... I've got to decide soon, I'm planning on buying stuff in the next week or so.

 

I have an Epox 8K7A, and a Geforce4 eVGA 4400, and the only problems I have is with JK2. I'd be happy to own an Epox again, but I saw an Epox guy talking about the 8K3A, and it should be outfitted with USB 2.0 soon, or a new board with it will be introduced. I think I'd want to have that as a feature on a MB if I were in the market now. The Asus KT333 board has it, but the Abit and Epox do not yet, to my knowledge. Might be worth a consideration.

I reinstalled the AMD AGP miniport driver, but I still get lock-ups at the white screen....or, if I get past there, it locks up loading a level, seemingly any level.