x800xt pe onboard memory disappeared!!

[Kordi]

Ok guys i'm beat I normally always fix issues with computers but this one has me stumped.
Got a x800xt pe (old i know but no money for a new card yet) and its been working for many years now, however i have noticed that its using system memory and not onboard 256mb of memory.

Usually run ati tools and only recently i noticed the FVM and FTM is stuck on 1mb. It's worked before but now now and its eating my system memory up instead no system changes at all, had it over clocked mem and ram on the graphics card to 560 each.

Tried flashing the card and new drivers but no avail, tried direct x but no joy although i used directx diagnostic tool and directdraw accel and agp texture are not available and greyed?! out approx total memory is also reporting as n/a.

Now the card seems to run ok can play arma, with a few texture probs every now and again, maybe due to the fact its running of system ram?
However I can't install any new games now as its detecting i dont have enough ram.

It's doing my head in tried a lot of things and also looking up on the net and no fixes, I can't afford a new system but if it comes to it i may have to just take the plunge although the gf wont be impressed.

Ok tech details are :-

Winxp, 1gb corsair ram, amd64 3400+, soundblaster live, MSI 7030 neo mainboard, x800xt pe powercolor 2x 120gb western digital drives and a 320gb seagate drive.

need more infor let me know just looking for some pointers here any help would be very much appreciated .... new system is a last resort (although im eyeing up a Q6600...)

Anyway cheers

Kordi

 

[Kordi]

Any ideas anyone, just doing a re-install see if that helps.

Kordi

 

[Banjo]

Hi,

I know it's a bit drastic, but you might want to try re-flashing the GPU's BIOS

Or, you might want to try the card in another machine first, i know it seems stupid but it might just be your install of WinXP screwing around with you (or possibly your motherboard's BIOS)

If neither of those work, then it's possible the ram chips on your card have died

Banjo

 

[HangTime]

Try loading (motherboard) BIOS defaults.
Also reinstall Windows.

If it's a hardware fault, a x1950pro would make an excellent replacement.

 

[Kipper67]

you do realise FTM and FVM stand for "FREE" texture and video ram , so only having 1 mb free is good as it means the memory on the card is being used.

If that's what you are basing your assumption on that system ram is being used because you only have 1mb of card memory free then your assumption is wrong

Also try looking in your motherboard bios to check agp aperture is not disabled or too small and try re-installing your motherboard drivers as agp texturing should be available in dxdiag.