Member Avatar for ShadeOfGreen

I have been trying to get this card to work and keep running into problems. When I first installed it just didn't work but I got past that and now... well first some stats.

AMD athlon 3200+
BFG Tech nForce4 Ultra motherboard
2x 512 MB DDR2 dual channel (memtesteed as ok)
PNY Geforce 7600 PCIe 512mb

So now when I install a driver I get a response in the device manager that says "This device cannot start (code 10)". I pegged it as a driver problem but I can't figure out which driver i should be using. The nvidia site sucks and PNY sucks worse. I downloaded some drivers from Nvidia and I installed one after another.

At one point it was working but when I tried to run a game (Medieval II) it worked fine for a few minutes and then the screen stopped and displayed graphical artifacts that appeared as vertical rectangles appearing around any active object on screen. Then it hung for a moment and the monitor turned off, but I could still hear the sound.

Anyone?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by jbennet

Dani AI

Generated

This thread shows two distinct failure modes: Device Manager reporting "This device cannot start (Code 10)" after driver installs, and running games producing visual artifacts (vertical rectangles) followed by a hang and loss of video. Both symptoms can come from software (driver/chipset/OS mismatch) or hardware (power delivery, GPU memory/core failure). A systematic elimination approach is the fastest way to a reliable fix.

Start with a clean software baseline. Boot to Safe Mode, uninstall all NVIDIA drivers, and remove the display adapter entry in Device Manager (use the option to remove driver files if offered). Use a driver-clean tool if available to remove leftovers. Then install the correct NVIDIA ForceWare/legacy driver that matches the OS bitness and service pack; avoid OEM-custom drivers at first and test with the vendor reference package. Update the motherboard chipset drivers and BIOS before retesting — noted chipset updates improved stability in his case.

If artifacts persist or the device still reports Code 10, move to hardware checks. Test the card in a different, known-good machine to isolate the fault. Swap to a high-quality PSU with adequate 12V current and verify any auxiliary 6-pin connector (if present) is attached. Inspect the board for damaged or bulging capacitors and ensure the heatsink is seated and the fan spins. Vertical-block artifacts are commonly tied to GPU memory or core instability; underclocking the card slightly (stock clocks first, then lower) can reveal whether the GPU is failing. Monitoring temperatures and Windows Event Viewer entries while reproducing the problem helps differentiate driver crashes from true hardware failure.

Recommended order of operations: (1) verify OS/driver architecture, (2) clean driver removal + install reference driver, (3) update chipset drivers and BIOS, (4) test swap PSU and test card in another PC, (5) underclock/thermals check, (6) pursue RMA if hardware fails. Useful diagnostics to record for warranty or forum help: exact driver version, Windows version/service pack, PSU make/model and voltages under load, Event Viewer error messages, and whether the card reproduces artifacts in a second system.

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Member Avatar for w4hagen

Well, i have exactly the same problem, and updating my Chipset Drivers definitly helped, but the problem is fixed, i usually crash after around 4-6 strait hours of gaming

Member Avatar for jbennet

ShadeOfGreen, do you have enough power? The Gefore 7xxx needs a really powerful PSU.

w4Hagen, sounds like overheating

Member Avatar for w4hagen

Actually, The 7600 only needs a 300 watt PSU,
I thought the issue was overheating, but after trying many differnet fans, and even keeping the case open and having a room size fan blowing on it, the problem stil occurs, However, i am thinking it could be my small (350 watt) PSU.................

Member Avatar for jbennet

My dell dimension only has 205 :( doesnt run anything above a radeon x300 lol

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