can't boot from USB, no matter.

download a floppy boot image like this http://www.allbootdisks.com/downloads/Disks/M … ges/Dos6.22.img
download winimage from here http://www.winimage.com/
using winumage add the needed bios flash file to the image and save.
download imgburn from here http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/imgburn.html
use imgburn (or another cd burn utility of your choice) to create a bootable cd using the img you downloaded and modified.
boot from cd and flash.

Do you expect it to boot from a flash card via F8? You sould do it through BIOS or F10 if your BIOS supports selecting a boot device without changing settings.

Before performing the oven trick you'll have to desolder the capacitors.

RacoonRider wrote:

Do you expect it to boot from a flash card via F8? You sould do it through BIOS or F10 if your BIOS supports selecting a boot device without changing settings.

Before performing the oven trick you'll have to desolder the capacitors.

I've done the oven trick on 8800s before, cards were revived for a year before corrupting again, but didn't need to desolder the caps - is it a 6600 specific thing?

Those are Sacon FZ capacitors, which are terrible I'm afraid. That said, it doesn't look like any have visibly failed yet. Sometimes caps fail without being visible, but it's likely this isn't your problem.
If you do the oven trick, those caps will probably be a write off. You can remove and reinstall, or just plan to replace them.
I tried an oven reflow recently with some Sanyo polymers left installed, and they seem to have survived, but it isn't recommended. I think liquid caps like the FZ will be more easily killed by it.

The oven trick doesn't have a very successful track record. It works temporarily but if you read deep into those discussion threads, most people report failures returning a few weeks or months later. Few confirm a card that's still working long after the fact. 1 year is really good though.
I think the reason is because it's difficult to do an acceptable reflow this way, so everybody ends up with weak joints that fail again. Still, for something that isn't worth having professionally reflowed, it doesn't hurt to try the DIY method before throwing it out.

If you have 2 ovens, I think using one for card preheat and the other for final might be better than the 1 oven method. I suggest watching the temperature with a pyrometer if you have one - ovens are so inaccurate you're basically blind as to what temperature the GPU really is.
If you do it, you need to disassemble the card as much as possible, and wrap it with foil except the RAM and GPU, then suspend it above a cookie sheet with balls of foil. Put the GPU side facing up, that way heavy components won't fall off. The tiny components on the bottom will be better at holding still.

Just a random thought, since this is a 6600: have you tried it in another system by chance? Does it have any problems there?

Why I'm asking: it's a bridged card. People in the past have reported issues with bridged cards. Now, I've never heard of it with a 6600 with the original nVidia bridge, but that doesn't mean it never happened. If it works AOK in another machine it probably just doesn't like your MB. If it still has issues I'd probably just recycle it - DX9 graphics cards are cheap and plentiful these days, including things nicer/faster than 6600s.

On the board itself: any reason you feel compelled to flash the BIOS? Is something wrong with the current one? If not, I'd take Intel's advice on BIOS flashing: leave it alone until there's a problem. You don't need to constantly update firmware/drivers/etc everytime a new one is released, nor do you have to run the absolute latest just because it's the latest - update when the update fixes something you need fixed, but otherwise if it works as is, don't mess with it. That said, squareguy and RaconRider are right about booting - the Windows bootloader isn't the correct choice; you need to boot from the flash drive (or whatever) before the system boots from the hard-drive.

Yes the AGP 6600GT uses the bridge chip. The recap I did on the Point Of View card made it work on another board but I will never find out it was the recap that got it going or changing the motherboard.

I would also agree that the AGP 6600GT can be a bit picky and odd.

I also have a weird acting ProLink 6600 gt,works fine as long as u don't plug the suplimentary power connector,doesn't work at all when it's plugged in,recaped it but no improvement.

Here my recapped card:

Haven't found a good way to mount a cooler yet.

With the Molex power I found that one card wanted the Molex connector that is closest to the PSU.

Here's mine looks identical to phil's.Will have to try another molex closer to the psu see if it works that way.

Thanks for all the replies. I'll try to spend a bit of my weekend trying to get the BIOS flash utility + BIOS ROM on the flash drive and in a working state. I used Rufus 1.4.10 to create the bootdisk.
NOTE: I wanted to flash my BIOS, because of:
- Newer supported CPUs including various Pentium 4s and Celeron Ds
- Improved memory performance
- Because I recently learned at college about BIOS flashing. Currently my system is a bit wonky with USB flash drives, and I don't have any floppies, so that too. (I have more floppy drives than floppies 🤣 )

Also, thanks for the replies regarding the 6600 GT. I don't currently have an different active system with AGP. It might be a bridge problem because a X1650 Pro I tested on the motherboard earlier also didn't work. It doesn't appear Asus managed to fix the problems in an update. But, I quite have no idea what "bridged GPUs" mean. When I Googled it it said these GPUs were capable of SLI/CrossFire. I guess I will keep my GeForce2 GTS for a little longer and look for something of the GeForce FX series.

EDIT: I could also try the molex thing. Currently quite busy with college though, so it'll have to wait a bit.

TwOne wrote:

Thanks for all the replies. I'll try to spend a bit of my weekend trying to get the BIOS flash utility + BIOS ROM on the flash d […]
Show full quote

Thanks for all the replies. I'll try to spend a bit of my weekend trying to get the BIOS flash utility + BIOS ROM on the flash drive and in a working state. I used Rufus 1.4.10 to create the bootdisk.
NOTE: I wanted to flash my BIOS, because of:
- Newer supported CPUs including various Pentium 4s and Celeron Ds
- Improved memory performance
- Because I recently learned at college about BIOS flashing. Currently my system is a bit wonky with USB flash drives, and I don't have any floppies, so that too. (I have more floppy drives than floppies 🤣 )

😵 Shame on teachers for not explaining that firmware flashes aren't something that's done willy-nilly. Here's Intel's take about it:

Intel wrote:

Update the BIOS on your computer only if the newer BIOS version specifically solves a problem you have. Intel does not recommend BIOS updates for computers that do not need it. You can view all new BIOS fixes in the release notes included on the BIOS download page in Download Center.

If you don't need said newer CPU (that is, if you can either get the chip to work when dropped in, or you don't even own such a chip/aren't installing one), I'd leave it alone, period. Especially if you care about the board and have never done a firmware flash before. 😊 [I'm not trying to be negative or "hold you down" - it's just that BIOS flashing always has a chance (sometimes only remote) of bricking the board, and if you've never attempted it before/are just learning about computers, I'd do it on something you don't care about breaking vs a machine that matters (especially if the thing that matters is currently working)]

In the future, if you're going to upgrade to a newer chip that doesn't work without the update, cross that bridge when you come to it. 😀

When you say "wonky" what do you mean? That it doesn't like to boot from them? Or there are issues within the OS once it's booted-up? It isn't uncommon for older boards to be less than capable at booting from USB drives. Usually a floppy or optical disc was the go-to for BIOS flashing in days of old.

Also, thanks for the replies regarding the 6600 GT. I don't currently have an different active system with AGP. It might be a bridge problem because a X1650 Pro I tested on the motherboard earlier also didn't work. It doesn't appear Asus managed to fix the problems in an update. But, I quite have no idea what "bridged GPUs" mean. When I Googled it it said these GPUs were capable of SLI/CrossFire. I guess I will keep my GeForce2 GTS for a little longer and look for something of the GeForce FX series.

Bridged means it (the GPU) isn't native to the socket it's got - it uses a bridge between whatever it's native to, and what it's plugging into. In this case, the 6600GT (and the X1650) are native PCI Express chips, and have a PCIe to AGP translation bridge installed to allow them to be AGP cards. These cards aren't 100% compatible/fool-proof as a side effect, and can cause problems with some boards/systems due to the bridge interacting with the board in weird ways. nVidia tends to be better than ATi in this regard, but neither is absolutely perfect vs a native AGP card (like a GeForce FX).

Depending on what games you need this machine to play, GeForce FX may or may not be an appropriate choice - it does a bad job with many PS1.4/2.0 titles, but is stellar for DX6-8. If you need AGP and DX9, the GeForce 6800 would be my go-to suggestion. Barring that, the Radeon 9 is a fine choice, as long as you get an R300-based model, and keep the overheat-death-syndrome thing in mind (Radeon 9s seem to have a nasty habit of cooking themselves to death - I know there was a thread a while ago where folks were talking about, and I've witnessed it twice myself; iirc the consensus was the ATi-designed heatsinks are the problem).

I'm planning on just jumping straight to a PCIe system, preferably a Core 2 Duo or maybe a Athlon II system. Easier to work with and so many more graphics card options. I haven't seen a decent 6800GT on eBay for anything close to reasonable so I will just pass and go with something like a 9600GT which should be very easy to find.

philscomputerlab wrote:

I'm planning on just jumping straight to a PCIe system, preferably a Core 2 Duo or maybe a Athlon II system. Easier to work with and so many more graphics card options. I haven't seen a decent 6800GT on eBay for anything close to reasonable so I will just pass and go with something like a 9600GT which should be very easy to find.

I think "more options" is relative - there are many more DX9+ options on PCIe for sure though.

Depending on what you consider reasonable:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/291260805578
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201185171922
http://www.ebay.com/itm/331341906235
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191360475913
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251657910868

I don't think you're going to see these as $5 chuck for a while still, because they do run a lot of relatively modern games (there's a YT video showing a GF6200 powering through Fallout New Vegas, for example), and are one of the best/last AGP cards on the market. That said, I don't consider $30-$50 to be unreasonable in general. 😊

On the other hand, much faster PCIe cards like 9800GTX or GTX 275 are in a similar price bracket. All depends on what you're after really. 😀

Hmm I never check eBay USA for graphics cards. At the moment I got too many projects lined up anyway before I'll tackle this one 🤣

I do have a Athlon II rig (it's from my parents). I BIOS flashed it a while ago, worked fine (I experienced problems with certain headphones not being detected). It has a GT 610, which is an OK DX11 low-end card. They don't let me near the PC hardware-wise though.
As for GPU, it doesn't really matter too much. I would've preferred a GeForce 6 series or up, but anything of FX series will do, because I want to put the GeForce2 GTS aside for something else (it would also be period correct).

TwOne wrote:

I do have a Athlon II rig (it's from my parents). I BIOS flashed it a while ago, worked fine (I experienced problems with certain headphones not being detected). It has a GT 610, which is an OK DX11 low-end card. They don't let me near the PC hardware-wise though.
As for GPU, it doesn't really matter too much. I would've preferred a GeForce 6 series or up, but anything of FX series will do, because I want to put the GeForce2 GTS aside for something else (it would also be period correct).

If you want something cheap that works well with 2003 -2005 DX9 games in Windows XP, look for a Geforce 7600GS DDR2 AGP.
Those are somewhat crippled by their 800 mhz ddr2 memory but often enough the memory will clock to 1000+ Mhz and that is enough unless you play at high res with AA.
Here in Sweden nobody seems to want these cards while the Geforce 6X00 AGP cards still sell for... well not much but more than nothing.
The 7600GS AGP should be less than 5 euro, the last one I saw diddnt sell for ~0.1 euro + 5 euro shipping.

Speedwise the Geforce 7600GS DDR2 is close to a Geforce 6800, and when its memory is overclocked to 1000Mhz it even gets close to 6800GT

Skyscraper wrote:

If you want something cheap that works well with 2003 -2005 DX9 games in Windows XP, look for a Geforce 7600GS DDR2 AGP. Those a […]
Show full quote

TwOne wrote:

I do have a Athlon II rig (it's from my parents). I BIOS flashed it a while ago, worked fine (I experienced problems with certain headphones not being detected). It has a GT 610, which is an OK DX11 low-end card. They don't let me near the PC hardware-wise though.
As for GPU, it doesn't really matter too much. I would've preferred a GeForce 6 series or up, but anything of FX series will do, because I want to put the GeForce2 GTS aside for something else (it would also be period correct).

If you want something cheap that works well with 2003 -2005 DX9 games in Windows XP, look for a Geforce 7600GS DDR2 AGP.
Those are somewhat crippled by their 800 mhz ddr2 memory but often enough the memory will clock to 1000+ Mhz and that is enough unless you play at high res with AA.
Here in Sweden nobody seems to want these cards while the Geforce 6X00 AGP cards still sell for... well not much but more than nothing.
The 7600GS AGP should be less than 5 euro, the last one I saw diddnt sell for ~0.1 euro + 5 euro shipping.

Speedwise the Geforce 7600GS DDR2 is close to a Geforce 6800, and when its memory is overclocked to 1000Mhz it even gets close to 6800GT

+1. I've seen the GF7600 AGPs go dirt cheap in the USA too - for whatever reason people are fine spending big money on the 6600, but completely ignore the 7600. You might also, just for grins, see what 7800 AGPs are running for these days (last I knew $40-$50 was pretty common). This of course assumes your board has no problems with the AGP bridge solution - if it does, GF4/FX or Radeon 8/9 would be better choices. 😀

Didn't the GF7 family have issues with the ball solder-something joints though? If so, then that could be the reason why nobody wants them

There's more than a little noise online about dud 7600gs. I went through my own hair-pulling trying to get rid of in-game artifacts on my P4R800-VM. Tried better powersupplies, config changes, physical and software reinstalls, older driver, memtests, yada-yada. Eventually tried the card and RAM in a P4P800SE and no problem. Happy ever since. The card just wouldn't work right with the P4R800-VM and I have no explanation for it.