Games crashing

[TheBigCarp321]

Ok I have an issue that ive had ever since I got my ATI AIW 9800 Pro card. I have an Asus P4S8X-X. Every couple of hours of playing or sometimes right away, either or, my game will lock up and ill have to reboot with the power button. I send ati the crash report but I think they implemented that just to make people feel good, you know, kinda like the windows one. I have the latest chipset, sound card, ati, and everything drivers that I can think of and there are no known issues in the release notes. I have the ASUS SL400 400watt power supply. I did take the card out and swap it with the same one but same thing. It happens with any game that requires a video card except like windowed based games. City of Heroes is the game that I've been playing for a while and I was just wondering if anyone knows of anything or is having the same problem so I dont feel alone.

[PC TECH250]

Don't bother with the ATI report there. How much memory do you installed? How are your
temps doing on the system as a rule? Have you updated the bios at all? These are some of
the obvious questions there. Are you running XP? is another. Sudden reboots and lockups
can have several different causes. Newer high demanding graphic intense games seem to
have a big need for memory as well as other system resources.

[TheBigCarp321]

Yeah XPSP2, never happened with my nvidia card though, never been a bios update for my board. Not sure about the temps but i dont think that matter as it can happen as soon as i turn on the computer and start the game.

[PC TECH250]

There was a heck of a time running HL2 with lockups, crashes to the desktop, and endless
sudden reboots until two problems were clearly found to be the cause. First the thermal pad
as they call amounted to grey putty that had left the cpu depression bare. The stock hs/fan
combo was swapped out when the temps climbed too high for no reason. The second was?
A matched pair of Corsair XMS Series dimms had developed faults.

Memtest saved the day there when it revealed that errors were being generated with both
dimms installed. Yet they were totally free of errors when tested separately. Grabbed a pair
of Kingston 1gb dimms and solved the problem fast. You also have the Audigy 2 ZS which is
now on the recycling bin at the local junk yard. That quit shortly after the memory swapout!
Try trimming that back in the DxDiag utility where you can reduce audio acceleration. But an
ATI Catalyst 12 was the last update just seen if you use that option.

Keep an eye on the cpu temps especially! When you run these games they load the cpu. A
quick look at some cpu coolers may also give you some ideas there. The site has some wild
ideas in that area. http://www.coolerguys.com/cooling.html

[TheBigCarp321]

Yeah i have a 3 speed fan (2k, 2.5k, and 3k) which I leave at 3K at all times. I guess I never thought of the cpu heating as an issue but ill watch that and see what happens. Ill also try to see if my mem is giving me errors also and post back prolly late tonight or tomorrow morning.

Also whats the deal with that sound acceleration feature in the dxdiag? Would I notice a difference between any of the options?

[wera]

Sounds like overheating to me try re seating the heatsink and fan with better thermal paste.

[PC TECH250]

It might help. That's not a guarantee. But some of the game support site often recommend
lower the audio acceleration if you have problems running their games. Another older advise
was to lower graphics acceleration in the display properties. That didn't work with Half Life.
At the Run prompt on the Start menu simply type in dxdiag and press enter to bring that up.
It will first search for digitally signed drivers. You can also see if texture acceleration is there
with the different tabs seen.

Another thing you can grab is a cpu and board temp probe at: http://www.majorgeeks.com
Here's the link for cpu utilities. http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads14.html

[JPMiller]

You switched from an Nvidia card to an ATI?
How did you remove the Nvidia drivers?
You may want to use Drivercleaner and Regscrub XP to remove any traces that could cause conflicts..

[PC TECH250]

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=582
http://content.guru3d.com/index.php?...atorrip&menu=0
http://www.techspot.com/vb/all/windo...r-remover.html

Need to "get rid of" NVidia drivers? Try one of these.

[jrsweger]

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=582
http://content.guru3d.com/index.php?...atorrip&menu=0
http://www.techspot.com/vb/all/windo...r-remover.html

Need to "get rid of" NVidia drivers? Try one of these.

What JPMiller said, "Drivercleaner" is probably the best one out there, use that! Get it here: http://www.drivercleaner.net/

[PC TECH250]

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3214.html or this one.

[jrsweger]

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3214.html or this one.

Geesh, I really do believe that one link for the program is all that was required. All you are doing by duplicating what others say is upping your post count while providing no more useful information.

[PC TECH250]

Geesh, I really do believe that one link for the program is all that was required. All you are doing by duplicating what others say is upping your post count while providing no more useful information.

Well if you actually go there you will find that there other driver cleaners besides
just one version to consider. This site also has a ton of other freewares as well as
driver tools like this page at: http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads28.html

[TheBigCarp321]

Started new thread with different approach and question.

http://www.techimo.com/forum/t160597.html

[TheBigCarp321]

Screw it, my card started pixelizing windows and my games and now today I have no video. Thats what I get for buying this oem P.O.S from ebay so I went out and got an X800XT, should get it by Monday.

[TheBigCarp321]

Just curious, my X800XT is doing wonderfully and I even got one of those huge slot fans that blow air out the back of system to keep it cool. It also has a blower on it too for extra cooling, but anyway. With Radeon cards, does anyone mess with the settings in the control center because I just leave mine at let the game decide, then I go into game and up the settings in there.

[PC TECH250]

You mean the application decides there. For HALF LIFE 2 custom settings for the best image
quality as to the high performance for Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix GOLD usually is the
"pushing of the envelope" without even overclocking. That ATi tray tool mentioned on some
other thread was removed after showing no difference with mild increases. Plus to get the
best screen shots the custom image quality settings where maxed.

You can easily toy around with the variety of preferences as well as 3D to see how a game
runs overall. A pci slot fan was used for quite awhile until the Katana fan was found to be a
winning ticket on the older board used for gaming. The Catalyst 6.1 actually outperforms the
previous 5.12 when trying different custom settings. The best quality for the high resolution
used may give some hesitations at times. That happens mainly when characters are giving
instructions during the interactive video clips. Or you blast something a little too big.

[TheBigCarp321]

CLose to off topicm but since ATI Catalyst 5.12 the control panel was taken out and that stupid retarded control center was put in, can I use the new drivers without the control center and install the control panel?

[PC TECH250]

This trip for the 6.1 didn't see the control panel just the Catalyst. But you still have a choice
between express install and custom where you can select drivers only. Back in the days the
Corsair dimms were acting up the basic control panel replaced Catalyst there a few times.

[TheBigCarp321]

I understand that, I'm just saying is there anyway to go back to atis website get the control panel and install that instead even though the last time ti was offered was Drivers 5.11.