|
|
 |
|
|
Pages: 1
7vrxp mobo with ti4400 card - locks ups..can someone help?
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)
Posted by: nsideops
mobo - GA-7VRXP
cpu - Athlon XP-1900+ 1600MHz
mem - 512Mb pc2700 pc333 DDR
vid - Nvidia GeForce4 Ti4400 MSI
power supply - 350 watt
os - WinXP
Since I've had the computer, I've had lockups with games. The first vid card got replaced, and it's still doing it. I'm ocassionally getting lockups during normal windows use. I've got the newest bios for the mobo and vid card, I've got sp1 for xp, and I've tried various troubleshooting resolutions but nothing seems to be working. I would appreciate any information on how to fix this problem. If you need any other info, just let me know.
Posted by: TotalRecall
Is heat a problem?
Posted by: nsideops
I don't think heat is really a problem. I would love for the machine to run cooler, but it's not bad right now. I've had the side off and a big box fan on the side before when I thought it might be heat, but it was still doing it. Warcraft 3 is the worst. SoF2 does it quite badlly as well, but warcraft 3 is by far the worst of any game I've put in it as far as the short amount of time it takes to lockup.
Posted by: nsideops
I read somewhere about raising the voltage in the bios for the card and the cpu, but I wanted to ask before I did anything. I've read the board doesn't supply enough power to the vid card in 4x. Anyone have information on this?
Posted by: redwench
like TR, im getting a heat vibe here. check for drivers for everything and irq conflicts, but it really sounds heat related. did you put it together yourself? amds are very picky as to the amount of thermal paste you use. check the fans on the cpu and video, make sure they run when powered up.
perhaps you can try taking out some ram, although i really dont think this is a ram problem. is this lovely piece of equipment near a heating vent or in a limited airflow area? both those games are very intensive on the video card, so that could be the problem. find a program if you dont have one already that measures the temperatures of various stuff in your computer. since you dont have an asus, youll have to check the linkage section, or someone that isnt half asleep will know the name of one. 
oh yes, its remotely conceivable that something is wrong with your powersupply and its overrated. thats a big unlikely however.
edit: if the board doesnt supply enough power to the video, changing the voltage will do nothing but fry the card. but thats easy to check, slip a gf2 in there, both games should run fine.
Posted by: Daedleus
Hard locks and freezes that require a reset or shutdown are hardware related. If it's not a heat issue, then it most likely will be a driver or hardware combination incompatibility.
Here are a couple of steps you should take in troubleshooting this problem:
First and foremost, make sure you are using the latest and greatest drivers for all of your hardware. That includes not just the BIOS and video card, but the motherboard chipset, soundcard, NIC, and anything else (like DirectX). An example would be your motherboard; if it uses a VIA chipset, make sure you install the latest 4in1 drivers. To make it easy for you, think of every item you have in your computer and consider whether there are drivers for it or not. If there are, get the latest ones.
To actively troubleshoot this issue, I would suggest you try disabling non-essential hardware components via the Device Manager (i.e. soundcard, modem, NIC). Essentially, anything that's plugged into your motherboard via the PCI/ISA slots aside from your video card. Once you disable those items, test the system by playing the games in the same way you would normally to see if you can recreate the problem. If the lockups persist, you've just narrowed it down to the hardware that is enabled. If the problem does not occur, then enable one component at a time and test again. Start with sound, then NIC, and lastly, modem (if applicable).
I suggest you set your video and sound settings to defaults, disable any anti-aliasing, and run the games in default configurations. If you need help finding these settings, just ask.
Also, run MSCONFIG and disable all items listed in the startup tab to prevent any programs from taking up system resources and posing possible interference in your testing.
Another item that is often overlooked is BIOS configuration settings. I don't know how familiar or comfortable you are with modifying your BIOS settings, but you'll want to insure that the BIOS is configured optimally. I would suggest fail-safe defaults if you are not familiar with the BIOS and the settings it contains.
I hope this is of some use to you. Good luck.
Posted by: nsideops
I really appreicate all the help so far, and probably tommorow I will do some MAJOR troubleshooting on this thing and try all of the suggestions. I forgot to mention earlier that while my first card was sent back, I had borrowed an ATI 64meg card from a friend (I do not remember the model, but I can find out if it will help) but I didn't have a single problem while it was installed. Everything worked great. Every game played perfectlly (didn't look as good as the ti4400, but very stable). Maybe this information can help.
Posted by: redwench
ah, that narrows it down quite a bit. its the video card, drivers, something in the bios, or the mobo . now, it still could be a heat issue, but we know its not the cpu over heating.
try researching that motherboard power issue. toms hardware is a good place to start. and some overclocking sites. they would certainly know of that problem if it exists.
Posted by: Foogar
We worked on the problem for a good while, best info found was in the ocworkbench.com forums. Seems there's compatibility issues with the mobo and a GF4 but does anyone know of anywhere a fix for that could be found?
If nothing else I'll let you borrow my old 3DFX Banshee card. I think it still works...
Posted by: Daedleus
 Quote:
Originally posted by nsideops
...I had borrowed an ATI 64meg card from a friend (I do not remember the model, but I can find out if it will help) but I didn't have a single problem while it was installed. Everything worked great. Every game played perfectlly (didn't look as good as the ti4400, but very stable). Maybe this information can help.
|
This is a very interesting bit of information.
I would suggest you go ahead and disable all non-essential hardware via Device Manager and test the system with just the video card active. If you can duplicate the hard locks and freezes, try swapping out your Nvidia card with an ATI (hopefully you have/can get a spare), and test the system using an ATI card.
If you don't lock up or freeze, then you can safely conclude that there is an incompatibility issue occuring between the Nvidia card and your CPU/mobo (or their respective drivers).
I recommend upgrading your drivers first though, before you actually get into swapping hardware. It just might save you the trouble of cracking open your case.
Posted by: nsideops
Anyone want to buy a video card?...hehehe. I'm having no luck. I think I might just stick this thing on ebay and buy an ATI 9500. The last ATI I had in here worked great. It looks like I'm going to have to replace the vid card or the mobo, and I don't want to have to mess with the processor, so I guess I need to get rid of this vid card and get a new one. I havn't compleatlly given up yet, but I'm close.
Posted by: redwench
well, its pretty obvious you cant run that card with that mobo. but if its a power issue, theres no guarantee that any card you buy will work any better, unless its an older model. try complaining to the manufacturer of the motherboard, see where that gets you.
Posted by: Sarc
Quote:
Originally posted by Foogar
... ...
If nothing else I'll let you borrow my old 3DFX Banshee card. I think it still works...
|
HEY!!!  My Banshee is running just fine as my secondary display right now. 
Of-course that's ignoring the fact that it only pulled out 699 marks from 3DMark 2K1.  
Anyway, back on topic.
Nsideops, did you try reseting your BIOS back to defaults?
AGP incompatibilities can sometimes be very easily fixed this way.
Posted by: nsideops
Well, I've tried setting the fail safe defaults in the bios, updated every driver I can get my hands on, disabling everything in sight, and no real luck....but good news...I've officially given up. I've sold my mobo (they are planning on using an ati vid card so there should be no problem) and I'm buying a Soyo KT400 Dragon Ultra Black Edition. I've heard its a great motherboard, anyone here have any opinions on it? I have one last question though, what would be a really good fan to get for the Athlon XP 1900+ processor? I've been looking at some of the thermaltake fans. I'm probably going to get the motherboard from newegg.com. They have allways been good and fast in the past, so I'm probably going to get the fan from there too. I appreciate any information.
Posted by: redwench
if youre not ocing, its not terribly relevant which fan you get, provided its made for your cpu. any appropriately sized fan should do nicely.
Posted by: nsideops
Well, my comp is running great now (knock on wood). I got a soyo KT400 Dragon Ultra Black Edition. So far seems extreamly stable and the vga problem seems gone so far. Now I need to buy a new game in celebration of actually being able to use my geforce4. Thanks everyone.
Posted by: Foogar
Quote:
Originally posted by nsideops
Thanks everyone.
|
You're welcome, "Steve"!
|
|
|
|
|
