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BW2 (and other games) reset my computer!

J

Joril

n00b
Joined
Oct 12, 2005
Messages
47
hi guys,
I've got a problem I just can't seem to fix so I thought I'd ask around here since you all seem like very able people.
I only hope I'm posting in the right forum.
So, I recently I got Black and White 2.
First day I could play for hours on end without getting any problems at all.
Second day, BW2 resets my computer.
Although, I think there may be more than "just resetting" going on.
I'll describe what happens.

-At first the picture just dissapears/goes black. As if the monitor isn't getting any more signals from the graphics card. And the monitor's power light starts to flash.
At this stage the sound just keeps going, I can hear the music, soundFX...
-Then the computer resets.
-As it's starting up, I'm not getting a picture on the monitor aswell.
I have to put the computer off manually with the power button and start anew.
-Then Windows boots (with a picture on the monitor)
In many cases windows will give a message that the system has recovered from a serious error. When I send the error report to Microsoft, it tells me it's the Nvidia Drivers who are causing a (the?) problem.

Now, I've installed the latest forceware drivers clean from scratch (used RIP detonator to clean up stray files) so I don't know how drivers could be the problem.
Btw, I've also tried the Beta drivers 81.84, but I rolled them back because Fable TLC wouldn't run properly.
I don't think overheating is causing it either. Since the Graphics card doesn't go far above 60°C and the CPU seems to be at about 55°C at max (checked in BIOS on the clean startup).
I uninstalled "cool 'n quiet" aswell since I thought the alternating clock freqs might be causing the problem, didn't help.
I put aparture to 256 (where it used to be 64), but that didn't solve my problems of course.
Another strange thing I had is that, on the clean startup, I get a prompt that tells me overclocking failed. I don't know what the hell it's on about because I haven't overclocked anything in my current rig.

Now, I know BW2 is having issues with Geforce 6x00 cards and AMD processors.
But the thing is, it's not just happening with BW2 (anymore). Now Fable is getting the system resets aswell, and at one point even Dawn Of War Winter Assault had one.
Also, Farcy and Republic commando have had these resets everytime I play them.

I'm running out of ideas over here since I can't seem to find what the hell is causing the resets.
Do any of you have a though on this? Or has anyone else experienced this?

My system is:
AMD athlon 64 2800+
1gig of ram
Geforce 6800 128MB
Asus K8V-X motherboard

thanks
 
In my experience resets are usually the fault of a PSU that can't keep up or is dying on you. Get a name brand PSU with 400+ watts from bestbuy / compusa and try it out. If it doesn't fix the problem, just return it, no loss.
 
Well I was also going to say PSU... I just got done replacing mine after I was having restarting problems, and all is better..
 
Yes, nothing seems to be working to solve it, so more and more signs point to the PSU.
So, 400Watts will do the trick then eh? As being future proof? (what future an AGP system has left..) Any specific recommendations?
 
Joril said:
Yes, nothing seems to be working to solve it, so more and more signs point to the PSU.
So, 400Watts will do the trick then eh? As being future proof? (what future an AGP system has left..) Any specific recommendations?
Click to expand...

I like the Ultra X-Connect power supplies. You can get a 500 watt one for $40 nowadays after rebate.
 
i've been having very similar issues on my parents computer, i swapped out the crappy 380w psu for a truepower 380w psu similar to the one in my sig. it still doesn't work.

i'm gonna try and switch the bios to operate at AGP4x instead of 8x. hopefully this will work!
 
ALAS! i think this may have been the problem. i just played warhammer 40: dawn of war without any restarts whatsoever! most of the time i can't even get into the first 2 minutes without it restarting!

fix: change the BIOS set to AGP4x instead of AGP8x. i thuoght this would be a drastic performance hit, but from that thread, they said there's practically no real world performance losses!
 
Switching to AGPx4 didn't do it for me though.
I did it though, and things ran a little smoother for me then, before resetting the system, that is... Strange though, I can play for about half (more sometimes) an hour before it resets. Kinda odd that it hangs on that long, considering it would have to little power to go on in the first place.

I've updated everything there is to update, Via drivers, Motherboard Bios, Graphics drivers.
Enabling and disabling various AGP related switches.
Nothing works. So I think I'll get another PSU today or tomorrow. To bad because I'm investing in a rig that's going to be redundant in a years time or so. But on the otherhand I can't really afford a dead computer.
 
If you don't have automatic restart disabled, try disabling it through system properties -> advanced -> startup and recovery. You can find out what's causing this by looking at the information given. Also, feel your heatsink when gaming, see if it's too hot to keep your hand on. Your video card could be overheating.
 
Hmm, I don't think the image will pop back if I disable the automatic restart, for me to check statistics.
But I don't think it's overheating, because the temp is never that high. Can temperature peak that much in such a short time? :confused:
 
ok, so here's the deal.
I bought a 420Watts PSU today.
Very silent, very cool.
I was able to play for quite a while.
But in the end, the screen went dark again! No reboot this time though.
The new PSU is defenatly a good thing, but why is my image still failing?
 
If I had any guesses, a driver is failing, which is causing a blue screen. By default, if you get a bluescreen, the computer will automatically reboot. Sometimes warm boots won't fix the problem in case of a hardware failure. I'd turn off the automatically reboot feature and you will atleast see which driver is causing a blue screen.

Control Panel/System/Advanced/Startup and Recovery - Settings/System Failures - Automatically Restart
 
A failing driver sounds possible.
But I haven't had a blue screen. With this. That's exactly it. I get no screen at all ;)
 
Thats what I mean, with the default setting you wont get a bluescreen, the computer will reboot instead. I'm suggesting turn off the reboot behavior so you can see if you are really getting a bluescreen (and in which driver it is)
 
Just for the record. I think I this has come to a solution!
I don't exactly know how I fixed it though.
I turned off the automatic restart thing.
I installed the drivers from the manufacterers website (not invidias).
And I switched off about all the "advanced" options on the Nvidia tab. (you know, negative LOD and the like)
Guess what, I haven't had any since then. Looks like it's fixed (knocks on wood)

In any case, thanks for all the help guys!
 
Grmble, It reset again.
It only took about an hour and a half for it to occur.
I set the auto reboot setting off, but it didn't give a blue screen.

On the restart, the windows error report said it's a fault in the Nvidia Drivers.
This is really quite frustrating...
 
I would look at the memory as well. Get Prime95 and run the In place large FFT test. Memory problems can fool windows into thinking it is a host of different problems. I was having similar issues...until I checked the bios and noticed that I had accidentally set my memory timings to 3-4-8-4 instead of 3-4-4-8 :( (stupid DFI and their mixed up timings)
 
Hmm, I checked the RAM with a memory checker before I bought the PSU, just to make sure, because I did upgrade to 1gig RAM not long ago. Anyway, it didn't give any problems. So I think it's safe to assume the RAM is safe.
About the timings, I didn't change any in the BIOS maybe they're wrong at the default value?
I've got two sticks of DDR 512Mb 400Mhz pc3200. Is there a way to check on the right values?
 
the SAME exact problem happens to me, i thought it was just a problem i had with the FEAR SP Demo...but i got black and white 2 and after a while it goes bad, my system specs are amd 3400, gig of corsair ram, 500 watt psu, 6800 gt evga, 280 gigs etc... it HAS to be a driver problem right? if we both only have the video card than its probably drivers... i dunno...but maybe its the PSU not sending enough power to the actual card itself... i dunno but im gonna try and fix it today i need to start crushing people in B and W 2 fast :mad:
 
Well, it's very consulting I'm not the only one.
"Nvidia Drivers" is what Windows says after the reboot. I'd have to swap with an ATI card to check that, but I'm not buying a 400+ euro card to check thát.... How much is that agp ATI 850xt pe nowadays? ;)
Anyway.
I just uninstalled Farcry (ati optimised?) because I couldn't get to the next savepoint before this thing chrashes.
Funny thing is, Dawn Of War doesn't seem to chrash. Black and White (ati optimised!) takes ages to chrash. But it does happen eventually. What driver could go wrong after so long?
So, the mysteries endures....
 
Ok, so now I installed older drivers, 77.72. I turned off AGP fast writes off. I even switched the power connection with the HD. Now the graphics card is on the "master" position, and the HD is now at the "slave" position.

Still chrashes.
 
Ok! For those still following this thread.
I think I've found a solution!!
I've just come from long a gaming session sans reboot with a game which always rebooted after about 15minutes - Republic Commando.

You need Rivatuner (shame I hadn't thought of this earlier!! I had it sitting idle on my hd :s)
On the ForceWare costumize, go to "System Settings" -> compatibility -> check "enable motherboard chipset compatibility mode"

And you're done!
I hope it works for all those who have this same problem I had (i hope).
 
UGH

I can't believe it chrashed again! :-|
Just when I thought it was working....
This really is becoming to much. I'm really at a loss here. :confused: :mad:
 
I might be having the same problem also, but my system specs are probably way differerent:

Asus A7V333 latest BIOS 1018.004 beta tried 1017
2 x 512 MB RAM checks out ok
eVGA GF 6600 GT
450W CoolMax PS (might be problem)
Athlon 2000+ stays at about 41C maybe a little more load but not much with my Thermal Right SI-97

I'm thinking my PS or motherboard are what is causing the problem.
I'm gonna try Riva Tuner here shortly maybe it will delay my problem too

Just like you, I've done everything, tried everything you think it starts to get better... it crashes again.
Now mine is at a point where I can play StarCraft just fine for hours, but 2 seconds into loading an arena in Q3 (yes q3 for godsakes!!) it crashes.

Keep us posted Joril, I'll try to do the same.
 
Newbify2 thanks for joining the fray! I hope we'll crack this nut soon :)

Well, I got mail back from Sparkle, the makers of my card, and they said, in somewhat broken English that I should get a 500+ Watts PSU...

Screw that, IIRC it said something like 350Watts in the manual. And besides, I already have a new psu.

My next move will be: Giving the cards it's own dedicated power cable. Thus I will have to forfeit my CD RW drive because I don't have enough powercables in there.
I can't right now though. To much work laying around. Man, I'm doing all this tweaking at the expense of work.
 
Ok, let's rake this up again.

Joril said:
My next move will be: Giving the cards it's own dedicated power cable. Thus I will have to forfeit my CD RW drive because I don't have enough powercables in there.
Click to expand...

This solution seemed to have worked since my last post up untill yesterday.
I did give the card it's own dedicated powercable. But it only lasted "this long".
I'm getting the resets again after some 45min or an hour of play. 15min in Republic commando (which I was able to play endlessly when I first gave the cards it's own cable)

I'm at a total loss here, I don't think I've overseen anything after all this tinkering. This is impossible!!
I think I'll just start saving for a new rig. This is the most frustrating pc problem I ever had.

Does somebody, anybody, out there have an idea what this is about?
 
I wonder if this might be something with the 6800 card itself, and not the driver. I'm running into what seems to be exactly the same problem you are experiencing.....since I put a BFG 6800 GT OC into my system, whenever I play either Doom 3, Fear SP Demo, or Splinter Cell: CT, after anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes the screen will go completely wacky (as in looking like colored static), then reboots. Sometimes I need to shut down completely and then power up for the signal to reach my primary monitor.

It wasn't overclocking, as I don't OC this system. I've switched between drivers (used the Omega drivers, went to most recent Nvidia, then to WHQL certified with no difference) with no avail. I watercool my CPU (Swiftech MCW50) so I was worried about temps, but set up RivaTuner to run on my second monitor while gaming. CPU temps never reached above 46C and the hottest the GPU reached was 56C, but it's been usuallyin the 49-51C area when it actually crashes out, so it doesn't seem to be the heat. I've been considering plunking down the cash for a new PSU (currently have a 550W AeroCool AeroPower II+), but I'm not sure that's it....see, the funny thing is that I've played sessions of other games, such as GTA: SA or Half Life 2, for anywhere from 1 to 10 hours straight without any problem. I mean, why would I be able to go maybe 10 minutes of Doom 3 at 1280x1024 on high settings before it craps but then be able to reboot and play Half-Life 2 at 1920x1200 on high settings for 4 HOURS?

I don't know. I'm starting think it might just be a bum card...maybe there's some call path in the graphics engines of the games I have trouble with that it just can't for some reason properly handle. In the same system, when I had an ATI AIW 9700 Pro 128MB video card I never had this problem. The only modification made was to remove the 9700, replace it with the 6800, and reinstall the OS. For the record:

Intel P4 2.66 ghz processor (533mhz bus)
Abit IT7 Max2 v2.0 mobo
2x512mb Corsair PC3200 Low Latency ram
BFG 6800GT OC 256MB AGP video
AeroCool AeroPower II+ 550W PSU

Sometime over the next week or so I'm probably going to put a new PSU in, and when I do I'll check back here with an update....but I think my next vidcard will probably be ATI....
 
I used to have this problem with my 6800nu in WoW. It was an occasional thing and I got the nVidia driver issue error report when it would reboot. The way I fixed it was reformating the HD and installing 77.77 drivers. I had tried just cleaning the drivers then reinstalling different versions, but ultimately it was the reinstall of windows that seemed to fix it.
 
Ok

I had the same exact problems you guys all had
i thought it was memory nope, i thought it was the HD nope. then it had to be the PSU nope!

i was going crazy
So i opend the 2 side panels of my tower and but a small 8" Fan on the side of the case
and it blows air into the case with both the panels off!
and guess what no more crashing or random computer restarts!

Pc was getting to hot even with my 60$ CPU FAN i bought!
So open the case up and put a fan to blow air into the PC

i gareentee it will work!!!
TRY IT
 
I'll try the cooling solution, but I think I'll pass on the reïnstalling of windows... I would simply have to much to backup at the moment.

What I've done right now, is forcing the card to use shader version 2 and I've also increased the virtual memory in Windows by about 200%, 1533Mb up from 768Mb.
A quick session of Republic Commando seemed to run fine. But that doesn't mean alot now does it? :)
I'm going to get some testing (read: gaming) done tonight.
 
It's 2 o'clock at night, been playing (Rep Commando) since about 22h, seems to be fine.... for now.
I hope it'll help in case you have this problem.
 
I would double check all your timings in the bios. Ram timings especially, make sure they are set with the specs of your ram.
 
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