Please help diagnose crashing . . . :( No idea what's gone wrong. AMD system.

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ysaric

Weaksauce
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Jul 16, 2004
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I have recently upgraded from a single-core AMD CPU to a dual-core AMD CPU, and upgraded my RAM (speed and size), and at the same time I addressed some heat-related issues in my GeForce 6800 GT (the assembly was getting clogged with dust on the inside). I'm running Windows XP, fully updated.

Now, when I try to run a game, I experience the following symptoms:

1. Locks, freezes and pauses in video, usually crashing within a few seconds to a few minutes. When freezing, the symptoms can range from minor graphical glitches to a major graphics freeze and sometimes even the monitor shuts down as if it is no longer getting a signal from the card.

2. Sound stuttering during the crashes, but just intermittent stuttering. The video could be totally frozen, but the sound keeps going as if the program was still running except for the sound stuttering up about every 5-10 seconds--that is except when the game really crashes hard.

Windows itself runs fine, but Studio 10 is also locking up on me either at load or when I am working on video.

So what have i done?

Well, I did the aforementioned CPU upgrade, from something like a 3200+ single core to a 4200+ dual core. After I started researching some of the dual-core issues, I downloaded the AMD Processor Driver update and Dual-Core Optimizer from their web site, as well as the Microsoft Hotfix.

Before the upgrade I didn't realize how bad the temps were in my video card, up to an topping 100C at load. I got all the dust out and put Arctic Silver down on the GPU. Temps now at idle at around 55C--I haven't really measured it at load yet, but it's way, way lower than it was before.

I have tried a lot of different drivers. The newest beta drivers, the latest WHQL drivers, older drivers (back to the 100s). None of them alleviate the symptoms.

I removed a wireless network card I wasn't using before so I could move my sound card up a slot to see if that might shift resources around and help. It did not. I also went into my bios and disabled stuff I'm not using--Parallel port, serial port, game port, etc.

I tried using Rivetuner to disable fastwrites. No help, the Crysis demo showed that little text in the upper right corner about it being a demo, but didn't even get to the EA logo.

I'm going crazy here. I didn't upgrade my system so that I couldn't play games! The games I'm using to test are: Madden '08, Crysis demo, Neverwinter Nights. Have I missed something obvious? Something not obvious?

Thanks much for any information provided.
 
Here's what I would do...

1. Set BIOS to defaults

2. Find another video card and test it under load in this system.

3. If the GPU turns out to be fine in another system I would then move to the ram. Check each DIMM one by one.

4. After GPU, Video, and RAM are determined to be ok I would introduce another (more powerful) PSU.
 
Google, download, burn to a CD, and run Memtest+ on each stick of RAM separately for at least 3 hours or 24 hours max to rule out the RAM.
 
Are you dealing with a fresh install of windows after your upgrade?
 
THanks a lot for all the ideas. Here is what I have done in the interim:

I don't have a spare video card right now, unfortunately, so I have been trying to run tests to isolate the problem. I did reset the bios (which is fully updated) to defaults.

So far every CPU and memory benchmark program I have run has worked fine. PC Wizard 2008. Fresh Diagnose. PC Mark 2005 (to the extent I was able to run it).

PC Mark 2005 crashed at the screen where it looked like a bunch of strips of filmstrip with a little stick-like guy walking real fast. PC Wizard 2008 crashed with it got to the DirectX 3D Billboarding test that started out looking like a flyby of some trees on a hilly landscape. What is funny about PC Mark and PC Wizard is that each successfully ran a couple of small graphical benchmarks fine--pixel shaders and some other stuff, but one it hit those two tests I mentioned . . . lock city.

So I'm thinking that the temperatures I hit when I didn't realize how poor my airflow was may have damaged something on the card, or possibly I did something when I took the fan assembly apart and the heatsink off and put on Arctic Silver where the old thermal pad thing was.

I suppose this still could be some kind of Windows problem, although I re-installed Windows probably a couple of months ago (pre-upgrade, but it's still fairly fresh), but that would really surprise me at this point.

I'll probably download an run memtest just because it's probably a good idea, but I think I'm pretty narrowed down on this one, unfortunately. If anyone really disagrees, and thinks that this sounds like a Windows/memory/CPU/non-video card issue let me know. Luckily, Windows still runs and I was planning on upgrading my video card anyway at Christmas.
 
ysaric said:
I suppose this still could be some kind of Windows problem, although I re-installed Windows probably a couple of months ago (pre-upgrade, but it's still fairly fresh), but that would really surprise me at this point.
Click to expand...

I would almost guarantee it's windows related. You have made VERY significant hardware changes and there is more than likely a driver conflict or software conflict of some sort.
 
Allrighty then, reformat and re-installation tonight. (did I mention that although this copy of XP was just installed a few months ago that it was on another hard drive because I also swapped hard drives and cloned the old drive to this one?) Yah, probably enough changes to warrant giving it a try.

As Ah-nold said . . . I'll be back.
 
Snotrocket said:
I would almost guarantee it's windows related. You have made VERY significant hardware changes and there is more than likely a driver conflict or software conflict of some sort.
Click to expand...

Totally fresh format & installation. Swing . . . and a miss. PC Wizard's Billboard test got a few extra seconds, but exact same result.

Happy to do the fresh install though, and I have solved problems before that way so it was definitely a good idea. Just feels good to sweep away the junk.
 
ysaric said:
Totally fresh format & installation. Swing . . . and a miss. PC Wizard's Billboard test got a few extra seconds, but exact same result.

Happy to do the fresh install though, and I have solved problems before that way so it was definitely a good idea. Just feels good to sweep away the junk.
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Ha now I feel bad for coaxing you into doing a format.

Have you tried running a couple instances of Prime 95 to see if your cpu is throwing errors?
 
Left Prime 95 on when I went to work, stopped it a few minutes ago:

Torture Test ran 11 hours, 6 minutes - 0 errors, 0 warnings.

Am I pretty narrowed down to a video card failure yet?

:)

Seriously, I'm still open for suggestions as I'm probably a couple weeks from buying a replacement card anyway--I bought Psychonauts for $6 at Big Lots and am playing it on my lappy to pass the time. Not bad so far.
 
What kind of PSU are you running? If you're borderline it's possible that the video card is just drawing enough extra to kill it?
 
Yes, that is certainly possible. Maybe probable. I have two PSUs--one Enermax 350W that was actually pretty decent back when I bought it and was running this same system before I upgraded the CPU from a 3200+ single core/1GB RAM (two sticks) to a dual-core 4200+/2GB RAM (two sticks). Really, it ran the single-core setup w/ the 6800GT just fine, but it is certainly, certainly possible that with that setup I was pushing the max the PSU was capable of. I'm not 100% certain about that, but it could explain when the system is crapping out when the video card ramps up.

My other PSU is a 500W . . . a Viomax. Yes, I know they suck. Funny thing, when I go with the Viomax I can boot Windows into Safe Mode, but it locks up on a normal boot. Awesome.

So anyway I ordered a CoolerMaster RP-650 650W, $65 - $35 MIR. I figure my current system should run fine on a 650W PSU. For all of you who now need to know the resolution to this one, in 5-9 days I'll be back :) I hope this works! I want to save the rest of my money to go with an 8800GT in a few weeks.
 
A sign that this might be the problem? I couldn't get the 500W to boot--it would freeze during load, so I put the 350W back in, and it froze in the same spot until I switched around the connectors (I had to do it a number of times) to get a combination that wouldn't freeze on load. I finally connected the right things to the right devices (to spread the power load out?) and it didn't freeze and I'm now in Windows again.

I've never had a PSU problem before, and if this turns out to be it then it caught me by surprise. I'll know as soon as ZipZoomFly can get that power supply out here. In any event, just like the reformat and re-install, it's probably a good idea to up my power supply regardless.

Now I have to wonder whether I should sacrifice some performance and get a 3870-based video card since their 55nm chip is supposed to draw less power than the 8800GT. Then, after I upgrade my mobo/CPU/RAM I could look at adding another 3870 to extend the life of that graphics solution.
 
Your PSU should have two primary 12V lines coming out of it (if it's a dual rail PSU). Hard drives and optical drives should be on their own separate line, and the power munching video card should be on one of its own. Your 600W PSU you've got coming should have enough overhead that you don't have to worry over such minor details, but they're very important when trying to get the absolute most out of older hardware such as that 350W PSU.
 
I don't know if anyone who was or tried to be helpful subscribed to this thread, but I recently bought a new video card (3870) and after reformatting and putting in ATI drivers, the computer is working well--no more locking up during boot or in games. I did end up upgrading to a 650W PSU, but that was while I was still trying to fix the 6800 and the system was still locking up, at which point I was like F-it, and I managed to catch a 3870 in stock at newegg--Sapphire :(, but at least everything is working.

Again, thanks to everyone who helped me troubleshoot.
 
ysaric said:
I don't know if anyone who was or tried to be helpful subscribed to this thread, but I recently bought a new video card (3870) and after reformatting and putting in ATI drivers, the computer is working well--no more locking up during boot or in games. I did end up upgrading to a 650W PSU, but that was while I was still trying to fix the 6800 and the system was still locking up, at which point I was like F-it, and I managed to catch a 3870 in stock at newegg--Sapphire :(, but at least everything is working.

Again, thanks to everyone who helped me troubleshoot.
Click to expand...

Reading your original post, it sounds like your video card needs a new cooler. Or just clean the dust off the fan :) 100C is probably causing it to crash.
Anyway, enjoy the 3870!
 
chrispycrunch said:
Reading your original post, it sounds like your video card needs a new cooler. Or just clean the dust off the fan :) 100C is probably causing it to crash.
Anyway, enjoy the 3870!
Click to expand...
I guess you didn't read it close enough. :rolleyes: Congratulations to solving the issue though.
 
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