Please help..system useless.

[richardwalker73]

To all please help me.
I have a problem with my system.
Whenever I play games they crash, usually without an error message.
The game bombs out to the desktop and looks okay or it presents an error "this application has encountered an error and needs to close" and the desktop looks all washed out and is sized wrong.
I have done a complete reinstall of XP. DX8.1, NVidia 29.42s and the bundled drivers that came with my card.
I have tried some overclocking in the past (reducing memery timings, unlocking the XP chip) with some sucess. The XP is still locked and all of the settings are at defaults (133/33 x 12 multiplier @ 2.5 CAS)
I have run DXDIAG and all of the DIRECT X 8.1 files are listed and no errors are reported.
My temperatures a good and low (CPU 43, Mobo 32 at full load).
I can run PC mark and get goos scores and it reports no errors.
Can anybody help me?
Could I have a faulty memory module?
Is my XP chip goosed due to trying to unlock?
Is direct X the problem?
My System:
XP 1.9 @ 133 X12
Asus A7V333
512 mb of Samsung 2700 RAM.
Ge Force 4 (4400, factory settings)
40 gb IBM Deskstar (60gxp)
Soundblaster Live card
Help!!?
PS, This rig has worked perfectly in the past

[David]

Hi, and welcome to the forums.

What are your voltages please? If the 5V and 3.3V lines are low (less than 4.75 and 3.15 respecively) then system stability will be less than perfect.

You say the resolution is distorted after the game crashes. This suggests to me a video card problem. Does the card have adequate cooling? Is the card overclocked? Have you installed the correct drivers?

Try running the game without installing NVidias drivers. Reinstall windows, install your game(s) and see if they work.

I would also suggest making sure that your games are Xp compatible and that you have all the latest patches for them.

Good Luck, let us know how you get on.

David

[richardwalker73]

The graphics card is at stock settings and has two case fans on a modified pc slot firing a gail right at it.
I have tried to set of drivers detonator 29.42's and the bundled drivers that came with it (Abit Silurio Drivers) both have been very stable in the past.
i read on the Windows site that direct x 8.1 can crash to desktop with no error and is a known issue. My problem is I cannot say if its direct x 8 or a hadware problem.
If the system takes the OS and runs PC MARK without an issue can it be hardware. Or in other words can something like PC Mark (system, memory, cpu and graphics card testing application) run , without errors if one of those components is damaged?
Thanks a lot for the welcome and your response.

[David]

Originally posted by richardwalker73
The graphics card is at stock settings and has two case fans on a modified pc slot firing a gail right at it.
I have tried to set of drivers detonator 29.42's and the bundled drivers that came with it (Abit Silurio Drivers) both have been very stable in the past.
i read on the Windows site that direct x 8.1 can crash to desktop with no error and is a known issue. My problem is I cannot say if its direct x 8 or a hadware problem.
If the system takes the OS and runs PC MARK without an issue can it be hardware. Or in other words can something like PC Mark (system, memory, cpu and graphics card testing application) run , without errors if one of those components is damaged?
Thanks a lot for the welcome and your response.

If a piece of hardware is at fault, then anything that stresses that item of hardware should cause a problem: in the form of errors, crashes etc.

Try a non-DirectX piece of software to see if it is the graphics card rather than DirectX that is at fault. For example, Half-life can use OpenGL. If OpenGL programs run fine then it means that DirectX is the problem.

Try 3DMark2001SE from www.madonion.com as this stresses the CPU and graphics a lot. PCMark 2002 is also a good idea: if it runs successfully then compare your scores with other peoples - do they seem very low? or are they normal?

David

[richardwalker73]

I will try Quake 3 tonight.

Exellent suggestion.
This had occured to me but I disregarded it at first as I thought that OpenGL used direct x anyway. :o

[turd]

Have you looked at your SB card as possibly being involved? Try pulling it and see if you can get your games to run. I have seen like problems caused by overheat issues, but that dosen't seem to be the case with yours. You could try the 28.11 drivers and see what you get, they seem to be the most stable to me.

[Myrdhinn]

Look at the event viewer in admistrative tools in the control panel... with luck you might have a savedump error listed and looking up the event in MS knowledge base might give a clue whether its hardware or drivers.

[richardwalker73]

Thankyou all so much for your help, you guys are :cool: :cool:

It was a faulty stick of ram.Tried one stick booted ok, tried the other (in the same slot) no boot.

That is such a relief!!

Now will they take it back.........

[David]

Originally posted by richardwalker73
Thankyou all so much for your help, you guys are :cool: :cool:

It was a faulty stick of ram.Tried one stick booted ok, tried the other (in the same slot) no boot.

That is such a relief!!

Now will they take it back.........

Glad to hear you got it sorted :D

I had a problem with RAM once, ran memtest86 and located the faulty areas, and took a note of the faulty parts and a receipt back to the shop. They gladly replaced the RAM.

David