Video lockup. help me out!!

Ok guys, I hope someone can help. I have my athlon 2800 OC'ed at 400 FSB at 2.4 ghz. It runs smooth as hell no problems, until i play direct 3d games. it'll play for a while then the video will either freeze up or distort and the game will quit. I know you are all probably thinking it's getting to hot, but I have hit alt esc during a game and checked temp and the cpu is not even at 115F ever. I used a ratio to clock my ram, so it's not even overclocked. My ambient temperature is a bit higher than usual. do you think my Video card could be getting to hot and freezing, or maybe even the northbridge? could someone please enlighten me.

Welcome and post all system specs to get meaningful help, there's nothing to go on here.

Your overclocked system needs to pass 12 hours of Prime95 Torture test. If it does not, the system may be stable enough to boot but as soon as it is stressed, it locks up. Meaning you have an overall unstable system and you need to back down a bit.

Post of your specs could help in pointing out the weak point.

_____________________
2100+ AIUHB 0248 MPMW
256MB Crucial PC2100 + 2x 256MB Kingston (Hynix chip) PC2100 @ 6 3 3 2
[152] FSB x 15 = 2280 MHz @ 1.8 Vcore with memory frequency at 100% [152] @ 2.77 Vdimm
37(min) C to 46(max) C Winter ; 42(min) C to 50(max) C Summer
Epox 8RDA+
Thermalright SK-7 with variable speed 80x25mm YS-Tech FD1281259B-2F
BFG GeForce4 Ti4200 8X 128MB; Antec SX-835II case ; 350W Antec SmartPower SL350
Five 80x25mm Ultra Quiet 18CFM Case Fans (NMB C3110KL-04W-B19)

Welcome to the forums!!

3d is often the first thing to go, or the most sensitive where overclocking is concerned. Sometimes you can be stable even on very stressful programs like prime95, but when you run 3d games it will crash. My suggestion- run some stress testers and back down your overclock.

OK guys her goes. athlon 2800 (200mhz X 11.5 currently) 1gb pc 2700 dual ddr. radeon 9700 pro. the reason why i had thought it was my card, is because i had no problem clocking this much before i had the 9700, and i figured since i have the ram clocked normally it wouldn't be that. oh well, guess if nobody has any suggestions, I'll just put it back down for the time being.

It may be your card. On the other hand, it may be your system being stable enough to boot but... well hopefully you can answer:

c627627 said:

Your overclocked system needs to pass 12 hours of Prime95 Torture test. If it does not, the system may be stable enough to boot but as soon as it is stressed, it locks up. Meaning you have an overall unstable system and you need to back down a bit.

Post of your specs could help in pointing out the weak point.

Click to expand...

Did you leave cooling out of your specs because your using a retail heat sink?

Your posting that you have PC2700 helped a lot. Here's a quote from another thread:

c627627 said:

You say you have a crappy PC2700 and the problem is it won't go over 200 FSB? They usually crap out 180ish FSB.

http://www.pbase.com/image/19261650/original

Click to expand...

Make a txt file with all your specs. That way whenever something goes wrong and you have to post in forums, people may spot the possible culprit straight away, and you would be on your way to having a problem-free system quicker.

_____________________
2100+ AIUHB 0248 MPMW
256MB Crucial PC2100 + 2x 256MB Kingston (Hynix chip) PC2100 @ 6 3 3 2
[152] FSB x 15 = 2280 MHz @ 1.8 Vcore with memory frequency at 100% [152] @ 2.77 Vdimm
37(min) C to 46(max) C Winter ; 42(min) C to 50(max) C Summer
Epox 8RDA+
Thermalright SK-7 with variable speed 80x25mm YS-Tech FD1281259B-2F
BFG GeForce4 Ti4200 8X 128MB; Antec SX-835II case ; 350W Antec SmartPower SL350
Five 80x25mm Ultra Quiet 18CFM Case Fans (NMB C3110KL-04W-B19)

CPU heatsink=Volcano 7/w fan removed and placed with vantec tornado. 3 80mm 32 cfm exhaust fans 1 80mm intake, and 1 120mm intake @ 84cfm

by the way I'll work on that txt file now

What motherboard is this on?

On my old ASUS A7N8X-DLX I had to bump up the voltage on the AGP slot to 1.6V at higher FSB. Some nForce2 boards have that problem.

you think my psu could not be given enough juice? I had no problems clocking this high before my 9700 and the 9700 does have the four pin power connector.

Is it a name brand? (Antec/Fortron/PC Power and cooling /Channel well are good brands)

Most crappy PSUs not only fail well before their wattage rating but put out poorly regulated current and voltages can sag.

http://mbm.livewiredev.com <-- MBM5 is a tool that you can use to monitor voltages, but if you already can see them don't bother. Just post them.

As your computer craps out after a small amount of time and not instantly heat buildup is a possible problem. Check temperatures under Prime95 loading.

I was looking into getting a new psu anyway, i guess i'll find out if that is part of the problem

Then don't look in to it any further if it is not the culprit - which we can solve by you posting the type and rating and the voltages that are coming out.

thanks guys. I think the psu was the problem. I went ahead and got an antec true power 480w psu and Things are running much stabler. (not cooler unfortunately)

Brand name power supply did help your stability problem but it's not going to do anything for your cooling.

Dropping Volcano 7 in favor of the $15.99 Thermalright SK-7 will reduce your temperatures.

Oh i know, actually my vol7 has a vantec tornado on it, rather than thermaltakes fan. I was just suggesting that the new PSU keeps my system all around warmer. I stay pretty cool for the most part, but I need a better case to get overall better airflow. my ambient temperature ranges anywhere from 28c to 45c depending on my room temp and other factors