Someone please help

[Sudden]

2 years ago, I spent a lot of money to build a very high end computer. Ended up with the following specs -

Tagan 900W PSU.
Corsair 2gb c6400 ram
Asus p5n32 sli se edition mobo
7950 GTX in SLI mode
x6800 intel core duo extreme

Since then, been plagued with the nv4_disp.dll problem which from what I can see others have online as well. Only solution anyone had was update drivers. I kept doing that, to no avail.

Then, the 8800's came out and I took advantage of the EVGA step up and got 2 8800 GTX's and thought this would solve the problem. But no, problem continued. Middle of a game and artifacting would start, followed with a freeze up and a BSOD quoting the nv4 issue.

Since then, other problems occured and the ram has been replaced, the PSU has been replaced, processor has been replaced and the mobo is now a Asus p5n32 sli premium edition.

the problem with the gfx cards though, remains. I kept trudging through the years hoping driver updates would fix the issue. With them, the artifacting disappeared soon, and with time, the BSOD's have gone. But, the computer still freezes up. With the latest couple, it's started happening in windows as well where earlier it was only in games. All drivers are upto date and each time a component was replaced, so was windows. The only thing not done is try a non xp professional 32 bit windows.

I am really very fed up with all this. With the amount of money I spent on this, I should not be plagued with such problems. I've tried turning SLI on and off and it doesn't seem to make much difference. Recently tried running the computer with only one card but that hasn't worked either. Someone else suggested replacing the chipset drivers with generic ones. I've done this, but freezes still happen. Though now the entire system is a bit more sluggish. In game though, instead of a direct freeze, it freezes with allowing me to get to the desktop and close it from there with end task etc. But if I try to maxmize it again, no luck.

Does anyone have any suggestions at all? I am truly fed up with this problem that has been on going for years. I've run stress tests etc. and the memtest runs for hours on end without any issue. Prime95 also had no problems. 3D Mark runs fine for 17 minutes, but then hangs. And from what I can make out, always hangs at the exact same point. the nv4 disp error points to a card issue.

Suggestions are greatly welcome. Anything barring a windows re-install. That's not something I can do for about 1 week. Can do it after that. Someone please help :s All this makes me just feel stupid for buying a high end computer

Apologies for a whiny first post :p

[JackNSally]

Have you tried completely removing the drivers? Here is what I would try doing.

1. Go to control panel and uninstall ALL nvidia drivers.
2. Run driver sweeper (http://www.guru3d.com/index.php?page=driversweeper).
3. Run ccleaner (http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/) registry checker.
4. Reboot.
5. Reinstall drivers and if anything is overclocked, run it at stock.
6. Problem still persists, run memtest.

[Sudden]

I have tried removing all drivers, but not done that procedure. I'l give it a try when I can. I usually reinstall graphics drivers using driver cleaner pro and the whole procedure there, but haven't combined it with the ccleaner and all the other drivers being replaced.
I'l post when I can with the results. Also, nothing is overclocked. System hasn't been stable since day 1 so never even tried all that.

[Zantal]

Very strange indeed, it might be a hardware compatibility issue.

But i can't be to sure of it. in any case see if ram + mobo are compatible

(although if they weren't you wouldn't get the nvidia driver error)

but honestly i can't think of anything else, you should bring it to some computer genius.

But ppl here will try to help as much as they can.




very strange also the fact that it hangs in the exact same place in 3dmark all the time.

[DragoXT]

That is usually a driver issue. If ya had an agp card disabling fast writes fixes this issue, but since you dont, you have to do a driver fix. Since you have uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers to no avail, grab you OS disk and have it ready. At command prompt, type in sfc /scannow and let it do its thing. This will activate windows file protection which will go and scan your drive and double check all your system files. If it finds a problem it will ask you to insert your OS disk and then it will pull that file.

I had a lappy that was just BSODing randomly and this replaced some system files that stopped all the BSOD's. Sometimes there are errors in copying files from the disk to the hdd, so it is at least worth a shot.

[Sudden]

Ok, tried those things.

JackNSally - did that, no luck. computer just crashed and while in windows.

DragoXT - I treid that, but it wouldn't recognize the xp pro cd as the proper one. Said it might be the wrong version when I clicked on more information. Something to do with cd being sp2 and the computer having sp3 on it maybe?

Zantal - i've run memtest though. Surely it would bring up any problems there?
Yea, computer genius. Only if I had one of those lying around :p

Also, before it froze, I think i saw some artifacting. I'm not sure about this at all because if it was there, it was just split second and I could be mistaken. Computer ran fine for a few seconds after, and then crashed.

Any other ideas?

[Zantal]

Just make a clean install of the O.S.

if someone doesn't tell you something more useful ofc.