GeForce, AGP, and AMD - An old problem, but can't find any info.

[Lummoxx]

I seem to recall, and a friend has mentioned, that in the beginning of the GeForce cards, there were problems running with AMD processors. If anyone recalls, or has links to information regarding this, I sure would appreciate it.

I'm having lockups, that appear to be related to the video card. For example, in Tribes 2, when it dies, I have psychedelic colors, and it drops to about 20 frames per minute.

Everquest simply crashes straight to the desktop...practically instantly.

PCI bus speed is 34MHz, AGP bus speed 66MHz and set at 4x. (According to SiSoft Sandra)

I have the following:
AMD Thunderbird 1.0GHz 266 FSB
Asus A7V133 266 FSB
Creative Annihilator Pro (GeForce 256 DDR)
SB Live X-Gamer 5.1
256 MB PC-133 RAM
Win98

Thanks!
Chris

 

[Lummoxx]

I think I found my own answer. Found a geforce faq.

Basically, there is a voltage on the A7V board that is set at 3.56, when normally, it should be 3.3. The faq recommends setting that voltage down to 3.3.

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to leaving work, going home, and testing this!

Chris

 

[DaveB]

Set it back to 2X. AGP 4X doesn't enhance performance hardly at all, but causes a lot of instability.

 

[Lummoxx]

Thanks! Did that earlier, and it ran ok, but still had a crash. So, next step is to fix the voltage, but bump it back to 4x as well. If it's still unstable, then I'll back it to 2x again.

Getting really close to a stable system.

Chris

 

[DaveB]

Basically, there is a voltage on the A7V board that is set at 3.56, when normally, it should be 3.3. The faq recommends setting that voltage down to 3.3.

Gee that's weird Lummoxx. When the GeForce DDRs originally came out, everybody was trying to increase the I/O voltage to 3.5V or 3.6V to get the things to run right. Lately, guys have been upping the I/O voltage to try to get their SDRAM stable at higher FSBs. And now the venerable GeForce FAQ recommends lowering the I/O back to the default 3.3V level.

Go figure!

 

[Lummoxx]

Well, changed the voltage to 3.3, and put AGP back up to 4x, aperture to 256. It played for a while, but just as I began to think it was ok, it crashed. Usual symtoms.

So, my inital thought was temperature of the vid card. CPU and Mobo temps were in the mid 40's. So, to test, I have a cyclone floor fan. Opened the case, and pointed it straight in, but on low. Even on low, it boosted my one exhaust fan speed from 2800 rpm to 3200...heh.

It locked up again. I immediately moved the fan, and put my finger on the vid card heatsink, accidently touched the fan, and scared the s**t out of me. I thought I was shocking myself, but worse, frying the card in the process...hehe. Anyway, the heatsink was barely warm.

Had to quit at that point, so tonight, I will be testing with 2x AGP, and 128 aperture later tonight when I get home

I stated earlier that I saw my AGP bus at 66MHz. After taking a closer look, I realize that this wasn't true. It actually didn't say. I also didn't see anything in the bios to set this. The PCI bus *is* at 34MHz, how do I tell the MHz of the AGP bus?

Thanks!
Chris

 

[asmodean]

If you're running w2k, there's registry fix for AMD processors. I don't remember the registry key, but a program called Geforce Tweak Utility (among others) can do that.

Guru3D.com

Guru of 3D: Computer PC Hardware and Consumer Electronics reviews

www.guru3d.com

 

[Lummoxx]

Win98 here. Didn't have a chance to test last night...the wife insisted I spend some time with her...heh.

Tonight!

 

[asmodean]

About AGP bus speed. Sandra does say it, atleast 2k1 versions. My MX is able take atleast 89MHz at x2, so that shouldn't pose any problems.

 

[Lummoxx]

Ah...I probably have an old version, then. I'll have to find a newer version.

Thanks!
Chris

 

[MikeZ]

Lummoxx,

it seems you are running in the same type of problem than myself.

I have a Else Gladiac Ultra though and run Win2k - but same symptoms!

I tried all combinations of AGP settings yet - no success.
I will reduce I/O voltage to 3.3V next and do the settings game again....

Please let me (us) know if you solved the problem!

Happy tweaking

MikeZ

...almost forgot - I use the 11.01 driver, will try also 12.0 tonight...

 

[Lummoxx]

Heh...when I finally get this thing running right, I'll put together a whole post, summarizing what I did.

Last night, I didn't have a chance to test, but I did find that my Via 4in1 drivers were old. I downloaded and installed the new ones (ver429, I think), but had to then run out and spend some wife time.

I almost installed the AMD mini-port drivers...good thing I read the readme's before I start installs...hehe. It was only for the AMD-751 or 761 chipsets.

Chris

 

[Lummoxx]

It appears the issue was the chipset drivers. After installing the newest version from Via's website, Tribes2 ran for over an hour, and then EQ ran for over 2 hours...flawlessly.

While this is promising, I will reserve judgement until after a marathon gaming session this weekend.