Radeon 9800 pro problem

[Jusenkyo]

Hello all

I have just installed a Radeon 9800 Pro graphics card into my system... which is an XP3000+, 512 DDR 3200 Ram, Asus A7n8X Deluxe motherboard...

When I try to play Tron 2.0 and C&C Generals, the games both play for a few minutes perfectly, and then they just fall over!

I have just downloaded the latest drivers for the card, which I hope should work. But has anyone got any other ideas at all?

Cheers
Jusenkyo

 

[ski]

If you're saying that the games crash, then make sure that the card is fully inserted. Sometimes they need a healthy push to seat properly.
Also, make sure that the card does not slightly raise out of its slot on one end when its hold down screw is fully inserted.

If ok, then make sure that the previous card was removed from Device Manager, and its drivers were uninstalled.
If they were not, then start in Safe mode, and remove and uninstall all video cards and drivers, and then reinstall the new one and its drivers.

If no luck or that was already done, then remove the computer's cover, and make sure the video card's fan is running, and that it's properly and securely mounted.
If the card's fan is ok, then run an external fan blowing on the card with the computer's cover removed. If that works, then check that all case fans are running, there is no internal dust buildup, all vents are unobstructed, and internal cables are not blocking any airflow.
If ok, then consider installing add'l. case fans to remove the interior heat buildup. Recommended locations are lower front of the case(blowing in), and upper rear(blowing out).

If overheating is not the cause, then your power supply may be undersized. What is its watt capacity and who made it?

 

[Jusenkyo]

Cheers for the lengthy reply!

My whole PC is brand new, built from scratch, and there is no dust in there at all. I have 4 case fans, and a temperature monitor inside the case, which never goes over about 12 degrees.
The power supply is a 350W silent blue, cant remember who made it, but it cost about £50, and the shop I bought it from said that it is a very stable power supply!

But you could be onto something there... I have a Coolermaster Jet CPU fan, which is HUGE, 4 fans, SATA HDD, 52x Combo Drive... and the graphics card. Would that be tooo much for 350W?

 

[ski]

I believe that a 'Silent Blue' PS is made by Enermax, which makes real good units.
But since you're running a lot of high horsepower components and gaming puts them into overdrive(specifically the CPU, memory, and video card), the PS may be not have sufficient punch to handle the load. And the only way to check this is to swap it out for a higher wattage unit.

But before doing that, assuming that the video card is fully and properly inserted(you may want to remove and reinsert it just as a precaution), its heatsink and fan are properly mounted, and its fan is running ok, then try the latest video card drivers, and also DirectX 9.0b.

If no luck, then then reduce the card's acceleration and also reduce the games' settings(resolution, color depth, etc.).
If this stops the crashes, then the card may be overheating, which the CPU and system temperature sensors will not indicate.
Restore the card's original acceleration settings and all of the games' settings, remove the computer's case and run an external fan on it. If this works, then either the card's heatsink and/or fan are faulty, or there is inadequate case cooling.
If there are 4 case fans(not incl. the PS fans), then that may be too many, and they may be interfering with each other. The recommended configuration is one fan located in the lower front of the case blowing in, and a 2nd one in the upper rear blowing out.
What is the configuration of the case fans, i.e., locations, capacities(CFM), blowing in, blowing out, etc.?

 

[Jusenkyo]

THe case fans are as follows: Two on the front lower part of the case. One on the left side of the case in the middle, and one on the back at the top, below the PSU.

However... If I reduce all settings on the card, and in the game, to the lowest possible, this does not stop the crashes. Allso, that would not explain why the game runs perfectly for at leat 15 minutes, no slowing at all!

The card is straight out of the box, and into the PC, no overclocking or anything. C&C isnt exactly the most graphically demanding game around, so i cant imagine it overheating the card at all!

PLUS, the card has an ICEq cooling unit, which is a HUGE heatsink and fan covering the whole card! - and its got smaller heatsinks on the other side!

I have Directx 9a, and the latest ATI drivers.

AND I am pretty confident that a 350w Enermax PSU can handle a HDD, CD Rom, 4 fans and a graphics card!

Anymore ideas?

 

[ski]

The only other things I can think of are to reinstall the games, reseat the video card(give it a good push), and reseat the memory.

If no luck, then thru process of elimination you may have to try an external fan and a larger PS, even though it appears on the surface that the card is not overheating and the current PS has enough juice.
If that does not work, then the card may be defective.

BTW, the 12 deg. reading for the system temp. seems on the low side. Assuming that the reading is centigrade, then that's only 54 deg. F. I've never seen a system reading that low with just fan cooling(unless the room temp. is around 40 F).
Also, what is the temp of the CPU?

 

[dad200uk2000]

Jusenkyo

I had a client with the same problem.
Check that the heatsink on the Radeon 9800 Pro is touching the the chip. If not the AGP card will run fine for about 15 to 20 mins then overload causing the game that you are running to crash. If this is so excange it for another one.

Hope this helps.

John

 

[jbotz]

I would agree with the above suggestions regarding the temperature of the unit. However, in my experience, a 350W power supply, no matter the quality, seems a bit underpowered for what you're doing. I would opt for a 400W - 450W for what you're doing. Also, you mentioned you're running DirectX 9a. I believe there is an update to 9b that may take care of some of your problems. Give it a try and let us know.

 

[Jusenkyo]

I have officially tried everything, and this problem is still occuring...

Anyone got any more ideas?

 

[legion2552]

I had exactly the same problem, same spec machine (except I had a MSI board). I found turning of the fast write support in the display setting killed off this problem. Also, I did drop the AGP speed to 4x...
However, of late, the problem has reappeard every now and then, so the question of heat (as it happens once I slow the fan speed on the CPU) becomes another question...
I'm gunna check my graphics card later today to check the HSF is installed properly. Failing that, I wonder whether the HSF on the GPU is just not up to the job (I should mention that my CPU HSF, when on full whack, does blow onto the GPU maybe cooling it further)

 

[Jusenkyo]

The thing is, I have the Histech Iceq 9800 pro, which has a massive heatsink covering the whole card, and a fan which blows all of the heat out the back of the case...

And I have a massive collermaster Jet fan on my CPU, which keeps that nice and cool (below 30 degrees, overclocked to 2.4 Ghz)

AND I have 4 case fans, which should keep the heat in the case down.

AND Ive run the card with the case open, and an external fan on it!

I think I might return the card, and try a replacement...

 

[attrofy]

Which brand of ram are you running?

Also, have you tried running your BIOS settings ont "safe" or lowest auto configured settings to see if the problems still exist?

Which OS are you using?

 

[Jusenkyo]

I have 512mb or Crucial DDR 3200 Ram... which has been checked using RamChecker, and found no errors.

Allso I am running Windows XP, with SP 1a.