Overly Chatty Penguins

The Ready Room => Off Topic => Topic started by: Sustained on August 03, 2004, 10:17:38 AM

Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Sustained on August 03, 2004, 10:17:38 AM
Okay. So.

My pc's been crashing randomly in a lot of different games all the time I've had it. I sit and play the game and suddenly the screen goes black and the screen goes into hibernation mode. This happens in Morrowind, Gothic 2, Warcraft 3, UT 2k4, heck, sometimes even Half-life (N0 NS 4 j00!).

I've got a AMD Athlon XP 2400+ with 512 mb DDR ram.
80 gb HD
and a Geforce FX5200.

I've tried random things, from flashing my BIOS to upgrading drivers for everything, including my mainboard, but still no workie :(

Anyone ever heard of such a problem? Anyone ever fixed such a problem? If yes, pleeease tell me how!

Also, if anyone's got a Geforce FX5200 tweaked and good, I'd like to know what settings I ought to set it to.


 :help:  :help:  :help:
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Doobie Dan on August 03, 2004, 10:33:19 AM
Before I go into detail, are there any causes you can eliminate, such as overheating or bad ram?  Also, is it a Windows crash or is the computer suddenly rebooting/turning off?  If it's Windows, is it making it back to the desktop ok or is the whole OS borked?

When you say the screen goes black it's hard to guess at what's going on underneath  :huh:
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Sustained on August 03, 2004, 10:45:46 AM
Err, yeah. Sorry about that, but I'm not really sure what happens :s
I sit and play. Suddenly, screen goes black, sound stops. Computer is still running as far as I can tell, but I don't get any error messages and there's no way to reach Windows again. It's like the monitor suddenly looses connection to the PC.

I tried going into the BIOS menu after a crash and it said that the temperature was 50 degrees or so. As far as I understand, this isn't near overheating borders. I don't know if it's bad ram, any way to test this?
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Isamil on August 03, 2004, 11:43:27 AM
Try Power Options.
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Sustained on August 03, 2004, 03:06:09 PM
Tried it. Everything was set to "never".
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: BobTheJanitor on August 03, 2004, 03:29:40 PM
What version of windows? Any error message (even a flash of blue that might barely indicate a blue screen before it vanishes)? Does it ever reboot, or just sit at black screen until hard shutdown?

Could be memory, search for docmem or simmtester (same product). Could be vidcard going boom. Might feel it for heat next time it crashes. Doubtful that it's hard drive. Might also be a power supply dying. They're pretty cheap and easy to replace though, if it is that.
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Tombomb on August 03, 2004, 04:43:52 PM
i used to get something same to this when i had my crappy nividia card still in with my intergrated graphix card... all it would do is after like 15 mins of play it would just crash... it sucked.... well w/e hope it helps.
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: SwiftSpear on August 03, 2004, 07:21:22 PM
check to see if the fan on the *coughcrappycough* 5200 is still running.  If its stopped (which is something the stupid cards are natorious for) your probably getting your vid card overheating...  Options include, new cooling system, or new, actually good, video card.
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Malevolent on August 03, 2004, 09:55:06 PM
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Err, yeah. Sorry about that, but I'm not really sure what happens :s
I sit and play. Suddenly, screen goes black, sound stops. Computer is still running as far as I can tell, but I don't get any error messages and there's no way to reach Windows again. It's like the monitor suddenly looses connection to the PC.
Hmm, that happened to me. It was because I overclocked my video card too much. No problems after that. Another thing that was weird was that it did it a lot in Warcraft III. I haven't ended up playing Warcraft III since I set my cards speed back and reinstalled the drivers, so I don't know if Warcraft III still does it. (My card is a Radeon 9700 Pro, btw.)
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Sustained on August 03, 2004, 11:24:43 PM
Bobthejanitor, Win XP pro, no signs of blue at all. Just suddenly black.  :(


Malevolent, if I somehow by mistake overclocked it, how do I reset it?

I'll open the box later today when I get home from school and i'll check for overheating/ the fan not running.
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Uranium - 235 on August 03, 2004, 11:33:28 PM
I'm almost positive this is a video card problem. Get a friend who might have a cheap POS lying around (even a TNT2 - hell you can buy one for like $12) and try using it for a bit.
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: rad4Christ on August 04, 2004, 07:26:15 AM
Sounds like an overheating/video. I agree with U235, go get a cheap card ot test for a bit to see if it's the video, or get some more cooling in there. A quick, simple test ot signify between a hard lock, and a software issue is, when it happens, hit the NUMLock key. If it flashes on and off when you press it, the computer is not "locked up", but the video has quit out/other problem. If the NUMLock light stays frozen on or off, then the PC is locked up, and you have generally a hardware issue, or an overclock/driver issue that is locking up the PC.
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Lito on August 04, 2004, 07:44:18 AM
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I'm almost positive this is a video card problem. Get a friend who might have a cheap POS lying around (even a TNT2 - hell you can buy one for like $12) and try using it for a bit.
HEY HEY HEY.  That cheap POS is letting me play NS kthx.
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Sustained on August 04, 2004, 10:09:26 AM
Rad4christ, numlock stays on no matter what I do, so it's a hardware problem then. Blast. I haven't checked the fan on the gcard yet, but if it does turn out to be a faulty gcard, anybody got any suggestions for a new one? Preferrably cheap AND capable ^_^ I've got about 160$ to spend on a new one, though I'd settle for spending less.
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Malevolent on August 04, 2004, 12:54:42 PM
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Malevolent, if I somehow by mistake overclocked it, how do I reset it?
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Well, when I overclocked mine, I was using the Radeon Omega Driver's built-in overclocking feature. Otherwise, I'm not too sure on how to overclock/reset (the BIOS can play a part in overclocking among many other things). Two good sites are:

TweakTown nVidia Overclocking (http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=review&dId=267)
[H]ard|Forum Overclocking Links (http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=758918)
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Leaderz0rz on August 04, 2004, 06:59:01 PM
when the computer does that, open your case and touch your video card, if it burns your finger, its a heating problem, i suggest getting a pci slot fan and sticking it under your video card, if thats the case.
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Sustained on August 05, 2004, 08:49:02 AM
We have a winner!

My gcard was hawt hawt hawt. So it's overheating. Dammit. And here I've been trying to fix it with software. Welp, time to order a fan :/
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Doobie Dan on August 05, 2004, 10:59:10 AM
Quote
Quote
I'm almost positive this is a video card problem. Get a friend who might have a cheap POS lying around (even a TNT2 - hell you can buy one for like $12) and try using it for a bit.
HEY HEY HEY.  That cheap POS is letting me play NS kthx.
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What he said.  :angry: Last time I checked, this was a forum for people who love a HALF-LIFE MOD, don't expect the most top of the line machines here.     :p
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: SwiftSpear on August 05, 2004, 02:25:15 PM
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Quote
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I'm almost positive this is a video card problem. Get a friend who might have a cheap POS lying around (even a TNT2 - hell you can buy one for like $12) and try using it for a bit.
HEY HEY HEY.  That cheap POS is letting me play NS kthx.
[snapback]24860[/snapback]
What he said.  :angry: Last time I checked, this was a forum for people who love a HALF-LIFE MOD, don't expect the most top of the line machines here.     :p
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I expect top of the line nerdiness here, and nerdiness requires hot and sexy vid cards  ^_^
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Niteowl on August 06, 2004, 09:57:28 AM
NEIN! having parents who will pay for it does! or having a spouse that will let you buy one ;)

there is a geek rites of passage thread somewhere in OT, THAT's what nerdiness/geekiness is all aboot, imho.
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Doobie Dan on August 06, 2004, 10:11:52 AM
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NEIN! having parents who will pay for it does! or having a spouse that will let you buy one ;)
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What about that place in between?  :D  Buy whatever the hell you want.

PS to all you others - never let your spouse pay the bills ;)
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Sustained on August 07, 2004, 08:41:03 AM
But...so expensive!

Anyway, before this degenerates into a spam-fest, I'd like to pose yet another point:

I don't think it's my gfx card after all.

See, I checked it again right after a crash, and it wasn't exactly scolding. Plus, while it doesn't have a fan, I believe it has something smart and fancy called passive cooling. Nothing I understand, but anyway...

I'm pretty darn sure it's a hardware problem, since my PC acts exactly the way Rad4Christ said, numlock being frozen on. I'm gonna try out "Memtest86" and see if it might be bad RAM. Still, if anyone is able to recognize this problem, I still desperately need help. Now I can't even play NS anymore :(

In addition, if anyone has a Geforce FX5200, I'd like to know the optimal settings for the little bugger. That fixed my ability to play Lineage 2 before.
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: SwiftSpear on August 07, 2004, 11:35:04 PM
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In addition, if anyone has a Geforce FX5200, I'd like to know the optimal settings for the little bugger. That fixed my ability to play Lineage 2 before.
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I had the card and it crashed out on me.  The fan stopped, I got crashes to black and other general 'games suck' type errors, stuck a 4 pin fan under the bugger (which worked) until I got a soundcard which required me to find another solution.  Used that as an excuse to buy an Radeon 9800 pro.  

Optimally you want the most recent drivers, and the most recent version of direct X, and a running fan on your heat sink.  'Passive cooling' should stop your card from frying and doing damage to itself, but it doesn't mean that the card is magically kept at a temperature where it can't cause errors on the machine.
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: lolfighter on August 08, 2004, 05:54:32 AM
Depends on the card and the cooling. Remember that the earliest iMacs (if not all of them) had no fans at all? "Passive" cooling, if I interpret it right, is just a heatsink. It is of course not as effective as a fan & heatsink combo, but electronics become hot to the touch long before they start malfunctioning. I dunno what you mean with "not exactly scalding", but if it doesn't feel that hot, then it probably isn't your video card.
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: SwiftSpear on August 08, 2004, 05:45:33 PM
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Depends on the card and the cooling. Remember that the earliest iMacs (if not all of them) had no fans at all? "Passive" cooling, if I interpret it right, is just a heatsink. It is of course not as effective as a fan & heatsink combo, but electronics become hot to the touch long before they start malfunctioning. I dunno what you mean with "not exactly scalding", but if it doesn't feel that hot, then it probably isn't your video card.
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5200 FX's come with a fan and a heatsink (combo) the fans are nitorious for going out in no time at all, expecially if they get dusty.  The heatsink generally keeps the card from frying once the fan goes out, but it still gives you problems if you try to run Vcard taxing games...  Its acctually one of the most common computer issues, video card cooling systems frying...
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: Sustained on August 08, 2004, 11:30:48 PM
No fan on mine. It must be some odd 3rd party manufactured stuff that screwed me over. I'm shopping for a Radeon 9800 pro these days, I dearly hope it's the video card that's the problem  :ph34r:
Title: Tech Support Please?
Post by: SwiftSpear on August 09, 2004, 01:02:02 AM
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No fan on mine. It must be some odd 3rd party manufactured stuff that screwed me over. I'm shopping for a Radeon 9800 pro these days, I dearly hope it's the video card that's the problem  :ph34r:
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The card didn't come with a fan at all?

Ok, NM what I said then, it if the VCard isn't defective in some other way, it shouldn't be overheating in its default state.  My FX5200 came with a fan and the fan stopped running, and THAT caused the card to overheat.  It isn't a massive heat sourse the 5200, if they put a proper heatsink on it, it should be able to run cool enough...  The heatsink that came with mine was pitiful, and thus it needed the fan to keep cool.

The 9800 pro is a great card anyways, I can't in any way discourage the purchase of that card, it has been a godsend to me.