Lock-ups on 3D Accelerated games...HELP before rebuild!!

[beanbag]

HELP!!!!!

I just spent ages moving my computer from my old case to my new one (nice new Chieftec Mesh jobbie), and installing a passive Zalman Heatpipe Cooler to my graphics card and everything was working fine....until I tried to play Counter Strike.

I noticed it kept locking up (but with the audio playing perfectly in the background). This happened in every game that uses 3D acceleration and on top of that, the graphics seemed corrupted or at very least....incomplete.

I've tried reinstalling the drivers (upgrading them), tried uninstalling any tweaks. Disabling my new ZoneAlarm and shutting down any unneccessary programs. But so far I've had no luck!

Any ideas what could be wrong? To be honest I've no idea whether or not I had this problem before the rebuild so could it be related to that? (Keep in mind I did take my graphics card apart, but it is running much much cooler now.

Thanks chap & chapettes!

[pdV6]

I take it you used safe static-sensitive handling techniques during the vid card fiddling?

Also, you say it now runs cooler - are you referring to the gfx card and if so, how would you know if it conks out in 3D stuff?

[Jinx]

What version of DirectX are you running? I've had similar lockups when I've not had the version explicitly referred to in the documentation (Homeworld 2 did this to me). You could also try the trouble shooting options - turning down the acceleration ect.

[beanbag]

Yup, I was shorted out while fiddling with the card so no static discharges I think. The GPU is now running much much cooler. It used to run very hot with the stock heatsink. ie. So hot I couldn't touch it. Now it's simply warm...

I'm also running the latest DX9.0c but then again my card is only a GF Ti4200 so DX would suffice. Nevertheless, I have everything of the most recent installed!

Anymore ideas?

>> Edited by beanbag on Tuesday 24th January 10:59

[Jinx]

The other main issue I had was with Spellforce - used to lock up soon after it started. That was solved by disabling AVG whilst I played the game.

[pentoman]

beanbag said:

Yup, I was shorted out while fiddling with the card so no static discharges I think. The GPU is now running much much cooler. It used to run very hot with the stock heatsink. ie. So hot I couldn't touch it. Now it's simply warm... I'm also running the latest DX9.0c but then again my card is only a GF Ti4200 so DX would suffice. Nevertheless, I have everything of the most recent installed! Anymore ideas? >> Edited by beanbag on Tuesday 24th January 10:59

Where are you measuring the temperature from? Are you using the graphics card's own on-board chip?

It sounds to me like the graphics card overheating, that would be my first guess (especially as you changed the cooler).

Do the problems only come along after a few minutes?

Try taking the side off the case and see if they take longer to go away. Also overclocking of the FSB (or I guess the CPU) could cause this sort of problem.

Russell

[beanbag]

pentoman said:

beanbag said: Yup, I was shorted out while fiddling with the card so no static discharges I think. The GPU is now running much much cooler. It used to run very hot with the stock heatsink. ie. So hot I couldn't touch it. Now it's simply warm... I'm also running the latest DX9.0c but then again my card is only a GF Ti4200 so DX would suffice. Nevertheless, I have everything of the most recent installed! Anymore ideas? >> Edited by beanbag on Tuesday 24th January 10:59 Where are you measuring the temperature from? Are you using the graphics card's own on-board chip? It sounds to me like the graphics card overheating, that would be my first guess (especially as you changed the cooler). Do the problems only come along after a few minutes? Try taking the side off the case and see if they take longer to go away. Also overclocking of the FSB (or I guess the CPU) could cause this sort of problem. Russell

Nope....it can't be overheating since the GPU is completely cool. So cool that it just feels warm.

This is what I installed:



Also the problem happened instantly when running a 3D game and none of my PC's component are overclocked.

I think I might simply reinstall but i've got so much on there, it's going to be a right arse! (I need one of those external hard disk jobbies).

[pdV6]

i was just thinking that your GPU's never going to get hot if it shuts down as soon as 3D work is started...

[lockstock2sb]

Well it could be a short on the case/board, or the new heatsink could be causing the problem. If it was running fine before its logical to assume its something thats changed thats causing the problem.

I'd try a full driver remove/install, if that fails, reseat the card first and try that,If that fails try a different slot if you have one.... if that fails try putting the old heatsink back on and reseat -after that i would probably remove the board from the case floor and put some non-static insulation underneath and see if its the case mounts that are causing an issue.

Failing that take the whole bloody lot out of the case and connect it all up on a table (being careful not to zap the kit with static) and see if it works outside the case in anyway with the new heatsink. Only connect what devices you absolutely need for the game...

Longwinded but i'm pretty sure its either the case or the new heatsink (it looks pretty beefy - you sure its not touching any solder points on the card ?!), or the seating of the card. Those are the only bits that have changed !?

Steve


>> Edited by lockstock2sb on Tuesday 24th January 12:40

[annodomini2]

If there is any tension on the motherboard release the screws slightly holding the board down, had this problem a few years back, if you took the tension off it worked fine, screwed it down tight and nothing worked (tiny crack in the motherboard). takes 2secs to check.

Make sure you've used the little paper washers on the motherboard screws, had a few probs with them too.

[lockstock2sb]

yeah i've seen that too - literally tighen up the board thumb tight and no harder. Paper washers are vital.

I forgot to say it also might be worth applying a fresh lump of thermal paste onto the GPU and heatsink. Clean off old paste beforehand. Might be worth buying some good quality stuff - its only a couple of quid.

[mr_yogi]

Sounds like the video card is overheating, as many cards run at lower clock speeds when in 2D mode then power themselves up to full speed for 3D. That would explain the lack of heat.

Did you have to remove the old heatsink before you fitted the new one?

Did you apply any thermal paste before fitting the new heat sink?

Maybe you damaged a memory chip or connector, it could still function in 2D if a damaged chip wasn't used for 2D and then it would crash when it trys to read or write to the damaged chip in 3D mode?

have you tried any other games or only CS?

sorry I couldn't be more helpful

[beanbag]

Cheers all for the suggestions.....

Right....All the screws on the mobo use paper washers. On top of that they're not tight and I've stress tested the board using SiSoft (which I know is a synthetic test but nevertheless, should suffice).

I've also use Arctic Silver paste for all the contact with the Zalman cooler. They gave me some cheap OEM stuff but I prefer the Arctic Silver stuff as it definately works better.

I think it's going to have to be a rebuild or maybe I've screwed up my graphics card....

[scorp]

GPU overheat would likely cause a whole system crash, have you tried using a different version of the vendors drivers?

[lockstock2sb]

is it just CS that it screws up ? Have you tried any other games ?

[beanbag]

lockstock2sb said:

is it just CS that it screws up ? Have you tried any other games ?

All games using 3D acceleration do the same thing. I used two different versions of the graphics drivers. The v7 and v8 ForceWare lot. No luck

[lockstock2sb]

in which case you only have these options then i would have thought :

rebuild will be least effort, if that fails pull the kit out and test devices on a bench, and test another video card if you can. Can you even test your card in another/someone elses system ? If they both fail it must be the card is fecked i'm afraid and its time to break the wallet out....sorry !

>> Edited by lockstock2sb on Tuesday 24th January 16:32

[greenv8s]

I seem to remember running a graphics diagnostic in the past, that exercised all the various graphics functions and drew lots of pretty shapes on the screen. This might enable you to see whether there's some specific operation that is causing the problem? Can't remember where I got it from, but it would probably have been either in one of the DirectX installations, or built into the Dell hardware diagnostic. Anyway, maybe worth a quick search.

[scorp]

Another thing, it could be a bios setting killing the 3d acceleration stuff.. i had similiar problems years ago, and was to do with sideband addressing or something in the bios, anyway, try changing some of the agp related settings to see if it makes a difference.

[Zod]

I would suggest that if the new graphics card heatsink is not getting very warm, then it may well not be fitted properly. Are you sure that the heatsink is making firm, clamped contact with a very thin layer of thermal compound onthe GPU core?