[gwtwins]

I am having graphics issues with this game ever since I upgraded to a Sapphire Radeon x1650 512MB card! I also upgraded my power supply to 500 watts.

Right now I am trying to fight the Brumak (or whatever it's called) for a second time. The part where you need to shoot the guns on it's arms. My computer just locks up and the only way out is for me to ctrl+alt+del to shut the game down. When I go into task manager I notice it's using almost 800MB of memory but that should not be an issue. I have 2 gig of DDR2 and a big swap file. This is the second time this has happened. I cannot remember the exact location the first time but it wasn't much before this part of the game. I tweaked the resolution down from 1280x1024 to 1024x768 and that seemed to allieviate the problem the first time around but now it's freezing up on me again. I have also updated to the newest Radeon drivers from ATI. I'm running WinXp Pro SP2 with an Intel P4 D 3.4 gig processor. 2 gig of DDR2 RAM. Sapphire Radeon x1650512MB video card with a Sound Blaster Audigy sound card.

Anybody got any ideas? This really stinks!! I just "upgraded" to this video card from a Geforce 7600 256MB card hoping it would make some of these games play better. Crysis seems OK so far but it's on low settings. Thanks for any advice!

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Here are some things to do that fixed my crashing problems: (I'm on Vista Ultimate 64-bit, so no guarantees this will work, but it's worth a shot.)

First, install the GOW Title Update.

Then, download and install LIVE Redistributable V1.2. It might ask you to uninstall LIVE first. If so, do that, then run it again to install.

Note: The following involves editing the registry, which can cause problems if you don't know what you are doing. The instructions I am about to give should not cause any problems, but just in case, I've included steps to back up the part of the registry you will be modifying. Go to the registry editor. To do so, click Start, then Run, type regedit and click "Ok". Now, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management. Go to File, then select Export. Make sure Selected Branch is checked, then save the file. You can run this file later to restore the registry entry we are about to change. Now, change the PagedPoolSize value to FFFFFFFF. Then restart the computer.

Hope that helps!

Edited by stettybet0, 11 February 2008 - 02:48 PM.

[stettybet0]

Here are some things to do that fixed my crashing problems: (I'm on Vista Ultimate 64-bit, so no guarantees this will work, but it's worth a shot.)

First, install the GOW Title Update.

Then, download and install LIVE Redistributable V1.2. It might ask you to uninstall LIVE first. If so, do that, then run it again to install.

Note: The following involves editing the registry, which can cause problems if you don't know what you are doing. The instructions I am about to give should not cause any problems, but just in case, I've included steps to back up the part of the registry you will be modifying. Go to the registry editor. To do so, click Start, then Run, type regedit and click "Ok". Now, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management. Go to File, then select Export. Make sure Selected Branch is checked, then save the file. You can run this file later to restore the registry entry we are about to change. Now, change the PagedPoolSize value to FFFFFFFF. Then restart the computer.

Hope that helps!

Edited by stettybet0, 11 February 2008 - 02:48 PM.

[gwtwins]

Here are some things to do that fixed my crashing problems: (I'm on Vista Ultimate 64-bit, so no guarantees this will work, but it's worth a shot.)

First, install the GOW Title Update.

Then, download and install LIVE Redistributable V1.2. It might ask you to uninstall LIVE first. If so, do that, then run it again to install.

Note: The following involves editing the registry, which can cause problems if you don't know what you are doing. The instructions I am about to give should not cause any problems, but just in case, I've included steps to back up the part of the registry you will be modifying. Go to the registry editor. To do so, click Start, then Run, type regedit and click "Ok". Now, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management. Go to File, then select Export. Make sure Selected Branch is checked, then save the file. You can run this file later to restore the registry entry we are about to change. Now, change the PagedPoolSize value to FFFFFFFF.

I did the title update and will try the Live Redistributable install when I get home this evening. I am comfortable working in the registry. What does that edit do?

Hope that helps!

[gwtwins]

Here are some things to do that fixed my crashing problems: (I'm on Vista Ultimate 64-bit, so no guarantees this will work, but it's worth a shot.)

First, install the GOW Title Update.

Then, download and install LIVE Redistributable V1.2. It might ask you to uninstall LIVE first. If so, do that, then run it again to install.

Note: The following involves editing the registry, which can cause problems if you don't know what you are doing. The instructions I am about to give should not cause any problems, but just in case, I've included steps to back up the part of the registry you will be modifying. Go to the registry editor. To do so, click Start, then Run, type regedit and click "Ok". Now, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management. Go to File, then select Export. Make sure Selected Branch is checked, then save the file. You can run this file later to restore the registry entry we are about to change. Now, change the PagedPoolSize value to FFFFFFFF.

Hope that helps!

Disregard my last post. I did it inside the quotes from your post so it became part of yours!! Here's my reply:

I did the title update and will try the Live Redistributable install when I get home this evening. I am comfortable working in the registry. What does that edit do?

[stettybet0]

We do have an edit button for when stuff like that happens. It can be found to the left of the multi button, which is to the left of the quote button (which you have apparently already found).

Anyways, note that I had to do all three things for the game to stop crashing. You are more than willing to try them one at a time, but don't get your hopes up. As for the registry edit, you can read up on it here.

EDIT: I forgot to say in the instructions that you need to restart the computer after the registry edit. I edited the post now to reflect that.

Edited by stettybet0, 11 February 2008 - 02:50 PM.

[gwtwins]

Anyways, note that I had to do all three things for the game to stop crashing. You are more than willing to try them one at a time, but don't get your hopes up. As for the registry edit, you can read up on it here.

EDIT: I forgot to say in the instructions that you need to restart the computer after the registry edit. I edited the post now to reflect that.

I tried all 3 things as you suggested and the game still froze up. I reduced resolution once again to 800x600 and it allowed me to continue playing. Is there anyway for me to see what the frame rates are during game play? I guess I'm of the opinion that the 512MB card should at least support the 1024x768 resolution. It's not a name brand card but the chip is!

[stettybet0]

Memory on a graphics card isn't the most important factor; not every 512mb card is the same. Your card might not be able to handle the game at your current settings on 1024x768. Either lower the settings or lower the resolution.

However, the game also locked up on me when my GPU was overheating... This could be happening to you on 1024x768 but not 800x600 since the higher resolution makes the GPU work harder. Try increasing the fan speed via the Catalyst drivers or using ATITool.

Edited by stettybet0, 11 February 2008 - 08:55 PM.

[gwtwins]

Memory on a graphics card isn't the most important factor; not every 512mb card is the same. Your card might not be able to handle the game at your current settings on 1024x768. Either lower the settings or lower the resolution.

However, the game also locked up on me when my GPU was overheating... This could be happening to you on 1024x768 but not 800x600 since the higher resolution makes the GPU work harder. Try increasing the fan speed via the Catalyst drivers or using ATITool.

I had considered the overheating issue as well but it didn't seem likely because the game froze up on me almost immediately upon starting it up after the fixes you gave me??? Would it be possible for it to overheat that quickly? What do I gain by having higher resolutions?? Once I set it top 800x600 it seemed to run fine?? I have the Catalyst Control Center installed. Can I increase the fan speed through there??

[stettybet0]

My fixes aren't increasing your crash problem are they? I have had the game crash a few minutes into play due to overheating, so it is very possible.

Higher resolutions make the game look better (more pixels = more detail, less jaged edges, etc.). If you don't notice a difference, then I wouldn't worry about it and just use a lower resolution.

I'm not sure if the Catalyst Control Center can change the fan speed, since I have an NVIDIA card. I know that through the NVIDA Control Panel you can, so there is probably a similar function in the Catalyst Control Center, but I just couldn't tell you where to look.

[gwtwins]

My fixes aren't increasing your crash problem are they? I have had the game crash a few minutes into play due to overheating, so it is very possible.

Higher resolutions make the game look better (more pixels = more detail, less jaged edges, etc.). If you don't notice a difference, then I wouldn't worry about it and just use a lower resolution.

I'm not sure if the Catalyst Control Center can change the fan speed, since I have an NVIDIA card. I know that through the NVIDA Control Panel you can, so there is probably a similar function in the Catalyst Control Center, but I just couldn't tell you where to look.

No, your fixes haven't seemed to make it worse. This problem really only started for me on some of the bigger boss levels where there is lots of shooting, explosions, fire, etc. so it very well could be an overheating issue. I'm not that big into the perfect graphics so I'll just use lower resolutions. I'm more into playability than how good it looks, for the sake of cost anyway Maybe someday I will save up my pennies and spend the big bucks on a top end graphics card but right now I'm just trying to get by on the cheap! Doesn't appear to be working to well though...

Sad thing is that my GeForce 7600 256MB card was top end about a year and a half ago!!