[DoWnWarD_SPIRAL]

Hi, I'm new to this forum... so I'm not 100% sure if this problem fits in this category.

To the problem at hand:
I recently (4 days ago) bought myself a Radeon 9800 Pro. I installed it into my system with no problems, but now when I start playing games that utilize the graphics card (like NFSU2 and Thief 3) after a few minutes of play, one of 3 things happen;
* The computer freezes up and I get a VPU recovery message which I can send or not send to ATI,
* The program just closes and I'm back on my desktop,
* Or the PC reboots automaticaly (like when you press the restart button on your case).

I don't know what the problem can be. I have the latest drivers installed (Catalyst 4.11), and an updated Panda Antivirus says my system is virus free. Can this be caused by overheating? Windows scans also show that my system is in good health...

Please help

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What was the video card that you replace? Did you uninstall the org. video card drivers? It can also be your power supply, how many watts is your current power supply? Download the new drivers, Catalyst 4.12, not the control center. Untill you reply with the answers helping you will be hard at this time.

Edited by DHooper, 27 December 2004 - 04:30 PM.

[DHooper]

What was the video card that you replace? Did you uninstall the org. video card drivers? It can also be your power supply, how many watts is your current power supply? Download the new drivers, Catalyst 4.12, not the control center. Untill you reply with the answers helping you will be hard at this time.

Edited by DHooper, 27 December 2004 - 04:30 PM.

[DoWnWarD_SPIRAL]

DHooper,

* The video card I replaced was a ATI Radeon 9200 256MB (it started to do the same thing except I never got a VPU recovery msg, it just reboot or exit the program).
* About the org. video card drivers - I didn't know it was nessesary since both cards use the Catalyst drivers.
* At the moment I am running a 300Watt power supply.

I am downloading the Catalyst 4.12 drivers at the moment an will reply as soon as I've tested them.

I doubt that the video card is broken 'cause the performance is perfect until it just stops. Another thing is; I went to a LAN yesterday and games like Quake3 and Medal of Honor - Allied Assault gave no problems whatsoever but UT2004 crashed constantly (I'm really confused...)


Thanks

[DoWnWarD_SPIRAL]

Downloaded the Catalyst 4.12 display drivers.
Installed without any problem.
Played UT2004 for about 15 minutes and got the VPU Recovery msg.

I think its time we tried the next thing. Please tell me how exactly do you remove the org. video drivers.

Thanks

[DoWnWarD_SPIRAL]

Is there a program I can use to totally remove a display driver, 'cause when I just remove it through Windows my problem doesn't get solved...

[You (DHooper) spoke about org. video drivers, how exactly do you remove them?]

[DHooper]

Sorry about not responding sooner, but there is a program that can remove the drivers. Download DriverCleaner and install. The website should give insturctions on how to use the program. Hope that this helps.

[DoWnWarD_SPIRAL]

I tried driver cleaner and removed everything ATI related off of my system (even the ATI screensavers) and installed the drivers from scratch.
At first this had strange results; I could play longer before the PC stopped, but I had a reduction in performance. I tried installing other versions of the drivers, tried installing just the driver and not the ATI control panel. None of these proved to be successful.

I think we can almost remove software/drivers from the list of possible reasons for the system instability.

I don't have a problem replacing a component in the PC if it is causing these problems, I just don't want to waste money by replacing the wrong component.
Is there maybe a program out there I can use to scan all of my hardware to check for any problems?

In an earlier post you said the power supply could be an option...?
Any suggestions?

Thanks

[-=jonnyrotten=-]

Make sure you are not overloading your powersupply. Even if you are getting close to 300w you will need one with more wattage. Try using this.

http://www.jscustomp...m/power_supply/

-=jonnyrotten=-

[DoWnWarD_SPIRAL]

Thanx for the advice. I checked out the site and got a minimum recomended PSU of 264 Watts. Maybe I am overworking my PSU a bit. I think I'll invest in a new PSU, will a 400W be sufficient or should I go bigger?

(For some strange reason I cant shake away the thought that this problem is caused by a cooling problem. Just today I set up a make-shift fan to cool the PC and got allot more play-time before NFSU2 exited the program. Any suggestions?)

[DoWnWarD_SPIRAL]

Hi, 'tis me again...

Today I got a custom mother-cooling job done on my box (The temp. of the living room has dropped a notch, really!).
Till now I haven't had any games freeze up or recieved any VPU Recovery msgs, but this still has to be completely tested. I don't know if this has solved the problem, but I will get a new PSU anyway...

I add a note if anything goes pear-shaped... (probably after I've burned my PC)

Thanx for the help/advice y'all

[DaFish]

In case you come back with the same problem... I had an older processor and a newer video card and got the exact same problem... my solution that worked was...

Crap the old system and build a new one. This was after sending in my graphics card for a replacement checking about everything you have mentioned... there were periods when I could run my system stable but a few days later it came back.

Hope all goes well...

DaFish

[Dreamslayer]

Hiya, ive just registered here and im having exactly the same problems with my Excalibur Radeon 9800 Pro as listed in the first post.

I have tried a myriad of diffrent driver versions, i replaced my 300W PSU with a 350 PSU ... still no dice. Ive used Driver cleaner when changing to another set of drivers, ive gone thru the bios settings with a fine tooth comb to the best of my abilities and every single game i have that has 3D in it crashes in one way or another after a while ... usually like 10 - 20 minutes. And some games just freeze the whole computer right at the menu.

Im fresh out of ideas here, and im getting pissed at the gfx card cus i know its good ... and it feels like ive thrown a bunch of cash down the drain.

I appreciate any help i can get, ill be watching this thread closely.

Thnx in advance

[Dreamslayer]

Forgot to add my specs ...

AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Barton
1 Gb DDR pc2100
Asus A7V8X-X
Excalibur Radeon 9800 Pro 128 mb
350W PSU

Windows 2000

[Dreamslayer]

*bump*

Apologies if it isnt allowed to bump

[Doby]

Hi,

Dreamslayer what are your temps and voltages?

Rick