G
Gunther Gloop
I recently got a top-end notebook pc with ATI X800 256mb graphics card.
Among other things, I played Trackmania Sunrise and Lego Star Wars on it.
Both worked perfectly with more or less everything on full settings.
After a lot of TM:S play (many hours over a few weeks), the game began to
freeze for no apparent reason, often necessitating a system reboot. I didn't
think much of this, but soon (days later) Lego Star Wars also developed
graphical glitches and eventually stopped booting (would just 'graphically
puke' all over the screen as soon as I doubleclick the game icon). System
reset required each time.
Then *no* high-end 3D game would work at all, including these two and
previously-playable Doom 3 (played on ULTRA setting).
Then this "pixel puke" happened once when running nothing but Outlook
Express and I found I could no longer trust the computer at all.
I found that the notebook was running on battery, Lego Star Wars worked
fine -presumably the card was pushed 'less-hard' on this setting.
I've had to send the notebook back though.
But I've since installed TM Sunrise on my other pc (non-notebook) with an
ATI Radeon 9800 PRO 128MB and that too is crashing in the same way as before
on the notebook ...just freezes up mid-play, usually hanging the whole pc.
I was running on "PC3" settings in Trackmania Sunrise (PC3 is highest shader
setting in that game.)
I tried on different levels, but following some play over the past few days,
it did not crash on "PC0" setting (lowest shader
quality).
I notice that both TMS and Lego Star Wars "promote" using an NVIDIA card. Do
they deliberately nobble high-end(ish) ATI cards as part of this promotion?
(ok that's a joke and not really suspected by me to be the problem).
But... why? ...how? ...how to avoid it in future? ...how to fix it on my
9800PRO?
All XP service packs and directx, etc. installed and up to date on both pcs.
No viruses or trojans on either machine.
All game patches, etc. installed. Correct and most-recent ATI drivers
installed. I also tried Omega drivers to no avail. ...When using the Omega
driver, one Lego Star Wars crash mentioned something like "Shader 1.1" not
being available.
Other than that I have no clue.
Both computers well-ventilated and relatively free of dust. Room temperature
normal. These crashes do not necessarily happen after a long time
game-playing. System and graphics fans all working properly.
Any advice/ replies *much* appreciated. ...How can I ever trust these or any
other ATI cards?
-Kevin.
Among other things, I played Trackmania Sunrise and Lego Star Wars on it.
Both worked perfectly with more or less everything on full settings.
After a lot of TM:S play (many hours over a few weeks), the game began to
freeze for no apparent reason, often necessitating a system reboot. I didn't
think much of this, but soon (days later) Lego Star Wars also developed
graphical glitches and eventually stopped booting (would just 'graphically
puke' all over the screen as soon as I doubleclick the game icon). System
reset required each time.
Then *no* high-end 3D game would work at all, including these two and
previously-playable Doom 3 (played on ULTRA setting).
Then this "pixel puke" happened once when running nothing but Outlook
Express and I found I could no longer trust the computer at all.
I found that the notebook was running on battery, Lego Star Wars worked
fine -presumably the card was pushed 'less-hard' on this setting.
I've had to send the notebook back though.
But I've since installed TM Sunrise on my other pc (non-notebook) with an
ATI Radeon 9800 PRO 128MB and that too is crashing in the same way as before
on the notebook ...just freezes up mid-play, usually hanging the whole pc.
I was running on "PC3" settings in Trackmania Sunrise (PC3 is highest shader
setting in that game.)
I tried on different levels, but following some play over the past few days,
it did not crash on "PC0" setting (lowest shader
quality).
I notice that both TMS and Lego Star Wars "promote" using an NVIDIA card. Do
they deliberately nobble high-end(ish) ATI cards as part of this promotion?
(ok that's a joke and not really suspected by me to be the problem).
But... why? ...how? ...how to avoid it in future? ...how to fix it on my
9800PRO?
All XP service packs and directx, etc. installed and up to date on both pcs.
No viruses or trojans on either machine.
All game patches, etc. installed. Correct and most-recent ATI drivers
installed. I also tried Omega drivers to no avail. ...When using the Omega
driver, one Lego Star Wars crash mentioned something like "Shader 1.1" not
being available.
Other than that I have no clue.
Both computers well-ventilated and relatively free of dust. Room temperature
normal. These crashes do not necessarily happen after a long time
game-playing. System and graphics fans all working properly.
Any advice/ replies *much* appreciated. ...How can I ever trust these or any
other ATI cards?
-Kevin.
