general gaming problems

[timhinchliff]

I have just bought a new system, an intel core 2 extreme 3 GHz, an nvidia
GeForce 8800 Ultra and 4 gig of RAM and am running windows vista ultimate
32bit. I have problems with all games inlcuding Medieval 2, company of
heroes, and Call of duty 4 which has been released since Vista came on the
scene. The games all freeze (at various times in the game) for awhile then
the screen goes black, then it flicks back on again for about 5 seconds and
then repeats the process again. Sometimes in the quick launch panel I get the
message that the driver had an error but has recovered. Othertimes the system
completely crashes and I get a blue screen saying IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.
Looking around it seems the 4 gig of RAM is maybe the problem? The
frustrating thing is that I found a fix KB929777 but when I download it my
system says it does not need the fix. This is really frustrating and I really
don't want to be removing the RAM all the time as besides the fact that that
is pretty pathetic with such an expensive system, I need the RAM for my CAD
software. I have downlaoded everything I can find both from Microsoft and
Nvidia including all the hotfixes and up to date drivers. Please someone tell
me there is a fix or solution!!
Thanks

 

[VRG Scotty]

I have just bought a new system, an intel core 2 extreme 3 GHz, an nvidia
GeForce 8800 Ultra and 4 gig of RAM and am running windows vista ultimate
32bit. I have problems with all games inlcuding Medieval 2, company of
heroes, and Call of duty 4 which has been released since Vista came on the
scene. The games all freeze (at various times in the game) for awhile then
the screen goes black, then it flicks back on again for about 5 seconds
and
then repeats the process again. Sometimes in the quick launch panel I get
the
message that the driver had an error but has recovered. Othertimes the
system
completely crashes and I get a blue screen saying IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.
Looking around it seems the 4 gig of RAM is maybe the problem? The
frustrating thing is that I found a fix KB929777 but when I download it my
system says it does not need the fix. This is really frustrating and I
really
don't want to be removing the RAM all the time as besides the fact that
that
is pretty pathetic with such an expensive system, I need the RAM for my
CAD
software. I have downlaoded everything I can find both from Microsoft and
Nvidia including all the hotfixes and up to date drivers. Please someone
tell
me there is a fix or solution!!
Thanks

Try updating all the system and graphics drivers, although it does sound
like a RAM problem of some kind, if all else fails then I would take out a
stick just so see if it is the RAM, and if so then take the system back and
ask for a replacement

 

[Devoldo]

I have just bought a new system, an intel core 2 extreme 3 GHz, an nvidia
GeForce 8800 Ultra and 4 gig of RAM and am running windows vista ultimate
32bit. I have problems with all games inlcuding Medieval 2, company of
heroes, and Call of duty 4 which has been released since Vista came on the
scene. The games all freeze (at various times in the game) for awhile then
the screen goes black, then it flicks back on again for about 5 seconds
and
then repeats the process again. Sometimes in the quick launch panel I get
the
message that the driver had an error but has recovered. Othertimes the
system
completely crashes and I get a blue screen saying IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.
Looking around it seems the 4 gig of RAM is maybe the problem? The
frustrating thing is that I found a fix KB929777 but when I download it my
system says it does not need the fix. This is really frustrating and I
really
don't want to be removing the RAM all the time as besides the fact that
that
is pretty pathetic with such an expensive system, I need the RAM for my
CAD
software. I have downlaoded everything I can find both from Microsoft and
Nvidia including all the hotfixes and up to date drivers. Please someone
tell
me there is a fix or solution!!
Thanks

I've seen that problem multiple times. Its nothing more than your graphics
driver. update them from nvidia's website, install and enjoy. If the problem
still persists, try using their beta drivers on their website and see if
anything changes.

Drivers are what is killing vista popularity...

Devo

 

[Greg R]

I use to get that same error when playing games. Turned out it was my sound
card drivers. What sound card are you using? I ended up having to take out
my SB X-Fi and use the onboard sound. Even updating the SB X-Fi drivers to
the newest wouldn't fix the problem. Channing to the onboard sound did.

 

[timhinchliff]

Try updating all the system and graphics drivers, although it does sound
like a RAM problem of some kind, if all else fails then I would take out a
stick just so see if it is the RAM, and if so then take the system back and
ask for a replacement
--
VRG Scotty

www.vistareadygames.com
Register, it's free, and use the 'search for solution' tab for any problems

I have since removed the RAM and the system works fine with only 2 gigs. However I have moved the sticks around and there appears to be no problem with individual RAM sticks. I don't really see how this can be a problem with the system, it seems very much that this is a problem with Vista, given that my system came with a print out referring to the problem and giving the number of the windows update that was supposed to fix it. It works fine with 2 gigs, but is actually less stable with 3 gigs then with 4. I have also replaced all the drivers and it still gives the same problem. What is also strange is when Vista starts it gives and there are 2 gigs in the start centre says my computer has 2 gigs of RAM. Same if I have three in Vista says there is 3 gigs. However when I have four in Vista says there is onlz 3.6 gigs. To me this seems to confirm that Vista can not mangage the RAM properly. I should note this does not only occur with games but when Vista is running nothing on the

desktop.
So I suppose that makes me ask whether you are saying that the memory
management problem that was present in Vista before, has now been
definitively fixed and that this can only be a hardware problem?

 

[RalfG]

Unless you have a 64bit version of Vista it can only ever reach 3.6gigs or
thereabouts because the remainder is assigned to hardware addressing. It's
not a problem with Vista it's a limitation of 32bit OS addressing.

Just wondering if an adequate power supply was installed to support the GF
8800 video card plus the extra RAM? I have a much less power hungry ATI
card that usually runs flawlessly. It's supposed to be compatible with UT3
but whether I run the game (demo version) under either Vista or XP the card
behaves in just the same way as you described. After running a few minutes
the video blanks and the card/driver is reset. After that the resets happen
more frequently and seemingly at random. If the problem were in the OS
you'd expect almost everyone to have the same issue. In my case with dual
booting the OS can be ruled out since the problem occurs under either OS.
That leaves some combination of the installed software (including drivers)
or hardware as the potential culprits.

 

[timhinchliff]

Unless you have a 64bit version of Vista it can only ever reach 3.6gigs or
thereabouts because the remainder is assigned to hardware addressing. It's
not a problem with Vista it's a limitation of 32bit OS addressing.

Just wondering if an adequate power supply was installed to support the GF
8800 video card plus the extra RAM? I have a much less power hungry ATI
card that usually runs flawlessly. It's supposed to be compatible with UT3
but whether I run the game (demo version) under either Vista or XP the card
behaves in just the same way as you described. After running a few minutes
the video blanks and the card/driver is reset. After that the resets happen
more frequently and seemingly at random. If the problem were in the OS
you'd expect almost everyone to have the same issue. In my case with dual
booting the OS can be ruled out since the problem occurs under either OS.
That leaves some combination of the installed software (including drivers)
or hardware as the potential culprits.

Ok so much help thanks!! I will try and clean out my nvidia drivers first
and get some new ones and see how that goes. Thanks so much for your help,
one more question is it worth upgrading to Vista 64 bit then will it make
better use of my 4 gigs?

 

[timhinchliff]

I use to get that same error when playing games. Turned out it was my sound
card drivers. What sound card are you using? I ended up having to take out
my SB X-Fi and use the onboard sound. Even updating the SB X-Fi drivers to
the newest wouldn't fix the problem. Channing to the onboard sound did.



I have a "high defintion audio device" that is made by microsoft apparently. The drivers are up to date (digital output device SPDIF). That means approximately nothing to me but I assum it is onboard in which case disabling it wouldn't help? In any case if its made by microsoft one would assume it works with Vista, I hope?!

 

[RalfG]

Ok so much help thanks!! I will try and clean out my nvidia drivers first
and get some new ones and see how that goes. Thanks so much for your help,
one more question is it worth upgrading to Vista 64 bit then will it make
better use of my 4 gigs?

Could be more trouble than it is worth. That small amount of unused memory
isn't going to make any difference one way or the other in most of your
applications. A few people have said that they don't detect any noticeable
performance increase after 2GB, but you might have applications that could
benefit from more RAM. To install 64bit Vista your processor and motherboard
need to be 64bit in the first place. Then you'll need 64bit compatible
drivers for all the other hardware. Some of your software might not be
compatible with the 64bit OS. Software written for 64bits will give better
performance over its 32bit counterpart, but AFAIK nothing else will run any
faster.

 

[Andy [YaYa]]

The HD Audio Device by Microsoft Driver is a generic driver for some windows
audio cards. I found the driver to have a lot of issues with Audio in
DirectX applications. If you find yourself having audio problems, you should
find out which sound card you have (probably Sigmatel or Realtek) and get
the correct driver for your system. Even if your sound is working ok, you
may not be getting the correct sound or the best performance out of this
driver.

Applications like PC Wizard (Http://www.cpuid.com) will tell you what
hardware you have based on hardware IDs and not the drivers currently
installed. Great way to ID what you have and what's setup correctly on your
system.