Radeon 9800 PRO Freezing/Hard Lock in games?

[FaMiNe]

Searched through the group, and the only similar post I could find was a
guy talking about small freezes, which could be any number of things (HDD
problems, RAM).

Anyway, this is much more serious. I bought this Radeon 9800PRO (mfg. ATi)
about a month ago, and for the past two weeks, I haven't been able to play
any games because they would hard lock after 30 seconds or sometimes even
up to 10 minutes of gameplay.

I consulted some friends about this, and they suggested overheating, and my
CPU was idling at 45C, so I replaced the thermal paste on my CPU, and added
another case fan. To make sure of the overheating problem, I pointed a box-
fan into the open side of my case (It sits at about 48C at 100% usage now
w/ SETI@Home running). Still locked up in-game. I've reinstalled windows in
the past week in an effort to fix this, reinstalled the games I play
(Thief3, UT2k4, and now the Ground Control 2 MP Demo), no dice.

I really have no idea what's causing this, and I'd like to. So any
suggestions would be great.


Asus A7n8x-deluxe nForce2 motherboard FSB currently at 333
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ @ 2800(2.08gHz)
ATi Radeon 9800Pro 128mb
512mb Crucial XNS DDR3200 @333
Austin 450w PSU
2 WD 120gb SE hd's

 

[Pluvious]

Searched through the group, and the only similar post I could find was a
guy talking about small freezes, which could be any number of things (HDD
problems, RAM).

Anyway, this is much more serious. I bought this Radeon 9800PRO (mfg. ATi)
about a month ago, and for the past two weeks, I haven't been able to play
any games because they would hard lock after 30 seconds or sometimes even
up to 10 minutes of gameplay.

I consulted some friends about this, and they suggested overheating, and my
CPU was idling at 45C, so I replaced the thermal paste on my CPU, and added
another case fan. To make sure of the overheating problem, I pointed a box-
fan into the open side of my case (It sits at about 48C at 100% usage now
w/ SETI@Home running). Still locked up in-game. I've reinstalled windows in
the past week in an effort to fix this, reinstalled the games I play
(Thief3, UT2k4, and now the Ground Control 2 MP Demo), no dice.

I really have no idea what's causing this, and I'd like to. So any
suggestions would be great.


Asus A7n8x-deluxe nForce2 motherboard FSB currently at 333
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ @ 2800(2.08gHz)
ATi Radeon 9800Pro 128mb
512mb Crucial XNS DDR3200 @333
Austin 450w PSU
2 WD 120gb SE hd's

I was going to suggest you still had old drivers that where
conflicting with the new, but if its still happening after a reinstall
of windows and all the games I'm confused. I assume you reinstalled
DirectX but did you update your VIA drivers (or Mobo drivers)?? Did
you disable the onboard graphics in the bios?

Can you install the video card in a friends machine to see if (heaven
forbid) the card itself is faulty?

Pluvious

 

[FaMiNe]

I was going to suggest you still had old drivers that where
conflicting with the new, but if its still happening after a reinstall
of windows and all the games I'm confused. I assume you reinstalled
DirectX but did you update your VIA drivers (or Mobo drivers)?? Did
you disable the onboard graphics in the bios?

Can you install the video card in a friends machine to see if (heaven
forbid) the card itself is faulty?

Pluvious

I went through the same train of thought you did. Tried the newest nForce
Drivers (nVidia mobo chipset, not VIA), and also tried some older drivers
on the previous installation of windows. No onboard graphics to disable,
this board only has onboard sound.

I suppose I could stick the card in a friends machine. At this moment
that's the only conclusion I can come to, since the rest of my machine is
over a year old, and the video card is just under two months old.

I wish there was something else I could check though. I'll get on that
(checking the video card itself).

 

[johns]

I replaced 3 of those ASUS mobos under warantee,
and within about a year, all three went down again...
same problem .. intermittant freezeup when the cpu
was being used in a program ... like Solidworks
CAD program. The problem was bad capacitors
on the mobos ( that Asian capacitor thing ). I suspect
your new video card is revealing that problem in your
mobo ... just a guess, but move the card and see.

johns

 

[FaMiNe]

I replaced 3 of those ASUS mobos under warantee,
and within about a year, all three went down again...
same problem .. intermittant freezeup when the cpu
was being used in a program ... like Solidworks
CAD program. The problem was bad capacitors
on the mobos ( that Asian capacitor thing ). I suspect
your new video card is revealing that problem in your
mobo ... just a guess, but move the card and see.

johns

Hmm, odd that this should happen about a year after I installed it, if it
was the mobo. Pretty much all my friends have this same motherboard too,
and they haven't been reporting anything like that. But I'll know soon
enough, once I check this videocard. I might still be able to get the mobo
replaced, if it turns out to be that.

But, I've currently been running SETI@Home for a couple days now, to stress
the CPU, and I haven't been getting anything out of the norm except when I
run 3d games.

 

[FaMiNe]

I went through the same train of thought you did. Tried the newest
nForce Drivers (nVidia mobo chipset, not VIA), and also tried some
older drivers on the previous installation of windows. No onboard
graphics to disable, this board only has onboard sound.

I suppose I could stick the card in a friends machine. At this moment
that's the only conclusion I can come to, since the rest of my machine
is over a year old, and the video card is just under two months old.

I wish there was something else I could check though. I'll get on that
(checking the video card itself).

Alright, I got a replacement 9800pro today, and after about 30minutes in
UT2k4 it locked up again.

*sigh* back to square one, and I don't even know where to go next. You
think that the PSU might have something to do with this? Its a generic
450w that probably doesnt put out the full 450w.

 

[Blaedmon]

That sounds EXACTLY like ram... bad ram to be exact. I've personally had
this happen a few times and Ive always found it to be the fault of average
ram. The thing thats puzzling, however, is that youre using Crucial... which
is odd since they dont screw up 'just like that'. I have a high regard for
Crucial - but if you're looking to add more ram in the near future anyway,
I'd suggest Corsair - they are the elite ninjas of the ram world, as I'm
sure you'd know anyway. Worth a try.

 

[FaMiNe]

That sounds EXACTLY like ram... bad ram to be exact. I've personally
had this happen a few times and Ive always found it to be the fault of
average ram. The thing thats puzzling, however, is that youre using
Crucial... which is odd since they dont screw up 'just like that'. I
have a high regard for Crucial - but if you're looking to add more ram
in the near future anyway, I'd suggest Corsair - they are the elite
ninjas of the ram world, as I'm sure you'd know anyway. Worth a try.

I had that same thought, because I've had a bad RAM experience. You know,
I got my RAM mixed up, since the names are so similar. I do have a stick of
Corsair RAM XMS 512mb PC3200 DDR.

But there's some memory testing app that I hear is really good at testing
for good ram (I recall running it about four months ago, but I suppose it
won't hurt to check again).

I don't remember what the memory program is *googles* www.memtest86.com.
Burning the ISO of the app right now, and will get back to you. I'm just
assuming it'll check out ok, because the memory going bad just doesn't
sound right.

Thanks for the suggestion though. I still need help!

 

[FaMiNe]

I had that same thought, because I've had a bad RAM experience. You
know, I got my RAM mixed up, since the names are so similar. I do
have a stick of Corsair RAM XMS 512mb PC3200 DDR.

But there's some memory testing app that I hear is really good at
testing for good ram (I recall running it about four months ago, but I
suppose it won't hurt to check again).

I don't remember what the memory program is *googles*
www.memtest86.com. Burning the ISO of the app right now, and will get
back to you. I'm just assuming it'll check out ok, because the memory
going bad just doesn't sound right.

Thanks for the suggestion though. I still need help!

Memory passed 6 passes of Memtest86 (this took about 2 hours). I'm
satisfied that the memory is not the problem.

 

[Blaedmon]

Hmm.. could also be your chipset overheating - thats another area showing
your symptoms.. but the a7n8x has a nice HS.. hmm
Have you tried reinstalling the latest DirectX? Also, lower your AGP
aperture to 64megs... hmm what else...
Check your Radeon gpu fan is actually working...hmm...thats all I can think
of

 

[Pluvious]

Alright, I got a replacement 9800pro today, and after about 30minutes in
UT2k4 it locked up again.

*sigh* back to square one, and I don't even know where to go next. You
think that the PSU might have something to do with this? Its a generic
450w that probably doesnt put out the full 450w.

I think you have enough power with the 450watts, even if it is a
cheapy. That's more then enough, unless its not the supply but a
complete failure instead. How old is it and can you 'borrow' you're
friends PSU and swap it out for a day to see?

Other then that, you're starting to get into that "haunted system"
territory and when that happens I bite the bullet and take it to my
local shop. Let them deal with it.

Pluvious

 

[McGrandpa]

Alright, I got a replacement 9800pro today, and after about 30minutes
in UT2k4 it locked up again.

*sigh* back to square one, and I don't even know where to go next. You
think that the PSU might have something to do with this? Its a generic
450w that probably doesnt put out the full 450w.

*HEAT* I'm having the same problem. But mine only does it in Far Cry.
Ensure the case is well ventillated. I started having the problem when
I went from the P4-2.66/533 Northwood to P4-3.00E/800 Prescott.
However, it might NOT be the video card, RAM errors can cause these
problems. I've shut down, checked and reseated the DDR400, the 9800Pro,
moved the cables around, made sure the power plug is firml in the 9800,
etc. Oh, and I made sure the case is well ventillated...I took the
sides off. I'll be seeing if I still have the VPU reset problem
tomorrow, too late tonight.
McG.

 

[McGrandpa]

That sounds EXACTLY like ram... bad ram to be exact. I've personally
had this happen a few times and Ive always found it to be the fault
of average ram. The thing thats puzzling, however, is that youre
using Crucial... which is odd since they dont screw up 'just like
that'. I have a high regard for Crucial - but if you're looking to
add more ram in the near future anyway, I'd suggest Corsair - they
are the elite ninjas of the ram world, as I'm sure you'd know anyway.
Worth a try.

It could simply need to be reseated (ejected, re-inserted firmly).
McG.

 

[FaMiNe]

Hmm.. could also be your chipset overheating - thats another area
showing your symptoms.. but the a7n8x has a nice HS.. hmm
Have you tried reinstalling the latest DirectX? Also, lower your AGP
aperture to 64megs... hmm what else...
Check your Radeon gpu fan is actually working...hmm...thats all I can
think of

I didn't think it had anything to do with heat, due to the squirrel cage
fan I pointed in there and tested with that thing running (gave me about
15C cooler temps for everything), and the lock still happened. I
reinstalled windows, and DirectX with it... 9.0b i believe. And I also
tried lowering the AGP aperature earlier, same issues.

Thanks for the suggestions though.

 

[FaMiNe]

I think you have enough power with the 450watts, even if it is a
cheapy. That's more then enough, unless its not the supply but a
complete failure instead. How old is it and can you 'borrow' you're
friends PSU and swap it out for a day to see?

Other then that, you're starting to get into that "haunted system"
territory and when that happens I bite the bullet and take it to my
local shop. Let them deal with it.

Pluvious

Yea, I'm starting to fear that's what I'll have to do. But I honestly
don't think a local shop could figure it out either, they'd probably
give it back and say there's no problem (since the problem only happens
in games, and sometimes 30 minutes into them).

I'll see about borrowing a PSU... I'm thinking about replacing the
motherboard (I wonder if it's still under ASUS warranty? hmm.)

 

[Wblane]

I'll ditto this (it could be the system RAM). I had a system that seemed
completely stable w/Kingston valueram
PC3200 (overclocked to 204Mhz) until I began playing Far Cry. Everything else
worked (Jedi Academy, Jedi Knight: Outcast, C&C Generals: Zero Hour, Max Payne2
etc. I had to back down to 203 Mhz to get Far Cry to work.

But mine only does it in Far Cry.
Ensure the case is well ventillated. I started having the problem when
I went from the P4-2.66/533 Northwood to P4-3.00E/800 Prescott.
However, it might NOT be the video card, RAM errors can cause these
problems. I've shut down, checked and reseated the DDR400, the 9800Pro,
moved the cables around, made sure the p

-Bill (remove "botizer" to reply via email)

 

[John Hall]

I'm wondering about your surge protector. Reason being that I have seen
people who do not use a surge protector, or have an el cheapo surger
protector, run into strange problems with the PC after awhile. What happens
is that components quite often won't fail completely, but just start to act
up, and its almost impossible to determine the cause. Since you replaced
your 9800 pro, I don't think the problem is your video card, and since you
did a reinstall including all of the latest drivers, I don't think its a
software problem. More likely the problem lies with you mobo, specifically
the circuitry that supports video and graphics display. It would seem that
a component that supports high end graphics like those from the 9800 pro has
failed, or is on the verge of failing. You may need to replace the mobo,
and when you do, invest in some decent surge protection. I got myself an
APC UPS three years ago and before that I had a decent one that not only
protected from surges, but also filtered the power coming in off the line to
even it out. I haven't had any of the little unexplained problems since I
went that route.

JK

 

[Gordon Scott]

Memory passed 6 passes of Memtest86 (this took about 2 hours). I'm
satisfied that the memory is not the problem.

2 hrs is NOT ENOUGH, run it for 12 hrs, and also run prime95 for 12-24
hrs

Gordon

 

[McGrandpa]

snipped for brevity

2 hrs is NOT ENOUGH, run it for 12 hrs, and also run prime95 for 12-24
hrs

Gordon

Really? And if the computer arbitrarily resets itself after 30 to 40
minutes, how then is 2 hours of continual testing not enough?

We really also need for ATI to put in thermal sensing in their cores
McG.

 

[bp]

2 hrs is NOT ENOUGH, run it for 12 hrs, and also run prime95 for 12-24
hrs

Gordon

I vote:
Power supply
There are some good web sites that can tell you how to determine your
power usage and if you're stressing the PS. I had same thing except my
PC would reboot.(Only during games)

Bought a new PS, after trying everything else, and never looked back.

(Didn't read the whole thread so if you've tried this don't kill me)