9600XT and nForce2 problem

[ByteBandit]

My system consists of an EPoX 8RDA+ nForce2 motherboard, 1GB PC2700 DDR RAM, an AMD Athlon 2400+ processor running at 2GHz, a Connect3D 128MB 9600XT graphics card and a 19" AOC TFT monitor set at 1280x1024@75Hz; my OS is Windows XP Professional. The card runs fine in Windows, but when I run a game it crashes after a random amount of time - Warcraft III seems especially bad and usually crashes shortly after loading.

I have upgraded my BIOS and nForce drivers, tried various incarnations of the Catalyst drivers 3.8, 3.9, 3.10 and 4.1, tried switching between 4x and 8x AGP, tried various AGP aperature settings, have tried AGP fast write on and off. All with the same result. I was also careful to fully uninstall all my old drivers and used a program called 'Driver Cleaner' just to make sure. Another thing I noticed was that the 3.10 drivers were the only ones to give me the Overdrive option in the control panel.

I have installed an identical card in my nephews PC, also running Windows XP but with an ASUS 7VTX-P motherboard, an AMD Athlon 1800+ processor and 512MB PC2700 DDR RAM. After installing the new 4.1 Catalyst drivers to cure a problem he was having with Neverwinter Nights his machine seems to be running perfectly.

The only conclusion I can draw is that there seems to be some sort of incompatibility with the nForce2 board. Any further help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ion]

You cant draw that conclusion until you done a reinstall of windows...

Asus A7N8X Deluxe, Xp 2500+(3200+), 512MB RAM, Radeon 9500Pro

 

[ByteBandit]

Yeah I know, and I'm dreading the thought. I have two large hard drives, the second being partitioned, and loads of data to back up...a BIG job and time consuming.

I have also read of other people with 9600XT problems who have taken this step only to find it made absolutely no difference - I think at that stage I would throw the card out the window.

 

[Ion]

You should be smart enough to create a 4GB partition for windows only, that way you can reinstall the OS without worry about backup.

Anyway regarding crash, does the game freeze or the system reboot? If it freeze, the problem lays in software especially you mention the odd disappearance of overdrive. If system reboot, it could be Xp's auto reboot when it encounter critical error, or a power lose.

Asus A7N8X Deluxe, Xp 2500+(3200+), 512MB RAM, Radeon 9500Pro

 

[ChipDeath]

Sounds like a power supply problem to me.

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<font color=red>Those of you who think you know everything are annoying to those of us who do.</font color=red>

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

First the loss of overdrive is likely because it never existed (no thermal diode). It was widely availible before even for cards that couldn't use it, but now is only availible to actually capable cards. Check with Connect3D about that.

Second, it wouldn't be an incompatibility with the board, it just may be your board is not up to the top end cards, early nForce and VIa boards had problems with ALL of the top cards (R3XX/9XXX , GF FX58/9XX even the GF4ti series).

Third, run your system at stock and see what that does. Adding new hardware greatly affects systems stable overclocking levels. I could overclock a heck of alot higher with the Rage Fury Pro than before I added the R8500, and when I returned to the Rage back up in OC headroom, then put the R9600P in, and once again lower max FSB OC. Try running your system at stock and see what happens.

I doubt it's a Power Supply issue, but for reference, what PSU are you using and how much junk is on your system. Could even be heat, but it's also not overly likely, but just as likely as an nForce issue.

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK

 

[ChipDeath]

He's not overclocking. 2Ghz is stock for a 2400+ IIRC.

Although knowing what The FSB & RAM speeds are would be useful, as he may still be Ocing the FSB & lowering multiplier.

Overheating is another possibility, but my money's still on PSU.

<b>ByteBandit:</b>
So to sum up the questions....
What brand & wattage is the PSU?
What speeds are your FSB & your RAM?
what revision is your 8RDA+?
What sort of temperatures do you get? (idle and load if you can)

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<font color=red>Those of you who think you know everything are annoying to those of us who do.</font color=red>

 

[Ion]

edit: ops, chip is right i forgot my bro's 2100 has multi of 13 instead i thought it has 12. I just flip FSB133 to 166 and it show up as 2700. :tongue:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe, Xp 2500+(3200+), 512MB RAM, Radeon 9500Pro<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Ion on 01/27/04 02:18 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[ChipDeath]

2400+ = 2Ghz w/ 133Mhz FSB
2700+ = 2.17Ghz w/ 166Mhz FSB

Get <i>yours</i> right .

I supposed they might have released a 2700+ with 2Ghz/200Mhz FSB... I haven't heard of it though.

<A HREF="http://www.doublehammer.com/winxp/amd_xp_speeds.htm" target="_new">Here's a decent list</A> Haven't taken the time to verify it, but looks accurate at a glance...

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<font color=red>Those of you who think you know everything are annoying to those of us who do.</font color=red> <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by ChipDeath on 01/27/04 04:57 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Yeah I hate all the ratings vs actual speeds. Pain in the a$$ keeping track of them all in your head.

Well at least that's not it.

BTW, THG has a <A HREF="http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030210/barton-09.html" target="_new">better list</A> of speeds, just not multipliers, although that can be easily derived.

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK

 

[addiarmadar]

The high end Radeons love the nforce2 chipsets. When putting in new AGP cards, A system dump would be required. Just give your grievance to microshaft.

Barton 2500+ @ 2200mhz (10x220 vcore @ 1.8)
Asus A7N8X Dlx 440 FSB
1gb Geil GD pc3500 Dual Channel (2-3-3-6)
Segata 80gb SATA 8.5ms seek
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro(420/720)

 

[ByteBandit]

Just installed a new 450W PSU, the one in my tower system was only 300W not 450W as I had originally thought. However, it made absolutely no difference. I've been seeing more and more posts on various boards from people having problems with the 9600XT and nForce2 boards. The only thing I haven't tried is a clean install of XP, but I'd be 99.9% sure it would make no difference. I'm not running SP1/SP1a yet wonder if that would help?

 

[Schmide]

Considering line one of the notes at ATI states.

"1. ATI recommends Windows XP Service Pack 1 or higher to be installed."

As far as I’m concerned if you’re not up to date on your service packs and patches, you deserve crashes and viruses.

Dichromatic for your viewing plesure...

 

[ByteBandit]

From what I have heard SP1 is prone to cause more crashes than it fixes, not so much a blessing but a curse. That's why I have been lothe to install it. Not to mention the DRM debate.

 

[agcheavin]

here here, I'm running a 9600XT and an Nforce 2 board with no prob's at all...SP 1 and all. If you don't read the tech notes on the install, or choose to ignore em...well, what do you expect.

 

[Schmide]

Maybe back in 2002 when the service pack was just released and some drivers may have had some problems with it. All new drivers assume you have the latest OS files. Or, you could just have a compromised zombie machine that crashes because it is so busy sending out spam or trading online music. By the way the DRM thing was pretty much disabled due to users’ complaints and some 1984 ruling on fair personal use.

Dichromatic for your viewing plesure...

 

[p0rky]

does the monitor shut down? like going into power saving-mode?