I am posting this in the motherboard section because as far as I can tell, it has either something to do with the motherboard or CPU, but more likely the motherboard.
For those of you who don't wish to read through my entire post but want just a summary of the problem here goes (but before replying, please read the whole thing):
Was running SP1, games worked fine but the build was old and sluggish, formatted, installed SP2, started getting random reboots everywhere (in games and just in Windows). Formatted again, installed SP2, reboots went away. Had other issues with Vista so went back to SP2. Tried many things, but determined it was a video issue when I replaced my Radeon 9800 with an older GeForce. The random Windows reboots went away, but it still crashed during games, but I figured it was just really old. Bought a newer GeForce 6600 GT, game crashes still occurred, have determined it's something about DirectX.
So, it's got something to do with SP2, this motherboard (or CPU), and DirectX.
Okay. Now for the meat of the issue.
I need some serious help. I posted over at the Asus forums and Anandtech but got zero help. I've been tearing my hair out over the past couple of months trying to get this thing working properly, and all to no avail. Before you reply with a default answer to "random reboots", please read through everything I say, since I've already read several topics about random reboot issues and none of the problems people talk about are the exact same as mine.
First off, here's my current specs:
Mobo: Asus A8V Deluxe (Socket 939)
CPU: Athlon 64 3500+
RAM: 1GB DDR2 Kingston (2x 512mb)
HDD: 250gb IDE Maxtor + 200gb IDE Maxtor
Video Card: Nvidia 6600 GT 128mb
PSU: ThermalTake 450W
OS: Windows XP Service Pack 2
So a couple of months ago I decided to reformat. I had been running SP1 because I had heard many horror stories from friends about some programs not working correctly in SP2, so I simply avoided it. Unfortunately, I needed to be using some programs that would only run on SP2 and above (After Effects 7, Maya 8.5). Plus, my build had just been getting really glitchy and slow. So I reformatted to SP2, and almost immediately, I started having random reboot issues. Now, this is very important to keep in mind. Back when I Was running SP1, I NEVER had these reboot issues. Not when I was running games, nothing. Also it's important to keep in mind that back then, I was running a Radeon 9800 video card. The reboots were very random, and would happen just at any moment when I was doing anything. Wasn't consistent with any program or running a game or whatever.
After spending 2 days trying to fix it, I decide to try using Vista. The random reboot issues went away. So that right there told me that the issue had to have something to do with SP2. Unfortunately though, I wasn't entirely happy running Vista simply due to incompatibility issues and sluggishness in certain applications that I could simply chalk up to the infancy of the OS. So I decided I would try SP2 again and just spend more time trying to fix the problem. Well, nothing worked. Here's what I tried:
- Ran MemTest several times. Nothing wrong was found.
- Checked the Event Log after each crash. No errors or warnings.
-Tried turning off each on-board device one after another (heard that the on-board sound on the A8V Deluxe was faulty. Didn't help)
- Updated the BIOS
- Updated ALL the Drivers (including the VIA 4-in-1)
- Tried using PS2 keyboard and mouse
- Have fully patched/updated through Windows Update.
- Full system virus scan
Finally the solution that worked the best was replacing the video card. My roommate loaned me his old GeForce GTS (7 year old card). The random reboots went away..... unless I was running a game. And ONLY if I was running a game. I could use 3D graphics applications just fine. Other than that, I could use my OS without the random reboots that the 9800 Pro was giving me.
So I decided I would get a newer Nvidia card, so I bought a used 6600 GT. Installed it, works fine. Same with the old GeForce, no random reboots when I'm just using Windows. But when I'm inside a game... you guessed it. And there's no consistency to when it happens or what game. I tried CS:Source, Half-Life 2, Albatross18, and Neverwinter Nights 2. Sometimes I can play for like 10 minutes with no problem, others it crashes as soon as it gets into the actual game. I've also tried the various resolutions, quality levels, and running it windowed, and nothing helps. I'm running the most up-to-date drivers from Nvidia, and once again double checked that I'm running the latest VIA 4-in-1 drivers (4.49, as found on the Asus site. I saw another that that had 5.10, but I'm not sure about using it yet since it wasn't provided by Asus). Also, I really don't think it's an issue with the power supply, because if that was faulty, you'd think that I would be getting the same problems in SP1 and Vista...
Now! After doing several more tests, it seems that the problem lies somewhere with DirectX. I was running a few tests checking video based things, and one of them was 3D related using OpenGL. The tests went off without a hitch, everything looked great. But the moment I switched it over to DirectX, it crashed. Now, I don't know if it was merely a coincidence, since as I've stated, sometimes in games it will work fine for several minutes, and ultimately just crash, but I definitely find it pretty striking that the crash happened the moment I switched to DirectX. Unfortunately I don't have any games that can run exclusively in OpenGL, but I use After Effects quite a bit which uses OpenGL for it's 3D effects and it works perfectly fine.
So yeah........ Help? :\ ....
For those of you who don't wish to read through my entire post but want just a summary of the problem here goes (but before replying, please read the whole thing):
Was running SP1, games worked fine but the build was old and sluggish, formatted, installed SP2, started getting random reboots everywhere (in games and just in Windows). Formatted again, installed SP2, reboots went away. Had other issues with Vista so went back to SP2. Tried many things, but determined it was a video issue when I replaced my Radeon 9800 with an older GeForce. The random Windows reboots went away, but it still crashed during games, but I figured it was just really old. Bought a newer GeForce 6600 GT, game crashes still occurred, have determined it's something about DirectX.
So, it's got something to do with SP2, this motherboard (or CPU), and DirectX.
Okay. Now for the meat of the issue.
I need some serious help. I posted over at the Asus forums and Anandtech but got zero help. I've been tearing my hair out over the past couple of months trying to get this thing working properly, and all to no avail. Before you reply with a default answer to "random reboots", please read through everything I say, since I've already read several topics about random reboot issues and none of the problems people talk about are the exact same as mine.
First off, here's my current specs:
Mobo: Asus A8V Deluxe (Socket 939)
CPU: Athlon 64 3500+
RAM: 1GB DDR2 Kingston (2x 512mb)
HDD: 250gb IDE Maxtor + 200gb IDE Maxtor
Video Card: Nvidia 6600 GT 128mb
PSU: ThermalTake 450W
OS: Windows XP Service Pack 2
So a couple of months ago I decided to reformat. I had been running SP1 because I had heard many horror stories from friends about some programs not working correctly in SP2, so I simply avoided it. Unfortunately, I needed to be using some programs that would only run on SP2 and above (After Effects 7, Maya 8.5). Plus, my build had just been getting really glitchy and slow. So I reformatted to SP2, and almost immediately, I started having random reboot issues. Now, this is very important to keep in mind. Back when I Was running SP1, I NEVER had these reboot issues. Not when I was running games, nothing. Also it's important to keep in mind that back then, I was running a Radeon 9800 video card. The reboots were very random, and would happen just at any moment when I was doing anything. Wasn't consistent with any program or running a game or whatever.
After spending 2 days trying to fix it, I decide to try using Vista. The random reboot issues went away. So that right there told me that the issue had to have something to do with SP2. Unfortunately though, I wasn't entirely happy running Vista simply due to incompatibility issues and sluggishness in certain applications that I could simply chalk up to the infancy of the OS. So I decided I would try SP2 again and just spend more time trying to fix the problem. Well, nothing worked. Here's what I tried:
- Ran MemTest several times. Nothing wrong was found.
- Checked the Event Log after each crash. No errors or warnings.
-Tried turning off each on-board device one after another (heard that the on-board sound on the A8V Deluxe was faulty. Didn't help)
- Updated the BIOS
- Updated ALL the Drivers (including the VIA 4-in-1)
- Tried using PS2 keyboard and mouse
- Have fully patched/updated through Windows Update.
- Full system virus scan
Finally the solution that worked the best was replacing the video card. My roommate loaned me his old GeForce GTS (7 year old card). The random reboots went away..... unless I was running a game. And ONLY if I was running a game. I could use 3D graphics applications just fine. Other than that, I could use my OS without the random reboots that the 9800 Pro was giving me.
So I decided I would get a newer Nvidia card, so I bought a used 6600 GT. Installed it, works fine. Same with the old GeForce, no random reboots when I'm just using Windows. But when I'm inside a game... you guessed it. And there's no consistency to when it happens or what game. I tried CS:Source, Half-Life 2, Albatross18, and Neverwinter Nights 2. Sometimes I can play for like 10 minutes with no problem, others it crashes as soon as it gets into the actual game. I've also tried the various resolutions, quality levels, and running it windowed, and nothing helps. I'm running the most up-to-date drivers from Nvidia, and once again double checked that I'm running the latest VIA 4-in-1 drivers (4.49, as found on the Asus site. I saw another that that had 5.10, but I'm not sure about using it yet since it wasn't provided by Asus). Also, I really don't think it's an issue with the power supply, because if that was faulty, you'd think that I would be getting the same problems in SP1 and Vista...
Now! After doing several more tests, it seems that the problem lies somewhere with DirectX. I was running a few tests checking video based things, and one of them was 3D related using OpenGL. The tests went off without a hitch, everything looked great. But the moment I switched it over to DirectX, it crashed. Now, I don't know if it was merely a coincidence, since as I've stated, sometimes in games it will work fine for several minutes, and ultimately just crash, but I definitely find it pretty striking that the crash happened the moment I switched to DirectX. Unfortunately I don't have any games that can run exclusively in OpenGL, but I use After Effects quite a bit which uses OpenGL for it's 3D effects and it works perfectly fine.
So yeah........ Help? :\ ....
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