Computer freezes when running 3D apps

[Guest]

I've gone through countless efforts to stabilize my computer, and the closest I can come is to get games to run for a while and sooner or later freezing my computer. To do this, I've had to UNDERclock my CPU from the Ghz that it's supposed to be at in the BIOS (1005C) to 950mhz. Also, the heat seems to be high, but I've read that I shouldn't trust the temp. reported by the A7V BIOS. Normally, it's reading it at around 55 - max around 60. This is the process through which I've gone about setting it up.

Flash BIOS to 1005C.
Format harddrive to NTFS format.
Install Windows 2000.
Change over to Normal PC from ACPI so it won't share IRQ 9 with sound/video, and other peripherals.
Update Promise drivers.
Install most recently released factory video card drivers (ASUS AGP-V3800 SGRAM 3.79) because I think Detonator was causing distortions and immediate lockups in games before.
Install SoundBlaster LIVE! updated driver.
Update Windows 2000 w/ SP 1 and all critical updates.
Do AMD's registry patch for Windows 2000.

Now, after doing all of the above, Windows runs perfectly at my ghz rating, but as soon as I try to run a 3D application (such as 3DMark2000), I get freezes. I have tried updating VIA 4-in-1 drivers to 4.28 (have tried all drivers but have recently uninstalled the BusMaster hearing that it's bad for win2k users), but my computer now seems to freeze faster than even before. There are NO IRQ conflicts, and everything seems to be running perfectly except for games and 3DMark. Please oh please help me with this. I've just about had it. I'll include my hardware below.

ASUS A7V motherboard (of course) w/ 1005C
Athlon 1000@950 to run games for a while
(I've noticed that when I run EverQuest at 1000mhz, it starts fine, but then when it's just about to render the 3D character screen, it reboots by itself. I find this very strange behavior. Underclocking to 950 fixes this problem straight up).
ASUS TnT2 V-3800 video card
SoundBlaster LIVE! sound card
128 mb of PC-133 Mushkin RAM

Again...please help if you have any experiences with a similar problem or know of some way through which I can fix this. Thanks!

Jamie

 

[Guest]

More RAM: 256Mb PC133 CL2 (Mushkin or Crucial).
Win2K and 3D apps are RAM eaters.



- Better go Green than Blue!

 

[Guest]

I smelled Athlon as soon as I read the subject on your post. Try this.. Find and download a program called NVMAX.EXE. Sorry, I don't have a URL at the moment for it... shouldn't be too hard to find. Run it... it will put an icon on your task tray. Click on Athlon - Win2k fix to enable it. Reboot... This has worked for me when I was pulling my hair out.. no more freezes.

 

[phsstpok]

Spontaneous reboots are usually caused by a powersupply or memory problem. Do you have an AMD recommended power supply, preferably a 300w since you have a tnt2 card? I see that you have Mushkin memory but it does not mean you don't have a memory problem. Try setting DRAM timing to the lowest setting. I think it is "8/10ns" and CAS3. You can retest aggesive DRAM timings after you know if you system is stable.

I am not a Win2K user but I have been passing along info on an Athlon/Duron-Win2K AGP bug that Microsoft acknowledges. Here is the link.

http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/athlon-duron/amd_win2k_patch.html


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by phsstpok on 01/26/01 02:53 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[phsstpok]

I forgot this.

I know you have an Asus A7V mobo but at Paul's Unofficial KT7 FAQ has an excellent document on resolving system instability. It seems general enough to be of value.