Crashing Problems :(

[Guest]

I have an 800Mhz Thunderbird, not overclocked, a Soltek motherboard, A Soundblaster live 1024, and a Geforce2mx not overclocked either. And it won't stop crashing when I try and play 3d games. I have tried everything, I have reinstalled windows, the games in question, I have updated the drivers for the soundcard, graphics card, motherboard to the newest reference ones. I have Flashed the bios on the motherboard and the graphics card, I have read geforcefaq.com about a million times. Can anyone think of a reason why it's crashing?! I just wanna play counterstrike!!!
Thanks
Sam.

 

[Guest]

What type of memory do you have? Also have you used any memory utilities to check if it is running spec? dangerousdog.com has some good utilities. Along those lines, did you build your own rig, or was it bought?

Sample...

 

[Guest]

I have SD RAM, PC100 Unbranded Dimms. I have 2 128 Meg Dimms and a 32 Meg Dimm. I build the setup myself, it was initially a P2 400, and was upgraded to the 800 Mhz, I added more Ram, replaced the graphics card and sound card. I initially attributed the problems to my graphics card, which also gave me some image corruption, it was a Geforce 1 which I sent back, and got a Geforce2 mx as a replacement, but I'm still having the crashes (although not the image corruption). Which of those utilities at dangerousdog.com should I check out? thanks for your help

 

[tdean]

whats your pwr supply? amd recommends 400w with their cpus.... especially if you have a geforce.

...and i would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for you meddling kids...

 

[PredGR]

It may be a ram problem. Check one dimm first, then the other etc etc... Maybe one of them is bad.

 

[PredGR]

I have a 300W power supply for my 1,4 Thunderbird, GF2 GTS, 2 hard disks, 3 cds and several fans and it works ok. It may be a Ram problem or a thermal issue. What's your temperatures?

 

[Guest]

I have a 300W power supply, AMD do not recommend 400W power supplies as far as I can see. Please see
http://www1.amd.com/athlon/npower/index/1,1712,,00.html
for amd recomended power supplies, most are rated at 300W. My Geforce is a GeForce2Mx, hence it also uses a lot less power than the GeForce 1 . I'm not convinced it's power. Is there any way I can test my Dimms without just removing them?

 

[Guest]

CPU is normally at about 45 degrees C. A little high maybe, but shouldn't be enough to cause constant crashing should it? If it was RAM, wouldn't it crash at other times other than just in games?

 

[tdean]

pkysam is right, i think. if you had a ram issue it would manifest itself in ways other than just crashing games.... thats where i was headed, but it was very late....zzzz. other than a pwr issue, have you tried the nvidia detonator drivers? they are dx8 compliant. which version of direct x are you using?
oh, my cpu temp is ~47-49c full load and ~44c resting. stystem temp is ~37c if i recall. it runs a little warm but its oc'd slightly.

...and i would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for you meddling kids...

 

[tdean]

who is the manufacturer of your case and pwr supply? mine is antec and a 400w pwr supply is recommended.

...and i would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for you meddling kids...

 

[tdean]

ooops, responded to wrong guy.

...and i would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for you meddling kids...

 

[Unolocogringo]

Ram could very easily be your problem. Memory can pass a post ,boot and run normal small apps. fine.But when you load a gage allmost all of your memory is used.So it could be using the bad memory area when memory is full or almost full.

I aint signing nothing!!!

 

[Guest]

Hmmm...my bad, Dangerousdog.com didn't have the utility I was thinking about. Lemme root around to see if I still have the RAM check program I used to use. If worst comes to worse, you could always just post one stick of RAM at a time and check to see. If you download CPU-Z from dangerousdog ((under the RAM menu)), you should be able to see what CAS settings you're running at. If you run it past what your sticks can handle, crashes may often ensue. Get the other progs to see what CAS your RAM is supposed to be running at and so on...hope this helps a bit.

 

[Guest]

Yes!!! I'm no longer labeled as a newbie =)