Vid Card + KT7 Problem

[Guest]

Previously I have been using a Voodoo3 2k agp and had this problem where i am running any benchmark or games, and if the room temp is rather warm(30+), the benchmark or game will automatically exit(Booted out to desktop) after some time. But if i lower the overall roomtemp by even just a few degrees lower this prob does not occur. I think that it may be attributed to the usual vid card overheating so i run down the speed to default and the same thing happened. Then i read an article abt the V32k not running properly even at slightly high room temp even at default speed so i slapped on a heatsink n some ramsinks thinking all is fine but wtf, same old problem.

Thinking that the V32k is kinda old anyway so i scraped whatever pennies i could n got meself a GF2MX400 BUT same problem again-premature exits to desktop. I tried testing various vid cards like GF2 GTS, Radeon and ran evrything at default speed and voltage but all show the same symptoms.

1 thing i noticed is that this problem does not occur for cpu intensive stuff as i managed to run sandra2001 or prime95 for hours without a hitch.

I narrowed down the problem to components overheating related 2 operation of the vid card but ??what??. my case is rather well ventilated with 2 intake n 3 exhaust but maybe i can pinpoint the problem area n slap a heatsink 2 it or add cooling.

Anyone ever had this problem?

This had been botherin me for months now with no practical solution in sight...
Somebody, anybody pls help.Thanks.

My Specs.
KT7(UL Bios)
300W PSU
Duron800 @ 1050
V32k / GFMX2400
SBLive Value

 

[phsstpok]

the benchmark or game will automatically exit(Booted out to desktop)

You can confirm a heat problem by running the system with the case open and using a house fan to blow lots of air into the case. If this improves the situation then it was definitely heat.

Your problem sounds like what I was experiencing when I first put my system together. I also have a Duron and a KT7. My video card is an overclocked Geforce256 SDR.

I can't tell you of any one thing I did to fix the problem as I was changing many things at the time. Back then in December, I believe I had upgraded the Via 4-in-1 drivers to 4.25a, the BIOS to WZ-b01 (a patched BIOS, source unknown), nVidia Detonator drivers to 6.31, and I also installed an exhaust fan. From then on the problem never returned.

I am now using Via 4.31, WZ-b01 BIOS (I've used YH and ZT since but I keep going back to WZ-b01), and nVidia Detonator 7.97 (but I will be returning to the 12.40 detonators shortly which are just a little faster).

I've always overclocked, my system varying from 1007 mhz down to 950 mhz, depending on room temperature. I use all maximum BIOS settings except I turned off AGP Fastwrites (Fastwrites only worked while using Detonators 10.80 but didn't actually boost performance) and I turned off PCI Delay Transaction (which cleared up minor game hesitation in Serious Sam). I cannot recall any 3D game crashes other than those caused by trying overclock my system or video card further.

Try configuring your system similarly to mine.

Also, I recommend reading the instability section in <A HREF="http://www.viahardware.com/faq/kt7/kt7faq.htm" target="_new">Paul's Unofficial Abit KT7 FAQ</A>

Update:

By the way, all KT7 BIOS updates starting with WW (but excluding WZ) require a fan with RPM sender plugged into Fan Header #1. Without this fan the system will shutdown in 10 seconds or in 3 seconds, depending on the BIOS revision.




<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by phsstpok on 06/14/01 09:50 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

Thanks for replying, actually the problem does go away with the side covers off or as I mentioned, lowering the overall room temp with an air-conditioner to enable me to narrow down the problem to heat. But since then when i attached a heatsink to the V32k and with the problem not solved, i presume that it may be other components overheating other than the vid card as i also tried running everything at stock speed.

Actually, i was hoping to narrow down the problem further to the specific part overheating so as to nick the problem where it started as running the system with the side covers off increases the noise considerably as i have quite a few fans inside including a 7000rpm delta. I have also slapped on a side intake fan but it doesn't really solve the problem as the problem will still occur during some very warm days.

I have also tried going through the unofficial FAQ but it does not really provide concrete ways to solve this particular problem.

Guess if really nothing can be done then i have no choice but to throttle down the delta to spin at a lower speed and take out the side covers but that would mean compromised cooling.

 

[phsstpok]

You might also try increasing the I/O voltage to 3.5 volts. I forgot to include this in my list of changes to my system.

Also, although it seems clear that heat is the problem, it may only be part of a bigger problem. Your system may be only marginally stable and heat is just triggering the failures. In this case you could improve cooling or you could also try my suggestions and see if it makes your system more stable and therefor less susceptible to heat problems.

 

[Guest]

yep, i also tried upping the voltage to 3.6 but no good. Actually IMHO, i think stability is not a problem as i usually ran a lot of tests for stability on every system that i configured and also when i add on a new piece of hardware or software and i think this is the first time i came across this problem as this does not show the usual sings of Vid card overheating(frame freeze and artifacts) or cpu overheating(BSOD or illegal operation) which kind of leads me to the problem that something other than these two components are overheated or having stability problems due to heat.

For KT7, there is active cooling on the northbridge so it should not be a prob, so i tried the finger test on the southbridge but it is also barely warm during load(cpu or 3d) so frankly, i really don't know what is really the part that is toasting in my case.

 

[phsstpok]

Well, as I said I used to have the exact same problem but it went away after making all the changes I mentioned. If I were to take a guess it was the UL BIOS, with the known faulty memory timings, causing the problem.

Good luck.

 

[Guest]

Thanks 4 all the info, maybe i might try to tweak a few stuff out and see what works best...will post later on the results.

Thanks again.