3d games lock-up on my new vid card. Cant figure why!

[rgnuyda]

I got a GForce FX5600 128 mb and replaced my GF3 ti200 64mb thinking it would markly improve gaming. And guess what, i had to put it back in the box. Now im back to my previous card which is functioning ok. The thing is i like to use the new one bec. i spent a good amount of money for it. Here's the problem and the remedies i made: Games randomly lock-up. I updated moboard drivers, video drivers, tried disabling in-game settings, etc. to no avail. However, with the GF3ti 200, everything is ok. There has to be something that the new card isnt reading right, right? My specs are as follows: ECS K7AMA2 (Via chipset) moboard w/ integrated sound, AMD Athlon XP 1600, 512 RAM. These more than meet the system specs stated in the box. Some say its the power supply (i have 300 watts), some say the moboard, since it only supports 4x while the GFfx5600 is 8x which is unlikely accdg to tech people. I cant even begin to speculate. I refer to this forum and its good members for assistance. Thank you, any advice is most welcome.

 

[MichaelZ]

i had a 5600 around 6 months back... that card i kept for a breif couple of days.

friggin thing locked up for all direct X 3D applications. naturally i no longer have this card. if returning is a possibility, you'd best take that option. watever money you spent on that card, it could have been better spent on a alternative. ti4200 would kill a 5600. i say this from experience. returned 5600 and took a 4200 instead. (they were the same price around 6 months ago)

for the record, i never found a solution to the problem. avoid 5600, they seem to be the buggiest FX cards around. i've seen a few people complainng about compatibility probs with the 5600's.


P.S. i'm currently running a 4800 and a 4200 in my rigs, i doubt a 5600 will offer better 3D performance over GF3 ti200, personally i think it's a bit of a downgrade and from ti200 to ti4200 is not a huge jump either.

return it, keep the money and upgrade a later on. the whole system could use an overhaul sometime in the next 6 months.

 

[InFecTed]

First thing is to try out the new card in another pc, will save you much time. If the lock ups persist, return the card. If not, I recommend a clean install. Also check the PSU voltage.
Try reinstalling directx. Are the lock-ups in D3D or OpenGL or both?

 

[Acanthus]

-reinstall windows
-reinstall drivers (DirectX first)
-watch voltages during gaming, a sag would cause what you are seeing.

 

[rgnuyda]

Yeah, i guess you're right. But there must be a system this card will work on, right. Whatever that is! I feel ripped off. Come to think of it, the GF3ti200, even at just 64mb looks better. :brokenheart:

 

[rgnuyda]

I would have to say they lock up on D3D games only. Thank u 4 replying.

 

[rgnuyda]

I would have to say they lock up on D3D games only. Thank u 4 replying.

 

[Jeff7181]

The older Via chipsets (KT133, KT266, KT333, KT400) have had trouble with keeping CPU voltage constant while the video card is sucking tons of juice. Get Motherboard Monitor (a google search will find it) and watch your voltages... most likely what's happening is the card is sucking a lot of power, and your CPU voltage is dropping. I had that happen with a KT266 and KT400 based motherboard myself... and a friend of mine had a KT133 and a KT333 and a KT400 that did the same thing. I solved the problem by increaseing CPU voltage by .025 volts.

 

[MichaelZ]

Originally posted by: rgnuyda
I would have to say they lock up on D3D games only. Thank u 4 replying.

as i suspected. seems like a exact replica of the problem i had.

now... here's something u can try. got a spare hard disk? install windows 98 and boot it. then install nvidia drivers and see if that bastard works. cause it did in my case. something about the 5600 i had meant it doesn't work with Direct 3D applications whilest running WinXP.

i installed 98 and it worked without any weird probs. i thought i fixed the prob, upgraded 98 to XP and it starts locking up again. stupid 5600.

1 more thing, RETURN IT!!!

 

[Mem]

Hmmm could be a few things,better quality PSU might help , BIOS wise try increasing cpu voltage a touch , ram timings( try slower slower settings),and if you BIOS allows increase AGP voltage a touch.I would recommend you keep PCI slot one empty(nearest to AGP slot).


If it only happens in D3D I would check you have latest onboard sound drivers,I`ve seen sound drivers cause video related problems before.
Some more BIOS setting tweaks won`t do no harm,so disable video ram cacheable,disable all video shadowing,disable fastwrites(I know ECS BIOS is basic so don`t worry if you can`t find all the above settings).

How are your temps? Problems like what you`ve I would look at all possibilities and start rulling them out .

Driver Cleaner is also handy to have for clean driver installs Link .
Btw what OS do you`ve,Win98? I would also check you`ve board chipset drivers like VIA AGP driver installed and welcome to the AT forums rgnuyda.

 

[rgnuyda]

Thanx 4 all of ur advice. At least i have a good idea of what to do. It seems that all ur analyses suggest a power/voltage related issue. This may be true considering that such factors as drivers, in-game setting adjustments, background tasks, etc. have all been done.
One last question. Would changing to a branded psu (higher wattage) address cpu voltage issues or do i still have to tweak? Im not too comfortable with tweaking bec. im not to knowledgable beyond stock. Thanx again guys, u put in a lot there.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: i82lazyboy

Originally posted by: rgnuyda
I would have to say they lock up on D3D games only. Thank u 4 replying.

as i suspected. seems like a exact replica of the problem i had.

now... here's something u can try. got a spare hard disk? install windows 98 and boot it. then install nvidia drivers and see if that bastard works. cause it did in my case. something about the 5600 i had meant it doesn't work with Direct 3D applications whilest running WinXP.

i installed 98 and it worked without any weird probs. i thought i fixed the prob, upgraded 98 to XP and it starts locking up again. stupid 5600.

1 more thing, RETURN IT!!!

Im currently running 3 of those in 3 different machines playing dozens of new D3D games all running fine.

 

[Viper96720]

What version of directx are you using? Update to DX9 if you haven't already. If your motherboard bios allows turn off fastwrites. The 5600 is faster than the ti-4200 with
aa and af enabled for both. But slower when those are disabled.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: rgnuyda
Thanx 4 all of ur advice. At least i have a good idea of what to do. It seems that all ur analyses suggest a power/voltage related issue. This may be true considering that such factors as drivers, in-game setting adjustments, background tasks, etc. have all been done.
One last question. Would changing to a branded psu (higher wattage) address cpu voltage issues or do i still have to tweak? Im not too comfortable with tweaking bec. im not to knowledgable beyond stock. Thanx again guys, u put in a lot there.

It's not so much a matter of wattage... it's a matter of quality. I just use an Antec 350 watt power supply and I have tons of crap in my case and don't have power problems.

 

[Mem]

It's not so much a matter of wattage... it's a matter of quality. I just use an Antec 350 watt power supply and I have tons of crap in my case and don't have power problems

I agree go for a quality PSU from brands like Antec,Sparkle,Enermax etc,however the price difference between the 300w and 350w models from these quality brands is small,so you might as well go with a 350w model.

 

[Viper96720]

Yep it's the amps that matter not the total watts.

 

[BFG10K]

Make sure you have the latest BIOS for your system.

Also did you remove nVidia's drivers before you swapped the cards?