ATI Direct3D problem? Open in-game menu -- computer freezes

[WhipperSnapper]

I'm suffering from a vexing problem with Unreal Tournament 2004 and the ATI Catalyst driver which I believe is video driver related.

As soon as an in-game menu is opened the computer deadlocks--it freezes and must be forcibly rebooted. The game's start screen shows up just fine, but as soon as an in-game menu is opened, the computer crashes.

I can open game menus when it's in Safe Mode using software rendering, but if I switch to Direct3D (the default) it crashes immediately. (This is done in a game menu, of course.)

Here is where it gets interesting. I can open the Unreal Editor without a problem and I can load maps into it and view the maps without a problem. If I then choose to play a map starting from the Editor (requiring no menus) UT 2004 loads up and begins playing the map (without having to go through any menus) using (presumably) the Direct3D driver. So, the game does work. BUT--as soon as I press <Escape> to open up an in-game menu--wham--it deadlocks. Note that I can run FEAR: Combat without any problems.

Video card is a Radeon x800 GTO unlocked to 16 pipes and I have the most recent Catalyst driver and nForce4 drivers installed. CPU is an Opteron 148 with a small overclock. RAM is currently 4 x 512 Corsair Value RAM on an Epox -9npa+ Ultra motherboard.

Is there some sort of a setting that I can adjust in the Catalyst Control Center to fix this? What would affect a menu's display but not the game itself?

 

[tuteja1986]

Try an older driver. I had this problem a year ago but i fixed that by reformat and installing the lastest driver at that time. Also try Omega driver has they seem to be give good UT2004 performance increase.

 

[Summitdrinker]

ya I had a problem once with Ut2004 in D3d, not open gl, open gl worked fine but was slower

the problem seemed to be the refresh rate over ride, setting it the same as desktop worked fine, or try lowering it

for me I could play the game usually, but as soon as stopped playing it and tried to exit it would crash, lock the system up, once in a while it would do it in a menu screen, but never in the game

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I seem to be having the problem in OpenGL, too. I'll have to investigate this Refresh Rate override setting. Is that a setting in UT 2004 or is that a setting in the Catalyst driver?

 

[Summitdrinker]

it's in CCC or ati tray tools
sounds like you have a different problem than me maybe since open gl was fine for me

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Well, I still have a funny feeling that it's somehow related to my having 4 x 512 RAM in my computer. Perhaps I'll test that theory and other stuff, later.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

<Sigh>

Problem solved.

I've learned more about my UT 2004 problem. The computer deadlocks anytime an in-game menu is opened. However, if the UT Editor is first opened and then if I try to play a game map via the UT Editor, it runs just fine. But as soon as I press <Escape> to open a menu, the computer freezes.

Solution -- after hours spent wrangling with video drivers I decided to remove the 2 x 512 RAM and to see what would happen. Problem solved. The game runs just fine. What's sad is that I did notice an overall performance increase (in general usage) going from 1 GB to 2 GB of RAM.

It's too bad that I ended up spending 10 hours to learn all of this. It looks like I'm going tol need to either buy 2 x 1 GB RAM or upgrade to a new mobo, new RAM, and new CPU in order to get performance beyond 1 GB RAM and still play UT 2004 (and, presumably, UT3).

What's amazing is that with the 4 x 512, the system was stable in Stress Prime 95 (memory stress test) for two-and-a-half hours before I ended the test and it was able to play FEAR: Combat without a problem. Also, as mentioned, it would run maps in UT 2004 without a problem; it was only the in-game menus that caused a problem.

What a wicked, bizarre problem to have. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for it, but it's beyond me. What would cause a game that easily plays demanding first person shooter maps fine to freeze when a (less-demanding) two-dimensional in-game menu is used? I can't be the only person this has happened to; I hope I can find an answer.

Perhaps it's time to start thinking about a mobo-CPU-RAM upgrade. I'm currently on a single core Socket 939 Opteron 148 and I'd like to go dual in the future but the prices for a CPU upgrade beyond an Opteron 165 seem outrageous for what is now older technology. It's too bad that AMD decided to dick over Socket 939 owners.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

At another forum, a RAM expert suggested that I try again, but this time to up my North Bridge (Chipset?) voltage by 0.1 and my CPU voltage by 0.1. I have room to up the CPU voltage, so the next time I work on it, I'll give it a go.