FIC SD11 comp crashes w/every game. Can't fix it

[Achilles97]

I have :
T-Bird 700
192 megs RAM
SB Live!
Gigabyte 32 meg GF MX original.
FIC SD11 Mobo

I've had this setup for about 2 years. It's always crashed ANY game I play. I've tried dozens of video drivers, chipset drivers, AGP drivers, etc. It did the exact same thing with my old TNT2 as well.
It only runs in AGP 1x mode.

I'm sure it's the mobo. Is there anything I can do to make it not crash every 10 minutes? I don't want to have to upgrade now, I'm holding off for Doom3.

Thanks!

 

[EKAtBzboyz]

feel the video card, is it hot? (the heatsink, theback where the gpu would be)

 

[ndee]

you're trying since 2 years to fix that box?

 

[Achilles97]

Do you think it's overheating? It did the same thing with my TNT2 which had a fan on it. Sometimes it crashes after 15 seconds, sometimes it will go 20 minutes. Sometimes it just locks up, but other times it crashes to the desktop and gives a Windows error.

 

[EKAtBzboyz]

what was the error?
blue screen of death or a windows box error type thing?

overheating could be a possibility
try taking off the side ofyour case, and get a house fan or something to blow inside the case
if it helps its the videocard overheating

 

[CrackRabbit]

I had a similar setup with similar problems, turns out it was the Aureal sound card i was using, try un-installing the drivers for the Live, and then taking it out. Play a game and see what happens. It could also be your memory, though its less likely.
Good luck to ya!

 

[miken]

The SD11 MUST RUN in 1X AGP for Geforce compatibility.

You MUST run the latest AMD drivers, NOT THE 4in1's, this is an AMD Irongate chipset.

You MUST install the FIC motherboard drivers and upgrade to the latest BIOS from their website.

Do NOT run more than two PCI cards along with an AGP, the FIC has trouble enough supplying power to the AGP port if you have a Geforce or better.

If you run PCI cards, put them in alternating PCI slots.

This will run HOT, use a lot of cooling, at least the CPU fan, the PS fan, and an exhaust fan.

Use a 300W or higher PS

Use GOOD RAM.

NO SB LIVE!

If you follow that, it works flawlessly, mine worked for two years problem free after I figured all that out.

 

[Achilles97]

You guys are giving good advice, thanks.

I too am running Win98se, I forgot to mention that.

I have generic RAM, but it was working fine in my last system.

I only have one PCI card in there, the SB Live!. What should I do about the SBLive? You say No SBLive, does that mean the drivers, or do I have to physically uninstall the card?

I have a 300 watt power supply. BUT, it could be having problems. 1 out of 30 times I turn on the comp, it just turns on the fans and does nothing else, I have to hit the reset button and it boots fine.
A few times it has just rebooted when I am playing a game, when it does this the speakers usually POP.

But this is all strange, the comp works fine when I'm not playing a 3d game. If it's a 2d game, such as Age of Kings, it will not crash. I can play video files all day, no problems. It's only with 3d games.

I did update the BIOS from FIC. I installed the newest VIA 4-in1 drivers, but then I installed the newest AMD Northbridge drivers over it.

Thanks!

 

[Achilles97]

I opened the case and blew a house fan into it while I played. I played for an hour and it crashed 3 times:

1) Game locked up and went to desktop
2) Game crashed, went to desktop and had a dialog box saying invalid page fault...
3) Same as #2 but when I tried to shutdown, I got a blue screen saying "Fatal Exception OD..."

???

 

[HalfCrazy]

I had the very same mobo and it also crashed all the time also. I got so sick of it I took the mobo and slammed it on the ground. What a good feeling too. No matter what I done it would crash.

I really like my desktop system I got now. Very stable and sweet for me.

 

[EKAtBzboyz]

try one stick of ram at a time
if it still does it, borrow a stick from a friend

 

[Stark]

Your motherboard suck. I mean REALLY REALLY SUCKS. Back when I did that sort of thing, I built four systems with those board for a customer and had to return them to Ingram Micro for a loss. My boss wasn't too happy. That is seriously one of the worst motherboards of all time. Back in the day they shipped them with promise ata-66 pci cards because it was the only board that didn't come with it onboard.

 

[miken]

Originally posted by: Achilles97
You guys are giving good advice, thanks.

I too am running Win98se, I forgot to mention that.

I have generic RAM, but it was working fine in my last system.

I only have one PCI card in there, the SB Live!. What should I do about the SBLive? You say No SBLive, does that mean the drivers, or do I have to physically uninstall the card?

I have a 300 watt power supply. BUT, it could be having problems. 1 out of 30 times I turn on the comp, it just turns on the fans and does nothing else, I have to hit the reset button and it boots fine.
A few times it has just rebooted when I am playing a game, when it does this the speakers usually POP.

But this is all strange, the comp works fine when I'm not playing a 3d game. If it's a 2d game, such as Age of Kings, it will not crash. I can play video files all day, no problems. It's only with 3d games.


I did update the BIOS from FIC. I installed the newest VIA 4-in1 drivers, but then I installed the newest AMD Northbridge drivers over it.

Thanks!

The SB Live needs to be physically removed from your system. After you remove it, play your games without sound and see if you still get crashes. If you do, format your system to get rid of your 4in1 traces. Reinstall and install the AMD drivers. Keep the SB Live out and repeat your test for crashes. If you still get crashes remove your RAM and try other RAM if you can. If your Still get crashes try a different higher wattage/quality power supply.

It's unfortunate you are running 98, XP has the drivers installed automatically.

See the problems with the Irongate choipsets are that they don't really handle power well. Whether it's power from the ATX connector to the AGP or PCI or even IDE, they just aren't designed well in that respect. The Irongate 751 was the first AMD Athlon board, thus it's going to be like a first generation car, not proven, with recalls.

If you can, I would drop $70 on a new KT133 slot A motherboard. Getting 751's to run with games with the equipment you have is a lost art. When I bought my 751 like I said, I had to buy a new Power Supply (400W Antec), Crucial RAM and Sound card (generic).

 

[Achilles97]

Today I am going to install WinXP and see if that helps.

Thanks!

 

[piasabird]

I had an FIC AD11 motherboard and found it to just be an unstable motherboard. Your motherboard could just be a Lemon. You figure if they make a thousand motherboards, a few could be bad. Dont always assume the motherboard is good. I ended up throwing my FIC AD11 motherboard away. I had it too long before I figured what was wrong with it.

I think the manufacturers of motherboards should have to pubplish fail rates on their motherboards similar to manufactureres of tires.

 

[miken]

Originally posted by: piasabird
I had an FIC AD11 motherboard and found it to just be an unstable motherboard. Your motherboard could just be a Lemon. You figure if they make a thousand motherboards, a few could be bad. Dont always assume the motherboard is good. I ended up throwing my FIC AD11 motherboard away. I had it too long before I figured what was wrong with it.

I think the manufacturers of motherboards should have to pubplish fail rates on their motherboards similar to manufactureres of tires.

This is a known issue for most AMD 751 motherboards.

 

[QCDStick]

I had one of those motherboards! They sucked the big one, look into getting a different slot A board off ebay or something, you will probably spend less than 30 bucks and get a good baord. I think asus has a slot A board that was decent. Or better yet, just get a new system... those slots sucked pretty badly.

XP 1600+ ~$50
Shuttle AK35GT KT333 ~$70
DDR memory, well, choose what you want, but 512mb pc2700 micron ~$100 or so