games only start with low level graphics

[XRdirtHead]

My computer freezes if I try to make any changes from the default graphics. This happens with lots of different (current) games.
I recently built this one and was first thinking the graphics card but after swapping it out I ruled that out. Next was the hard drive but that didn't make a difference either. I'm left with the ram (crucial) mobo or chip. Asus A7N8x deluxe with an AMD XP 2800....I have other computers running this same chip mobo and ram with no problems......

 

[Fern]

Does sound kinda like a problem with drivers for gfx card. Have you checked to make evrything there is OK?

 

[nick1985]

run memtest and prime95. tell us how those go and report back.

 

[XRdirtHead]

I ran memtest and prime95...(prime95 still running 24 hours later) without any problems....this is killing me. I would have bet my life on the graphics card or drivers. UGH!!! I guess I could swap memory out of one of my other machines and see what happens....damn ....this bites....

 

[XRdirtHead]

I've never used either of these tests (never needed to) if anyone could give me some tips I'd appreciate it...thanks, Ed
I just ended prime and went back to running the mem test

 

[XRdirtHead]

if both test ran this long with out any problems then what the hell does that mean?

 

[thunderhorse]

Try looking for a software problem. Try downloading several update drivers for your vid card and your OS. Try loading different drivers and see how they act. There also is a possibility that there is an OS update that may help take care of this. The reason I say this is if you have 2 rigs running the same equipment and all the pieces are working properly, then you have a nagging feeling it's in the software.
I have known of motherboard chip sets and vid chip sets not working well together. But that was a number of years back when the vid boards seemed to be out paceing the motherboards. You might even try reinstalling your OS.
These are just suggestions trying to give you a starting point. Please keep us informed on your progress. It will help when someone else has a similar problem. Good luck.

 

[littlebitstrouds]

Originally posted by: XRdirtHead
My computer freezes if I try to make any changes from the default graphics. This happens with lots of different (current) games.
I recently built this one and was first thinking the graphics card but after swapping it out I ruled that out. Next was the hard drive but that didn't make a difference either. I'm left with the ram (crucial) mobo or chip. Asus A7N8x deluxe with an AMD XP 2800....I have other computers running this same chip mobo and ram with no problems......

Dude I had the same exact problem, and no lie one day it just decided to work again. I wish I could offer you some advice.

BTW I have a radeon 9500np.

 

[Fern]

After running those tests with no errors, it sounds like the ram has been eliminated as your problem. I think your original suspicion about the gfx card or drivers being the cause is correct. What card do you have, what drivers, have you used driver cleaner to clean out remnants of old drivers? In device manager what driver(s) is shown as installed? Your problem reminds me of another I saw here recently. It ended up being a driver problem (not installed correctly and the generic MS driver was being used, unitentionally, resulting in the inability to use any resolution other than the system default)

 

[XRdirtHead]

I have a few cards here:
4400
4800
and two different 5600's.
I have formatted the hard drive and started from scratch. This is the second hd I tried. I have five computer on my home network running this mobo and crucial ram. The cpu's range from xp2100 to xp2800. When I get a chance I'm going to try swapping out the memory from my sons computer.