GeForce2 GTS 64MB Lock Up with EVERYGAME! :(

[foreignr0x]

(Bare with me this might be a long read)

Ok I just built a new system yesterday: (not overclocked)
AMD Athlon 1Ghz
MSI K7T Turbo
Hercules 3D Prophet II 64MB (nvidia drivers 6.72)
Soundblaster Live! X-Gamer (latest sblive drivers)
256MB SDRAM
Win98 SE

Now I upgraded from a PIII600 cpu and I wanted to see how much of a fps boost
I can now get with my 1gig athlon. So I loaded up QuakeIII and just as I go into
the Options menu it locks up and the menu "beep" repeats over and over and I'm forced to reboot. I then tried installing the latest patch for it (1.27g) started Q3 up again and modified my settings without any lockup BUT when I tried to choose a character within a few seconds same lock up, rebooted changed my display drivers
to the latest nvidia reference drivers (yes I uninstalled the old drivers first) rebooted tried again and finally I could play...but not for long. It locks up again after about a minute of gameplay (DAMN IT!) I try installing another game (Giants) and get the SAME lock up while at the "enter your name" screen. I checked Hercules' tech support site and they mention something about a possible IRQ Sharing conflict that may be causing the lock ups. So I do what they say on how to check if there is one..right as I clicked IRQ in my system info it freezes and forces me to reboot (wtf?) What the hell is going on?? I tried everything I could think of..I even installed newer Nvidia drivers (6.72) and at first thought I solved the program because Giants was running longer than usual but just as I started to type in my name at the screen it locks up AGAIN. Also 3DMark2000 locks up at the loading screen..so I know this a definate video card issue. I'd very very much appreciate ANY help on this problem. Thanks!

 

[HalfHuman]

It may or may not be your video card. What is your agp apeture size? Try setting it to something else, (64->128 or 256 or back to 64). How did you do the upgrade? Did you just swap the motherboard and processor and throw your hard drive in without doing a fresh install. Technically the computer will work, but the OS really needs your motherboards drivers to work properly. Try installing the latest 4in1 drivers from Via (your motherboard is a via chipset right, I am not too familiar with AMD stuff). If that doesn't work, I'm afraid you will probably have to reformat and reinstall windows. I know this is a P.I.T.A., but it may be the only way. I hope this helps.

 

[foreignr0x]

I got a new motherboard and cpu and basically replaced the majority of parts that was my previous set up. Yep I did a clean install formatted both my harddrives installed windows and every hardware driver. I tried changing my AGP Apeture from 64 (default) to 128 and ran Quake3 but it locked up again within a minute. I just raised the Apeture to 256 and I'm about to test Quake3 again. I'll also try installing those latest VIA drivers you mentioned. *crosses his fingers*

I know this can be solved somehow.

 

[iamwiz82]

are you positive your ram is ok? try running sisoft's sandra memory benchmark, if it crashes, chances are that it is your memory.

 

[RoboTECH]

can you run prime95 or seti or distributed.net?

 

[crash2much]

Try here(if ya haven't already)
http://www.tweak3d.net/faq/
Lots of info updated almost daily.
Come to think of it, why does Nvidia user need such an extensive troubleshooting site?

 

[BFG10K]

Did you try forcing AGP x2 or AGP x1? I had lockups in almost every single 3D game until I forced my system to AGP x1. Now all of my 3D games run flawlessly.

 

[foreignr0x]

Whelp I fixed the problem, what was going on was that I wasn't installing the "viagart" file that you need when you install the VIA Chipset Drivers. I could never find the little bastard file anywhere on the MSI CD so with the help from another message I posted regarding setting up my Motherboard I got the latest VIA drivers that included that lil'devil viagart with it and now everything is kosher and cool. Thanks for the help/suggestions everybody.