geforce2 MX the ONLY crappy component I bought...

[troubledshooter]

I have an eVGA geforce2 MX. It is the ONLY purchase I made in putting together this (see my sig) my first system, that I regret completely. Using ANY drivers, it doesn't seem to matter which, I get somewhere between 2-35 min of up time in Q3A, about the same in D2. In Starcraft, I can sit on B.net all day long, but as soon as I join a game, I have 1.5-25 min before I go down.

Going down has 3 meanings. Go to the desktop (60%) Hard crash (30%) No screen activity, cntrl-alt-del gives me a white mouse, but nothing else, all other opperations continue (10%).

Anyone have any advice?

Win2k SP1, tried via 4in1 .25 and .24, tried 5.32, 6.18, 6.27 nvidia drivers. Nothing works.

thanks all

 

[odog]

throw a heatsink on that bad boy.... if it already has on... throw a fan on it...

or if you don't feel like your in the mood.... RMA it.. and get another

 

[troubledshooter]

You think the problem is the card itself not the MX in general? Does anyone actaully have a setup like this working 100%? Even if it is anohter maker of the MX?

thanks again

 

[Vrangel]

I'd say CPU is probably overclocked too high.
It fails when serious apps like games push it too hard.
Try it at default speed first and then see how high it can go.

 

[troubledshooter]

RC5 72 hours straight. Games last no longer @ anything from 700 (50 under) to 950. I have tried every-single interval.

thanks, but not the secret I needed

 

[Sephiroth_IX]

Ive seen problems with RC5 running fine, and then as soon as you stress the FPU on the processor (3d unit) everything bails. I'd try underclocking the computer and running it at default speed, and seeing if you still crash. And then, if you do, but not as much as before, reinstall windows. If you are still crashing at default speed, put some air on the video card. If you still have problems, RMA the card.

Please dont tell me I am wrong here. You must go through these steps if you want to fix the problem. Don't jump over steps, follow exactly as said. And remember, never, EVER, expect something to work correctly. (as you did with the processor)

 

[Vrangel]

In light of new info you gave I suggest to reformat HD.
Sometimes installing new mobo without reformatting would
result in problems like you have.

 

[troubledshooter]

The one thing I gave up on long ago was expecting things to work properly. I just wish some things would work at all

I'll give it a whirl. I find that people prefer not to read long posts, (small wonder, I don't either) but as such I often don't go into exquisite detail. If you Sephiroth_IX would care to adjust your instructions in light of the following, please do so. If not, I will try what you said as it sounds that you have had your share of similar problems:


1. eVGA Report This makes no reference to my problem with the 6.27 nor 5.32 drivers however.

2. I have reinstalled win2k about 15 times. That is not an exageration. Each time I use both format c: and allow win2k to format again (FAT32 both times) out of paranoia. I do have some data I leave untouched on another partition. Most recently was this past thurs. I have been wrestling with this problem the whole time. I have the page of suggested BIOS settings from eVGA with which they say they have gotten their KT133 running stably--no change.

Certainly no hurt in running @ core for awhile. I'll give it a go. But as for putting a fan (has HS) on an un-overclocked GPU? Sounds like an RMA is a better option to me.

BTW for unmanned testing, how do I loop the Q3 demo?

thanks again

 

[Mixxen]

Underclock the CPU to about 600. If that doesn't work then RMA that MX bastard. You shouldn't need a fan to run the MX at default clock. After you underclock the CPU, and if everything works fine, then I'd say it's a bad CPU.

 

[hungrypete]

i've got the asus V7100 pure 180/185 on an asus A7V w/ duron 650@766 and it's about 98% stable with winME. Using the 6.26 right now and debating on trying the 6.27 for better d3d performance. Everything could be overclocked more, but i need better case ventilation before. My MX runs STABLE at 220/210 but there is a lot of "tearing" in games. That poor 166mhz memory probably cant survive very long at 210mhz anyways....

 

[bernse]

I have a herc prophet IIMX that has been rock solid. Never a problem.. yet

Eric

 

[troubledshooter]

I have been seeing fewer reports on this compatability issue with the Asus and Guillumet. Unfortunatley I hadn't yet found this forum, and was in a big hurry when I built this thing. Thankfully I CAN RMA it...


mobo with the guillemet?

 

[Vrangel]

How to loop Q3A .

 

[Sephiroth_IX]

Glad to update with your new info

First thing you do when you get into Windows is install the Win2k 4in1 drivers for your motherboard. Restart, add all your other drivers as necessary.

Make sure you are at the correct voltage when you put it at core. Do not underclock the processor below spec.

So, drop it to spec, run the loop. If it drops to the desktop, reinstall windows or put a *temporary* fan on the video card, retry. If you dropout again, do the other option. (so if you reinstall windows first and still crash, put a fan on the card)

Most importantly, write down EVERY SINGLE ERROR YOU RECIEVE, and tell me them as you get them. If we still have trouble we will RMA, but i want to hear how things work out right now...

Ill be back later tonight and then again tomorrow afternoon to continue help

Good luck!

 

[troubledshooter]

Damn i love this place

Will continue to report. Thanks.

 

[Eli]

Follow their advice. I'd say your Tbird isn't 100% stable at that speed though. Sounds most reasonable, try bumping it down a little. When you overclock your CPU, and it's not stable, don't blame your video card. Hehe

 

[Piano Man]

Just built a friend a duron system with an Asus A7V and the eVGA MX. No probs at all for him even with the mem OC to 200 and the processor going from 600 to 850.

 

[troubledshooter]

That was easy enough (unfortuantely)

Just set processor back to core. Tried running 3dmark2000. Got to about test 5, then *woooop!* back to windows. No error message. No nothing. Just a big blank 19in desktop.

I'll give it one more go. I'll set to "optimized defaults in BIOS for processor, then do the eVGA settings that they say work and try it again.

Then YAY win2k installer AGAIN!

 

[Jay123]

I'm having a very similar issue the problem is the motherboard and your video card(specifically the MX's and the GTS). If you go to abit's website (www.abit.com.tw) and read the faq it will tell you that you need to set a value in your bios I can't remember which one, but it's some hex number. This won't entirly fix the problem though. you have to make sure you have via's 4-in-1 drivers. get them from their website at (via-tech) I know you said you had them, but another issue that may save you some grief is put them on your HD. Every now and then when I install them, they screw up my monitor to the point where I have to safe mode, and de-install, and re-install. I've finally after 2 weeks of this B.S. gotten Deus-ex to run, but for a 900MHZ non-overclocked t-bird, I would expect flawlessness. I still get ocasional lockups, ect. but nothing like the outright instability I experianced before setting that value in the bios. ABIT acts like it's not their fault, I hope they adress this with a bios revision soon, because it's still not perfect.

 

[rmblam]

I have the Leadtek MX card. I've gone through all the drivers myself. What I evevntually found worked best was upping the I/O voltage. I had it set at 3.3volts even though Asus set their default at 3.56. Well, after trying many things I set it back to their default. Unbelievable. It is much more stable period. I also can overclock the vid card a LOT better now. Weird but cool. All references for devices and memory say 3.3volts. whatever.

Check your bios also. Do you have fast writes enabled?

I kept getting booted back to the desktop in 3dmark 2000 until I upped my cpu voltage to 1.85 volts also.

Any FSB overclock does the same. It screws up the timing too bad is my guess.

 

[troubledshooter]

Well, can't decide if this is good or bad. Kinda like 6 steps backward, 6 forward I would say. I just set everything to "optimized defaults" in my BIOS, the proceeded to change *some* of the eVGA settings.

It seems I stumbled upon a winner. I just ran 3dmark2000 stably 7 times. Count'em 7!! I've never gone more than 3, and usually it crashes in the first. The only disconcerting part is this. Check out the score:

1936
My Stable 3dmark200


uhmmmm. Isn't that about what you can get for 40 bucks? I paid 118 with shipping here? Perhaps that RMA is the best course of action

any ideas? Gonna try it again now @950, but leaving ram settings. Will try upping the i/o voltage as well.

thanks again

 

[Budman]

Why dont you try using it under Win98?

That's what 98 was made for GAMING.

If it's all fine in win98 then you know the OS is to blame

 

[Mixxen]

Try underclocking your Tbird. I recently had to RMA a Tbird that I was builidng for a friend becuase the Tbird couldn't even install windows out of the box (800Mhz).

I underclocked it to 600 and everything worked fine so I RMA'ed the bastard.

 

[Sunner]

Something I didnt see mentioned is to try some official drivers, both the 5.32's and 6.27's are unofficial beta drivers.
Try 5.22 or 6.18.

 

[troubledshooter]

I have been unable to locate any 5.22 for the MX and win2k. 5.32 is the only link on the eVGA website. I have tried the 6.18 that is a no-go.

Just re-did the 3d mark. Set my CPU back up to my sig. Increased I/O voltage to 3.5. Same results. No hitches except speed in running that bastard 7 times. (For refrence, when I first started this battle almost a month ago, using the 6.18 drivers, and the DX8 beta I was getting about 4200 @ core, and 4500 in the 900 range. This was absolutely unstable though. I would have to try a few times to complete a test to get a reading.)

1913
Stable 3dMark @950

The only notable difference between my present BIOS settings and the unstable ones I started with 2 posts ago is the RAM settings I would think... I have it @ no interleave, 100 FSB, CAS3 etc. I KNOW it is PC133, but I'm not sure if it is CAS2. Seemed to run alright though. I did change some other random video settings, but none of them looked particularly notable--obviously one was becuase it cut my performance in half, but stabilized me. WTF?

Ideas Sephiroth_IX?

I seem to be stable @ both 950 @ core, but I'm looking at sub-voodoo3 performance. That's about the only situation we didn't plan for

Well, its bed time anyhow

hope we can whip this thing yet!
thanks all