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Having problems with new build

B

Ben

Golden Member
I've got something causing problems with this combo but I don't know what.

-hardware
MSI Pro2A (6380) - recently replaced a non-booting AK31
AMD XP 1800+
512MB Kingston DDR (2 sticks of 256)
SBLive! 5.1 OEM (SB0102)
Leadtek Ti200 GF3
Linksys NIC
Enermax case with 330W PS
whopping CPU cooler
various periferals - Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse/steering wheel, HP all-in-one fax/copier/etc., USB hub.

-software
Windows ME
Via 4.37 drivers
DirectX 8.1
Detonator 23.11 drivers
Liveware 3.0

-the problem
Occasional hang during boot, the system sits with a blank screen after the OS loading screen disappears
Frequent crashes during games, in particular UT and RTCW. Crashes are usually an error window that says "this program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down" but also have been total system lockups and occasionally a dump back to the desktop with no explanantion.

Other than those two things, the system is stable. No problems with IE, Nero, etc. It seems like a problem with the video card. I set all the conservative settings in the BIOS, disabling all the fancy AGP features and bumping the mode down to 2X. It got better but it's not fixed. I have the memory settings set to SPD but I'm ready to start bumping up the timings.

The biggest problem is that I built this for a friend so I don't have it here in front of me. I tested it here at my house when I built it and it seemed fine but once I took it over to his house it has been a big P.O.S. Now he's started talking trash about AMD and my abilities so I'd really like to solve this problem ASAP. Tonight he said he wanted to have me return all the parts so he could go buy a Dell!

I really don't know the root of these problems. Is it a bad video card? Is it Windows ME? It seems like I've seen other people around here with the same problem and most of the time the new VIA drivers fix it, but not in my case.

Where do you guys think I should go next?
I was going to try the AGP driver from Leadtek rather than the new one currently installed.
I was going to bump up the memory timings.
If that doesn't work I was going to take out one stick of RAM in case I got a bad stick.
If that doesn't work I was try and talk him into upgrading to Windows2000 or WindowsXP Pro.
 


<< If that doesn't work I was going to take out one stick of RAM in case I got a bad stick. >>



i think that this is the most likely source. if you are overclocking the memory, drop it back to 133 and cl2.5. if that doesnt work, probably the next thing is right, reformat and try again. oh, are you using dx8.1? i've seen a bad dx installation do this too.
and you are right. imho, win me is crap. upgrading (i mean fresh clean install, of course) to win2k will solve a lot of other problems that he doesnt know he has yet.

good luck
 


<< upgrading to win2k will solve a lot of other problems that he doesnt know he has yet >>

LOL!
🙂 Ya, good point. Plus, if I have to format to reinstall DX8.1 I may as well upgrade the OS.

I'm running everything at default clock settings so I guess the next move is to switch to a single 256 stick. I'll try each of them individually to see if one emerges as the "problem child".

Thanks for the feedback.
 
ben, it sounds to me like your video card. I've built a computer with the same motherboard and a Daytona GF3 Ti200 card. IT had windows 98SE installed fresh with the 4.37 drivers and the 23.11 detonators. The machine ran like a champ until you ran ANY games. Every game would either lock right away, crash, or lock a couple minutes into it.
I finally tried a Geforce2 MX card and it worked perfect! I also then tried a Radeon card and it too worked fine. I'm still not sure why the Ti200 wouldn't work, but returned it anyways. I ended up giving him a Radeon 7500 as there are known issues between the KT266A chipset and NVidia cards/drivers. Hope this helps! 🙂
 
Well, that confirms my suspicions about the video card. I've built 4 systems with the KT266A and a GF2MX and all of them work great. This is the first one that I used a GF3 on and it's had this problem from the get-go. It looks like we're going to upgrade to W2K now so mayby the NVidia W2K drivers are more stable. Otherwise I'm going to follow your lead and recommend a Radeon to him.

Thanks for the help.
 
Oky doky, I messed with the RAM, trying each stick one at a time. It didn't help.

So, I just formatted this thing and installed W2K Pro. It runs better than WinME did, but it's still got a problem. At least now I can play any Direct3D game for hours on end without a problem. Unfortunately, any OpenGL game crashes with a "program error" or an "illegal operation" within 5 to 10 minutes.

Is there a driver update or a BIOS setting that might help this, or should I just give in and change out this GF3 for a Radeon?

I still have the BIOS settings set conservatively. I'm moved the AGP mode back up to 4X thinking that W2K could handle it. I'm going to reboot right now and switch it back to 2X to see if it helps with the OpenGL. I think I'm going to look around in the display settings under the OpenGL tab to see if I can disable some features and get some stability.
 
Just for kicks I swapped out the GF3 for my GF2Ultra and it ran the UT intro all night without a single crash. There is definately an issue with the GF3 and the KT266A chipset.
 
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