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HELP!!!! XP, A7V266-E, TI4400....problems!!!

A

ACE101

Member
I usually don't post HELP!!! messages, but I've spent a ton of money and time on this and I can't figure it out. It's my first XP implementation. If this were Win 98, this would not be an issue as I know the in's and out's of it.

I've tried everything. I just installed a new Asus TI4400 in my A7V266-E, took out all the other cards, and I still lock up playing any 3D games using Direct3D. I've reinstalled DirextX 8.1, all the drivers, moved the memory around to different places, got NEW memory figuring it was that, insured no IRQ conflicts, nothing.....

The machine boots up fine and runs ok. But as soon as I try to run a game that uses Direct3D, it locks up. It may last .1 seconds or 90 seconds, but that's about it. It's not heat, I've used a giant fan blowing into the opened side of the box, and nothing is overclocked on the puter anyhow. I've tried resetting the motherboard to default, reflashing the BIOS...HELP! What can I be missing?

Ron
 
Did you ever consider heat problems? The computer keeps locking up everytime you play a game and games do push the processor and video card to higher temps.
 
I suppose, but I had a huge fan blowing on the puter with no difference. My CPU is running at 52C which is ok, and I tried 2 different Vid cards. I even went out and bought a memory chip cooler just in cast. I'd be shocked if it was heat related.

Oh and btw, I don't know if this is another symptom or unrelated, but whenever I play a 3D game, it plays with a refresh rate of 60. It's very noticable, and I don't notice it unless it's under 75. It strobes just like at 60. I've never seen it do that before. And it did it on 2 cards. Is that a setting somewhere? I remember the old 3DFX cards had a setting for refresh rate at different resolutions, but I can't find the equilivant with the Detonators.

Ron
 
The refresh rate in games is a current problem with XP. There are several tweaking programs and registery hacks that can fix the refresh rate problem.
 
Well, amazingly I figured it out, but I don't understand it. I removed all the fans in the case (other than CPU heatsync fan, and memory fan) that were getting in the way, and just put a 10 inch desk fan pointed at the CPU. Now the CPU ran at around 60C normally, and under real duress would hit 70C and it was fine. Then I added a Video Capture card, and it started locking up. After all my changes, the only thing that solved it was the 10 inch fan pointed at the CPU. No lockups no matter what my settings are. The CPU runs at around 48C with spikes up to around 58. So should I just get a better heat sync and fan? What about a Volcano 7?

So it was heat. But why all of a sudden? The CPU ran at that temperature before with no problems. Why all of a sudden? Did I somehow fry the CPU slightly to where it had less tolerance for heat? And why did the problem start when I added a Video Capture card? After putting it in, I got lockups. Then I took it and every other card out of the motherboard, but it STILL locked up. Did I push something over the edge? I dunno. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Ron
 
I just want to answer my own question as I've now figured out what happened. I also posted this in another thread, but it's appropriate here....

==================

I replaced the Volcano 6 with a Volcano 7. I couldn't find anyone that had the 7+ in stock, but surprisingly, the Volcano 7 has better stats from what I could see, anyhow. I looked at a few others, but the Volcano 7 had the best flowthrough according to specs of the CPU coolers that were available to me without ordering, and I needed it fixed yesterday.

Anyhow, upon removing the heatsync and fan, I realized that all of the thermal compound had caked up around the OUTSIDE of the CPU surface, and was hard as clay. It was as if the pressure of the cooler on the CPU forced the compound to the sides. There was almost nothing between the CPU and heatsync. This is the only puter I built where I tried using thermal compound instead of the Thermaltake film that came with the heatsync. The thermal compound I used must have been junk. I replaced the heatsync with the Volcano 7, and amazingly, my CPU temperature dropped to 46C under standard usage, and 56C under HEAVY duress. Even turning on the large fan that I had pointed at the CPU cooled it only another 2 degrees.

But BEST of all, not one single crash whatsoever playing every game for hours. The Volcano 7 also has a pretty quiet motor and fan as well. But it keeps it way cool. I don't like the Volvano 6 and will not recommend it to anyone. While the other machines I built using the Volcano 6, that used the Thermaltake film did not lock up, they ran hotter than I'm comfortable with. They've since been replaced with Volcano 7s and have had similar cooling stats.

================

Anyhow, thanks again for all the help peops.

Ron
 
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