FesterSilently
Member
Here?s a queer one for y?all: (firstly, this is [was!] my setup ?
AMD Palomino @ 1.66 Ghz
2 x 256Mb OCZ PC 2700 RAM
Radeon 8500 w/6043 drivers
Enermax 465 VE (431 watts)
Soyo Dragon Plus w/onboard LAN & RAID enabled & 2ba2 BIOS
Win XP Pro, Corp Ed)
That?s not everything, but those are the important bits for *my* story.
So, after months of saving/buying, I finally bought my last part (the CPU) for this cool little system a little over a week ago. After some finagling with the RAID setup and the BIOS flashing, I was just fine. I had originally installed ATI?s 6025 drivers, but soon changed over to the updated ones after reading all the *GLOWING* user reviews about them. I thought I had done a *clean* install (Add/Remove driver install program, RegCleanr, Search and destroy within the System32 folder for ?ati*.*? files), but, quite the opposite from everyone else?s phenomenal leaps and bounds and gains with these new drivers, I was only showing precipitous drops (frames down in Max Payne, Ghost Recon, Medal Of Honor, etc?500 point loss in 3dMark2001 SE?).
After many nights of attempted clean installs, I simply resigned myself to doing a clean install of Windows with a fresh infusion of these great drivers??tomorrow morning?, that is. ?Tonight? (about three days ago), however, would be spent winding down with a relaxing (!) RTS like ?Empire Earth?.
So, in goes the game. I find the latest patch and likewise install it. I fire up the game, go to the Options screen and juice everything up: 1280 x 1024 @ 32 bpp; Shadows; Textures; blah-blah-blah ? I figure I ought to at least get to enjoy this hybrid 2d/3d game?s graphic goodness with the computer I put so much time/effort & money into, no?
Umm?*no*.
After the in-engine cinematic winds up, it ?becomes? your game screen. *MY* game screen was very blurry/fuzzy?almost tearing! The mouse pointer was a ghost-y, trail-leaving mess, and the game screen wouldn?t even scroll!! I was kinda ticked off, to say the least, but what could I do? I best-guessed where the ?Main Menu? button oughtta be, dragged my recalcitrant pointer over to it, and got out of the game. (BTW- I've played this copy of the game on 2 other computers...no problems)
I restarted the game, and let *it* pick my video options, my only change being bumping up the resolution from 800 x 600 to 1024 x 768. The game begins?AND THE SAME SH!T HAPPENS!!! With one difference. When I attempt to shut the game down *this* time, I only hear a loud *TWINK!*, and everything goes black. And silent. Dead, so to speak. With a?well?what is that exactly?...I think it?s..A BURNING SMELL COMING FROM MY RIG!!!
Well, I nearly tore the skin from my knuckles getting in behind my case and RIPPING all the wires out and tearing that side panel off. To keep a long story, well, not as long as it could?ve been, 24 hours and some generous friends (with spare parts) later, I gently place a fried mobo and two toasted sticks of RAM on the table.
Soyo?s RMA?ing the board, and I?m working (w/Hardcorecooling.com) on the memory sticks.
This situation has got me f@%king lost! Anyone got any clues as to what happened here?
Fester Silently
AMD Palomino @ 1.66 Ghz
2 x 256Mb OCZ PC 2700 RAM
Radeon 8500 w/6043 drivers
Enermax 465 VE (431 watts)
Soyo Dragon Plus w/onboard LAN & RAID enabled & 2ba2 BIOS
Win XP Pro, Corp Ed)
That?s not everything, but those are the important bits for *my* story.
So, after months of saving/buying, I finally bought my last part (the CPU) for this cool little system a little over a week ago. After some finagling with the RAID setup and the BIOS flashing, I was just fine. I had originally installed ATI?s 6025 drivers, but soon changed over to the updated ones after reading all the *GLOWING* user reviews about them. I thought I had done a *clean* install (Add/Remove driver install program, RegCleanr, Search and destroy within the System32 folder for ?ati*.*? files), but, quite the opposite from everyone else?s phenomenal leaps and bounds and gains with these new drivers, I was only showing precipitous drops (frames down in Max Payne, Ghost Recon, Medal Of Honor, etc?500 point loss in 3dMark2001 SE?).
After many nights of attempted clean installs, I simply resigned myself to doing a clean install of Windows with a fresh infusion of these great drivers??tomorrow morning?, that is. ?Tonight? (about three days ago), however, would be spent winding down with a relaxing (!) RTS like ?Empire Earth?.
So, in goes the game. I find the latest patch and likewise install it. I fire up the game, go to the Options screen and juice everything up: 1280 x 1024 @ 32 bpp; Shadows; Textures; blah-blah-blah ? I figure I ought to at least get to enjoy this hybrid 2d/3d game?s graphic goodness with the computer I put so much time/effort & money into, no?
Umm?*no*.
After the in-engine cinematic winds up, it ?becomes? your game screen. *MY* game screen was very blurry/fuzzy?almost tearing! The mouse pointer was a ghost-y, trail-leaving mess, and the game screen wouldn?t even scroll!! I was kinda ticked off, to say the least, but what could I do? I best-guessed where the ?Main Menu? button oughtta be, dragged my recalcitrant pointer over to it, and got out of the game. (BTW- I've played this copy of the game on 2 other computers...no problems)
I restarted the game, and let *it* pick my video options, my only change being bumping up the resolution from 800 x 600 to 1024 x 768. The game begins?AND THE SAME SH!T HAPPENS!!! With one difference. When I attempt to shut the game down *this* time, I only hear a loud *TWINK!*, and everything goes black. And silent. Dead, so to speak. With a?well?what is that exactly?...I think it?s..A BURNING SMELL COMING FROM MY RIG!!!
Well, I nearly tore the skin from my knuckles getting in behind my case and RIPPING all the wires out and tearing that side panel off. To keep a long story, well, not as long as it could?ve been, 24 hours and some generous friends (with spare parts) later, I gently place a fried mobo and two toasted sticks of RAM on the table.
Soyo?s RMA?ing the board, and I?m working (w/Hardcorecooling.com) on the memory sticks.
This situation has got me f@%king lost! Anyone got any clues as to what happened here?
Fester Silently
