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*UPDATE - PROBLEM ISOLATED* System shuts down during 3DMark...

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50C idle? Christ. I run low 40s under full load with a Pally 2100. That thing is dying from heat migration rapidly.

Take off the HSF and either (a) replace it (SLK-800 is your friend) or (b) clean the thermal pad off and use thermal compound (AS3)

- M4H
 
I still don't think it's running too hot. Anyway, that's not the issue.

I think it's the video card that's causing the system to crash.
 
Video card could easily be overheating. When I ran a Radeon 8500 + TBird 1.5 (OCed) I was getting artifacting/lockups galore. Cut a side blowhole in the case and slapped an 80mm blowing over the video and everything was golden.

- M4H
 
Not sure if you said, but what brand/model is the PC2700 memory and what DIMM voltage is being used on it?
 
That's what I'm thinking.

Anyway, I disabled fast writes and enabled video caching in BIOS, and disabled fast writes in the control panel.

System still crashes.
 
mechBgon, The single stick of PC2700 is Infineon. I have the DIMM voltage set to Auto in BIOS, but the resulting voltage is 2.65.

Below is everything you would want to know. Let me know if something seems wrong.

  • The CPU is on correctly, contact with the HSF is good. The fan is running at full speed.
    The CPU is running at around 45-50 degrees celcius, the system is at 38.
    The PSU is an Antec SmartBlue 350. Rails:
    • +5V: 4.86
      +12V: 12.16
      -12V: -12.93
      -5V: -5.20
    RAM timmings are 7-3-3-2.5.
    DIMM voltage is set to Auto, and the resulting voltage is 2.65V
    AGP voltage is 1.5V
    AGP aperture size is 64MB
    Fast writes are disabled in BIOS and ATi Control Panel
    Video caching is enabled in BIOS
    8X AGP support in enabled in BIOS
 
It might be worth bumping the AGP Aperture to at least the amount of memory that the video card has, although I doubt that's the cause. I've heard it recommended to disable AGP 8X before, and that's easy to do, so you might try that also (not like it does much anyway).

Also try doing some spot-cooling of the video card if you haven't already, see if it runs when it's cooler (house-fan aimed at it perhaps).
 
I'm certain the video card is causing the crashes. I'm going to bump the AGP aperture size to 128MB.

I'm confused about the Fast Writes, though. I have it enabled on my system and I get NO problems during games or 3DMark. I also have video caching disabled on my own machine.

Should fast writes be disabled, and video caching be enabled?
 
AGP 8X and Fast Writes are the two that I'm used to hearing as being the troublemakers, along with plain old overheating or insufficient power.
 
I upped the AGP aperture to 128MB and managed to run 3DMark, but I only scored 12.5k. I re-enabled 8x, fast writes, and disabled video caching, but left the aperture and ran 3DMark twice successfully. Both times I scored around 15.5k.

I'm going to run 3DMark a few more times, but I think it's running stable. Looks like the system RAM is too slow.
 
ah heck! It's still crashing to the desktop, or BSOD. Argh!

I need to isolate the problem. It's the video card, I'm sure, but I'm not certain in what capacity. Either it's overheating, which I doubt (the video card fan is spinning properly), it's not getting enough power, which I doubt, it doesn't like the system RAM, the AGP slot is fuxored, or I have something misconfigured.

I'm going to take the RAM from my machine (6-3-3-2.0) to see if that helps. If not, then I know it's not the RAM. Next, I'll take the 9700 Pro from my machine to see if that works.

BTW, if I disable 8x AGP, Windows won't load.

Argh!
 
If you think the video card isnt getting enough power, you can open up the PSU and adjust the pots up SLIGHTLY. All youll need is about a quarter turn to get your rails up .25v.

The video card feeds off of the 3.3v rail. Im looking for a guide for you now to post linky.

If you think heat is the problem, run it with the case open and see if you get stability.
 
and going to faster timings will make the problem worse, you should set your ram timings to the HIGHEST numbers to get stability.

3-4-4-8 is the slowest timing on most mobos.
 
The video card was sharing a power connection with the HDD. I put the videocard on it's own connection, installed BF1942, and played for about fifteen minutes with no problem. I ran 3DMark twice; it crashed to desktop on the first attempt, but ran smoothly the second.

I seriously doubt heat, or poor airflow is a problem, especially if the system will run stable with a game like BF1942.

I'll swap my 9700 Pro in; if we experience the same problems, then either the AGP slot is sketchy, or the PSU isn't getting enough power to the card.

I'll swap my RAM in; if the system runs stable, then we know the RAM is too slow.

Sound about right?
 
Originally posted by: brigden
The video card was sharing a power connection with the HDD. I put the videocard on it's own connection, installed BF1942, and played for about fifteen minutes with no problem. I ran 3DMark twice; it crashed to desktop on the first attempt, but ran smoothly the second.

I seriously doubt heat, or poor airflow is a problem, especially if the system will run stable with a game like BF1942.

I'll swap my 9700 Pro in; if we experience the same problems, then either the AGP slot is sketchy, or the PSU isn't getting enough power to the card.

I'll swap my RAM in; if the system runs stable, then we know the RAM is too slow.

Sound about right?
Click to expand...

have you tried running the ram at the slowest possible timings?
 
No, I'm going to try that next. Why would even slower settings help?

The system crashes no matter how I have the power cables arranged. And it also crashes with the side panel removed.
 
is it rebooting? is it just kicking you out to the desktop? when i had the similar problem it was a driver problem with my card... and mine was an 8500. I would probably change catalysts and go with an older version. then i would pull the video card out and clean the contacts just to make sure... also make sure your video card is not keeping one of your memory modules from clicking in at the end of it... just some suggestions..
 
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