Video problem with games???

[Fyrefighter]

Don't know where to start here...having serious problems when attempting to play games on my system...they continually crash. Running a TYAN KT-A MB (2390b), ATHLON 1.3 GB processor, 1.5GB pc133 RAM, GeForce4 MX440 video card, and running XP pro.
What can I extract from error messages (Application error logs?) that may help? I have tried several drivers none of which seem to fix the problem. The games I have most difficulty with are Ghost Recon, Medal of Honor- Allied Assault, Global Operations. Some give me intro video then crash to desktop, some allow me to get "in" then crash to desktop shortly after beginning play. I have tried about everything I can think of. Any suggestions? This has been massively frustrating. Can ACPI have anything to do with it?
I've tried SEVERAL things to attempt to correct this problem none of which seem to work. Any help for the totally frustrated out there?

See post in video forum..the problem has gotten worse...doesn't have to be a game that fails any more....and it's really getting to enjoy RAM dumps as well....

 

[bunker]

Could be a bunch of things. Try replacing the memory, try a different video card, try upping the voltage to the AGP slot.....and on and on.

 

[Fyrefighter]

The memory is new (returned and replaced) the vid card is new also...how do i up the AGP voltage..and what should I up it to?

 

[bunker]

Before upping the voltage, you should probably try the card in another system or try another card in yours.

I'm not familiar with your motherboard so I'm not sure how to up the voltage. I have a setting in my BIOS that lets me turn up the voltage to my AGP slot. It goes in increments, so just try the next highest setting and go from there.

 

[apoppin]

It could one (or several) of many things.

Your O/S might have a problem. Try a fresh install.

1.5 GB of RAM? Try removing ALL the sticks except ONE. If there is still a problem move the memory to another slot. Then try ANOTHER stick by itself (and move it slot to slot). If you (finally) find stability with one, add one stick at a time back (each time testing with a 'crash-prone' game) until the slots are full.

Then report back . . .

EDIT: From your 'other' unanswered thread in video (learn how to link), I see you problems began with installing a new video card. What was the old one and were there any problems with 'crashing'? Did you do a 'clean install' of XP when you installed the new card (perhaps you left some 'old drivers' behind)?

I'd try a clean install first. THEN consider if the new card is defective. (The RAM swaps couldn't hurt BUT probably isn't a factor if everything worked well with your old card.)

 

[Mem]

Try installing latest VIA 4 in 1 drivers(4.40),also some bios tweaks might help,disable video ram cacheable & system bios cacheable,I also disabled all video shadowing & fastwrites.Btw what PSU do you`ve?

 

[Fyrefighter]

Bunker- I see no area of my BIOS that allows for any voltage change of the AGP slot...I'm still searching....looking for jumper settings also

 

[Fyrefighter]

Apoppin- The OS is a fresh install...formated drive and all. I bought new memory... 3 sticks of 512 MB each and installed them one at a time. I even tried them in my kids' PC and they seemd to function fine. After the problems began I exchanged them and went thru this process again. All games are fresh installs as well. As for the vid card..it works flawlessly in 2 other machines (not mine unfortunately)..I am considering exchanging it now as well.
The old video card was a NVIDIA TNT2 RIVA model 64 Pro

 

[bunker]

If you are going to be doing any serious gaming and want it to look good, you probably should get a new vid card!

That TNT2 has got to be struggling.

 

[Fyrefighter]

Mem.....
PSU????
VIA 4in1 updated..video seems a bit better and I can play a little longer in Ghost Recon...but now the sound craps out...video still eventually goes out as well.....
All caches, fast writes, etc. have been disabled with no effect

 

[Fyrefighter]

Bunker- Thats is why I bought the GF4 MX 4400...to up my gaming capability...I am struggling thru a serious medical dilemma at this time...so funds for the PC are greatly limited...otherwise I would have gotten something better yet. Was hoping I could resolve the issue to improve my recuperation time...At any rate...I will be out of the loop for a few days until I get over a surgery scheduled for tomorrow. I will check back for posts then. Thanks to all you folks for helping out!!!

 

[Mem]

Fyrefighter,I was just wondering what PSU you had,they can effect stability if it`s a poor quality one,also you say you can`t adjust AGP voltage in Bios which is fine since quite a lot of boards still don`t have that option in the Bios, using a good quality PSU becomes more important and helps with stability.


The only other things I can think of are bumping the CPU voltage up a little in bios and slowing the memory speed down of your ram,most boards have normal,fast,turbo settings etc so try the slowest(normal),if your running at CAS2 ,try CAS3 speed which`s slower but might help with stabiity.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: apoppin
It could one (or several) of many things.

Your O/S might have a problem. Try a fresh install.

1.5 GB of RAM? Try removing ALL the sticks except ONE. If there is still a problem move the memory to another slot. Then try ANOTHER stick by itself (and move it slot to slot). If you (finally) find stability with one, add one stick at a time back (each time testing with a 'crash-prone' game) until the slots are full.

Then report back . . .

EDIT: From your 'other' unanswered thread in video (learn how to link), I see you problems began with installing a new video card. What was the old one and were there any problems with 'crashing'? Did you do a 'clean install' of XP when you installed the new card (perhaps you left some 'old drivers' behind)?

I'd try a clean install first. THEN consider if the new card is defective. (The RAM swaps couldn't hurt BUT probably isn't a factor if everything worked well with your old card.)

I agree with apoppin. When I read your setup, I see red lights all over the place - that much RAM could be unstable, depending on setup. Also, I'm not familiar at all with your motherboard...