More graphics problems in first person games

  • Thread starter Thread starter rolandbarzegar
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rolandbarzegar

Don't know if anyone read the topic "Radeon X800: Too many problems".
But I now have an update.

Last summer i upgraded my whole computer to an AMD-64 3000+ 1.8GHz,
with a
Radeon X800 in an Abit Fatal1ty AN-8 Motherboard. It started out OK,
but then when I played graphics intensive games such as Half-Life 2 or
FEAR for about 10 minutes, the game just exits back to the desktop, no
error message, no other issues, it just acts like I was never playing.
Alternatively it sometimes crashes.

Having run Catalyst, I realised that my fan was drastically
overheating, most likely because there is not a massive amount of
ventilation in my case. Turns out the X800 model I got was not
fantastic, has recorded overheating problems and all sorts of other
issues. It was a misinformed purchase. Anyway, now, over a year later,
I've purchased an nVidia 7900 GT and a brand new 600W power supply.
I've installed everything and started over on a clean windows XP
installation. However it still has the problem with games!!!

I'm starting to think that it's one of two things: (i) Not enough
ventilation in my case (it's an old stock case from a pre-packed
computer), or (ii) Incompatability with other hardware in my computer
such as the sound card (old soundblaster 16 or 32) or the motherboard.

Before I invest another £80/$150 on a case, does anyone have any
ideas?
 
rolandbarzegar said:
Don't know if anyone read the topic "Radeon X800: Too many problems".
But I now have an update.

Last summer i upgraded my whole computer to an AMD-64 3000+ 1.8GHz,
with a
Radeon X800 in an Abit Fatal1ty AN-8 Motherboard. It started out OK,
but then when I played graphics intensive games such as Half-Life 2 or
FEAR for about 10 minutes, the game just exits back to the desktop, no
error message, no other issues, it just acts like I was never playing.
Alternatively it sometimes crashes.

Having run Catalyst, I realised that my fan was drastically
overheating, most likely because there is not a massive amount of
ventilation in my case. Turns out the X800 model I got was not
fantastic, has recorded overheating problems and all sorts of other
issues. It was a misinformed purchase. Anyway, now, over a year later,
I've purchased an nVidia 7900 GT and a brand new 600W power supply.
I've installed everything and started over on a clean windows XP
installation. However it still has the problem with games!!!

I'm starting to think that it's one of two things: (i) Not enough
ventilation in my case (it's an old stock case from a pre-packed
computer), or (ii) Incompatability with other hardware in my computer
such as the sound card (old soundblaster 16 or 32) or the motherboard.

Before I invest another £80/$150 on a case, does anyone have any
ideas?
Click to expand...

I usually get a warning before a heat related shutdown.

Often I will loose a texture - it will turn black for example. Or the
menus will go funny.

Like you, I have a name brand computer in a not so great case. It has
one fan,and 80 mm out the back.

I did have a great x850XT installed, but it had some bad overheating
issues. I swapped with someone for an X1600XT from HIS which had an
Arctic Cooler fan on it, and I experience far fewer issues. I have been
thinking of investing in an improved case and PS and trasnferring
everything into it, as I do occasionally still have issues, unless I
turn the AC up to freezer mode(70 degrees).

James
 
rolandbarzegar said:
Don't know if anyone read the topic "Radeon X800: Too many problems".
But I now have an update.

Last summer i upgraded my whole computer to an AMD-64 3000+ 1.8GHz,
with a
Radeon X800 in an Abit Fatal1ty AN-8 Motherboard. It started out OK,
but then when I played graphics intensive games such as Half-Life 2 or
FEAR for about 10 minutes, the game just exits back to the desktop, no
error message, no other issues, it just acts like I was never playing.
Alternatively it sometimes crashes.

Having run Catalyst, I realised that my fan was drastically
overheating, most likely because there is not a massive amount of
ventilation in my case. Turns out the X800 model I got was not
fantastic, has recorded overheating problems and all sorts of other
issues. It was a misinformed purchase. Anyway, now, over a year later,
I've purchased an nVidia 7900 GT and a brand new 600W power supply.
I've installed everything and started over on a clean windows XP
installation. However it still has the problem with games!!!

I'm starting to think that it's one of two things: (i) Not enough
ventilation in my case (it's an old stock case from a pre-packed
computer), or (ii) Incompatability with other hardware in my computer
such as the sound card (old soundblaster 16 or 32) or the motherboard.

Before I invest another £80/$150 on a case, does anyone have any
ideas?
Click to expand...

A cheap test is to get a PCI slot cooler and install it below the video
card. It will exhaust the hot air from the video card directly out the
back of the case. I used it to solve an overheating problem with a 9700
Pro when they first came out and I could feel the heat from the fan
while playing games.
 
This sounds like a power supply issue to me. What brand is your power
supply? What amperage comes down the 12V rail? For a 7900GT I believe they
recommend at least 25A. For example, the new Antec power supply I got is
500W, and has dual 12V rails at 14A each. So the power supply can supply
28A down the 12V line.

Alternatively, check your motherboard for any leaking capacitors. As silly
as it sounds, this has become a large problem as of late, most notably
affecting 80% of the Dell GX270 series of computers. Apparently one of the
capacitor manufacturers used a bad formula for the electrolyte in the
capacitor and it degrades far faster than a normal capacitor would.
Symptoms of this would be random reboots, power issues, etc.

Check out www.badcaps.net for some more info.

Scott

Don't know if anyone read the topic "Radeon X800: Too many problems".
But I now have an update.

Last summer i upgraded my whole computer to an AMD-64 3000+ 1.8GHz,
with a
Radeon X800 in an Abit Fatal1ty AN-8 Motherboard. It started out OK,
but then when I played graphics intensive games such as Half-Life 2 or
FEAR for about 10 minutes, the game just exits back to the desktop, no
error message, no other issues, it just acts like I was never playing.
Alternatively it sometimes crashes.

Having run Catalyst, I realised that my fan was drastically
overheating, most likely because there is not a massive amount of
ventilation in my case. Turns out the X800 model I got was not
fantastic, has recorded overheating problems and all sorts of other
issues. It was a misinformed purchase. Anyway, now, over a year later,
I've purchased an nVidia 7900 GT and a brand new 600W power supply.
I've installed everything and started over on a clean windows XP
installation. However it still has the problem with games!!!

I'm starting to think that it's one of two things: (i) Not enough
ventilation in my case (it's an old stock case from a pre-packed
computer), or (ii) Incompatability with other hardware in my computer
such as the sound card (old soundblaster 16 or 32) or the motherboard.

Before I invest another £80/$150 on a case, does anyone have any
ideas?
 
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