y is my video card failing?!!!

  • Thread starter Thread starter filodore
  • Start date Start date
F

filodore

Hello everyone,

i've now made numerous posts about my video card crashing and locking up,
etc. Can somebody please tell me what can be causing my video card to fail?
My computer will usually lock up for a few seconds and if I leave it alone
for long enough, it will change to some crappy resolution/color depth and
say that a device has failed (which is my video card).

If you haven't read my other posts, I have tried different drivers,
formatting, different power supplies, etc. and I have a Powercolor Radeon
9600XT Bravo 128mb AGP8x, P4 2.4GHz, 512mb RAM, Gigabyte 8ST667 Motherboard,
Omni 500W Powersupply and Case, Hercules Fortissimo 3 Souncard, WinXP Pro.
If you need to know anything else please post. I can't solve my problem!!

Does anyone else have the same problem as me? Can somebody suggest any
fixes? Could it be motherboard?
 
By the way, if I check my video card temp in the ATI Overdrive Screen, it
shows between 58-60 degrees C. I have two system fans blowing through my
case as well.
 
In
filodore said:
Hello everyone,

i've now made numerous posts about my video card crashing and locking
up, etc. Can somebody please tell me what can be causing my video
card to fail? My computer will usually lock up for a few seconds and
if I leave it alone for long enough, it will change to some crappy
resolution/color depth and say that a device has failed (which is my
video card).

If you haven't read my other posts, I have tried different drivers,
formatting, different power supplies, etc. and I have a Powercolor
Radeon 9600XT Bravo 128mb AGP8x, P4 2.4GHz, 512mb RAM, Gigabyte
8ST667 Motherboard, Omni 500W Powersupply and Case, Hercules
Fortissimo 3 Souncard, WinXP Pro. If you need to know anything else
please post. I can't solve my problem!!

Does anyone else have the same problem as me? Can somebody suggest any
fixes? Could it be motherboard?
Click to expand...

I had a powercolour card that did the same thing, it is the fact that they
use dodgy cheap ram, and its overheating, you may have to underclock the ram
and gpu
 
filodore said:
Hello everyone,

i've now made numerous posts about my video card crashing and locking up,
etc. Can somebody please tell me what can be causing my video card to fail?
My computer will usually lock up for a few seconds and if I leave it alone
for long enough, it will change to some crappy resolution/color depth and
say that a device has failed (which is my video card).

If you haven't read my other posts, I have tried different drivers,
formatting, different power supplies, etc. and I have a Powercolor Radeon
9600XT Bravo 128mb AGP8x, P4 2.4GHz, 512mb RAM, Gigabyte 8ST667 Motherboard,
Omni 500W Powersupply and Case, Hercules Fortissimo 3 Souncard, WinXP Pro.
If you need to know anything else please post. I can't solve my problem!!

Does anyone else have the same problem as me? Can somebody suggest any
fixes? Could it be motherboard?
Click to expand...

I would write a list of possible causes which you could then go through
isolating them one by one, eg:

1. temps
2. hardware conflicts
3. operating system
4. drivers

etc etc.

1. If your card is getting too hot (and 60c sounds pretty hot), then try
putting one of these into the pci slot next to your card - it'll draw hot
air directly from the card and aid circulation:
http://www.cclcomputers.biz/specs/cooler/systemblower/exhaust.htm - they
should only cost 3 or 4 quid.

2. In your bios, have you made sure that AGP is set to init first, and that
an IRQ is assigned to AGP... also Video Palette Snoop is off...

3. You say you've reinstalled, so you can rule this out more or less I
guess...

4. I wouldn't mess with any other drivers other than the bog standard
catalysts - that way if you do need to take the card back, they can't moan
at you for using "hacked" drivers...

I'm sure you can come up with a more definitive list than I can, but at
least it gives you a start.

Other things you could try are... does the card crash when in another
system or only when it's in yours? Does it only happen when you are playing
games (ie the machine is under stress?)... Could it be another part of your
system which conflicts? Try removing the soundcard - do the crashes still
occur? Try removing the side of your PC, and having a large desk fan
blowing directly on your computer - maybe your pc is getting too hot?

Hope this helps... good luck

Neil
 
Other things you could try are... does the card crash when in another
system or only when it's in yours? Does it only happen when you are playing
games (ie the machine is under stress?)... Could it be another part of your
system which conflicts? Try removing the soundcard - do the crashes still
occur? Try removing the side of your PC, and having a large desk fan
blowing directly on your computer - maybe your pc is getting too hot?

Hope this helps... good luck

Neil
Click to expand...

Could also be the GP slot on his mobo is failing.
 
Omni 500W Powersupply and Case, Hercules Fortissimo 3 Souncard, WinXP Pro.
Click to expand...

Hercules soundcard ?? Why? Doesn't your mboard have built in
AC '97 ? I'm of the impression that Hercules is as "has been"
as Stealth Video. Take that card out and enable your AC '97.

The way I approach a problem like this is ... I've got the gear
.... I would strip that box all the way down to next to nothing,
and listen to the beep signals. Pull all the signal cables, and
all the psupply connects from the drives. Hook up monitor,
keybd, mouse, and just boot up to "beep", and let it sit.
If it reboots after a bit, then you have a mboard or card
problem. Cool it off, and pull the sound card ... repeat.
If it reboots again after a time, pull the video card, and
reboot to "beep, beep ...." and do the same. If it reboots
again .... RAM ! ... pull one of them then the other .. or
find ( buy ) a new stick and use it. If it still reboots .. MBOARD
capacitors probably, and you need new mboard / cpu with
no real choice in the matter. Hopefully you have warantee
.... call them and ask. Good luck there. HOWEVER, if
you solve the reboot / crash problem on one of the cards,
that is a simple fix. Replace the card. OR, if pulling all the
drives fixes the crash problem, then put all but the harddrv
back in and test. If that fixes it, put the hard drive back
in and wipe it totally for a careful reinstall of system and
chipset drivers. Toss the Hercules. No way would I put
one of their products in my computer. If you bring the
system up carefully, test one of your games and see. If
you get a crash ... then you have an integration problem.
That one is sticky and expensive. I would ask around
Usenet about what is working and what is not, and go
with a proven system. Sell the box. I'm running the
GA-848P. Seems to be working fine, and I tend to
kluge around a lot. It this were not a good mboard, I
would certainly know it by now.

johns ( Computer hardware tech )
 
filodore said:
Hello everyone,

i've now made numerous posts about my video card crashing and locking up,
etc. Can somebody please tell me what can be causing my video card to fail?
My computer will usually lock up for a few seconds and if I leave it alone
for long enough, it will change to some crappy resolution/color depth and
say that a device has failed (which is my video card).

If you haven't read my other posts, I have tried different drivers,
formatting, different power supplies, etc. and I have a Powercolor Radeon
9600XT Bravo 128mb AGP8x, P4 2.4GHz, 512mb RAM, Gigabyte 8ST667 Motherboard,
Omni 500W Powersupply and Case, Hercules Fortissimo 3 Souncard, WinXP Pro.
If you need to know anything else please post. I can't solve my problem!!

Does anyone else have the same problem as me? Can somebody suggest any
fixes? Could it be motherboard?
Click to expand...

I'm sure someone has mentioned this to you before but..

Have you tried going into SMARTGART and disabling fast write? I have to do
that because my ASUS motherboard doesn't support it (it's older). I turned
it off and haven't had a problem since with my 9600.

Worth a try.
 
Hercules soundcard ?? Why? Doesn't your mboard have built in
AC '97 ? I'm of the impression that Hercules is as "has been"
as Stealth Video. Take that card out and enable your AC '97.
Click to expand...

well i used to use ac'97 but that used to cause crashes as well, lolz. when
i bought my new soundcard it ceased to crash as often with my current parts
at that time (2 months ago). it would still crash with my old video card
though, so i bought a new one, hence my problems, and then i got a new
case/powersupply since someone mentioned i wasn't getting enough power (and
they were right, i only had 300W but i found a site to calculate it and said
i needed 360W).

well all of that seems a bit complicated with the beeping, if it's possible
can you please explain it a bit more simpler?
 
IMK wrote:

Have you tried going into SMARTGART and disabling fast write? I have
to do that because my ASUS motherboard doesn't support it (it's
older). I turned it off and haven't had a problem since with my 9600.

Worth a try.
Click to expand...


Not really the 9600 is meant to be the only card where fast writes
work. but if nothing else works I guess.

regards

@ndrew
 
johns said:
Pro.

Hercules soundcard ?? Why? Doesn't your mboard have built in
AC '97 ? I'm of the impression that Hercules is as "has been"
as Stealth Video. Take that card out and enable your AC '97.
Click to expand...
I agree about the sound card. You can pick up a "SBLive" card for cheap and
it's a much better card then what you have. This could be your whole
problem. Also I'm a little concerned about your PS. I've never heard of the
Omni brand. I'm wondering if it really is a true 500W PS. A cheap PS can
cause all kinds of problems, even ones you would never think a PS would have
anything to do with. You might think about getting your self a good Antec PS
or any other well known brand.
JLC
 
thankyou everyone for all your advice, but for now, i think i have fixed
it...im not sure how i did it but it must've been some settings that i
changed last night because i just finished playing need for speed
underground without a crash or lockup or anything. i don't know what i did
to fix it though.
 
*sigh* i dont think ive fixed it because it crashed again, well not crashed,
but my monitor turned off and i had to restart to get it to turn back on...
i might email both the shop i bought the video card from, and powercolor,
and see if they have anything to say, but still please feel free to suggest
anything that could be at all helpful.
 
@ndrew said:
IMK wrote:




Not really the 9600 is meant to be the only card where fast writes
work. but if nothing else works I guess.

regards
Click to expand...

Yeah, but he is saying the mobo might not handle it properly - wouldn't be
the first time.
 
filodore said:
*sigh* i dont think ive fixed it because it crashed again, well not crashed,
but my monitor turned off and i had to restart to get it to turn back on...
i might email both the shop i bought the video card from, and powercolor,
and see if they have anything to say, but still please feel free to suggest
anything that could be at all helpful.
Click to expand...
Your main problem seems to be you aren't taking a methodical approach to
problem solving.
From reading what you have posted the only advice I could give is to fix
each problem as they arise, not buy something else till you are sure you
know what is causing the first problem.
Given the history of crashes it could be mobo or psu. However from your own
mouth you say you change settings but don't know what you did.

If I were you I would start from scratch.
Check for BIOS updates - get the latest drivers for everything.
Format HDDs re-install everything from scratch, no modded drivers or BIOS
(leave/reset BIOS at defaults, except for CPU)
VGA card first,
Don't disable/enable any services in WinXP - leave that as default as
possible for the time being.
Get Motherboard monitor or similar to see if any of you voltages fluctuate
out of range. This should help determine if it might be PSU.
When you have a crash, are there any error messages -write them down. Does
it happen same time/area of game, what other programs are you running. etc.
Start from that point to trouble shoot, when you solve that problem, you can
install the next bit of hardware etc.
If one soundcard doesn't work, try to find out why before using another.
Use google groups to search for a description of you problem specifying
hardware and driver versions.
When it runs without problems, then start tweaking, one thing at a time so
you can undo it easily.

If this all sounds like too much work, go buy a complete box and use the
warranty (not that that is a guarantee of stability).
Cheers.
 
filodore said:
*sigh* i dont think ive fixed it because it crashed again, well not crashed,
but my monitor turned off and i had to restart to get it to turn back on...
i might email both the shop i bought the video card from, and powercolor,
and see if they have anything to say, but still please feel free to suggest
anything that could be at all helpful.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what my PC used to do until I disabled fast-writes (as other
people have already suggested).
 
I would also agree with everyone that has stated that it is caused by one of
a few problems, isolate the problem, and you'll fix it. It is either heat,
driver, or hardware..... which, only you, or a tech can decide.... I too
would try using onboard sound first, fast writes is also a demon in
discuise....60 degrees C is awfully hot!!! as alot of CPU/GPU's break down
at 80!! First and fastest would be to put a box fan or something on the side
of the machine with the case open. Use a utility to monitor MB,CPU & GPU
temps. and take it from there. could also be just a bad card, or bad AGP
slot on the mobo..... it could be anything.... trial, error, and trial again
is the only solution. The fastest way to find out is put the card in another
machine and see what happens.
I myself have 3 machines and when I encounter a problem, I just swap cards
in machines and see which machine it follows.......
If you only have one machine, get a friend to bring his over or go to their
house and swap 'em temporarily...... that's the 2nd fastest after the box
fan trick. Good luck!

(e-mail address removed)
 
Back
Top