ATI SAPPHIRE RADEON 9550 256MB - Restarts and In-Game Freezes

Obviously, when running in safe mode your systems components don`t get the same level of stress.

Whether this rules anything out, is debatable at the moment. However, if it was a mobo problem, I would`ve expected your system to carry on crashing.

I do think you`ve got some kind of hardware problem, but I can`t pinpoint what it is. Hence, my pm to cpc2004.

I think the best thing to do, is wait until cpc2004 gives his opinion.

Regards Howard

Quick info on spare PSU in computer at the moment:

+12V @ 10A
+5V @ 20A
+3.3V @20A

THis seems to be a little bit under what i need for my card would you say? And the figures on the side of my old PSU dont even add up, they got the maths wrong in adding up wattage...

Sorry for adding more and more posts but I keep finding useful info on the topic.

That`s why I said it was crap lol.

You need a good quality psu, with a 12volt rail that gives out around 20 or 25 amps or so.

If this does turn out to be a psu problem, I`m gonna go outside and shout very loudly.

Just kidding mate.

Regards Howard

lol thanks for making me laugh, ive been a little gloomy these past days.

To be honest Ive felt like doing the same as you would do except with a computer in my hands and leaning out of a window...

Id very much like it to be a psu problem coz thats easy and relatively cheap to change. How much for a decent PSU that gives 20 or 25 amps with 12V rail? Any recomendations?

Something like THIS would be great. Note the twin 12volt rails. Click on Detailed Specifications.

Regards Howard

That looks American...im from UK and i cant find that specific PSU from a british retailer and i expect there is a difference in the electrical side of things between the two countries (plus i dont have an opening for the fan on top-side of the psu). $39 is only £22 and thats very reasonable. eBuyer do a range on PSUs which seem to be great value.

Ive just read I have the cheapest possible PSU in my computer at the moment...therefore anything i buy will be an upgrade

Why is it that all the decent fans have the fan on the topside???I only have an opening at the normal spot. Around the £15- £20 mark is what im looking for, it needs to be good enough for gaming and quiet - plus the fan needs to be on the side not the top.

ive just realised im getting you to do my shopping...sorry.

I`m sure if you look around on the web, you`ll find something of similar quality and specifacations. However, because you live in the uk, it`ll probably cost more.

Regards Howard

550W ebuyer ATX £19.47, not twin 12V rails though, how much difference does twin rails make and what exactly do they do?

+3.3v = 28A
+5v = 35A
+12v = 30A
-5v = 0.5A
-12v = 0.8A
+5vsb = 2.5A

I don`t think having twin 12volt rails is that important, just as long as there`s plenty of amps on the 12volt rail.

I can`t recommend highly enough, the importance of a good quality psu. That`s why I suggested Antec/Enermax/Fortron etc.

Is the psu you`re looking at good quality and from a reputable maker?

Regards Howard

Its eBuyer own brand but with good reviews. Perhaps one of those makes you suggesteed would be better to get. I'll have a look.

Enermax and Antec PSUs start at the £30 mark on ebuyer which seems quite expensive - as you said for in England - for the spec you get. I can see after reading so many threads why a decent PSU is important and I had never considered it before joining techspot.

My point exactly. The psu is the engine room of any computer. Cheap psu`s can cause all kinds of problems, including severe damage to other valuable components.

Regards Howard

?? Faulty RAM

Hi,

Finding
1. Your windows patch level is almost 5 years behind and ATI display driver is almost the latest. You had better upgrade your windows to latest patch level. Your ATI display driver is very current. Maybe it is incompatible to your out-dated windows version. When you boot into safe mode, windows uses its default vga driver and not the ATI display card driver.

2. From the debug report, the crashes maybe caused by faulty memory. Some faulty ram can pass memtest. Reseat the memory module to another memory slot and clean up the dust inside the computer slot.


Your debug report
Mini032306-01.dmp BugCheck 50, {f8354000, 0, bf9eb093, 0}
Probably caused by : ati2dvag.dll ( ati2dvag+33093 )
STACK_TEXT:
f87556ac 8051a00c 00000050 f8354000 00000000 nt!KeBugCheckEx+0x19
f87556f8 804d7a5b 00000000 f8354000 00000000 nt!MmAccessFault+0x6cb <-- Faulty ram
f87556f8 bf9eb093 00000000 f8354000 00000000 nt!KiTrap0E+0xb8

Mini032606-01.dmp BugCheck 1000008E, {c0000005, f81c6f07, a8819970, 0}
Probably caused by : ks.sys ( ks!DispatchCreate+18 ) <-- Faulty memory

Mini032806-01.dmp BugCheck 1000008E, {c0000005, a8ad9557, a86f58a4, 0}
Probably caused by : sysaudio.sys ( sysaudio!CListMultiData::RemoveList+17 )

Mini040906-03.dmp is inaccessible <-- faulty ram

Mini041006-01.dmp is inaccessible <-- faulty ram

Mini041006-02.dmp is inaccessible <-- faulty ram

Mini041006-03.dmp is inaccessible <-- faulty ram

Mini041006-04.dmp BugCheck 1000008E, {c0000005, bf9c01b9, a8a9bdcc, 0}
Probably caused by : ati2dvag.dll ( ati2dvag+81b9 )

Mini041006-05.dmp BugCheck 1000008E, {c0000005, bf87e0f6, a8bf4a30, 0}
Probably caused by : win32k.sys ( win32k!EngAcquireSemaphore+1fe1 ) <-- faulty memory

Mini041006-06.dmp BugCheck C2, {40, 20000, 80000000, 0} <-- faulty memory
Probably caused by : win32k.sys ( win32k!EngNineGrid+26eb )

Hi

Thanks for looking at my problem. As instructed Ive swapped the memory module to the other slot and cleaned away all the dust. But because the restarts are so random I cant tell what difference it is making. Do I run another mem test?

As for updating Windows...I clicked on the "Windows Update" in the All Programs menu. It came up with SP2 but every time i try to install it the setup fails and has to cancel. Ive got all other downloads though its just SP2 that wont work.

It would be so unlucky if it was faulty ram because I already bought 2 sticks which were faulty before, and for this one to be faulty too!? - Thats when I would shout very loudly.

I bought the HD in my PC off some one who had XP installed on it already and he said to keep that copy on there. I recon thats why SP2 aint working.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

I think maybe your best bet, would be to save your important data and reformat and reinstall.

That hard drive may have bits of old drivers on it that could be causing your system crashes.

Regards Howard

The HD was reformatted before the XP install.

Either I`ve misunderstood or you have.

You said

What I`m saying is you need to format the drive and reinstall Windows from scatch. Your hard drive will probably have some of the old mobo drivers on it, from the person who owned it before. This can cause conflicts, because your hardware will be different.

Regards Howard

Oh sorry I didnt make it clear. I meant to say: I bought the HD off someone kindly reformatted the HD and installed XP for me. XP was installed with my components plugged in etc.
My apologies for not being clear.

Lol. That`s cleared that up then.

I don`t understand why sp2 won`t work.

If you contact Microsoft they`ll be happy to send you a copy of sp2 on cd.

cpc2004`s analysis is correct. However, a dodgy psu can and will produce all the same kind of random crashes.

Things you can try are.

Another stick of ram.

A new psu.

A reformat and reinstall.

One of those should fix your problem. It really is a process of elimination.

Regards Howard