graffics problem

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miked

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hi, im writing to see if anyone can help me with an on-going problem. my computer is a 2400+ Athlon with 1.25 gigs of ram, and i recently installed a radion 9500 graffics card.. i experienced problems, and decided to send the card back (as it was an open box one off e buyer). now i baught a shiney new one but the same problem seems to be back!

when i start a game such as BF2 or far cry, at any point in the game, either menu or in the game, the screen goes black and the game minimises to reviel a catalist message saying that the card was reset because the graffics accelorator was not responding to the driver software!! somtimes i can close the window and go back to the game, somtimes it closes the game after and it appears the graff card isnt installed untill i reboot.

its really frustraiting the hell out of me as iv baught new games to play with my new card! if anyone can help id be so glad of it! iv got catalyst controal center driver version 6.4.

mike
 
Can you give us the full specs of your system please? Motherboard make and model, power supply specs and such. We need a deeper look into it to try to help.
 
ok sure im running xp SP2, my mainboard is made by First International computers, Inc. the chipset is VIA KT400/A KT600, the model is AM39L.

my power supply is made by Delta Electronics , model number: dps-300pb-2 a
output is 12V
max power is 5V

all temps are recorded as ok.. i just cant figure out what the problem is!

if any other info is needed jus ask! thanks for your help here :)

mik
 
why could that be a problem? is it not powerfull enough?


Voltage Sensor(s)
CPU Voltage : 1.65V
Aux Voltage : 2.54V
+3.3V Voltage : 3.34V
+5V Voltage : 5.13V
+12V Voltage : 11.48V
-12V Voltage : -12.03V
Standby Voltage : 4.95V
Battery Voltage : 3.25V

is this ok?
also, do you know where i could find an update for my motherboard driver?

cheers

mik
 
Well, your 12v rail is almost 5% off it's target of 12v (at 11.48). Not critical, but this may be a sign that your PSU isn't up to the task of powering your new card. Again, this is only a guess at this point.

I'd start with updating your chipset drivers to see if that fixes you up.

Confirm that I have the right page for your motherboard, but I believe this is the page for your drivers:

http://www.fic.cz/support-product_doc-9FA06E50B5E797D5C1256DF1004272E6.html

You want the chipset drivers.

Hmmm. I just had another thought.... your board has integrated graphics. When you first installed this new card, did you uninstall the onboard graphic's drivers?

On some boards you have to go into the bios to disable the onboard graphics as well. Check your user's manual (or just go into your bios and have a look around for any "init display" settings or "onboard/integrated" settings and switch from onboard to AGP. (I am assuming your 9550 is the AGP version, correct?).

Assuming you have alread taken care of the above, then go for the chipset update. If that doesn't work, personally I would go for a bios update as well, but there are always risks in updating a bios. I'll leave that one up to you.
 
ok, have updated chipset drivers. also i made sure all drivers where uninstalled from the onboard graffics, and still the same problem! i just cant think what it could be.. its almost as if the drivers suddently encounter a problem whilst playing a game, and then can not comunicate to to card anymore.
the card is the agp version, i even tried turning it down to X4 agp but this did nothing... it cant be the heating ither because my board temp is 31 0c, cpu is 24 0c and power/aux temp is 40 0c.. they are all ok arnt they?

i have downloaded driver clearner pro.. but am worried il wipe important drivers instead of any other bits of graffics drivers that need removed. i think my onboard graffics was a S3G unichrome or somthin.. so sould i try removing anything S3 or are there other types i should remove too?

mik
 
I am really starting to suspect your PSU here. Sounds to me like at some point your GPU is not getting the power it needs and it is shutting itself off.

You don't by chance have another PSU you can use to test.... (I know most people don't).

Try this for some more troubleshooting: right click on "my computer" "manage" "event viewer" and poke around in there to see what kind of error messages you are getting. It is still possible that this is a driver issue, so let's explore that a little more.
 
hmm, i dont have a spare PSU.... my mate might have one. are they expensive?

ok i looked in the event viewer, there are a few errors from today and yesterday:

Application section:

Error. Source: ,Catagory: none , Event ID: 0

The description for Event ID ( 0 ) in Source ( ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE= flag to retrieve this description; see Help and Support for details. The following information is part of the event: 7.

/\ two of these


Error. Source: Application Hang, Catagory: (101) Event ID 1002

Hanging application BF1942Demo.exe, version 0.0.0.0, hang module hungapp, version 0.0.0.0, hang address 0x00000000.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

/\ one of these


System section:

Error. Source: SidebySide, catagory: none, Event ID: 59

Generate Activation Context failed for C:\Program Files\SiSoftware\SiSoftware Sandra Lite 2007\MFC80U.DLL. Reference error message: The operation completed successfully.
.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.


/\ lots of these


thats it really... i cant see anything that related to my Graff. card or drivers.

Il try another download of calylist and reinstall. is fitting a new PSU easy?

Thanks for answering all these threds so quickley!! :)

mik
 
see what power you need for your pc first

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp

then proceed to searching for a good quality psu.. some suggested are on this forum and others but do beware of "cheap" imitations... Brands all count in this game of PSU hunting.. and as a guess, i'd reckon you'll just need a 400w psu.. although thats a guess.. $50 or so would be enough.. depending what you get...

installing a psu is as easy as steps..
1. power down your pc, follow the maintainance routine (Destatic, unplug power source, clear cables and workbench)
2. Phillips Head screwdriver or size 8 socket/spanner :p, unscrew the four screws at the back of your pc surrounding the psu (where you plug the black (or beige/white in some, but mostly black) cable from your pc to the mains power)
3. open up your pc case, destatic yourself again (to be safe), then trace the cables and disconnect them at the joins/connections (if they go to a Y splitter etc, its easyer to just disconnect the psu cables, therefore your devices are already connected ready to go) or at the devices itself. Be carefull not to force anything broken.. If theres special things, note them down.
4. New psu, reverse instructions of the above ie go step 3->1
5. enjoy your revived piece of hardware, that will last you a couple more years to the next upgrade

enjoy. :)
 
sounds like your video card is drawing power, and your memory is getting the pits... try dropping down to 1 memory stick and see if that is your problem.

If that works okay, you'll need a new PSU in order to use all 3(or 4) memory sticks.
 
i tried to work out my psu wattage, but it said 209 watts... i think i put in everything correct, but i dont know about the PSU utilisation, surge compensation or Capasitor aging.... if it is 209 watts, then my psu should be ok right? but when using sisoft sandra, it keeps telling me its supplying 11.48 volts on the 12 volt rail.. is there any way of increasing this above 12 volts with out changing it? it seems o verry close to change it.. or is that quite a big differance.. i dont really know much about computer power suppl.

mik.
 
i tried pulling out my 256 ram from its slot and rebooting, leaving the 1 gig stick in, and the 12 v rail was recording the same 11.48 volts and the same crashing in far cry. i tried to upload the file that caralyst wants to send to ati when it reports the crash but it wont attach to this thred.. wrong file type i guess.

could anyone be able to tell whats going on if i sent them it anyway?

arrg. there was me thinking i was gonna overclock my card too! so could a deficiency in voltage make the graff. card not respond it's drivers?

thanks :)

mik.
 
I don't know about that PSU. I can't find any information on it to find out how many amps it puts out on the various rails. That doesn't necessarily mean it is a bad PSU, but it certainly isn't a good sign. Personally, I'd stay away from it myself.

As to your question:
is it possible to just turn up the voltage in the 12 v rail?
Click to expand...

No, you can't. The 12v rail should be putting out 12v. Yours is putting out about 5% less than that which is a sign that it is either a cheap PSU or a dying PSU.
 
ok, cheers. so 26 amps is the minimum for the 12 v rail?

another thing: i just pulled open my comp and put a big desk fan on everything to see if cooling would help it, and the error messages where much less frequent! i looked at the stats and the motherboard was cooler (tho not my much). could this mean its cooling the psu and allowing that little bit more voltage it needs? the errors still happen, and this is one big desk fan, so i dont think buying more fans would work... ohh man im so confused... :(

mik.
 
another thing: i just pulled open my comp and put a big desk fan on everything to see if cooling would help it, and the error messages where much less frequent! i looked at the stats and the motherboard was cooler (tho not my much). could this mean its cooling the psu and allowing that little bit more voltage it needs? the errors still happen, and this is one big desk fan, so i dont think buying more fans would work... ohh man im so confused...
Click to expand...
this i'll try to explain..A PSU in addition to the DC power it gives off heat, em, other energy types (although most are miniscule compared to heat).. usualy a circuit poorly made or reaching its end of life wont be able to keep up with this conversion at the same rate as when it was brand new.. and therefore would produce both an uneven energy rate (spike), sometimes go lower or higher then its designed leeway %, and can produce more unwanted energy than normal, including heat..

26 amps i'm not 100% sure, so i wont comment on it... wait on the other guys to confirm ok or not...

I took a look at the psu you linked up, dont recognise the brand, but doesnt mean that it wont work.. 500w is a lot of juice unless you hve plans for further upgrades.. if you say your calculations of 209w are correct.. i'd say you could get a 350-400w Antec or enermax etc for that type of price..

by the way.. on the review section, a member posted this.. may help you Don..
Outputs are:
+3.3v - 28A
+5v - 40A
+12v - 17A
-12v - 0.8A
-5v - 0.5A
+5vSB - 2.0A
Click to expand...
 
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