VC temps

[Nuclear Krusader]

I suspect that the system crashes I've been having lately are because of VC overheating. It's kinda odd, because the PC crashed while in Word, CorelDraw, playing a CD or an mp3 with WinAmp. So I updated all of my drivers, flashed the BIOS, installed DirectX 8.1 (I didn't want to do that but that was the only way the new nVidia Detonator XP drivers 28.32 would work). But it never crashed while in games. I could be playing intensively 3D games at the higher resolutions and with all the details set to maximum for several hours (6 or more) and never had a crash.

But after all the updating, the PC started doing just that: crashing in games, with Undying (haven't tried with other game). This Undying never crashed before updating drivers, now it's crashing after three or five minutes of play.

An hour ago I turned on the machine to play and it took about six to ten minutes to crash. After three reboots, it only took a couple of minutes to hear an annoying beeep and the PC was frozen. So I'm begining to think that it could be an overheating issue.

And no, I ain't overclocking anything.

So, what do I do now?

How do I find out my VC's temps? What are the optimal temps?

My system: MSI K7T266 Pro (Via K266), Athlon XP 1700+, 256 MB DDR, 60 GB HD, Chaintech GeForce3 Ti200 with 64 MB DDR, SB Live! X-Gamer. Windows 98 FE.

Thanks in advance.

[glc]

Does the VC have a HSF on it? If so, is the fan working? How are your system and CPU temps? Is the CPU fan working? What about the northbridge?

[Alfie]

If the system worked fine with the older drivers,but since you've installed new drivers,the system crashes,uninstall the new drivers and try the older ones.
The other possibilty is a faulty install of the new drivers and or directx,you may want to completley uninstall all video drivers and reinstall and check in directx diagnostic for any problems.
Have you installed the latest Via agp drivers?

[Nuclear Krusader]

Does the VC have a HSF on it?
Yes indeed. And the fan is working. Altough I have no way to know the speed of the fan or the VC's temperature.

How are your system and CPU temps? Is the CPU fan working?
My CPU temp is 46 ºC. System's is 43 ºC. And the CPU fan is working too.

What about the northbridge?
It has only a HS. No fan.

I updated the VIA 4in1 drivers. I'll give Undying another shot after posting this.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Nope. The VIA drivers didn't help. The game is still crashing. I'll try going back to my previous set of nVidia drivers. I hope it has nothing to do with DX 8.1 though, since there is no backtracking for it.

Any ideas anyone?

[mike breck]

Hi Nuke,

The way to find out if your card is to blame is to beg, borrow or steal another Geoforce (preferably a similar type G3 but a G2 would do for troubleshooting) video card and try that with both sets of Dets.

If the problem goes away, then your card is to blame. If not, we start looking elsewhere.

I know it's now considered old fashioned and unnecessary by many, but I would agree with Alfie, and recommend a complete uninstall of the NVidia drivers. In fact, I would do it before each test - if you want to test both sets of Dets.

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...threadid=18832

Could I also suggest downloading the Zipped version of the Dets and extracting them to C:\WINDOWS\TEMP rather than using the .exe file. Being a sceptic, I prefer to do it manually and have some control over the process, rather than trusting some executable program to get it right.

But that's just me.

P.S. Just caught up with your post in the Gaming section.
I don't like the sound of the VC, modem, and SC all being on IRQ 11.
Have a look at this thread.

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...threadid=34705

[Nuclear Krusader]

After trying all the things suggested in the link you provided, I couldn't change the IRQ settings. So I reinstalled Windows thinking that maybe DX 8.1 was to blame. Nope. The game still crashes.

Plus, I've been having problems with my USB ports lately (before and after the Win98 reinstall). I've been forced to change the printer from one port to another 'cause sometimes it refuses to print telling me that there is no port or something.

All of this make me think: Could the mobo be the culprit?

Still haven't tried with another VC, I hope to get one tomorrow morning. I just installed Deus Ex and will try it tomorrow too, just to see if it also crashes.

Thanks for your help, I'll keep ya posted. If you have another tip, please let me know.

[mike breck]

I'm not saying the IRQs are the cause of your problem but you should be able to get SC and Modem off IRQ 11 and sharing with something else.

If you pulled the SC and modem and then played around with keeping 5, 9, and 10 free. You can also assign an IRQ to a specific PCI slot with many mobos these days. So effectively you could assign IRQ 5 to the PCI slot the SC goes into and IRQ 10 for slot the Modem goes into.

I've just spent some time knocking my AGP and PCI cards around different IRQs on my ASUS A7A266 to see what coexisted peacefully.

But I would certainly try a different AGP card first before tearing your hair out over IRQs. You can spend a very enjoyable evening doing that at some later stage - if need be.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Well, yesterday I replaced the GF3 with my old TNT2. Working with the same set of nVidia drivers, Undying didn't crash, it performed flawlessly (I even finished it). Then I replaced the TNT2 with the GF again, and the game crashed after 3 or 4 minutes of gameplay. So I put the TNT2 and packed the GF for warranty.

But today the system started crashing again in Word. The games are no prob, but the applications are. The PC sometimes misteriously reboot itself at random. Could it be the mobo?

Here's a text file with my IRQ settings.

[mike breck]

Try removing all your PCI cards and disconnecting all peripheral
devices apart from the mouse. Now run your applications and Undying (without sound). Do it still crash and reboot. If not, then that may point to an IRQ or software conflict.

However, if it still crashes and reboots, I would suspect this could be faulty Ram or a PSU. What brands do you have?

If you have spares, then try swopping them.

Might be a good idea to run a full Anti-Virus, as well.