Games Freezing

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia (More info?)

Hi. I put together an old computer system for my girlfriend. She just
wanted something old to run word applications and a couple of games.
The Stats....

ECS p6Iwt-me Mainboard, updated Bios. Onboard graphics and sound
chipset.
Pentium 366 processor
Windows 98
256 megs Ram
DirectX 9.0
80 gig hard drive
Acer 77s monitor

She purchased Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 and Half-life and
installed them both. Both worked fine, though the graphics weren't the
best, of course, considering the age and limitations of the onboard
video adapter.

And she wasn't happy. So I picked up an older Nvidia Riva TNT2 Model
64 card, installed it and downloaded the latest drivers from Nvidia's
website. Wonderful. Works fine in windows...blah blah blah. But now
both Half Life and FS2000 freeze randomly. It will work with great
frame-rates, and then suddenly stop. The display seems to go out of
sync, as I can still see the graphics but they are covered in vertical
lines that don't seem to match up, but the sound continues in the
back-ground. The only way out is the hard-boot the computer at that
point. I get no error messages from this, it just simply freezes up.

So far, here's what I've done to correct it....

1) swapped the card, exchanged it for a new one thinking that the card
was faulty. (Didn't help)
2) increased cooling. I checked temp through bios and it was fine, but
on the off chance I decided to install an additional fan. (Didn't
help...not an overheat problem)
3) Tried different drivers (No help)
4) Completely disabled the Onboard chip-set in the default hardware
profile to ensure there was no conflicts.
5) Swapped for larger Power supply (Discovered in the course of this
that the old case and PS I purchased cheap only had 150 watt power
supply. Thought for sure that that was the problem so swapped for a
500 watt....still no help)
6) Flashed the MB Bios (No help)
7) Inreased the display refresh rate...(Maybe, haven't tested yet)

I increased the refresh rate setting in the Nvidia Display controls,
and then ran FS2000 for a good hour and a half with no problems. So I
think that might be it, but I won't know for sure until I run it a few
more times, since the error comes randomly (sometimes after two
minutes, sometimes after 3+ hours!!)

So my question is, first...can the refresh rate even cause that much of
a problem with a video card and 3d accelerated games? and second...is
there anything I'm missing in terms of trying to troubleshoot this
issue? I'm not an expert by any means, but I consider myself fairly
competent around a computer. I've tried everything I could think of
and am still facing this issue.

Anyone have anything similar to this happen to them? Anyone know what
the issue is? Am I completely insane and missed something really
really simple?

 

[Hawk]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia (More info?)

Paulie76 wrote:
> Hi. I put together an old computer system for my girlfriend. She just
> wanted something old to run word applications and a couple of games.
> The Stats....
>
> ECS p6Iwt-me Mainboard, updated Bios. Onboard graphics and sound
> chipset.
> Pentium 366 processor
> Windows 98
> 256 megs Ram
> DirectX 9.0
> 80 gig hard drive
> Acer 77s monitor
>
> She purchased Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 and Half-life and
> installed them both. Both worked fine, though the graphics weren't the
> best, of course, considering the age and limitations of the onboard
> video adapter.
>
> And she wasn't happy. So I picked up an older Nvidia Riva TNT2 Model
> 64 card, installed it and downloaded the latest drivers from Nvidia's
> website. Wonderful. Works fine in windows...blah blah blah. But now
> both Half Life and FS2000 freeze randomly. It will work with great
> frame-rates, and then suddenly stop. The display seems to go out of
> sync, as I can still see the graphics but they are covered in vertical
> lines that don't seem to match up, but the sound continues in the
> back-ground. The only way out is the hard-boot the computer at that
> point. I get no error messages from this, it just simply freezes up.
>
> So far, here's what I've done to correct it....
>
> 1) swapped the card, exchanged it for a new one thinking that the card
> was faulty. (Didn't help)
> 2) increased cooling. I checked temp through bios and it was fine, but
> on the off chance I decided to install an additional fan. (Didn't
> help...not an overheat problem)
> 3) Tried different drivers (No help)
> 4) Completely disabled the Onboard chip-set in the default hardware
> profile to ensure there was no conflicts.
> 5) Swapped for larger Power supply (Discovered in the course of this
> that the old case and PS I purchased cheap only had 150 watt power
> supply. Thought for sure that that was the problem so swapped for a
> 500 watt....still no help)
> 6) Flashed the MB Bios (No help)
> 7) Inreased the display refresh rate...(Maybe, haven't tested yet)
>
> I increased the refresh rate setting in the Nvidia Display controls,
> and then ran FS2000 for a good hour and a half with no problems. So I
> think that might be it, but I won't know for sure until I run it a few
> more times, since the error comes randomly (sometimes after two
> minutes, sometimes after 3+ hours!!)
>
> So my question is, first...can the refresh rate even cause that much of
> a problem with a video card and 3d accelerated games? and second...is
> there anything I'm missing in terms of trying to troubleshoot this
> issue? I'm not an expert by any means, but I consider myself fairly
> competent around a computer. I've tried everything I could think of
> and am still facing this issue.
>
> Anyone have anything similar to this happen to them? Anyone know what
> the issue is? Am I completely insane and missed something really
> really simple?
>

I'd recommend buying a 64MB Geforce 2 ... you can still find some new
for about $30 and it would be a reasonable match to the rest of the system.


(*>

 

[Beowulf]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia (More info?)

Paulie76 wrote:
> Hi. I put together an old computer system for my girlfriend. She just
> wanted something old to run word applications and a couple of games.
> The Stats....
>
> ECS p6Iwt-me Mainboard, updated Bios. Onboard graphics and sound
> chipset.
> Pentium 366 processor
> Windows 98
> 256 megs Ram
> DirectX 9.0
> 80 gig hard drive
> Acer 77s monitor
>
> She purchased Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 and Half-life and
> installed them both. Both worked fine, though the graphics weren't the
> best, of course, considering the age and limitations of the onboard
> video adapter.
>
> And she wasn't happy. So I picked up an older Nvidia Riva TNT2 Model
> 64 card, installed it and downloaded the latest drivers from Nvidia's
> website. Wonderful. Works fine in windows...blah blah blah. But now
> both Half Life and FS2000 freeze randomly. It will work with great
> frame-rates, and then suddenly stop. The display seems to go out of
> sync, as I can still see the graphics but they are covered in vertical
> lines that don't seem to match up, but the sound continues in the
> back-ground. The only way out is the hard-boot the computer at that
> point. I get no error messages from this, it just simply freezes up.
>
> So far, here's what I've done to correct it....
>
> 1) swapped the card, exchanged it for a new one thinking that the card
> was faulty. (Didn't help)
> 2) increased cooling. I checked temp through bios and it was fine, but
> on the off chance I decided to install an additional fan. (Didn't
> help...not an overheat problem)
> 3) Tried different drivers (No help)
> 4) Completely disabled the Onboard chip-set in the default hardware
> profile to ensure there was no conflicts.
> 5) Swapped for larger Power supply (Discovered in the course of this
> that the old case and PS I purchased cheap only had 150 watt power
> supply. Thought for sure that that was the problem so swapped for a
> 500 watt....still no help)
> 6) Flashed the MB Bios (No help)
> 7) Inreased the display refresh rate...(Maybe, haven't tested yet)
>
> I increased the refresh rate setting in the Nvidia Display controls,
> and then ran FS2000 for a good hour and a half with no problems. So I
> think that might be it, but I won't know for sure until I run it a few
> more times, since the error comes randomly (sometimes after two
> minutes, sometimes after 3+ hours!!)
>
> So my question is, first...can the refresh rate even cause that much of
> a problem with a video card and 3d accelerated games? and second...is
> there anything I'm missing in terms of trying to troubleshoot this
> issue? I'm not an expert by any means, but I consider myself fairly
> competent around a computer. I've tried everything I could think of
> and am still facing this issue.
>
> Anyone have anything similar to this happen to them? Anyone know what
> the issue is? Am I completely insane and missed something really
> really simple?
>
I checked the manual from he ESC site and it looks like the on-board
vidoe is AGP but there is no AGP ugrade slot. Thus, your TNT2 must be
the PCI version. If this is the case, make sure you set the the video
display to initialize the PCI and not the AGP card as the first or
primary display. the chipset might be switching to AGP even though agp
chipset is disabled.

Also make sure the old agp drivers are completley removed.

As for the refresh...hmmmm. Usually the card will run stable with lower
refresh rates since it has to work harder at higher rates.

You might what to dump Win98 for win2k or xp. much more stable.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia (More info?)

Cool, thanks. I had it set to PCI first for Display. And had the
Onboard adapter completely disabled in the hardware profile. The
refresh rate that I thought may have fixed it didn't so on a hunch I
checked out the Video-Card bios using nvflash. Dude I bought it from
said he had updated it already so I hadn't checked it earlier. Turns
out he lied. The Bios wasn't copacetic with the newest drivers (71.84
I think I have installed). Flashed the vbios and now it seems to be
running tickety-boo. Like I said, something stupid and simple that I
overlooked in my search for some grander problem.

Thanks for your help.


Beowulf wrote:
> Paulie76 wrote:
> > Hi. I put together an old computer system for my girlfriend. She just
> > wanted something old to run word applications and a couple of games.
> > The Stats....
> >
> > ECS p6Iwt-me Mainboard, updated Bios. Onboard graphics and sound
> > chipset.
> > Pentium 366 processor
> > Windows 98
> > 256 megs Ram
> > DirectX 9.0
> > 80 gig hard drive
> > Acer 77s monitor
> >
> > She purchased Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 and Half-life and
> > installed them both. Both worked fine, though the graphics weren't the
> > best, of course, considering the age and limitations of the onboard
> > video adapter.
> >
> > And she wasn't happy. So I picked up an older Nvidia Riva TNT2 Model
> > 64 card, installed it and downloaded the latest drivers from Nvidia's
> > website. Wonderful. Works fine in windows...blah blah blah. But now
> > both Half Life and FS2000 freeze randomly. It will work with great
> > frame-rates, and then suddenly stop. The display seems to go out of
> > sync, as I can still see the graphics but they are covered in vertical
> > lines that don't seem to match up, but the sound continues in the
> > back-ground. The only way out is the hard-boot the computer at that
> > point. I get no error messages from this, it just simply freezes up.
> >
> > So far, here's what I've done to correct it....
> >
> > 1) swapped the card, exchanged it for a new one thinking that the card
> > was faulty. (Didn't help)
> > 2) increased cooling. I checked temp through bios and it was fine, but
> > on the off chance I decided to install an additional fan. (Didn't
> > help...not an overheat problem)
> > 3) Tried different drivers (No help)
> > 4) Completely disabled the Onboard chip-set in the default hardware
> > profile to ensure there was no conflicts.
> > 5) Swapped for larger Power supply (Discovered in the course of this
> > that the old case and PS I purchased cheap only had 150 watt power
> > supply. Thought for sure that that was the problem so swapped for a
> > 500 watt....still no help)
> > 6) Flashed the MB Bios (No help)
> > 7) Inreased the display refresh rate...(Maybe, haven't tested yet)
> >
> > I increased the refresh rate setting in the Nvidia Display controls,
> > and then ran FS2000 for a good hour and a half with no problems. So I
> > think that might be it, but I won't know for sure until I run it a few
> > more times, since the error comes randomly (sometimes after two
> > minutes, sometimes after 3+ hours!!)
> >
> > So my question is, first...can the refresh rate even cause that much of
> > a problem with a video card and 3d accelerated games? and second...is
> > there anything I'm missing in terms of trying to troubleshoot this
> > issue? I'm not an expert by any means, but I consider myself fairly
> > competent around a computer. I've tried everything I could think of
> > and am still facing this issue.
> >
> > Anyone have anything similar to this happen to them? Anyone know what
> > the issue is? Am I completely insane and missed something really
> > really simple?
> >
> I checked the manual from he ESC site and it looks like the on-board
> vidoe is AGP but there is no AGP ugrade slot. Thus, your TNT2 must be
> the PCI version. If this is the case, make sure you set the the video
> display to initialize the PCI and not the AGP card as the first or
> primary display. the chipset might be switching to AGP even though agp
> chipset is disabled.
>
> Also make sure the old agp drivers are completley removed.
>
> As for the refresh...hmmmm. Usually the card will run stable with lower
> refresh rates since it has to work harder at higher rates.
>
> You might what to dump Win98 for win2k or xp. much more stable.