dumb video card!

[badboy16z]

i have a sunburst geforce 3 and when i first put it into my system (1gig athlon, msi k7t266 mobo, windows 98, 300 watt ps and so on) my system wouldnt start all the way would just freeze before the win desktop would show up ....so i updated the bios and it WORKED! Now im stuck on a new problem ..i can use my geforce for the desktop and so on but when i play my games *eq dark age of camelot so on* it freezes after about 5-30 min of playing, i cant seem to find the problem ..ive put a HUGE fan against my computer to see if it was overheating but that didnt help tried diff ram sticks ....who konws lol ...but if you guys have any suggestions on what could be wrong i would LOVE to hear them * i kinda think its the mobo cuz the k7t266 was one the buggy ones and the 266a's where the ones with all those buggs fixed ...i think *

 

[bront]

Could be a power issue, but it also could be a motherboard issue.

Try replacing the PSU with a nice power suply (Enermax, or Antec TruePower) of 330W or better and see if that helps. Even if it doesn't, it's a great addition to any computer over a standard 300W.

If it's the motherboard, update to a KT333 chipset board. It's even better than the KT266A, and isn't that much more. It will also give you a few more upgrade options later along in the life of the PC. For a good board, read the THG review of the KT333 boards that they did a few weeks ago.

"Search your feelings you know it to be true, I am your... twin sister" - Darth Vader

 

[williamc]

You might try a clean reformat and reinstall with Win XP and all the latest drivers. Sounds like a last chance for you before you have to do it anyhow to try a new mobo. That many problems isn't likely to be solved by anything less. Since the card does seem to work..just locks up after a while and you have 2d problems and the motherboard does seem to work, a clean install seems like the best option to me. I don't remember if any of those came with onboard video or sound, but if yours has either DISABLE IT as its likely to cause problems like this!

Bront's idea about power supply isnt bad but 300Watts should work fine. Especially if its an "AMD Approved" model.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out

 

[badboy16z]

hmm ill take a look into those ...still would be cool if i can get a few more suggestions tho ...i dont want to buy new stuff for it unless I HAVE to thx for the replies so far

 

[williamc]

Thats why i suggested trying a complete reformat and reinstall with all the latest drivers, preferably with the WinXP OS. If that doesnt fix it you definitely some kind of hardware problem.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out