View Full Version : ASUS P4C800/600 mobo and 9700 Pro combo game issues...
Ok. I need a SUPER GURU ASAP!!!
I'm eating crow now! You can see my rig in my sig below. Prior to buying a P4C800 Delux/P4C-2.6/2x256MBCorsair XMS3200 a few weeks ago, I had an ASUS P4PE single channel rig for about 6 months. Everyhting else was the same. On the old P4PE setup, nothing ever crashed. I had probably 15 titles installes and between my kids and I there were hundreds of hours in gaming logged in that 6 months with nary a complaint.
I have spent much time in alot of forums praising my new board and claiming that my new 9700 Pro loves the P4C800. But alas. I have some serious issues! I have run into two games that freeze big time and freeze hard!
Warcraft III and Dungeon Siege both running latest patches. My son used to play hours of Warcraft III and I play alot of Dungeon Siege and he has started to as well. On the P4PE they never ever crahed ever!
Now on this newly built P4C800 they both hard lock randomly and never get more than about 10-15 minutes in without crashing. Sometimes it happens within a minute of starting the game. You can even just be viewing the Intro in Dungeon Siege when it happens. You'll be there playing along and the screen will freeze and the last bit of wound will just loop like a skipping record. Or worse, sometimes, the no video signal on the monitor comes up in your face and you are treated to the loudest and worst possible digital version of nails on a chalkboard sound comming from the speakers. You cannot CTRL, ALT, DEL or ALT F4 or anyhting. You have to reset. We only just installed these two last night and came across this.
Prior to this problem, I was convinced all was well. I test like crazy to make sure whenever I build a new system. After building this system, I ran Sandra burn in over night. Several hundred runs without a lockup. I ran 3DARK2001SE in a loop overnight as well. Still running 8 hours later. CPU temp never over 45. Ran 3DMARK2001SE DEMO with sound in 1024x768 overnight. Still going 8 hours later. I have played several other games for several hours. UT2003 CTF, Counter Strike, Enclave Demo, and Medal of Honor all without issues. Glass smooth and screaming fast frames.
Nothing is overclocked. All BIOS settings set to AUTO or "By SPD". Smartgart in Control Pannel indicates 8xAGP and fastwrites. Using Cat 3.4's, DX 9.1 latest from MS and XP professional SP1. This is all on a fresh install of XP. Nothing is running in the background like Antivirus or Firewalls or Kaza or MSN or anyhting like that. There are no Viruses as I did a free scan at Trendmicro.com. CPU usage when idling is at 0%. My Audigy card is on PCI slot 5. According to the manual that is only supposed to be sharing IRQ with slot 1 which I do not use. My 9700 Pro is a revision 3.0 board.
Things I have tried are turning off fastwrites. I uninstalled the Cat 3.4's and control pannel and installed 3.2's and the control pannel. None of this has worked. Checked that I am running latest drivers and BIOS from ASUS site and I am.
Only suggestion I have had is from the store techs :rolleyes: which is to revert to 4x AGP. I am not home so I have not tried it yet.
Any suggestions??? Can anyone with a simular rig test Dungeon Siege for me and see if they can go 30 minutes using version 1.11 set to 1024x768x32 2xAA and vSync on.
Only hting I can point my finger at is the dual channel Corsairs perhaps not behaving? I am at a loss for ideas here. Any help would be appreciated.
Charles.
Uhmmm,..go ahead and try the 4X AGP setting, but I wonder about that 350W power supply. Seems a tad smallish for that system, if you ask me.
gokickrocks
06-09-03, 07:21 PM
relax the timings a bit more, see if that does anything...
Originally posted by gokickrocks
relax the timings a bit more, see if that does anything...
The CPU Z Utility reports the timings as 2.5-3-3-8. Is that not already very relaxed or should they be relaxed futher?
Also, do you have dungeon siege? and if so are you running version 1.11 and wihtout issues? If you do not have it, can you download the demo and see if you can get past 30 minutes without crahsing hard? I'd appreciate your feedback.
Charles.
Originally posted by Skuzzy
Uhmmm,..go ahead and try the 4X AGP setting, but I wonder about that 350W power supply. Seems a tad smallish for that system, if you ask me.
I'll try the 4x thing. However as far as the 350 watt PSU is concearned, both ASUS and ATI said that because it was ENERMAX, they felt it was more than enough to support the setup I had. If it were generic I would be wondering too. But at this point, nothing suprises me anymore.
Charles.
cverl,
First, what Corsair RAM do you have? XMS 3200's or the LL's?
Voltage on the RAM should be 2.75V in the BIOS
R U Overclocking yet? Also, what version of the BIOS on the P4C800?
If it is power related, try this. Unplug all the peripherals you can from the power supply.
Still seems a bit small to me. I have a couple of similar setups and use 480W Antec TruPower in them.
I don't have access to those two games or I would try them for you.
I also assume you installed the INF files for that motherboard when you switched them.
The Baron
06-09-03, 07:38 PM
I'm forced to suggest reformatting. Just seems too weird to be remedied easily.
GlowStick
06-09-03, 07:56 PM
I really do not feeling that is is a power issue, the Enermax will provide plenty of power, and if he can look SiSandra and 3dmark overnight on the same powersupply, it is defiantly not the culprit.
He also said he was not overclocking.
I would defiantly opt for a fresh install, Although it seems when you build it you oviously installed a fresh copy of windows.
Originally posted by Hawk
cverl,
First, what Corsair RAM do you have? XMS 3200's or the LL's?
Voltage on the RAM should be 2.75V in the BIOS
R U Overclocking yet? Also, what version of the BIOS on the P4C800?
No overclocking here. BIOS is 1006 from thier website. Is it common to have to boost that voltage? THey are the XMS 3200's. Not LL's or TWINX.
Charles.
Originally posted by cvearl
No overclocking here. BIOS is 1006 from thier website. Is it common to have to boost that voltage? THey are the XMS 3200's. Not LL's or TWINX.
Charles.
Ok, yes, the voltage for the RAM must be 2.75V as per Corsair in the BIOS. Also, by SPD causes some problems with memory timings. Go into the BIOS and manually set your memory timings to:
Cas: 2
Ras: 2
Ras - CAS : 3
Precharge : 6
Burst : 8
Then reboot and see if the problem is gone.
Originally posted by GlowStick
I really do not feeling that is is a power issue, the Enermax will provide plenty of power, and if he can look SiSandra and 3dmark overnight on the same powersupply, it is defiantly not the culprit.
He also said he was not overclocking.
I would defiantly opt for a fresh install, Although it seems when you build it you oviously installed a fresh copy of windows.
Yup. Brand spakin new XP install. In this order...
XP install - Intel INF's - NIC driver from ASUS CD - Cat 3.4's - ATI control Pannel - Creative Labs Audigy Gamer latest drivers - Windows update to SP1 - windows update to DX 9.1 - and last.... GAMES, SANDRA, 3DMARK ect...
Is it at all possible that Dungeon Siege and Warcraft III don't like Hyperthreading processors or Dual channel memory?
Charles.
Originally posted by Hawk
Ok, yes, the voltage for the RAM must be 2.75V as per Corsair in the BIOS. Also, by SPD causes some problems with memory timings. Go into the BIOS and manually set your memory timings to:
Cas: 2
Ras: 2
Ras - CAS : 3
Precharge : 6
Burst : 8
Then reboot and see if the problem is gone.
Are those timings safe? I mean on CORSAIRS web site, the ram is only rated for 2-3-3-6. Are you saying 2-2-3-6.
I will try it though tonight. I know when left by SPD, I am at 2.5-3-3-8. When I set to 2-3-3-6 per the web site, I got a tad high memory performance but ended up with a 2 - 3 second lag when starting applications. So I put it back to "By SPD". When set to SPD the apps just jump to attention. So I thought it was running better.
Charles.
gokickrocks
06-09-03, 10:45 PM
Originally posted by cvearl
Yup. Brand spakin new XP install. In this order...
XP install - Intel INF's - NIC driver from ASUS CD - Cat 3.4's - ATI control Pannel - Creative Labs Audigy Gamer latest drivers - Windows update to SP1 - windows update to DX 9.1 - and last.... GAMES, SANDRA, 3DMARK ect...
Is it at all possible that Dungeon Siege and Warcraft III don't like Hyperthreading processors or Dual channel memory?
Charles.
well i dont have dungeon siege, but i do play warcraft3 for hours on end without any hitches...
i have hyperthreading enabled and have my memory set up for dual channel
OK, first. Thanks for the ideas and replys!
Prior to trying the many suggestions here, I decided to try the stores suggestion. I set out to try AGP 4X. I could not find the setting anywhere in the BIOS for that (Anyone know where it is hiding?) So I went the driver route. I set the AGP to 4X in the ATI driver via the SMARTGART page. Well guess what. I was able to play Dungeon Siege for just over an hour! No issues whatsoever in either CAT 3.2's or CAT 3.4's. Why on earth is this a problem? :confused:
Ok, so who do I blame?:bleh: Pick one!
ATI driver?
ATI 8x AGP implementation at a hardware level?
ASUS for a problematic AGP slot?
Intel for poorly configured INF files?
Who do I go after? I bought what is pretty much the most expensive motherboard available and what was 2 months ago the most expensive 8X AGP video card and I have to deal with this?
Yes, I know there is no real benefit to AGP 8X over 4X at this stage of the game. But it could become an issue with DOOM III or newer games in the next 12 months and I might want 8X again. So I have to resolve this now. Well never mind that. The issue at hand is. Whos fault is it? You be the judge.
And lastly, why Dungeon Siege and Warrcraft III and not UT2003 and CS and Metal of Honor?:hmm: Wierd!
Any takers?
Charles.
GlowStick
06-10-03, 11:59 AM
Originally posted by cvearl
OK, first. Thanks for the ideas and replys!
Prior to trying the many suggestions here, I decided to try the stores suggestion. I set out to try AGP 4X. I could not find the setting anywhere in the BIOS for that (Anyone know where it is hiding?) So I went the driver route. I set the AGP to 4X in the ATI driver via the SMARTGART page. Well guess what. I was able to play Dungeon Siege for just over an hour! No issues whatsoever in either CAT 3.2's or CAT 3.4's. Why on earth is this a problem? :confused:
Ok, so who do I blame?:bleh: Pick one!
ATI driver?
ATI 8x AGP implementation at a hardware level?
ASUS for a problematic AGP slot?
Intel for poorly configured INF files?
Who do I go after? I bought what is pretty much the most expensive motherboard available and what was 2 months ago the most expensive 8X AGP video card and I have to deal with this?
Yes, I know there is no real benefit to AGP 8X over 4X at this stage of the game. But it could become an issue with DOOM III or newer games in the next 12 months and I might want 8X again. So I have to resolve this now. Well never mind that. The issue at hand is. Whos fault is it? You be the judge.
And lastly, why Dungeon Siege and Warrcraft III and not UT2003 and CS and Metal of Honor?:hmm: Wierd!
Any takers?
Charles.
Id, blame ATi, completely! But i am biased against them and blame alot of things on them : P
schuey74
06-10-03, 02:03 PM
I don't know exactly where to lay the blame but I will tell you that 9700s seem to have a lot more problems w/ Intel chipsets than w/ AMD's but the 9800s seem to have very few, if any problems with anything. I bought a 9700pro a few months ago to replace my 4600ti and I could not get it to work my P4 rig. I sent it back and tried another one and still no go. I've got a 450 Watt Enermax, I tried reformatting, and I played w/ everything voltage related and the card would still not run anything 3D. I must have spent 50 hours trying to get that card to work on my rig! Nowthe funnny part........last week my friend put his 9800 in my computer and I it ran perfectly from the get go. Not a hitch ever! This an Nvidia system! All I did was uninstall the dets and install the ATI Control panel and drivers and it worked from the get go, yet the 9700 wouldn't work no matter what!
GlowStick
06-10-03, 02:26 PM
Originally posted by schuey74
I don't know exactly where to lay the blame but I will tell you that 9700s seem to have a lot more problems w/ Intel chipsets than w/ AMD's but the 9800s seem to have very few, if any problems with anything. I bought a 9700pro a few months ago to replace my 4600ti and I could not get it to work my P4 rig. I sent it back and tried another one and still no go. I've got a 450 Watt Enermax, I tried reformatting, and I played w/ everything voltage related and the card would still not run anything 3D. I must have spent 50 hours trying to get that card to work on my rig! Nowthe funnny part........last week my friend put his 9800 in my computer and I it ran perfectly from the get go. Not a hitch ever! This an Nvidia system! All I did was uninstall the dets and install the ATI Control panel and drivers and it worked from the get go, yet the 9700 wouldn't work no matter what!
Yeah, just the problem is, Intel Chipsets are the industry standard for everything. Example, if you are desiging a video card, as long as it lives up to Intel specs it will be fine. If it dosent, it is definatly your fault for doing something wrong.
Monolyth
06-10-03, 03:20 PM
I'm a bit late on this one, but I am running a close setup to that one, but with 2x512MB Corsair PC3500C2 and a 9800 Pro, I never had any problems with DS or WC3.
Sorry to hear that you did :(
GlowStick
06-10-03, 03:22 PM
Originally posted by Monolyth
I'm a bit late on this one, but I am running a close setup to that one, but with 2x512MB Corsair PC3500C2 and a 9800 Pro, I never had any problems with DS or WC3.
Sorry to hear that you did :(
Hm, it seems that all the bugs were taken out for the R350chipset, maybe you can upgrade to a 9800pro cveral? kinda pricey for the preformance gain though hm.
Originally posted by Monolyth
I'm a bit late on this one, but I am running a close setup to that one, but with 2x512MB Corsair PC3500C2 and a 9800 Pro, I never had any problems with DS or WC3.
Sorry to hear that you did :(
Are you in 8X AGP and FASTWRITES mode? And do you have your corsair set to AUTO in the BIOS and were you on version 1.11 of Dungeon Siege?
Charles.
schuey74
06-10-03, 07:18 PM
Originally posted by GlowStick
Yeah, just the problem is, Intel Chipsets are the industry standard for everything. Example, if you are desiging a video card, as long as it lives up to Intel specs it will be fine. If it dosent, it is definatly your fault for doing something wrong.
I agree completely but it seems that if you say anything against Nvidia or ATI anywhere the flaming starts. I can't believe that thru over 10 months of drivers updates ATI has not been able to clear up these Intel issues. I honestly believe that there is something wrong on the hardware level w/ the 9700 that was never fixed but apparently was corrected on the 9800.
The only chipset issues I am aware of with AGP8X support are with the Intel Granite Bay and a number of VIA chipsets.
The 9800 has work-arounds for some of these issues. The 9700 came out before any of these chipsets were on the market. The ones that were on the market, at the time of release, required BIOS updates due to problems in the AGP8X implementation.
These are all well documented.
I am not aware of other issues, but the ones above.
Thanks for all the ideas!
OK, I am officially pissed off at myself! Frig why did I not try this first!!!!!
I was just about to completely reinstall XP and start over. Then I decided to first try what one of the people here suggested. Reinstall the INF's. But I went a step further. Here's what I did...
Uninstalled the control pannel and rebooted.
Uninstalled the Cat 3.4 drivers and rebooted.
Reinstalled the current Intel INF's from ASUS website and rebooted.
Installed the CAT 3.4 drivers and rebooted.
Installed the Control Pannel and rebooted.
Installed the DX 9.0a redist and rebooted.
After all that, I checked SMARTGART. 8X AGP and fastwrites are enabled.
I was able to play Dungeon Siege for over an hour without a single issue. I just stopped a few minutes ago and it ran like a dream. Looks like this resolved it! I am not sure what was hooped before though. Something was screwed. Hopefully it is not a fluke. I guess I'll know soon enough with a little more play time.
Sorry if I wasted anyones time.
Charles.
Monolyth
06-11-03, 01:20 PM
Originally posted by cvearl
Are you in 8X AGP and FASTWRITES mode? And do you have your corsair set to AUTO in the BIOS and were you on version 1.11 of Dungeon Siege?
Charles.
Good to see you've got your problem fixed *crosses fingers and hopes its not a fluke*.
Anyway Yes, yes, yes, and yes to those questions ;)
You and your kids should give NWN a try when you finish DS. A new expansion is coming out with even more cool stuff. It's a bit more involved, but definately a lot of fun playing through in multiplayer with other people :)
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