Thread Question:

I am running an asus p4p800 deluxe MB with pc3200 ddr 1 gig ram, pentium 4 2.8ghz,180 gig HD, SB audigy 2 ZS platinum sound card and a 22" widescreen lcd. I was using an Ati 9700 pro 128 meg video card. Problem, i was playing battlefield 2142 for a while and all was working well and all of a sudden the game wouldn't start up, the loading screen would be white and as soon as anything graphical would start it would crash with no warning, Then tested other games and same thing. Have all the updates for everything, windows, bios, video drivers and motherboard chipsets nothing would help. Virus scanned and everything and clean. System mechanic the whole pc running good. Thought my video card was pooched so bought the ati x1300 pro 256 and still the same problem. As soon as i restored windows to an earlier date it would start the games but play was poor and still crash eventually. Formated and reinstalled everything fresh with all updates. Game plays good but after a certain time say 5 minutes i would get black blotches and sceenery would start to black out and eventually crash or as soon as i press Esc for menu game would crash with no error message. Tested ram for errors and there were none set all bios settings and even tried every setting in video card settings including 8x agp to 4X and tried turning off fast writes and all that and still no change. Tried video resolutions and game settings to minimal and still no change. Anyone with any ideas? could it be hardware or motherboard failing???

Posted by: Devmin
Date: 2007-01-30

Subject: Re:Running out of ideas
Posted by: olddocks | Date: 2007-02-02

if all games fail then it looks like somewhere a hardware is causing this problem. you should try to remove and then plug in the video card in the slot or could be power problem.

and do you have the latest xp sp2+ with updates. i had a similar problem something like this and it took me almost 3 months to find out older version of xp.

good luck!!

Subject: Re:Running out of ideas
Posted by: Devmin | Date: 2007-02-02

Thanks for the reply, Yes i had reformatted and reinstalled win xp pro with all updates and service packs. I believe i have all the latest drivers.
Never thought of the power supply i am running a 450 watt wich i bought about 3 years ago, wouldn't think there something wrong with it but come to think of it i have noticed the plug that powers the video card on my old 9700 pro was kinda getting discoloured on one end + or - end not sure but looks like it has been heating up with a brownish burn look to it so could be a power supply issue and should buya new one.
I thought it might have been a bad bios update wich i had done and shortly after this had happened so i reverted to the last one and the game worked better but tried again to play and the same issues are still there.
I am an advance computer user and know enough around the hardware and software lvls that i thought i could figure this out but i have tried everything i can think of and just cant figure it out. Power supply might be it thanks will try that out. If anything else you or anyone can think of please post thanks....

Subject: Re:Running out of ideas
Posted by: Devmin | Date: 2007-02-02

Oh i have noticed that jingle when you plug or unplug a usb device while playing the game but im not unplugging or pluggin in anything? this is strange to me.
I had installed the latest chipset driver but thought i might have installed the wrong kind later when this started to happen so i have reverted back to he chpset that cam with the mobo cd. Now the usb sound thing sounds like it could be something with the chipset? Could i have damaged it possibly putting the wrong drivers in? none the less the chipset is an intel 865 and i installed a i865pe set but think it might have been wrong one not entirely sure.
Could i have messed up the chipset if so even after installing the one off the cd?

Subject: Re:Running out of ideas
Posted by: olddocks | Date: 2007-02-03

i heard that many people talk about power supply which might crash games because graphics card takes lot of power. if it works fine it should be ok.

it could be possible that any drivers conflicting with your existing ones. let me tell you chipset drivers w/sound are real problematic that i why i always use external creative card. you will need to uninstall and reinstall. And, the most important thing is dont install from cd, download latest driver from manufacturer website.

dont just give up and keep trying. i would be glad to help. thanks

Subject: Re:Running out of ideas
Posted by: Devmin | Date: 2007-02-03

I understand that there can be driver conflicts and i am using an external sound card. Now as far as drivers conflicting i have just done a format and reinstall and as of right now just have the basics and all the updates. It's all fresh and should be working fine. I havn't added anything other than a new video card due to thinking these problems were from the old one wich turns out it wasn't and upgraded a card for nothing.
The thing i can understand is it was all working before with all the same things why now am i having the issues? I can only think that a hardware is crashing but can't seem to find which one it could be? Other than my radeon 9700 pro video card everything else is only within 3 years old and at the time all the top end equiptment built it myself. So to this all the only thing i can try is a new power supply.
Thanks for your input and i will keep you up to date with any solutions that may ocure for future refrence. If you think of anything else don't hesitate to reply as i am still working it out.
1 question do you know of a program that can test all hardware and find any issues and can report them?
Thanks again.

Subject: Re:Running out of ideas
Posted by: pbu | Date: 2007-02-04

To run tests run dxdiag from the windows run command. Make sure AGP is enabled under video and you have direct x9.0c. Also when you insert new video card make sure that you insert the card properly in the slot. any looser or improper plugging could cause lots of unknown problems. If everything else fails, try shuffling the RAM in the slots.

Good Luck !!!!!!!

Subject: Re:Running out of ideas
Posted by: Devmin | Date: 2007-02-26

Ok been a while since i have replied, the answer to all my problems was my ram. I had 2 512meg pc 3200, 400mhz ddr and 1 stick went bad and it was the cause of everything going wrong. Bought a new one and everything is running back to normal. I used Memory doctor and memtest86 to test the ram and they both worked great.
Thank you all for your input and hope this helps for future questions.