Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 29

Thread: Radeon 9800 Freezes My Comp!!

  1. Radeon 9800 Freezes My Comp!!

    I recently got a mid-level computer (P4, 3.2GHz, 512K, 200G HD) for school. Though I don't play PC games, I thought it would be nice to get a fairly decent video card, so I got the 128MB Radeon 9800.

    Just this weekend, a friend gave me Far Cry, which I've seen run on his computer and it runs and looks like a dream. Also, I got Battlefield: Viet Nam, PainKiller and the Unreal Tournament 2004 Demo. But, when played on my computer, these games run and play for about 5min, then the whole computer locks up!! There's no way out but to do a warm reboot.

    As far as I know, this video card should be able to run these games. Granted, my friend has a slightly better video card (256MB Radeon 9800XT), but I should be able to play the games without my whole PC locking up.

    We're all baffled by this problem. I tried updating the drivers, I disabled the VPU recovery (which is known to cause problems sometimes) and we even reconnected a loosened wire from the power source, to no avail.

    Is the problem the video card? Or is there some incompatibility issue? I contacted the retailer I bought the PC from, and they suggested I take out the video card and RAM, and to put them back. Now, I'm not a tech person, but that doesn't sound like the answer to me.

    Any suggestions?

  2. I had a similar problem with my 9700 and found out that my CPU was 4x AGP instead of the 8x required by the video card. Or it may be you drivers. What exactly is the problem ie when does it freeeze?

  3. Damian said it before me. Check the AGP slot on the mobo and the video card to see if you can use it. Did you buy the Mac one by accident? Also, check the RAM thoroughly to make sure that speed, technologies and all of that are proper.

  4. Hmm, I don't know what AGP is, nor do I know what AGP is required for my card. If the 9700 required 8x, I should assume the 9800 does, too.

    The computer freezes after 5 min of actual gameplay (I can look at the opening FMVs just fine). My character will walk, shoot whatever, then suddenly freeze. The sound is still going for about 10 seconds, then it goes silent.

    Once, I booted up Far Cry, loaded my Save and just let the game sit. I thought maybe the card couldn't handle having to render all those graphics while in motion, so I just let it sit still with my character just standing there. I didn't even have my hands near the keyboard.

    The same thing happened. It froze and went silent. I had to do a hard reboot.

    That's the best I can describe the problem. I'm not sure if it's something as minor as a setting activation or a problem with the card itself.

    At first, I didn't think it was a video card problem because I can still watch DVDs and video clips (pr0n!) just fine. It's only when I play current 3D games. Even the emulators work fine.

  5. AGP is (I hope) the slot your video card plugs into. Does it have any tabs which aren't going into any slots? It may need more power than the motherboard can give it if that's the case. Check the RAM.

  6. Far Cry has a problem with locking up on Radeon cards.

    Not sure about the other games though.
    You sir, are a hideous hermaphroditical character which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.

  7. It's most likely not the AGP port. He's got a 3.2 GHz P4, me thinks his motherboard can hack 8x AGP. The 9800 can clock down to 4x anyway, any nearly everything new now supports that.

    1) Update your drivers. Get them from http://www.ati.com. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE INSTALL FILES. This includes removing the old drivers. If you don't remove the old ones, bad things may happen.
    2) Check your computer's heat. Is it really hot inside the case? Is it getting enough ventilation? Make sure it's not back up against a wall -- give it some breathing room. Is there a fan in the back of the case (not on the power supply) that will push the hot air out? Excessive heat can cause lockups.
    3) Quit any programs you're running while playing. Check the taskbar tray (the area where the clock is) to see what you've got going on. Right-click on the icons to see if you can shut stuff down. Be careful, some things may be needed -- use your best judgement. Things like "Mouse Control" may be needed, but "Weatherbug" is not.
    4) Find a neighborhood tech. See if your local high school has a computer club. They probably won't charge much to look at it.

  8. try it in your buds pc with the same games. that'll narrow a lot down real quick if it doesnt work in his rig either.

  9. Everything that Lhadatt said is good advice. I would also like to add that you probably should disable "fastwrites" in the ati control panel. Fastwrites is known to cause issues for some people and it doesn't add anything at all in terms of performance. The heat issue Lhadatt mentioned could be something to look into as the 9800 requires an extra power connector..so maybe your power supply may not be up to snuff.

    Also do you have the latest Direct X installed? Figure the latest games you installed probably installed it for you anyways.

    Also, Far Cry has no locking problems on radeon cards as my 9800 runs the game flawlessly with the settings on very high. Then again every pc is different. Far Cry, Painkiller should run like a dream on your machine.

    bloodyarts, you said you didn't even know what an "agp" port is. You should make the effort in learning everything about your computer. You paid good money for it so try to find time to learn everything about it, all the different parts of the pc/motherboard..etc. Not saying become an expert or anything, just understand the basics as it makes your life much easier should you ever bump into another problem in the future.

  10. Quote Originally Posted by Lhadatt
    It's most likely not the AGP port. He's got a 3.2 GHz P4, me thinks his motherboard can hack 8x AGP. The 9800 can clock down to 4x anyway, any nearly everything new now supports that.

    1) Update your drivers. Get them from http://www.ati.com. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE INSTALL FILES. This includes removing the old drivers. If you don't remove the old ones, bad things may happen.
    2) Check your computer's heat. Is it really hot inside the case? Is it getting enough ventilation? Make sure it's not back up against a wall -- give it some breathing room. Is there a fan in the back of the case (not on the power supply) that will push the hot air out? Excessive heat can cause lockups.
    3) Quit any programs you're running while playing. Check the taskbar tray (the area where the clock is) to see what you've got going on. Right-click on the icons to see if you can shut stuff down. Be careful, some things may be needed -- use your best judgement. Things like "Mouse Control" may be needed, but "Weatherbug" is not.
    4) Find a neighborhood tech. See if your local high school has a computer club. They probably won't charge much to look at it.
    Thanks for the suggestions.

    I actually went to ATI's site yesterday and installed the new drivers and uninstalled the old, but I didn't get a much better result.

    However, I'm beginning to think it's a heat problem. I just got home and booted the computer which has been off all day. I loaded Far Cry and the game worked for about a half hour instead of the normal 5 min. This is something I seriously need to look into. My tower sits in a shelf on a table. Admittedly, there isn't much ventilation. The fan is pushing out warm air from the left side, but the back of the computer is pretty much smothered. Other than taking my tower out of the table shelf, what can I do to reduce the high heat output? Will buying a small fan to blow on it help? Should I buy another internal fan?

    I have a couple guys who are pretty good with computers. I'll have to wait until the weekend before they can do anything, though.

    Quote Originally Posted by raystorm
    Everything that Lhadatt said is good advice. I would also like to add that you probably should disable "fastwrites" in the ati control panel. Fastwrites is known to cause issues for some people and it doesn't add anything at all in terms of performance. The heat issue Lhadatt mentioned could be something to look into as the 9800 requires an extra power connector..so maybe your power supply may not be up to snuff.

    Also do you have the latest Direct X installed? Figure the latest games you installed probably installed it for you anyways.

    Also, Far Cry has no locking problems on radeon cards as my 9800 runs the game flawlessly with the settings on very high. Then again every pc is different. Far Cry, Painkiller should run like a dream on your machine.

    bloodyarts, you said you didn't even know what an "agp" port is. You should make the effort in learning everything about your computer. You paid good money for it so try to find time to learn everything about it, all the different parts of the pc/motherboard..etc. Not saying become an expert or anything, just understand the basics as it makes your life much easier should you ever bump into another problem in the future.
    I'll try the fastwrites thing. I definitely have the newest Direct X installed. Did that yesterday. I don't think I have that extra power source you were talking about for the Radeon

    As for knowing my computer, it's funny you say this cuz not too long ago, DiffusionX gave me the same advice, but in the usual DiffX style, which is, "Fuck you, asshat. I'm not helping you not one goddamned bit. Learn your fucking computer and stop bothering us with your stupid fucking problems".

    Anyway, since then, I have come to know my computer a little better, believe it or not. But since I never play games on my computer (outside of emulators), I never took the time to learn about video cards or anything pertaining. An oversight, I admit.

    Finally, I forgot who suggested it, but I did try all those games on my friend's computer, and they all worked flawlessly.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Games.com logo