[NightWolf67]

Here's the scenario's in a nutshell...

bought a new computer...runs everything else...BUT games...the games keep locking up...I've updated the graphics card drivers to where they need to be...I ran dxdiag and tested fine...I even went to the link posted in these forums by Photolady, the System Requirement Lab...and every game I entered I pinned over to the far right, meaning more then capable of running pretty much any game I wish to load...I always update my games to the latest patches...I know enough to do this after having been a gamer since the original Wolfenstein and Duke Nukem, et al...

but the games when I try to run them freeze up and lock out or the screen goes blank while you can still here it running in the background momentarily...usually ends in me hitting the reset button...I've only tried two games thus far...Brothers in Arm:Road to Hill 30 and F.E.A.R. which I had no problems running on my other system...

here's my old specs:
custom built pc
AMD 2800+
3 Gigs DDR RAM
GeForce 7600GT 512Mb
WIN XP Pro

my new specs:
HP Pavilion a1630n (was a present from the boss since we're closing our store)
MB: ASUS A8M2N-LA
CPU: AMD 64 X2 Dual-Core 5000+ (upgraded from a 4600+)
RAM: 4 Gigs DDR2-800
GPU: BFG 8800GTS 640Mb
P/S: Antec TruePower Trio 650w

as for the OS...well I'm wondering if this is what's causing the problems...when I run the dxdiag, as well as when I go to System Info...it says I'm running XP Pro (5,1, Build 2600), SP2, etc...

BUT...when I right click My Computer it comes up as WIN XP Media Center Edition, Ver 2002 w/SP2...also says this after rebooting when after going thru the usual HP chocie of going into BIOS it gives the screen to start WIn using Media...

is it possible that there was one OS installed over another?...or do you think that the ASUS MB can't handle the 8800GTS?...or is it cause it's an HP?...lol

right now your guess is as good as mine...this even freezes up on a simple game like Polar Bowler/Golf which I tossed n for when my family comes for a visit with the kids...but it runs mpegs, DVD movies, etc with no problem...the monitor is an HP w19b set at 1440x900...

any ideas what's causing this to lock up?...any help is much appreciated...will check back later since I have to go say goodbye to family that was up for my grandmother's funeral...family comes first as they say...

but if anyone will know what the cause and the solution to this is...it's you guys/gals...again much appreciated...

Wolf...

[Super-D-38]

Welcome to TSG!

Would be nice to eliminate the OS problem.. Is there anything you can't lose? Or are you able to Reformat and start with a clean install of XP?

Starting clean would help in trouble shooting. But is a major pain in the butt.

[blaine2521]

Try taking out a gig of memory. After you do that try turning your hardware acceleration down on your sound card

[NightWolf67]

tried taking out a stick of DDR2...still getting same results...even with turning down the sound acceleration...still a no go...

hoping to avoid having to wipe and re-install...not much on here since it's new...but like Super-D said it IS a major pain in the butt...

hoping to see a few more possible solutions before taking the big plunge...

[blaine2521]

The memory seems like it would be the biggest problem...I have heard XP doesnt run very well on 4 gigs..I may be wrong...But since you tried taking out a stick and get the same results then i would guess you would have to reformate....Turning your hardware acceleration down on your sound card might be a resolution with your games when you get it reformated if you get the same freezing problem. I had the same problem. That was the only fix and the game runs fine..For some reason theres a conflict with older games and sound cards on 64bit pc's.

Good Luck..

[kryptonite1055]

i have heard the 8800 run a pretty warm.. there might be a temp. problem, If you are using the HP Pavilion a1630n case (not the greatest air flow). download speed fan (google it) and run that. This will tell real time temps of GPU, CPU, and other temp sensors in the computer.

[NightWolf67]

yea...had already thought of that...it's why when the boss gave me the pc I switched the insides to an Aero Cool ExtremEngine 3T case with the 25cm side fan, etc...case runs cool n all...

talked it over with some of the guys n techs from work...going to take out sticks of memory and go from there...part of the problem could be that ASUS MB's aren't too fond of PNY memory sticks...other part could be too much memory for that particular MB...

will give an update once I'm done messing around with it some more...plus going to d/l a cpl of useful programs for checking temps...one is Riva Tuner and the other which is made for ASUS which is PC Probe II...

thnx for all the suggestions...

[NightWolf67]

problem solved...it was actually the video card...after going after the usual suspects and coming up short...figured go for the big one and let's see what happens...

upgraded the card from a BFG 880GTS to a BFG 8800 GTS OC...no problems since and kept the memory at 3 gigs DDR2...

thnx again for the help n suggestions...

[RK0721]

Anyone know what is the difference between 256Mb of memory and 512MB on a video card, because i wanted to know if i should buy the BFG 7950 GT OC 256Mb or 512Mb. Plz reply.

[NightWolf67]

Originally Posted by RK0721

Anyone know what is the difference between 256Mb of memory and 512MB on a video card, because i wanted to know if i should buy the BFG 7950 GT OC 256Mb or 512Mb. Plz reply.

the only difference is the memory...and more memory is always better...both have overclocked cores bringing them to 565Mhz(from 550Mhz)...both have Dual 400Mhz Ramdac, etc...and the screen resolution goes up to 2560x1600...

now the question is...single card or if your motherboard supports SLI...do you go with two cards?...heh

this is also good to know in both cases...


Minimum System Requirements

CPU with processor speed of 1.8GHz of higher

256MB of RAM

Microsoft Windows XP
CD or DVD-ROM drive

35MB available hard disk space
(50MB for full installation)

A 350W PCI Express compliant system power supply (with 12V current rating of 22A or more)

A PCI Express compliant motherboard

A vacant X16 PCI Express slot

Two available hard disk drive power dongles (smaller floppy disk drive connector is not sufficient)
-or-

A PCI Express supplementary power connector
NOTE: For two GeForce 7950 GT-based graphics cards running in NVIDIA SLIconfigurations, a minimum 500W system power supply (with 12V rating of 28A) is recommended. Visit www.slizone.com for more information.
SLI Requirements
Pair your new BFG GeForce-based graphics card with an identical BFG GeForce-based graphics card.
IMPORTANT: Graphics cards MUST be from the same manufacturer and contain identical GPUs. For example, a BFG GeForce 7950 GT PCIe can only be paired with another BFG GeForce 7950 GT PCIe graphics card.

Plug Your BFG Tech SLI-ready graphics card into an SLI-ready PCI Express motherboard.
IMPORTANT: The motherboard MUST support two physical connectors that are capable of having two NVIDIA SLI-based PCI Express graphics cards plugged into them.

Connect both graphics cards using the NVIDIA SLI connector.
Download the latest NVIDIA ForceWare™ unified driver with SLI support from NVIDIA



hope that helps some...

Wolf...