[Dash-X]

Hi. I have this problem with many games. These black squares appear in some games for a very little time. I want to know what's causing them? and how to fix it. is it a faulty graphics card?

View this video and watch in fullscreen.


http://www.xfire.com/video/1218c8/


It happens a lot in Battlefield 2142, Battlefield 2. But some other game that i have had for a long time, like COD4, has no problems.
And there's 1 more problem: Almost all of the games that i play crash sometimes and then recover again.
Sometimes it ends up with BSOD. For Example, Crysis, Flight Simulator X, Prototype, CSS, World Of Warcraft work fine.. no crashes or anything but Fuel - Crash/BSOD, Cod4 - Crash, Call Of Yuarez: Bound In Blood - Crash/BSoD, Riddick: Assault On Dark Athena - Constant Crashes and BSOD (UNPLAYABLE) and that list can go on forever i guess.
It's one of those black screen -> ''Display driver atikmdag stopped responding and has successfully recovered'' (-> Game crash) Errors. Some games work fine, but some start messing too often so it has become unplayable. What can i do to fix this problem or at least find out what's wrong?
I heard it's a Vista problem. is it?


PC Specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 @ 2.20GHz
3GB RAM (1x 2GB, 1x 1GB)
Club3d HD4850 512mb Overclocked Edition (Latest drivers)
580W PSU

Windows Vista Home Basic 32-bit Service Pack 2

RAM - tested with memtest, No errors with over 700% coverage

Scanned whole PC With AVG Free. It found a bunch of cookies but i successfully deleted them
Scanned with spybod S&d - Clean

NO overheating problems.

I have heard some people update their PC bios... what's that and how is it good? I have never done that.
Oh and the PC is 2-3 years old. I have upgraded RAM (originally 2x1GB, PSU (Originally a crappy 400w PSU) and GPU (Originally POV 8600GT 512mb) . And please don't tell me i need to buy something new. Let's not make this thread a shopping mall.

[aliatrvash]

Hi,
I have three solution in mind that might help.
1-Most of the games you have problems with, work with opengl instead of DirectX and I think the problem is that. try to run DOOM 3 or Quake4 and see if you have the same problem with those. these two games also use opengl instead of DirectX.

2- try to run the games with compatibility for windows XP or just try them on a real windows XP.

3- Run the games with one module of ram, either 1GB of 2GB module.
I'm waiting for your reply

Good Luck

[Dash-X]

#1 - It can't be the problem
#2 - It didn't change anything
#3 - Can't try it now

Anything else?

[bigbear]

Running high intensity games and the fact you are running Vista will takes its toll on the ram, I think you would notice a difference if the ram was balanced ie two identical sticks preferably 2G in dual set up

[Dash-X]

I can't go 2GB x 2GB cause i found out my MOBO supports up to 2GB. I didn't know that and now i'm running 3GB, but my PC seems to use all of it tho. I just hope i have the 1GB stick somewhere.

[bigbear]

If your mobo only supports 2G ram in total then you must have a fairly old machine trying to run high games and therein lies your problem

[Dash-X]

I'm not just trying. I'm getting real good performance, it's just the crappy mobo. Did i mention these problems didn't occur before? Even with the same games.
What's BIOS and should i update that?

[bigbear]

What mobo are you using?
Upgrading the bios is only worth doing if it addresses a particular problem.
Done incorrectly can render a mobo useless.

[Dash-X]

Asus P5LD2-X/1333 Motherboard

[bigbear]

There does not appear to be a bios upgrade that addresses your particular problem.
The mobo is a budget end board and I feel it is not up to what you are asking from it.
Have you tried just the 2G of ram?

[Dash-X]

Okay. I now switched back to 2x1GB. It seems like the squares won't appear anymore and the crashes aren't happening. Though the FPS in games is now choppy. I will keep playing for a bit and post back later. I want to be sure it's solved.

But still... these problems didn't occur even after i first replaced 1gb stick to 2gb. It started happening within the past few months. And i upgraded my RAM more than a year ago. Oh, and has Vista always used around 900MB of RAM?

[Dash-X]

Alright i have the results. 1. Switching the RAM fixed the black square problem. 2. It didn't fix the crashing and probably the BSoD problem.

[janiels]

it seems like you were running a game that isn't compatible with your computer, you should know first the spec requirements of the game before installing it, another conclusion might be a broken video card..

[Dash-X]

Ok, i take my words back. These black squares still happen. Oh, and my PC can handle ALL games with good fps, period
...A broken video card. how to make sure it video card's fault?

[Dash-X]

Bump...