ATI X800XT drivers..problems?

[{FBI}The_WONDER]

i just bought a ATI radeon X800XT and installed it in my computer after a fresh install of windows xp pro. installed the drivers and when i get into a game (call of duty, farcry, joint operations...ect.) i can play for 2 minutes, 1 map or 1 hour and all of a sudden my computer will freeze. it locks up and the only thing i can do is hit the reset button and reboot my computer. sometimes my monitor will go into sleep mode and shut down before i restart the computer. it happens randomly and never at the same amount of time or certain place in a game. i can surf the web and do everything else except play my games. i loaded the drivers on the disk that came with the card (ati catalyst 4.5) and even tried the newer 4.6 with the same result. i have all the up to date windows patches and updates. once or twice a smartgart window poped up and said it reset my display drivers because my display device was no longer responding to them. so i know its some sort of driver problem

my computer specs:

alienware area 51 extreme w/ windows xp pro
p-4 3.4 ghz with h/t
1 gig (256x4) samsung pc1066 rambus
asus p4t533-c mobo
audigy 2 zx sound card
650 watt alienware power supply
ati radeon X800XT 256mb video card running the catalyst 4.6 drivers

can anybody help me out? or have any ideas why its doing this? 3000.00 for a computer and 600.00 for a vid card and i cant even play my games!!!!!!!!!!

 

[GameGURU]

Im not sure...it might be overheating, or it might be a driver problem. Got to www.ati.com and get the latest drivers from the site.

What is the make of the card?

 

[{FBI}The_WONDER]

www.ati.com is a joke.

its a ati radeon card, not a off brand version. i havent have much faith in off brand makers.

i registered the card with ati and went to their tech support. all i get back is a general email with faq questions. i cant get any actual human to email me any help.
their tech support is a joke.

im running the newest drivers from ati (4.6) and have even tried the earlier versions 4.5 and 4.4 with no luck.

any more ideas?

 

[zerozero]

It does sound as an overheating problem. Do you have an utility to check your temp? If not, check them during reboot in BIOS. You may try and leave the cover open for one session and see if the additional airflow will correct this snag. Alienware provide good quality product but tend to overclock their system to the max so I would check that out. Did you overclock your card? stock cooling on ATI cards usually suck. Did you knock something loose during the installation? Check your settings and tone them down if they have been overclocked. Although you have a very large PS, it may be starting to go on you. Disconnect a few unncecessary things for one session and try it again.

 

[{FBI}The_WONDER]

well, almost a week, and all i can get is a measly 40 people to even look here. guess i will have to find another website that people are a tad more interested in helping.

later guys/gals

 

[Larry K]

FBI.... Freeze!!!



note, you posted the message in the wrong forum... I moved it to the "hardware zone"

maybe you will have better luck??

As for people helping.... MANY, MANY people on Tech-Forums help

 

[WQ87]

It's probably heating problems. Many forums i been to and people will complain on how hot the card gets. Do you know what the Overdrive says for your temperature?

 

[{FBI}The_WONDER]

when i back out of a game like farcry or joint opps, i never see the overdrive temp over 50 degrees c. i tried the overdrive on and off and still the same.

would the heat cause my computer to lock up? it will just lock up, turn the monitor to power save mode and i cant get the dang thing to do anything. i just have to hit the reset button and reboot the computer. when it does not freeze, smartgart says that it had to reset my display device because it was no longer responding to the display drivers.

i have the temp meter on the overdrive, but i also have a coolmaster cooldrive 4 w/temp meter on the card. i never see that temp over about 50-55 c.

so i dont know what the problem is????

 

[xxdryicexx]

my card runs at around 60 celcius on heavy load with no problems..

do you have HT enabled in bios?

 

[-=B$=-]

hahaha i never hear this kinda stuff about NVIDIA cardz lol