IDEAS? New GPU doesn't like games - PC crashing!

[Lagavulin]

Hi there folks,

I'm a bit stuck for which 'forum' to post this in, so I've gone for this one!

In an attempt to get "2 birds with 1 stone" (see previous posts in 'Performing' section) I forked out and got meself a brand spanking new MSI nVidia GeForce NX6800 TD256E.

Arriving at the weekend, I plumbed it in and looked forward to a Sat afternoon of gaming but.....more problems

Every (and I mean EVERY) game is crashing in some way. Just to offer a few examples; Halo won't even go past the first few frames of the game and yesterday even crashed at the main menu; an older title [Battle Engine Aquila] ran for about 3 minutes before crashing; and as a last example Republic Commando, got three-quarters through the first mission before crashing as it was loading the last section.

I noticed at this last crash (after having to 'reset' as I get NO response from the PC whatsoever - it has totally frozen) the PC seemed slower than a snail, and opening task manager, I noted that that CPU was under 100% usage. So shutting down the PC, it powered down, turning off the 'power-on' light and HDD light etc., but the actual power was still being fed to the MoBo, i.e. all the fans were running etc

I'm presuming that since I had no problems playing games on my older card, this issue is related to the new one, but I can't figure out why. My current kit is:-

MSI K8N Platinum SLI which uses the nVidia nForce 4 SLI Chipset [MoBo];
MSI nVidia Geforce NX6800 TD256E SLI Ready [GPU];
2GB of Geil RAM (DDR400);
Hiper 525 watt PSU;
AMD 64 3800+ (2.4ghz);
2 Seagate SATA Barracudas (1x 300gb, 1x 200gb);
LG Rewriter & LG ROM;

I'm using the latest BIOS drivers, the latest GeForce drivers (both of which are mainly still on default settings), and although these types of GPU usually need an additional power supply connecting to them, this one of mine oddly doesn't! So is it a lack of juice?

Anyway, can anyone think why this would be happening? Is it a clash with drivers/software configs; as the CPU seems to be connected with this issue. Or looking at my kit, could it be a clash with hardware?

Please offer any help possible as I'm now desperate to get this pain-in-the-ass up and running to do what it was built to do

My thanks in advance...

LAGAVULIN

 

[Elbatrop1]

It kinda sounds kinda like a driver issue of sorts. Did you perhaps have an ATi video card before? I know that the ATi drivers are hesitant to leave, even when you ask them to.

If this is the case, then have a look at google for ATI driver removers.

 

[Lagavulin]

It kinda sounds kinda like a driver issue of sorts. Did you perhaps have an ATi video card before? I know that the ATi drivers are hesitant to leave, even when you ask them to.

If this is the case, then have a look at google for ATI driver removers.

Cheers Elbatrop,

Yeah, tried this, even that desperate I did a complete reformat/fresh install of Windows (real pain but if it worked then so what!)

But still no joy.

Also, as a few others have suggested, it isn't a 'over-heating' prob as I tried to load HALO (by far the worst offender) this morning from a cold-boot (PC hadn't been used since last night) and CPU was 28 dgreesC and system was 24 dgreesC and it had been on for no more than a minute and it froze the PC at the main menu - I couldn't even get into the game

But yeah, I do reckon it could be more of a conflict than faulty hardware.

Thanks again,

LAGAVULIN

 

[diabloII]

try one stick of memory

 

[Lagavulin]

try one stick of memory

Cheers, I'll try it.

BTW, I actually added new RAM about a week ago, putting in two sticks of GEIL 1GB DDR400 (prior to me installing this new GPU). But nevertheless, I'll try just one.

Thanks,

LAGAVULIN

 

[Lagavulin]

Well, I dunno why I didn't think of it sooner, but one option that I hadn't considered was that MSI appear to offer their unique version of 'driver' for their own brand of kit, and I was actually using nVidias generic drivers...

Yep, thankfully (and safely able to now claim lightning surely can't strike four times) it WASN'T a duff card - it seems to be simply a case of using the 'wrong' drivers

So, totally wiping nVidias generic ones and installing MSI's latest drivers for my card, HALO [by far the worst of my bunch - even refusing to get past the menu screen before totally freezing my PC!] not only loaded fine but - cranked all the way up to ALL the highest settings - I got past the first, and half way through the second, level without even so much as a hiccup or a dropped frame. Temperature was stable all the way through and image quality was the best I've had from any GPU.

All this said, I can't believe that it was something so simple - I mean, what was the problem with nVidias generic drivers? But anyway, who cares...

My sincere thanks to those who posted offering hints and/or advice. It's very much appreciated!

All the best,

LAGAVULIN