CounterStrike:source, restarting due to graphics driver error!?

[johnnr892]

Hi, Whenever cs:s loads a map or joins a server It gets to the end of reciving server info and then restarts and windows says it was caused by graphics driver or device. I have my computer on a static IP and on DMZ on router with lots of addresses allowed. Is there anything I can do because it's really annoying because whenever I finallly manage to join a map which is rare I can only play until another map is loaded and then it freezes and restarts! Any help please, Thanks, John.

[yamangman]

It's most likely caused be a graphics driver or device, or somthing interfering with their operation. Have you tried the classic remedies?

[johnnr892]

I have tried catalyst 4.9s and cat 5.1s and they both come up with the same thing. This also happened with my old 9800 pro before it went bust and I RMAed it.

[Rcb]

Reformating will fix it if it's software related.

[johnnr892]

Well it cant be because I have reformatted about 2 times since

[Ferral]

Get a program called Driver Cleaner 3 (free software)

Uninstall the ATI drivers completely using add/remove programs but dont restart after removal

Run Driver Cleaner 3 and go down the list of ATI stuff (self explanatory software, cant go wrong at all with it) one by one selecting clean

This will remove every last bit of ATI related stuff from you're system leaving you ready to install the drivers fresh with no remnants of any other driver sets

[Rcb]

Well it cant be because I have reformatted about 2 times since

Hardware related then.

[johnnr892]

I have tried that with cat 4.12 and 5.1 and 4.9, unfortunately I think there may be a problem with my 9800 pro! I recently lost one to fire and ember and this is my new one, but this doesnt seem to work either!! Might as e-buyer for a 6600gt instead this time.

[Ferral]

Try knocking the AGP speed down to 4x and turn the fast writes off in the bios before installing a different set of drivers (try what I mentioned above, maybe remnants of a previous driver causing problems)

[johnnr892]

Thanks a lot ferral, really good advice buddy. I re-formatted and all my other games are ok(guess there must have been driver confilics even though i used driver cleaner) but cs:s was still playing up. I took down all my security(risky i know) like firewall and anti-virus softwqare and put the agp down to 4x. Brilliant, it was all working. So i decided to put things back one at a time. First I tried putting 8x back on and now it wouldn't work, strange. I've put everything else back on but not 8x agp and it works. Could it be that only cs:c doesnt like 8x or is there a problem with my motherboard. I recently returned an 9800pro which messed up, could that of affected the agp bus somehow? Thanks for your help.

[Ferral]

I have a similar bizarre problem on mine, for some reason I cant run my 9600 Pro card at 8x AGP (has to be 4x) on my new board (card doesnt have the extra molex ?! I have the latest bios update for the board also which is supposed to give better support for the 96xx series cards) However, while I was waiting for my card being returned from Connect3D warranty services I put my FX 5700 LE card in on the same board and at 8x AGP it worked fine in everything, really mad !

8x AGP doesnt give that much of a boost anyhow, not noticable unless you want to see a few extra points on a game benchmark like 3D Mark 01. I can honestly say all my games work just fine with the 4x AGP on my Rad (Farcry, Doom 3 & HL2) HL2 and Farcry I can run in max detail 1024 x 768, I have to run Doom in 800 x 600 but I can use 4x AA and AF and have it on high detail setting so it still looks damned good. Not forgetting having a gig of ram helps in a big way for the newer games !

Pleased its all sorted for you now, we're here to help as well as being just mods on the board !

[johnnr892]

I think I still may send it back because I think it may be overheating, sometimes after a while of counterstike everything goes checkerboard blue or green. I don't want to put my spare ati silencer on it incase it isnt overheating and I void the warrenty, if the cards not faulty, well i'll try and send the board back.

[Ferral]

If you are getting checkerboard there is a good chance the gpu is overheating or possibly the memory is overheating or faulty. You could possibly try putting another fan inside you're pc case to cool it off a bit or it might be the airflow

[johnnr892]

thanks i'll give it a try. Is there any test I can perform to see if my other system componets are at fault rather than my graphics card. Ih have heard of something like prime? will that do?

[johnnr892]

Ok, I left my computer off for a day to let it compltely cool off and when I joined a new server I got massive green and black check boards so it can't be overheating, i get this on almost every cs:s server at varying intrusiveness. I have it at 4x, if i could paste a picture,(somebody once told me how to paste one here but i couldn't get hold of any free webspace) I couls show you my problems. Any other things I could do? prime?

[Ferral]

Try turning off the fast write option in the bios, also make sure you're system ram is set correctly, may be worthwhile setting it to auto for testing purposes