Crashing Problem

[Craig]

Hey guys, just got my Shuttle PSU back today But when i go to play games (dosent happen in SoF2) like LO:MAC and PlanetSide, i can get about 10 mins into the game and then all of a sudden my computer just freezes, ive tried turning VPU recover on and off, also changed drivers from the latest cats, to older version, and to OMEGA, im compleatly stumped with this problem, any help appriciated !

Cr4iG

Btw, my PC Specs are:
Shuttle SN45G
Athlon 2600XP (333mhz)
1GB 2700 Ram (OEM Stuff)
Radeon 9600XT 256mb
Onboard sound

All latest drivers and windows updates, i dont think its an overheating problem either as i have my S4 fan inside my shuttle set on "Medium" and it never kicks on to full mode so it cant go above 60degrees!

[Rabs]

Freezing is usually a problem of overheating, you also haven't said if you've tested any software ie memtest, latest cats etc.

Gimme info

oh btw what make Radeon do you have I've been very unlucky with Powercolors of late...:/

[Craig]

Got a Sapphire Radeon 9600 mate, havent run memtest, and atm im running the latest OMEGA drivers Ill run Prim95 and see what happens when i stress it!

Cr4iG

[malfunction]

Might be worth installing MBM5 and keeping an eye on your voltages while you're stress testing too. Would recommend you run memtest first then prime so as to rule out the memory on it's own before testing the CPU, etc.

[Craig]

Prime95 is up and running now, what am i looking for? I just have a white screen on it with the test number and some random other bits after it, also i have MBM5 installed, what im i looking for on my voltages? whats abnormal?

[EDIT]

On MBM5 my voltages are:
Core 0: 1.63v
Core 1: 1.50v
+3.3: 3.30
+5.00: 5.05
+12.00: 12.01
-12.00: -12.28
-5.00: -1.02

None of them seem to move Hope thats a good sign!

Ohh and a little extra info, im running the "Blend" burnin test on Prime95. My CPU Temp is 50Degrees after running 4 tests on Prime95 and the case temp is 49 degrees, my I.C.E Fan is spinning at 2109RPM (Mid-speed) and my cpu clock is 2086MHz

Im just praying its a software graphics problem rather than my graphics card ( i suspect it is actually my card )

[malfunction]

Originally posted by Cr4iG
Prime95 is up and running now, what am i looking for? I just have a white screen on it with the test number and some random other bits after it, also i have MBM5 installed, what im i looking for on my voltages? whats abnormal?

Well with Prime 95 you're looking for it to just keep running without spitting out an error message. Basically it's performing a set of calculations that it already knows the answers to and everytime it finishes a calculation it compares it with the known correct result. If they don't match then there's a problem somewhere with your PC (CPU or memory most likely). It will spit out something like:

Test halted - Result was 0.45934985432 - expected less than 0.4

(I can't remember exactly but that's the kind of thing it will say if something's wrong).

With voltages it's hard for me to say but basically the vcore, +3.3V, +5V and +12V lines should be as close to those nominal values as possible (you'll need to check what vcore you CPU should be getting). For *my* system and *my old PSU* I got a *LOT* of wobble on the vcore and the 12V line and when I upgraded to a higher wattage PSU I had a lot less wobble on the vcore and 12V and the system is able to clock a little higher with a little more stability (but then I'm talking about what I think to be the limits of my CPU and running at a high vcore). I would put forward that anything more than +/- 10% is something to be look at (and with the shuttle I think your only real option is to reduce the load on the PSU - assuming it isn't downright dodgy)

Just noticed your reply (while previewing mine) and the voltages all seem good apart from the -5.00V but I didn't think that was used apart during suspend to RAM (or is the -1.02V a typo)? Leave prime running for a while - a couple of hours if possible (for the extra confidence factor). Don't rule out overheating as the heat from the CPU will be getting out of the case a lot easier than the heat from the GFX card if my understanding of how everything's arranged in the shuttle is correct. And don't rule out the memory either - I really recommend running memtest86.

[Craig]

Right then, had Prime up and running while 3DMark03 was downloading, was fine for the 38 mins it ran. Got 3DMark03 on and it wizzed thru most of the tests till it hit CPU Test #2 (The troll one) And my screen went blank and the light flashed on it, when windows booted back up i got the message "The driver: RADEON 9600 SERIES (OMEGA x.x.x.x) was the cause of the system instability" or something along the lines of that, ill pop memtest on, then pop prime on till around 10pm and ill see what it comes up with

[malfunction]

Originally posted by Cr4iG
Right then, had Prime up and running while 3DMark03 was downloading, was fine for the 38 mins it ran. Got 3DMark03 on and it wizzed thru most of the tests till it hit CPU Test #2 (The troll one) And my screen went blank and the light flashed on it, when windows booted back up i got the message "The driver: RADEON 9600 SERIES (OMEGA x.x.x.x) was the cause of the system instability" or something along the lines of that, ill pop memtest on, then pop prime on till around 10pm and ill see what it comes up with

OK - post back your findings as I'm sure someone will have a good idea. It's sounding like the GFX card overheating to me now but it's still worth ruling out the memory. IIRC there were rumours around the net that the newer ATI drivers somehow managed to run the cards hotter than the older ones - I was and am still a little dubious about that but it's worth bearing in mind. Perhaps someone else here can comment on that? Also as the XT is the newest and highest clocking 9600 card maybe it's just too much heat for the shuttle case to cope with. Have you tried under-clocking the GFX card or running with the case open? Also if the XT has an external power connector is it connected? (apologies for being patronising here but I'm just trying to cover all the angles!)

[Craig]

Hullo again, just a little update

Just ran memtest86, went thru with no errors what so ever! Im going to give Prime95 a blast for an hour or so, then ill try getting some earlier versions of the Catalysts and see if they make a difference! Keep the feedback coming, appriciate the help ive had so far Next update in an hour or so, check back then Cheers everyone!

Cr4iG

[EDIT]

Dont think my XT has a external power supply... <checks> nope it dosent Was just about to slap myself there Anyhow, if it keeps crashing ill run it without the case lid on! but the case beside the gfx card is rather cool!

[Craig]

Ran Prime95 for 1 hour, stressing everything (custom test), 0 errors and 0 warnings, ill go and try to get the 9.7 Catalysts and see if they make any difference, also if anyone knows how i can monitor my gfx cards temp id be most greatfull

Cr4iG

[Rabs]

From the evidence above, im pointing towards the graphics card, have you got another gfx card you can test in the same system or do a quick swap with a mate for testing purposes.

Do you get any screen corruption on bootup (BIOS Screens) or at any time in windows?

I have a Powercolor 9600 Pro 128MB in my (overclocked) shuttle and this runs fine, looking at your PSU readings they look fine too.

[Ravens Nest]

Originally posted by Cr4iG
Right then, had Prime up and running while 3DMark03 was downloading, was fine for the 38 mins it ran. Got 3DMark03 on and it wizzed thru most of the tests till it hit CPU Test #2 (The troll one) And my screen went blank and the light flashed on it, when windows booted back up i got the message "The driver: RADEON 9600 SERIES (OMEGA x.x.x.x) was the cause of the system instability" or something along the lines of that, ill pop memtest on, then pop prime on till around 10pm and ill see what it comes up with

Cr4iG have you tried removing the Omega drivers and just having the Catalyst drivers installed.

I hold my hand up to being the first to shout the praises of the omega drivers but i found THPS4 and Rallisport challenge both crashed with the omegas, installed the catalyst 3.9 drivers all went away..

Re-install the catalyst drivers and see if that helps

[XTR]

format C:


Fixes everything..... well most things.


Ya probably think this post is not very helpful but i bet it fixes ya problem... if not its a hardware problem.

[Craig]

Ello again guys! Well then, ive done everything i can imagine (without swapping hardware)! My GF4Ti4600 is about 2" too long to fit in my shuttle I do have 2 sticks of faster ram (Elixir 3200 cas3 512mb) i could stick in, reckon that could help?

I will give re-installing DirectX a quick go, if that dosent fix it then its a format C: job! Then if that dosent work, its a RMA everything job All i have had is problems from day 1 with this Shuttle! Anyhow, off to do another bit of testing, then to back-up bits and bobs and format!

Cr4iG

[Enverex]

Silly question, but try running in AGP2x mode with FastWrites and AGP Sideband addressing turned off. Should be able to do FastWrites and AGP speed in SmartGart.

NS

[Craig]

Cant set it to AGP 2x, can do it on 4x tho, ill have a quick look in the BIOS and stuff, then report back before i format