This is just a warning due to recent PC / Graphics issues I've been having. Don't want everyone to think I'm being a snob if ya don't see me around as much as usual
Seems that since my vidcard (BFG 6800GT OC agp) died and I RMA'd it for the 7800 GS OC I've been having some graphics issues in about half the games I own. These have ranged from white horizontal lines that come and go to full on currupted textures and even momentary lockups or complete lockups / vidcard resets. So far this has only occured to the very minor extent in SWG (corrupted text while targeting, etc).
I spent the majority of tonight tracking down the source of the problems and after several hours of testing I have discovered that the vidcard only does this on my motherboard (Epox EP-8RDA3+ nForce 2 Ultra). Testing it on my older pc (Gigabyte GA-7VAXP KT400) yielded no graphics issues. I even went to the extent of using my RAM in both boards to be sure, and the RAM also tested fine in both systems.
It appears my solution will be to upgrade (just slightly) my motherboard & cpu. Due to the age of my system I cannot simply upgrade just the motherboard as they are now extinct So, I'm planning on going up 1 step to an Athlon 64 setup that will allow me to still use my RAM and AGP card (most likely a 3200+ cpu and socket 754 motherboard). I should have this done within the next 7-10 days max depending on how long it takes to gather the parts needed.
try fiddling with the agp settings. Disable fast writes and set the bus to agp 4x (wont see any difference between 4x and 8x) If you overclocked the system you could also downclock it again and see if that helps
Tried that & disabling fast writes... nothing worked (I never OC my PC's). But yet using the same optimal video settings I normally have it on this pc on the older system it ran perfectly. Had a similiar issue with that 6800GS I had then RMA'd and then eventually refunded and bought the 6800GT OC instead.
It's definately something with this particular motherboard that's causing the issues. It's the only variable between the 2 systems beyond CPU type/speed (old system has a 1.3ghz Duron) for which this cpu originally came on the old systems board.
*added* To clarify, when I had the XFX 6800GS I attempted to run the system on the Gigabyte motherboard for a bit and had no issues with it beyond it being max rated for pc2700 RAM. After a bit of noticable performance issues I decided to swap back and obtain the refund / buy the 6800GT OC. I never had any issues with the 6800GT up til it's untimely demise last week
Just got thru ordering the parts I need. Altered it slightly after finding out that they do have 939 socket boards with agp 8x.
New Upgrades are :
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Venice Core
MSI K8T NEO2-f V2.0 Motherboard (VIA K8T800 Pro chipset)
I figure if the card doesn't wanna work properly on the nForce 2 Ultra chipset in this system but does wanna work in a VIA KT400 this should solve all my issues.
Should see a nice load / fps boost as well due to the slight difference in the Athlon 2800+ Barton system vs having something that's still being made
Got the new parts today and the upgrade was a success.
Only issue was 1 stick of RAM wasn't reading correctly and causing an error on post. After several reseats / swapping of RAM slots it finally took both sticks and posted fine.
Driver Cleaner Pro helped a lot, was able to run that prior to the upgrade and once I got everything hooked up it instantly booted into WinXP without error or need to reinstall the OS due to a motherboard chipset change (nForce to VIA).
Vidcard runs PERFECT on this setup... so my theory was sound on the old motherboard being the issue
Bonus : The issue I had with the old 450w PSU was also due to the nForce 2 motherboard. It now runs the system without voltage problems. Taking the new one I got back for a refund later today and getting almost all of the cash I spent on the cpu/motherboard upgrade back
So, I'm planning on going up 1 step to an Athlon 64 setup that will allow me to still use my RAM and AGP card (most likely a 3200+ cpu and socket 754 motherboard). I should have this done within the next 7-10 days max depending on how long it takes to gather the parts needed.
