Problem with my video card (I think)

[ReadError 0]

Whenever I play a game, any game or even a movie sometimes, 2 things can happen, 1- the game crashes 2- I get a blue screen (in XP!) saying nv4_disp.dll causes a problem.

 

It can happen after 30 seconds, 1 hour, or not at all.

 

I have a Athlon XP 2800+, nforce2 MB, 1 gig RAM, geforce2 Ti, 2 HD, 1 DVD, 350W power supply.

 

I tried different display drivers, nothing changed. I currently use 44.03 (nvidia).

 

Is my system getting enough power? Is my card broken?

I don't have another card to test.

[Tomay 0]

It's just a guess but since it's quite an old graphic card in a new system it could be that it's not getting enough power. You might try to increase the agp voltage in your bios. But first read your mobo manufacturers faq.

 

BTW: Do you have latest chipset drivers installed.

 

WARNING: increasing your agp voltage might damage your system.

[M-Tec 0]

You may have an IRQ conflict. There are times when for some reason, Windows will assign the video card and the audio on the same IRQ and can cause instability. Check your system properties and see if they are using the same IRQ. This may not be a problem on all motherboards but I've seen it happen on one of my earlier motherboards that I used. Also check the bios version of your motherboard and make sure you have the most current bios from the board manufacturer. Some problems like that may go away wtih a bios update.

[ReadError 0]

The card has its own IRQ. I have all the latest drivers.

 

I'm not sure I wanna mess with AGP voltage....

[Mr.Guvernment 0]

dont use latest drivers, use old 21.* something drivers - newest drivers will do absolutly nothing for your video card.

 

boot up into safe mode and remove old drivers, be sure to get ride of them all.

 

Also, tha old card does not need alot of power so it is not likely the power level.

 

when ever i got that same B.S.O.D it was because of the drivers.

[ConQueso 0]

Do your apps tend to crash more the more GPU intensive they are? A friend of mine kept getting crashes from 3D games back to the desktop. There was clearly an overheating problem with his video card, as when I looked inside, the card had a slight curve to it, and the stickers were all bubbly and wavy. Replacing the card solved the problem.

 

Which drivers have you tried? Here's the nvidia archive that include the (AFAIK) best of the older drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp-2k_archive.html

 

If you do need to replace your card and want a budget one, the FX 5200 is a decent buy at http://www.newegg.com. Just don't get the 64bit memory version. I've read that the FX 5200 performs about as well as the 4 MX 440, but if you use AA or AF, the FX 5200 should walk all over the 4 MX. That, and the MX is DX9 while the 4 MX is DX7.

 

Hopefully, though the problem can be solved without replacement.

 

BTW, are you using the 2.03 nforce drivers? nvidia breifly had a higher version out, but withdrew it for some problems--are you using those drivers perhaps?

[ConQueso 0]

Quote:

dont use latest drivers, use old 21.* something drivers - newest drivers will do absolutly nothing for your video card.

While this is likely true relative to a video card's speed/stability, if he's trying to play the latest games with old drivers he might have texture problems or other quirks. So saying they do absolutely nothing is an overstatement. But for straight compatibility/stability with older games or basic 2D applications, the older drivers are probably better, especially for troubleshooting the problem.

[ReadError 0]

I tried the drivers that came with the card, 21.81, I still got crashes.

 

I tried 30.82 too, crashes.

 

I'm using 1.16 nforce2 drivers that came with my Asus board (modified nvidia 2.03 I think).

 

Something wierd though, I was using that same card in an other system and all was fine, the problems started with my new system cry

 

And yes, I get the crashes with graphics intensive programs, like games and sometimes watching a movie, but I don't think the card is overheating, I'll try to check the fan if it's still working.

[adamvjackson 0]

Do you have the onboard video disabled or enabled?

 

Have you tried the updated DirectX 9.0b to see if that may help?

 

Also, I would personally try only the latest drivers, as sometimes there are undocumented bug fixes in newer driver releases. Check for WHQL-Certification, etc.

[ConQueso 0]

Is the card seated properly?

 

Also, you may want to try the forums at nForcer's HQ, in case it's a mobo specific problem.

[ConQueso 0]

Quote:

Do you have the onboard video disabled or enabled?

This is a good question. I was thinking that the motherboard would auto-disable onboard GPU if a card was in the AGP, but you never know.

[ConQueso 0]

How new is the system? Is it stable with another card? Have you tested the memory for errors?

[ReadError 0]

There's no onboard video, just audio and networking.

 

I installed DX9.0b and It still crashes, I'll try that nforcer forum, thx.

 

I'll check the card itself more tonight.

 

Update I checked the card, the fan is fine, and it was well seated.

[ReadError 0]

I checked the nforcer forums, and it seems it's a known problem with asus boards cry

 

I hope it will be fixed soon, it's driving me crazy x

[ConQueso 0]

Could you please post a link to the relevant thread? I'm curious about the matter and would like to read about it. Hope they fix it soon. Were their any work arounds? Are you overclocking your CPU or GPU or running them at anything other than standard settings?

[ReadError 0]

Well if you follow directly the link you posted to me in this thread, it's the first one on the list, "Current list of BIOS faults....", in the list it's problem #4.

 

I read a post in that thread, the guy said he lowered the FSB speed and it solved the problem, but it's not a "real" fix....

[Mr.Guvernment 0]

Quote:

If you do need to replace your card and want a budget one, the FX 5200 is a decent buy at http://www.newegg.com. Just don't get the 64bit memory version. I've read that the FX 5200 performs about as well as the 4 MX 440, but if you use AA or AF, the FX 5200 should walk all over the 4 MX. That, and the MX is DX9 while the 4 MX is DX7.

do not buy the fx5200 - for that price range u can get an ATI card that will out perform the 5200 with ease,with AA and AF on. - heck, yourbetter off to buy a ti4200!

the ONLY i repeat ONLY FX card worth buying is the 5900 ULTRA and up, NOTHING below that is worth the price tag.

[ReadError 0]

I tried disabling acceleration of sound in DirectX (with dxdiag) completly, and now I can play Diablo 2, it didn't crash in 3 days.... so the ploblem is probably driver related

[ReadError 0]

Damn NVidia (or Asus), they can't make drivers that work. x

 

I installed the latest Realtek drivers for my onboard audio and no more crashing. Woohoo! D