video issues nvidia

[Cole]

Hi, recently I started having issues where I would get red...patterns and then the game if not my computer would freeze and/or reboot. I was using a GForce 7900 and upgraded to the latest Win XP/Sp2 drivers. This didn't help much, so I installed a 8800GT with current drivers and get the same issue, only faster. I have since installed Windows clean and DDO clean onto another hard drive, and was able to play for a while. Then I had the red pattern again and my computer rebooted.

Typically I play at max res with detected settings. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

[dragnmoon]

Hi, recently I started having issues where I would get red...patterns and then the game if not my computer would freeze and/or reboot. I was using a GForce 7900 and upgraded to the latest Win XP/Sp2 drivers. This didn't help much, so I installed a 8800GT with current drivers and get the same issue, only faster. I have since installed Windows clean and DDO clean onto another hard drive, and was able to play for a while. Then I had the red pattern again and my computer rebooted.

Typically I play at max res with detected settings. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

I generally try not to think

That said... Power supply issue?.. maybe not powerful enough?
You have any screen captures of the problem?

I can say it is not the video card

[Cole]

1400w power supply that is a little over a year old. I don't get issues with NWN2 or movies, etc. Appears to be just with DDO. =(

[Max2000]

I would like to share my personal experience to you.

About 1 year ago, strange pattern appeared on my screen when I play DDO, usually appeared after 15 minutes of playing time, shorter if played on a dungeon with water, it didn't crash my DDO though.

It troubled me for few days, until I found the reason, my graphic card goes to above 100 degree C when I was playing DDO. I dismount the graphic card, tighten the screw that secures the fan(it was loosen badly, make sure not to over tighten the screw, it might crush the graphic card). The graphic card's temperature dropped, and the pattern was gone for good.

I am not sure if that's the same as your case, since your ddo even crash your windows, but I guess it doesn't hurt to give a try as long as nothing breaks in the repairing process.

[dragnmoon]

I would like to share my personal experience to you.

About 1 year ago, strange pattern appeared on my screen when I play DDO, usually appeared after 15 minutes of playing time, shorter if played on a dungeon with water, it didn't crash my DDO though.

It troubled me for few days, until I found the reason, my graphic card goes to above 100 degree C when I was playing DDO. I dismount the graphic card, tighten the screw that secures the fan(it was loosen badly, make sure not to over tighten the screw, it might crush the graphic card). The graphic card's temperature dropped, and the pattern was gone for good.

I am not sure if that's the same as your case, since your ddo even crash your windows, but I guess it doesn't hurt to give a try as long as nothing breaks in the repairing process.

Good point... Overheating video cards would do this to.

Did you build the system yourself or is it a Brand name?

Air Flow is a very over looked problem with people who build their own computers

[Theboz]

1400watts power supply a year old, dam thats alot of power, what do you have may I ask.

Its definately heat related, I would get a can of air and clean it out and make sure all fans are running.

[Dtako]

It sounds like you're describing "Artifacting". This link might help.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=58485

- Make sure you have a power supply that can handle the video card
- The latest video drivers might not be the resolution (I'm currently using 9.1.3.1)

I had the same problem and eventually had to RMA my video card. My replacement card got rid of the artifacting, but my PC would still freeze or reboot intermittently. It seemed like it occurred more during the hot days, as if my video card was overheating. I've done everything I could to keep my PC cool, exept adding a water cooling system. I've RMA'd twice (and got 2 extra 7900GTX sitting in the UPS box.....they accidentally sent too many replacements ).

Anyway, since the weather is much cooler, my PC hasn't had problems in several weeks. This tells me it's definetly a heat problem.

[neoanderthal]

Hi, recently I started having issues where I would get red...patterns and then the game if not my computer would freeze and/or reboot. I was using a GForce 7900 and upgraded to the latest Win XP/Sp2 drivers. This didn't help much, so I installed a 8800GT with current drivers and get the same issue, only faster. I have since installed Windows clean and DDO clean onto another hard drive, and was able to play for a while. Then I had the red pattern again and my computer rebooted.

Typically I play at max res with detected settings. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Hmmm, I'm using the half-wit brother of your 8800GT (8600GT) at max res and eye-candy (1680x1050), with the last stable nVidia driver (163,75) under Windows XP SP2. I haven't had any problems with DDO, but in my old PoS case when playing a game that worked the graphics card hard my system would bluescreen because it got too hot. Have you tried using nTune to see what temp your gpu is running at? The problems sound like graphics corruption, with the two biggest culprits being driver problems and temperature problems. I know the 8800GT has a fairly heft power draw, and it could be putting out as much heat as the 7900 (can't say without knowing if it's GT or GTS or whatever).

[Cole]

Many thanks for the replies. I am waiting for the next crash to see if I can get more information that 'stop error'. As for the system/hat/power:

Mac Pro 2x2.66 Xeon CPUs (4x total)
2gb of ram, all apple spec
3x 120mm fans, var. speed as system needs
7900 or 8800gt: depending on the test I am running -they aren't installed at the same time-
Win XP SP2, all patches, clean build as of last night, all newest drivers for all devices

Basically think of it as a work station grade system, but with some gaming parts (hdd & video cards) Not exactly a stock Dell, but not hand build either.


minor edit: I was aware of the heat & memory issues with the org. 7900 and waited for evga to release the second version of the card. That is what I replaced last night with a fbg 8800gt oc2

[Cyndder]

Have seen and heard of this happening when the CPU overheated as well. Now you have used two different graphics cards but I would drop to the bios and double check CPU temp--should be an option [ have not had an opportunity to check on that via an intel apple box]

[neoanderthal]

Many thanks for the replies. I am waiting for the next crash to see if I can get more information that 'stop error'. As for the system/hat/power:

Mac Pro 2x2.66 Xeon CPUs (4x total)
2gb of ram, all apple spec
3x 120mm fans, var. speed as system needs
7900 or 8800gt: depending on the test I am running -they aren't installed at the same time-
Win XP SP2, all patches, clean build as of last night, all newest drivers for all devices

Basically think of it as a work station grade system, but with some gaming parts (hdd & video cards) Not exactly a stock Dell, but not hand build either.


minor edit: I was aware of the heat & memory issues with the org. 7900 and waited for evga to release the second version of the card. That is what I replaced last night with a fbg 8800gt oc2

hmmm, I'd be surprised if your Mac Pro was overheating, but it's possible. I thought those aluminum towers had been designed to isolate heat back in the G5 days. Of course, I don't know how much Apple has moved stuff around in there since then - I do remember the heat 'zones', though, because the G5 was a cooker.
Man, I dunno. I was going to suggest testing the card in another computer, but if you're having the same problems with both cards, it's not likely they're both problematic. Hopefully, the next time your machine crashes (not saying that I hope it does ) you can post the error message - sometimes other driver issues can cause seemingly unrelated problems. I know, for example, that certain laptops using one of the Intel wireless chipsets will cause a crash with Windows XP when the system is under load, and the error returned indicates the problem is with failing memory. Maybe we can figure out what the root cause is on your system.
On the Macs under OS X, I know you can configure the PCIe lanes through the OS - is there a utility that lets you do that from Windows XP? It's probably not related, but I dunno.