Vista - ATI X1600. Display Freezes.

Hi,

I've checked the forums at ATI before coming here. I downloaded the new
driver that came out this month for my card.


Every time I play a game on Steam (Day of Defeat, TF2, Etc.) I play in
between 15-45 minutes and then the game freezes up and overloads my processor
with repetitive sound and a Super low frame rate. I have "net_graph 3"
showing 2.5 fps and 4000+ ms (which is my monitor refresh rate.. i think).

SO I usually wait because I figure my comp. with stop having a seizure and
act normal. After Ctrl Alt Del....And some choppy mouse movements to end the
process of Half-life Launcher etc. It still hangs and I have to hit the
restart button.

I know this isn't good for my hard drive so I've come here to fix this
problem before I wreck anything.

I got a program called GPU-Z and it gave me this information:






Maybe 60 degrees celcius is too hot and is causing the problem.

I have an Antec 900 Case with plenty of airflow.
AMD 2.4 GHz
Windows Vista 32 bit.
Direct X 9.0c
2 GB RAM
SB X-Fi Platinum Edition 64 Mb on board Memory

-- I Scanned for viruses With Bit defender 2008. Found nothing.--
-- I just finished Updating Vista with SP 1 (This did not fix the problem) --

The Games that My computer freezes on and I'm forced to restart are as
follows:

Day of Defeat
Day of Defeat : Source
Company of Heroes
Company of Heroes : Opposing Fronts
Team Fortress 2


**IMPORTANT NOTE**

I HAD THIS PROBLEM PRIOR TO MY FRESH INSTALL AND I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS A
VIRUS AND I DIDN'T WANT TO DEAL WITH IT SO I JUST REINSTALLED.
I'M GUESSING IT HAS TO DO WITH CONFLICT BETWEEN VISTA AND MY CARD OR MY CARD
AND THE GAME.
THE QUESTION IS HOW DO I NARROW IT DOWN?

Sorry about the CAPS LOCK lol. I just wanted you to read that part. hehe.

I've tried as much as I know and I have all my graphics setting on low
through the ATI control Panel for my x1600 512 MB card.

What else should I try ?

"Deevo" wrote:

I can't give you the definite solution to the problem, but I may be able
to eliminate a few possibilities.....

I used to have exactly the same symptons on my pc with three of those
games you mentioned but this was when it had XP installed (i.e. I don't
think it's a Vista issue).

With mine, the problem turned out to be the integrated sound chip which
didn't get along with some games engines (particularly the Source
engine). The solution was to disable it in the bios and install a
separate sound card.
If you go into Device Manager, temporarily disable the sound chip, and
try the games again do they still freeze up? If not, try updating your
audio drivers or changing the in-game audio quality option to low - that
might avoid the need for a new soundcard.

I couldn't get the gpuz links to work but if it's 60 Degrees when idle
it is a little on the hot side - however, if it's 60 Degrees during the
game, that's fine.

As for the graphics card model itself, an X1600 is fairly weak compared
to today's cards, but it should defintely be able to cope with Day Of
Defeat 1 which is now years old. The other games mentioned should also
be okay on mid/low settings.
You mentioned changing the settings in the ATI control panel.... Did you
also change the in-game video settings to low as well as there may be
something there that's not copying across?




Deevo wrote: