Official "Computer Troubles" Thread

[wisp]

Which OS are you running? And which directx version do you have? Also, are your drivers up to date?

running Xp with SP 2, drivers all updated with Directx 9.0c, my card is not on the incompatable list

[wisp]

I'd say reinstall drivers and directx.

done that twice

[Predator]

I purchased tomb raider underworld on Saturday , got home and loaded the game all went well till it was finished and then a setup screen appeared and no matter what I do it gives the error ”failed to intialize Direct 3d with current settings”..i have tried all the settings but to no avail. I have a Raedon X800 pro AGP card, P4 3.00ghz and 1.5gig ram …(it runs Crysis all be it on low )..help is needed please

I bought tomb raider underworld too, and it worked perfectly on myne I have a e8500 c2d, a 9600gt and 4gb of ram. I just checked the system requirements... And it should run on your system.

windows vista/xp
3.00ghz intel or 2.5 ghz amd
1gb ram, 2 gb vista
7gb hard drive space
nvidia 6800 or ati x1600. 256mb, shader model 3
direct x 9c compatible sound card

I'm pretty sure it is the shader model.

[wisp]

I'm pretty sure it is the shader model.

posibly mines Shader model 2

[Predator]

posibly mines Shader model 2

I think you might have to update your video card, agp 7600gt's are possible to find you just got to look hard.

If you can't find an agp graphics card and wish to update your system heres my reccomendation for a cheap low end gaming system.

amd 64 athlon x2 4200+
nvidia 8600gt 512mb
msi am2 mainboard
400 watt power supply
2 gb ddr2 800

This should come to under R4000, Stuff like your case, dvd writer and hardrives can be reused. Just make sure if you update to add in some case fans to prevent overheating.

[maxdamage]

My pc's graphics card "died" earlier today and I had problems trying to start up my pc as it refused to post.Later the pc started up but for some unknown reason my internal 56k v92 modem isn't being picked up by the motherboard/win xp.The motherboard/win xp cannot find the pci communications controller driver :S and the pci communications controller is listed 6 times in the hardware device list.I have a spare internal modem but I do not want to risk damaging the spare modem by installing it as I do no know what is going to happen?I have to wait until the beginning of next year before I can have my pc properly checked by the computer shop where I had it "checked".

I am using the onboard graphics card onboard the motherboard which is an ASUS P5VD2-MX which is barely able to play or not at all most of the games on my pc atm I am using my dad's old pc atm to post this online so everything is taking forever to load,etc... but at-least his works.My graphics card is dead and I can only think that the motherboard somehow killed it and thats the 3rd one in 6 months :( :( :(

[Wesley]

My pc's graphics card "died" earlier today and I had problems trying to start up my pc as it refused to post.Later the pc started up but for some unknown reason my internal 56k v92 modem isn't being picked up by the motherboard/win xp.The motherboard/win xp cannot find the pci comunications controller driver :S and the pci comunications controller is lised 6 times in the hardware device list.I have a spare internal modem but I do not want to risk damageging the spare modem by installing it as I do no know what is going to happen?I have to wait until the beginning of next year before I can have my pc properly checked by the computer shop where I had it "checked".

I am using the onboard graphics card onboard the motherboard which is an ASUS P5VD2-MX which is bearly able to play or not at all most of the games on my pc atm I am using my dad's old pc atm to post this online so everything is taking forever to load,etc... but atleast his works.My grpahics card is dead and I can only think that the motherboard somehow killed it and thats the 3rd one in 6 months :( :( :(

Firstly, try to test your graphics card in your dad's computer to see if it really has given up the ghost. You might have to swap powersupplies for this (also consider that perhaps your psu could be the culprit - overvolting a component still does happen).

For your internal modem, make sure your drivers are up to date, or just re-install them (uninstall the current ones first, you can do it in device manager). Next, if your device still isn't picking up, then try changing the IRQ settings. You'll need to google your motherboard model number and the word 'irq', might have to sift through the list of hits before you find something useful. If all else fails, install your spare modem and use that one. Good luck.

[maxdamage]

Firstly, try to test your graphics card in your dad's computer to see if it really has given up the ghost. You might have to swap powersupplies for this (also consider that perhaps your psu could be the culprit - overvolting a component still does happen).

For your internal modem, make sure your drivers are up to date, or just re-install them (uninstall the current ones first, you can do it in device manager). Next, if your device still isn't picking up, then try changing the IRQ settings. You'll need to google your motherboard model number and the word 'irq', might have to sift through the list of hits before you find something useful. If all else fails, install your spare modem and use that one. Good luck.

Um my dad's pc is a P1 233 pro 32mb ram 2 gig hdd and win 95.All I had to do is unplug the internal modem and start the pc up,shut it down then plug modem back in and fixed for now.I do not have a spare psu atm :(

[Chevron]

I am using the onboard graphics card onboard the motherboard which is an ASUS P5VD2-MX which is bearly able to play or not at all most of the games on my pc atm I am using my dad's old pc atm to post this online so everything is taking forever to load,etc... but atleast his works.My grpahics card is dead and I can only think that the motherboard somehow killed it and thats the 3rd one in 6 months :( :( :(

So that means either your psu is stuffed or the electrical wiring in your house is stuffed. A ups will fix the latter, but not the former.

Could be both as well if the wiring in your house stuffed up your psu.

[maxdamage]

So that means either your psu is stuffed or the electrical wiring in your house is stuffed. A ups will fix the latter, but not the former.

Could be both as well if the wiring in your house stuffed up your psu.

Could be but my pc was ok for 1 and a half years before I had problems?It is really annoying that my graphics card is "dead" so I cannot play about 98% of the games\demos installed on my pc atm :@

All thanks to the useless tech who worked at CTT Flora Center branch Johan Lingenfelder........

[Cleric]

My damned explorer keeps crashing, and I've too many passwords saved to consider reinstalling. I assume it's a virus, but my Avast doesn't pick anything up.

[Toi]

Hello ladies, hope everyone is having a fab holiday.

I got a new GPU for Christmas and I seem to be having some problems.
The card itself is fine but I feel like my system might be bottlenecking at the CPU.

Specs
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ 2.5 GHz
RAM: 2GB Crossair gaming RAM
GPU: MSI 9800 GTX+ 512MB
PSU: 500W
Motherboard: Gigabyte S-series
Case: Raidmax Smilodon

I'm sure that's all the info you guys might need.

So I ran a benchmark with Farcry 2 and got an average FPS of 26 with all settings except physics on high at 1280 x 720.

So what I did was overclock my CPU to 2.9 GHz which is nice and stable yet my FPS aren't increasing. Why is that? Surely my FPS should at least be increasing ever so slightly.

nTune, Rivatuner and all monitoring apps say that my CPU is now rated at 2.9 GHz but when I open up system info in My Computer it still says that my CPU is running at 2.5 GHz. So which one is it then? Is it overclocked or not because performance isn't increasing. I didn't go into BIOS to overclock BTW, I used nTune.

I unfortunately don't have 3D Mark and cannot download it so Farcry 2 is the only benchmark I have.

[Chevron]

If increasing your cpu clock doesn't increase the fps then it's not the bottleneck.

Are you overclocking using the bios or some windows app?

Also download cpu-z

[Toi]

Ok well that's good to know thanks man.

But regardless of whether that's the bottleneck or not, shouldn't my FPS increase after I overclocked?

Are you overclocking using the bios or some windows app?

Also download cpu-z

No I used nTune to overclock, for some reason I can't get my voltage settings in BIOS so I'll rather not mess with that stuff.

I downloaded CPU-Z and it says 2.9GHz same as all the rest.

[Chevron]

Ok well that's good to know thanks man.

But regardless of whether that's the bottleneck or not, shouldn't my FPS increase after I overclocked?



No I used nTune to overclock, for some reason I can't get my voltage settings in BIOS so I'll rather not mess with that stuff.

I downloaded CPU-Z and it says 2.9GHz same as all the rest.

No matter how much data your cpu can push to your graphics, you graphics can only process so much.

If cpu z says it's 2.9 i'm inclined to believe it.

Although with your cpu you should be able to get at least 10% overclock without upping the voltage. So maybe disable that windows up and use the bios to get your cpu to 2.7. Just watch your ram speed. It might get overclocked as well.

[Toi]

No matter how much data your cpu can push to your graphics, you graphics can only process so much.

So my shiny new GPU is the problem? If not, what is then?

BTW, so should I just leave my CPU at 2.9GHz?

[Chevron]

I say turn off physics and see what your fps is. Also when overclocking use the bios luke.

With regards to if you should keep it overclocked, it depends on your temps.

[Toi]

No temp is nice and low, 40 degrees at idle.

Oh and I'll turn the physics off. As far as I know the new series 8800 and up uses your GPU to process the physics so turning it off should in theory increase FPS.

[Chevron]

No temp is nice and low, 40 degrees at idle.

Oh and I'll turn the physics off. As far as I know the new series 8800 and up uses your GPU to process the physics so turning it off should in theory increase FPS.

Bingo. Also the fact that windows still shows your cpu as 2.5 worries me. Try disabling that windows app and use the bios to get to 2.6 or 2.7 and see if there's a difference.

[Wesley]

Specs
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ 2.5 GHz
PSU: 500W

Hey Chev, wasn't there a specific revision of the AMD architecture that would report incorrect overclock results somewhere along the line? (isn't that 4800+ x2 a K9 cpu?)

Also, could it be that the generic psu isn't supplying enough power on the rails to the gpu? Perhaps an unstable power feed? Have you tried checking for updates for your motherboard or any known problems with your motherboard and certain gpu's? Although I think Chev might be right with the physics, turn it off and see what happens.