annoying pauses during games with 6800GT OC

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slushpuppy

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Joined
Sep 1, 2004
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Hey all,

So yesterday I went out and overhauled my computer with the following components:

AthlonXP 3200+
1gig OCZ
MSI K8N Neo Platinum
BFG Geforce 6800 GT OC

I haven't tested it thoroughly, but the temps of the 6800 are around 60-65 idle and 70-75 under load. During games such as Warcraft 3, it randomly pauses/freezes for a few seconds like every 15-20 seconds, basically making the game unplayable. I see artifacts flashing across the screen as well.

I have all the latest drivers of course...

I have no idea what to do. The symptoms point to a problem with temps but the temps that I'm getting seem fine. Any help would be vastly appreciated.
 
slushpuppy said:
Hey all,

So yesterday I went out and overhauled my computer with the following components:

AthlonXP 3200+
1gig OCZ
MSI K8N Neo Platinum
BFG Geforce 6800 GT OC

I haven't tested it thoroughly, but the temps of the 6800 are around 60-65 idle and 70-75 under load. During games such as Warcraft 3, it randomly pauses/freezes for a few seconds like every 15-20 seconds, basically making the game unplayable. I see artifacts flashing across the screen as well.

I have all the latest drivers of course...

I have no idea what to do. The symptoms point to a problem with temps but the temps that I'm getting seem fine. Any help would be vastly appreciated.
Click to expand...

When u say u "overhauled" the PC did u reformat everything? And installed chipset drivers (4in1s), and all the windows updates then the video card drivers?
 
Tazman2 said:
When u say u "overhauled" the PC did u reformat everything? And installed chipset drivers (4in1s), and all the windows updates then the video card drivers?
Click to expand...

No, I used my old hard drive, which actually was freshly reformatted not too long ago. However, I was planning to reformat it anyway - just that I was thinking this might not be related to that.

Haven't done any of the Windows Updates, either. Do I need to install 4in1 drivers? I thought that was only for VIA chipsets?
 
I'll try that, thanks.

Do you think maybe it could be a power issue? I'm running all that with the 380W Truepower that came with the Antec Sonata.
 
slushpuppy said:
No, I used my old hard drive, which actually was freshly reformatted not too long ago. However, I was planning to reformat it anyway - just that I was thinking this might not be related to that.

Haven't done any of the Windows Updates, either. Do I need to install 4in1 drivers? I thought that was only for VIA chipsets?
Click to expand...

Well if u switched out alot of hardware including different chipset on mobo, video card make, etc. u SHOULD reformat as thats why i asked. And hmm okay ur right its not a via. But whatever it is it should have come with a cd with the chipset drivers on it.
 
Tazman2 said:
Well if u switched out alot of hardware including different chipset on mobo, video card make, etc. u SHOULD reformat as thats why i asked. And hmm okay ur right its not a via. But whatever it is it should have come with a cd with the chipset drivers on it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I figured. I'm backing stuff up right now and will reformat soon. It did come with a cd with drivers, and I installed those.
 
I know you stated you have the latest drivers....but I am curious ... you sure you installed your via 4n1 drivers ? That studdering is typical of someone that doesnt.
 
Lock your 2d and 3d clocks. :)

ie: make your 2d core speed the same as your 3d core speed.
 
There is no latest drivers in this world, please name the drivers you are using.
 
HeavenX said:
There is no latest drivers in this world, please name the drivers you are using.
Click to expand...

ForceWare 61.77
nForce 4.27
WinXP Pro w/SP2

I'm starting to think it might be a power issue. I'm using the 380W Truepower that came with the Antec Sonata.

Thoughts?
 
doubt it's your power. i have a 350 with practically the same rig. i had instability problems too after i installed my 6800gt. i reformated the drive, installed fresh 61.77 drivers, flashed the mobo. that fixed mostly everything, except i was still getting occasional stutters in doom3 at 1280x1078 high and ut2k4 at 1600x1200 high. plus, it took annoying amounts of time leaving the games going back to windows.

once i upped from 512mb ram to 1g, problem solved. it's really nice popping right back into windows after i exit! that was really annoying... :p

i'll bet if u reformat, you'll be fine.
 
did you install the xfx bios?

I can't remember the exact thread but it's on Overclockers.co.uk' forum's.
 
Apparently other people have been having the same problem, check out this thread:

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=32759&page=1&pp=15

Per the suggestions in that thread, I tried turning off fast writes in the bios, which seemed to have fixed it for the most part - except it did freeze up once while I was playing Warcraft3 yesterday which was dissapointing. So it's not a 100% complete fix.

Yeah, I play these games online.
 
go to your hard drive options and try disabling file queing.

I have basically the same system with you. I dont have problems in doom3, but Hl2 gives me some bigtime problems with exactly what you are saying
 
zlooop said:
go to your hard drive options and try disabling file queing.

I have basically the same system with you. I dont have problems in doom3, but Hl2 gives me some bigtime problems with exactly what you are saying
Click to expand...


Where do you go to do this?
 
Disable Fast Writes in the BIOS - that board is the NF3 - known issue with FW enabled and the NF3 chipset.
 
EquaLiZr said:
Where do you go to do this?
Click to expand...

Go to device manager and go to properties for your harddrive. Somewhere you should be able to turn off write caching
 
to fix my problem, i had to edit the video card bios and set the 2d voltage to equal the 3d voltage, and voilah, no skipping/freezing/problems in the last 2 weeks.
 
zlooop said:
Go to device manager and go to properties for your harddrive. Somewhere you should be able to turn off write caching
Click to expand...

mine is all greyed out, cannot change anything :mad: can i fix this?
 
i have the exact same hardware setup as you. and at first i had the same game random pauses.

-update mobo bios. msi has a program called winflash. it is very handy.
-use the 148 beta bios or later
http://forum.msi.com.tw/thread.php?threadid=59711&sid=bb0d2cafe893105b75417ae6d80399db

-then reformat and reinstall windows the 61.77 drivers fix the stuttering problem on our hardware combination.

-set 2d and 3d speeds the same in bios dont overclock until your sure the stuttering has stopped.

-you can turn fastwrites off if you want. i fixed the problem without it.

-edit if you are using sata use the 2 upper plugs 3+4 and disable the 1+2. in bios
 
Based on my own personal rig, here is what I am seeing...

Power supply CAN make a difference..with my 300w unit pushed to the max, when I overclock to 400/1100 on my GT, I can get some pauses and weird gameplay, such as a temporary slowdown of overall frame rate, almost like heat buildup causing a core slowdown but not as drastic, and the temps are never over 83c. It does not exhibit this issue at stock speeds or minor overclocks of like 375/1050. NOW, if I disconnect my 2 DVD drives and repeat, the issue does not happen even in extended gameplay sessions. So apparently, power IS an issue since my 12v rails with everything running and overclocked are hitting 11.5v to 11.6v which is too low.

I have a new 420w power supply coming in thursday and will post back results. For now my card will run with no slowdowns at 380/1050, but being an overclocker I want it to run at 400/1100 (or more, if it will). I think my new PS will cure it... ;)
 
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