Radeon X800 XT freezing in Farcry

R

ryman606

n00b
Joined
Jun 22, 2004
Messages
38
Hello, I just got a new dell with a Radeon X800 Xt. I got everything cranked up in Farcry, runs smooth as ever, however, usually after about 5-20 mins the game completely freezes up and I have to reboot. i have tried both patches, right now i'm back on 1.1 same thing, and 1.2, 4.6 drivers and 4.7, i know its not overheating or anything, there is no overclocking going on, I just don't know what the problem is? Can anyone help me? Also, in the game the only problem seems to be that a lot of the stuff you can see being drawn in for example bushes right as your walking you can see them pop up in front of you? I dont think this is normal, but I really dont know, if anyone could help me, i would greatly appreciated.

My specs Dell:
3.4HT ghz,
Radeon X800 XT
1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz
160gb hdd
Soundblaster Audigy
17" Sony SDM-S73/B LCD
 
Did you reinstall the game when you went back to 1.1?

:edit: also check your temps on your card when it freezes. you can get temps in the ati control panel.
 
Well I don't see how I can even get back to the ATi Control Panel because when it freezes it freezes for good, I cant even get back to the desktop. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling tons of times, from 1.1 to 1.2 to everything. Also, I just installed UT2004 last night, get it booted up, freezes within a minute so maybe I am starting to see a similar problem here?

Thanks
 
You should try running something like prime95 and see if that locks it up, either way sounds like it might need a trip back to dell.
 
ThisMonsterLives said:
Well if I had to use a dell, I would format the drive to get rid of all the crapware.
Click to expand...

I almost posted that yesterday, but was afraid someone would shout "jerk!" :D
 
hmmyah said:
Did you reinstall the game when you went back to 1.1?

:
Click to expand...


patch 1.2 was recalled cause of lock ups with ati cards. but you had to reinstall the game and reapply patch 1.1
 
Yeah I did reinstall 1.1, i'm going to be spending a few hours checking everything out, repositioning my pc in my room to make sure its not overheating, i hope it doesnt need a trip back to dell, if you only knew how long i waited for this! also question can overheating if this was the problem cause damage to the pc?
 
Yes sir I did reinstall the whole game and 1.1. Well just go finished fixing everything, moved out the pc from under my desk, installed new drivers, surprisingly enough the ones off of dell's site that are updated worked for me when nothing else did including the omega 4.6's regular 4.6's or 4.7's. I put a fan blowing at my pc too so everything seems to be awesome. UT2004 ran smooth as ever with highest everything, never done that in my life, didn't freeze, same with Farcry both were amazing with no freezing. Seems like I am doing good for now, thanks for all your help guys.

peace,
ry
 
K I'm back again, dunno if you guys have anything else to offer, but you know that I got everything up and running, it was all good, got a massive fan blowing on my pc even though i dont think its overheating, but I played it for at least an hour and a half and it froze. i thought i was finally in the clear. they restart come back again it freezes after about 5 mins. Anybody have a clue to whats going on here? I got to find out how to get the SMARTGART tab in my ati control panel and i am going to see if fastwrites is the problem? does anyone know where I can get that? I have tried different drivers, 4.7 I think we're the worst but 4.6 were better and didn't have the smartgart tab, 4.7 did though i'm not sure....

help...
 
well no smartgart tab tells you the install didnt go well for 4.7

uninstall, remove with drivercleaner2.5 and reinstall. Driver FIRST, then once done CPanel.
 
I am using 1.2 far cry patch with my 9800pro and it improved my performance by a lot. No locks up at all.
 
uwackme dude so should i download the files separately you mean? install the drivers then the control panel?
 
If Farcry is your only hangup, go to the video options, and then the advanced options, turn the shadow quality setting to high or medium and see if that helps out.
 
Don't be afraid to contact dell about the problem. They actually come to you and fix your problem for free (if you have warranty and can convince them it's not your fault).

::Sidenote:: It's not very hard to convince them of that. I accidentally broke my laptop screen, and said it was their fault... they came and fixed it for free.

So call them up or e-mail them and ask them if they can fix it. Maybe they can fix it right away and you won't have to do much more guess-work. I'm not sure how smart those dell IT guys are, though.
 
fastcoke11 said:
Don't be afraid to contact dell about the problem. They actually come to you and fix your problem for free (if you have warranty and can convince them it's not your fault).

::Sidenote:: It's not very hard to convince them of that. I accidentally broke my laptop screen, and said it was their fault... they came and fixed it for free.

So call them up or e-mail them and ask them if they can fix it. Maybe they can fix it right away and you won't have to do much more guess-work. I'm not sure how smart those dell IT guys are, though.
Click to expand...

Exactly, thanks a lot for your suggestions fastcoke, I plan on contacting Dell but in my honest opinion I dont believe they are going to have a clue, but we shall see. The only thing left here I wanted to know from any of you is if I dont have a SMARTGART tab in my advanced video settings, is there a reason for that? I still think from what many people ahve said it could be fastwrites causing the problem.

Also to harold, unfortunately its not only in Farcry, its in UT2004 as well, I mean I would say those are two perfect games to test em out and this just isn't right. Both freezing, so I assume every other game I install will freeze.

Thanks for your help guys.
 
cant believe nobody said "CHECK YOUR DELL POWERSUPPLY"

i mean, dell is notorious for cutting corners in things that people dont typically spec out, or that dont look good on paper!
I bet you have a 230 watt power supply, or some other garbage like that in your Dell.

You need AT least a good 350 or a generic 420watt one!

Go to best buy, they sell them now...give it a shot!

good luck
 
lukebuz said:
cant believe nobody said "CHECK YOUR DELL POWERSUPPLY"

i mean, dell is notorious for cutting corners in things that people dont typically spec out, or that dont look good on paper!
I bet you have a 230 watt power supply, or some other garbage like that in your Dell.

You need AT least a good 350 or a generic 420watt one!

Go to best buy, they sell them now...give it a shot!

good luck
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Took the words right out of my fingers! :D
go to dells site and spec out your machine and see what ps watt you have.
 
Dude I really don't think Dell could cut a corner with this because this is huge and they are responsbile for this. It says that the 8400 has Output Wattage: 350 Watts
so I mean I dunno what else to say. One question I have for you guys and really hope you could help me. I used driver cleaner all that then fresh installed the 4.7 Catalyst's then the Control Panel, and still no SMARTGART TAB? IS therere something I am doing wrong because I cannot seem to get it for anything and I really would like to see if disabling fastwrites makes any difference? Also I search for SMARTGART on my pc and I get a shortcut to it but when I go to open it nothing happens? Is there another way to disable fastwrites? I checked in the bios like someone else said and couldn't find it anywhere.

Thanks guys.
 
ryman606 said:
Dude I really don't think Dell could cut a corner with this because this is huge and they are responsbile for this. It says that the 8400 has Output Wattage: 350 Watts
so I mean I dunno what else to say. One question I have for you guys and really hope you could help me. I used driver cleaner all that then fresh installed the 4.7 Catalyst's then the Control Panel, and still no SMARTGART TAB? IS therere something I am doing wrong because I cannot seem to get it for anything and I really would like to see if disabling fastwrites makes any difference? Also I search for SMARTGART on my pc and I get a shortcut to it but when I go to open it nothing happens? Is there another way to disable fastwrites? I checked in the bios like someone else said and couldn't find it anywhere.

Thanks guys.
Click to expand...


check the 12 v line for amps if its under 20 amps its a weenie.
 
Sanitard said:
Anyone notice the 533 ram? Doesn't that seem odd for a 3.4 proc?
Click to expand...

I don't know is it odd? I mean I upgraded from the regular 1 gig of ram because i figured this would be faster? Can that cause any problems?
 
When you run dxdiag do you have DirectDraw, Direct3D, and AGP texture accelerations enabled? Start > Run... type dxdiag > Enter

If any of those are labeled 'disabled' my guess is your missing your INF files for your motherboard. Most likely an Intel board.

-edit- Your above post states 'you' upgraded the memory. Do mean you bought the memory and installed it your Dell machine yourself? Or did Dell install it?
 
I'm pretty sure he's not getting a smartgart tab because it's a pci express video card.

is this your system?

Dimension XPS Gen 3
Pentium® 4 Processor 540 with with HT Technology (3.20GHz, 800 FSB)

Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition

512MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (2x256M)
 
lukebuz said:
cant believe nobody said "CHECK YOUR DELL POWERSUPPLY"

i mean, dell is notorious for cutting corners in things that people dont typically spec out, or that dont look good on paper!
I bet you have a 230 watt power supply, or some other garbage like that in your Dell.

You need AT least a good 350 or a generic 420watt one!

Go to best buy, they sell them now...give it a shot!

good luck
Click to expand...


PC Power and cooling will make a custom supply for your Dell , most Dells have proprietary supplies and pin outs. A generic wont work
 
Computer manufacturers cut corners on just about everything and get sh*tty OEM parts from other companies, Dell does this too. Just because you have a max output of 350 watts doesn't mean it's enough. When your power supply gets hot it loses efficiency and outputs less power, which would explain why you can play longer with a fan blowing on your comp. So buy a new power supply that's not a POS or you probably won't get a fully working comp with an X800XT :(
 
ill test farcry with my system, but i have the xps system, so i have the 460watt psu.
 
Ah PCI express... maybe no smartgart tab anymore...good point.

Power supply is really important. I wont use anything less than Fortron 530W, SuperFlower 550W, or PCPower+Cooling 510W.
 
Thanks a lot boys for all your help and suggestions I am currently making those changes Dell suggested on that link, thanks chuckm1020. Three D. Marks I do have all of those enabled and I meant I upgraded from the regular speed of ram in the dell config when I bought it. Also, Bigjohns97 I think you called it and I am incredibly stupid for not realizing it before it's because I have a PCI express video card.

here are my specs also if you wanted to know Bigjohns97.

3.4HT ghz,
Radeon X800 XT
1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz
160gb hdd
Soundblaster Audigy
17" Sony SDM-S73/B LCD
 
One other thing ,for some reason I have to lower my core clock to play Farcry, 520 normally in Farcry to 510, that stopped the freezing (lockup needing to reboot). Maybe this will help.
 
I've noticed that some games crash with vpu recover on, but once I disable it, no more crashing.

If Farcry still locks, try turning that off.
 
Do you have VPU recover turned on? I found that it causes more problems than it solves.
 
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