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x800xl and Far Cry, disasterous!



 
 
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  #1  
Old October 7th 05, 04:38 AM
AAvK
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default x800xl and Far Cry, disasterous!


....WHAT - A - DISASTER!!!

My tech specs:

WinXP home SP2
Abit IS7 mobo
P4c HT 2.60ghz
1 gb Kingston Dual channel PC3200/DDR400 Value RAM
Maxtor 80gb 7200rpm/8mb on a seralell (Siralell?) adapter
Maxtor 40gb 7200/2MB storage disc
New Pioneer DVD drive
Sony burner
x800xl AGP made by ATI, 256/256bit 400gpu / 980RAM...
-- Product ID: 100-435508
-- using Omega 5.9 drivers only, thus far

On first attempt, using the fully upgraded Far Cry 1.33, the computer
shuts down fully, power all the way off, taking much MB electricity with
it, as takes 3 minutes to be able to turn it on again. This happens time after
time and it played fine, if a little slow, using the old GF4 Ti4600. by
Chaintech.

After the second occurance I increased the AGP voltage by a half a point
as well as the same for the P4 CPU... then I was able to start the game and
play a while at increased graphics levels and some types shadows for
smaller objects were not black, but green and yellow. When driving a vehicle
it froze after a while, then it was all over for good, and same story.

I must have worked with this for 5 hours, and gone through 25 restarts...
Anyone know what can be done before I grab a replacement RMA?

TIA all,

--
Giant_Alex
cravdraa_at-yahoo_dot-com


  #2  
Old October 7th 05, 06:50 AM
Paul Goodhew
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


AAvK wrote in message ...

...WHAT - A - DISASTER!!!

My tech specs:

WinXP home SP2
Abit IS7 mobo
P4c HT 2.60ghz
1 gb Kingston Dual channel PC3200/DDR400 Value RAM
Maxtor 80gb 7200rpm/8mb on a seralell (Siralell?) adapter
Maxtor 40gb 7200/2MB storage disc
New Pioneer DVD drive
Sony burner
x800xl AGP made by ATI, 256/256bit 400gpu / 980RAM...
-- Product ID: 100-435508
-- using Omega 5.9 drivers only, thus far

On first attempt, using the fully upgraded Far Cry 1.33, the computer
shuts down fully, power all the way off, taking much MB electricity with
it, as takes 3 minutes to be able to turn it on again. This happens time

after
time and it played fine, if a little slow, using the old GF4 Ti4600. by
Chaintech.

After the second occurance I increased the AGP voltage by a half a point
as well as the same for the P4 CPU... then I was able to start the game and
play a while at increased graphics levels and some types shadows for
smaller objects were not black, but green and yellow. When driving a

vehicle
it froze after a while, then it was all over for good, and same story.

I must have worked with this for 5 hours, and gone through 25 restarts...
Anyone know what can be done before I grab a replacement RMA?

TIA all,

--
Giant_Alex
cravdraa_at-yahoo_dot-com



It's probably related to your power supply. You are probably using too much
power for it to handle. anything less than 350 watt power supply and you are
asking for trouble. If you have alot drives etc then a 450 watt PSU would be
the go.


  #3  
Old October 7th 05, 07:54 AM
AAvK
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


It's probably related to your power supply. You are probably using too much
power for it to handle. anything less than 350 watt power supply and you are
asking for trouble. If you have alot drives etc then a 450 watt PSU would be
the go.


Thanks but that's what I've got, 450 watts and it is plugged into the card.
No other game besides Far Cry shuts the computer down.

--
Giant_Alex
cravdraa_at-yahoo_dot-com


  #4  
Old October 7th 05, 08:05 AM
fanni001
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

...WHAT - A - DISASTER!!!

My tech specs:

WinXP home SP2
Abit IS7 mobo
P4c HT 2.60ghz
1 gb Kingston Dual channel PC3200/DDR400 Value RAM
Maxtor 80gb 7200rpm/8mb on a seralell (Siralell?) adapter
Maxtor 40gb 7200/2MB storage disc
New Pioneer DVD drive
Sony burner
x800xl AGP made by ATI, 256/256bit 400gpu / 980RAM...
-- Product ID: 100-435508
-- using Omega 5.9 drivers only, thus far

On first attempt, using the fully upgraded Far Cry 1.33, the computer
shuts down fully, power all the way off, taking much MB electricity with
it, as takes 3 minutes to be able to turn it on again. This happens time
after
time and it played fine, if a little slow, using the old GF4 Ti4600. by
Chaintech.

After the second occurance I increased the AGP voltage by a half a point
as well as the same for the P4 CPU... then I was able to start the game
and
play a while at increased graphics levels and some types shadows for
smaller objects were not black, but green and yellow. When driving a
vehicle
it froze after a while, then it was all over for good, and same story.

I must have worked with this for 5 hours, and gone through 25 restarts...
Anyone know what can be done before I grab a replacement RMA?



Use all "default" settings for mobo and graphics card. Use default ATI
drivers and not Omega. And make certain it's not the PSU. A poor 450W unit
will cough and splutter . I found this out a while back with mine. It was a
no name cheap-o and with 2 burners, 2 Kingston RAM modules, ATI X800PRO, USB
devices etc, etc..it would freeze playing certain games. Far Cry was one.


  #5  
Old October 7th 05, 09:25 AM
Derek Baker
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

AAvK wrote:
It's probably related to your power supply. You are probably using too much
power for it to handle. anything less than 350 watt power supply and you are
asking for trouble. If you have alot drives etc then a 450 watt PSU would be
the go.



Thanks but that's what I've got, 450 watts and it is plugged into the card.
No other game besides Far Cry shuts the computer down.

What's the make and model of that PSU?
--
Derek
  #6  
Old October 7th 05, 01:02 PM
dave
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

It'll definately be the power supply - we had a problem with an nVidia
card and a 450W PSU, the games ran OK but when playing Far Cry for two
hours the PSU blew up (obviously the PSU was being overdriven and wasn't
regulated poroperly) !

We now have a 750W PSU and everything is fine - If you wish to maintain
cutting edge performance without continually replacing PSU you're
probably better getting a 1KW PSU :-)

"AAvK" wrote in message
news:VXo1f.630$UF4.88@fed1read02...

It's probably related to your power supply. You are probably using too

much
power for it to handle. anything less than 350 watt power supply and you

are
asking for trouble. If you have alot drives etc then a 450 watt PSU

would be
the go.


Thanks but that's what I've got, 450 watts and it is plugged into the

card.
No other game besides Far Cry shuts the computer down.

--
Giant_Alex
cravdraa_at-yahoo_dot-com




  #7  
Old October 7th 05, 04:13 PM
Al Kaufmann
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Fri, 7 Oct 2005 09:05:26 +0200, "fanni001"
wrote:

...WHAT - A - DISASTER!!!

My tech specs:

WinXP home SP2
Abit IS7 mobo
P4c HT 2.60ghz
1 gb Kingston Dual channel PC3200/DDR400 Value RAM
Maxtor 80gb 7200rpm/8mb on a seralell (Siralell?) adapter
Maxtor 40gb 7200/2MB storage disc
New Pioneer DVD drive
Sony burner
x800xl AGP made by ATI, 256/256bit 400gpu / 980RAM...
-- Product ID: 100-435508
-- using Omega 5.9 drivers only, thus far

On first attempt, using the fully upgraded Far Cry 1.33, the computer
shuts down fully, power all the way off, taking much MB electricity with
it, as takes 3 minutes to be able to turn it on again. This happens time
after
time and it played fine, if a little slow, using the old GF4 Ti4600. by
Chaintech.

After the second occurance I increased the AGP voltage by a half a point
as well as the same for the P4 CPU... then I was able to start the game
and
play a while at increased graphics levels and some types shadows for
smaller objects were not black, but green and yellow. When driving a
vehicle
it froze after a while, then it was all over for good, and same story.

I must have worked with this for 5 hours, and gone through 25 restarts...
Anyone know what can be done before I grab a replacement RMA?



Use all "default" settings for mobo and graphics card. Use default ATI
drivers and not Omega. And make certain it's not the PSU. A poor 450W unit
will cough and splutter . I found this out a while back with mine. It was a
no name cheap-o and with 2 burners, 2 Kingston RAM modules, ATI X800PRO, USB
devices etc, etc..it would freeze playing certain games. Far Cry was one.


My system:
Abit NF7-S with 3200+ cpu, 2 GB ram dual channel, ATI X850 XT, 3
maxtor drives, 2 CD/DVD burners, usb webcam, ethernet card, usb 2.0
self powered hub, ATI TV Tuner PCI, HP parallel port printer, usb
webcam and I think all the rest is plugged into the usb hub. The
system is powered by an Antec 480W True Power supply. I am running
Windows XP Pro SP2 and the latest ATI driver.

As luck would have it I bought a new mouse (Logtech G5) and installed
the Far Cry demo to give it a try. The mouse acted very strangely and
slowed down many times. I played around with the mouse a bit but I
could not get this game to work properly. Since the mouse works as
advertised with other games like Unreal Tournament I blamed Far Cry
and uninstalled it.

If the problem I am having with Far Cry is caused by my power supply -
why does this game need so much power? Also what is the recommended
power supply?

Thanks,
Al



  #8  
Old October 7th 05, 07:24 PM
Alfie [UK]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Fri, 07 Oct 2005 15:13:06 GMT, Al Kaufmann
wrote:
On Fri, 7 Oct 2005 09:05:26 +0200, "fanni001"
wrote:

As luck would have it I bought a new mouse (Logtech G5) and installed
the Far Cry demo to give it a try. The mouse acted very strangely and
slowed down many times. I played around with the mouse a bit but I
could not get this game to work properly. Since the mouse works as
advertised with other games like Unreal Tournament I blamed Far Cry
and uninstalled it.

If the problem I am having with Far Cry is caused by my power supply -
why does this game need so much power? Also what is the recommended
power supply?

The OP was advised it may be a problem with power supply because of the
shutdowns. Most new graphics card need 1 or 2 direct power connections
and this means a 300w PSU just won't cut it anymore. If you draw too
much power the PSU will shutdown to stop it burning out. Equally if you
have a too high rated PSU and are not drawing a significant power level
the PSU can shutdown, act erratically, or blow it's 12v rails through
'overheating'. This is more of a problem with the cheaper PSUs as they
do not have such a stable output.

A good test is to use this calculator to see if you have an appropriate
level of power; http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

You want at least 20% more power coming out of your PSU than the
calculator says you need to be safe from the typical fluctuations you
can get in a PSU, especially cheaper PSUs that might not have a stable
power profile. Over 65% more power means you are at risk of damaging
your PSU through 'overheating' as it's generating a lot more power than
you need.

With regard to your problems with FarCry, do you have the Logitech
drivers installed as some drivers are known to be flakey (and usually
only with some software which makes you scratch your head as to whether
it's the software or the drivers causing the problem) ?
--
Alfie
http://www.delphia.co.uk/
Caution: Always engage brain before operating mouth.

  #9  
Old October 7th 05, 07:51 PM
Phil Weldon
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

'Alfie [UK]' wrote, in part:
| The OP was advised it may be a problem with power supply because of the
| shutdowns. Most new graphics card need 1 or 2 direct power connections
| and this means a 300w PSU just won't cut it anymore.
_____

Your statement 'Most new graphics card need 1 or 2 direct power connections
and this means a 300w PSU just won't cut it anymore.' isn't necessarily
true; a 300 watt PSU may very will be completely adequate.

Your statement 'if you have a too high rated PSU and are not drawing a
significant power level the PSU can shutdown, act erratically, or blow it's
12v rails through 'overheating' is not at all true.

Your statement| 'You want at least 20% more power coming out of your PSU
than the calculator says you need to be safe from the typical fluctuations
you can get in a PSU, especially cheaper PSUs that might not have a stable
power profile.' makes no sense at all.

Your statement 'Over 65% more power means you are at risk of damaging your
PSU through 'overheating' as it's generating a lot more power than you
need.' is ludicrous.

Try a read of
http://www.formfactors.org/developer...0Ratified.pdff
and
http://www.formfactors.org/developer...public_br2.pdf
..
Pay particular attention to:
"System power supply needs vary widely depending on factors such as the
application (that is, for desktop, workstation, or server), intended ambient
environment (temperature, line voltage), or motherboard power requirements."



Phil Weldon

"Alfie [UK]" wrote in message
...
| On Fri, 07 Oct 2005 15:13:06 GMT, Al Kaufmann
| wrote:
| On Fri, 7 Oct 2005 09:05:26 +0200, "fanni001"
| wrote:
|
| As luck would have it I bought a new mouse (Logtech G5) and installed
| the Far Cry demo to give it a try. The mouse acted very strangely and
| slowed down many times. I played around with the mouse a bit but I
| could not get this game to work properly. Since the mouse works as
| advertised with other games like Unreal Tournament I blamed Far Cry
| and uninstalled it.
|
| If the problem I am having with Far Cry is caused by my power supply -
| why does this game need so much power? Also what is the recommended
| power supply?
|
If you draw too
| much power the PSU will shutdown to stop it burning out. Equally if you
| have a too high rated PSU and are not drawing a significant power level
| the PSU can shutdown, act erratically, or blow it's 12v rails through
| 'overheating'. This is more of a problem with the cheaper PSUs as they
| do not have such a stable output.
|
| A good test is to use this calculator to see if you have an appropriate
| level of power;
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
|
| You want at least 20% more power coming out of your PSU than the
| calculator says you need to be safe from the typical fluctuations you
| can get in a PSU, especially cheaper PSUs that might not have a stable
| power profile. Over 65% more power means you are at risk of damaging
| your PSU through 'overheating' as it's generating a lot more power than
| you need.
|
| With regard to your problems with FarCry, do you have the Logitech
| drivers installed as some drivers are known to be flakey (and usually
| only with some software which makes you scratch your head as to whether
| it's the software or the drivers causing the problem) ?
| --
| Alfie
| http://www.delphia.co.uk/
| Caution: Always engage brain before operating mouth.
|


  #10  
Old October 7th 05, 10:46 PM
Alfie [UK]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Fri, 07 Oct 2005 18:51:03 GMT, "Phil Weldon"
wrote:
'Alfie [UK]' wrote, in part:
| The OP was advised it may be a problem with power supply because of the
| shutdowns. Most new graphics card need 1 or 2 direct power connections
| and this means a 300w PSU just won't cut it anymore.
_____


Most of that info came from my own experiences when I first put a nVidia
Geforce 6800 GPU (requiring 1 additional PSU connection) in my PC, it
would often power down for no reason whatsoever, and then trying to find
out why.

Your statement 'Most new graphics card need 1 or 2 direct power connections
and this means a 300w PSU just won't cut it anymore.' isn't necessarily
true; a 300 watt PSU may very will be completely adequate.


OK, I should have said MAY not cut it anymore. With the new GPUs
requiring their own power if you have multiple drives and USB devices
you MAY run out of power. The PSU will shut itself down in these
situations, pretty much any PSU has a built in fuse for too much power.

Your statement 'if you have a too high rated PSU and are not drawing a
significant power level the PSU can shutdown, act erratically, or blow it's
12v rails through 'overheating' is not at all true.


I stand by this statement, to some degree. I replaced my system with a
500w power system but it would also suffer power downs for no apparent
reason. I was advised that my system did not draw enough power and the
PSU was invoking power-over management and reducing power output to
avoid a 'burn'.

Your statement| 'You want at least 20% more power coming out of your PSU
than the calculator says you need to be safe from the typical fluctuations
you can get in a PSU, especially cheaper PSUs that might not have a stable
power profile.' makes no sense at all.


Hmm, yes, questionable. The calc suggested 310w used, so I put in a 350w
cheapo and when it got hot it would power down. Using the mobo power
check, when it was hot the PSU delivered less power, to the point it
would trip. I bought a more expensive 350w dual rail PSU and it was much
more stable.

Your statement 'Over 65% more power means you are at risk of damaging your
PSU through 'overheating' as it's generating a lot more power than you
need.' is ludicrous.


I was advised by others not to put in a 500w PSU as I first wanted to
do. Yes PSUs have under-draw protection, but prolonged use at low power
levels supposedly reduces the lifetime of the PSU.

As the 2nd link you provided states; PSUs MAY not have over-temperature
protection, where over-temperature is the result of current overload or
fan failure.

Try a read of
http://www.formfactors.org/developer...0Ratified.pdff
and
http://www.formfactors.org/developer...public_br2.pdf
.
Pay particular attention to:
"System power supply needs vary widely depending on factors such as the
application (that is, for desktop, workstation, or server), intended ambient
environment (temperature, line voltage), or motherboard power requirements."

--
Alfie
http://www.delphia.co.uk/
It's called Irony. You know. Like goldy or silvery, only it's made out of iron.

 




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