Video problems during gaming

[endlessmike]

I'm having a problem during certain games. My screen suddenly goes black, no BSOD, no warning, and my monitor displays the "no video signal" message that it does when my computer is powered down. The sound either stays on or continues to loop, and the only way to recover is to reboot. Prior to this everything seems to be running fine - no lagging, chugging, framerate drops or anything.

This only happens during certain games, and almost always at the exact same point in the game...

Bioshock - when the video screen rises up in the little sub, or as the sub is about to dock.
COD4 demo - after destroying the tanks on the bridge and going through the hole in the fence
DOD:Source - pretty much any time
rFactor - During replays if a car gets too close to the camera

LOTRO, Civ4, and older or less demanding games run without any problems at all. Watching videos doesn't cause an issue either.

Anyone have any similar problems or know what could be causing this issue? I've searched all over and have found numerous similar problems, but nobody seems to have posted a cause or solution. Specs and error message below.

*EDIT* Drivers, bios, everything are up to date.

My System:
*GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
*Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
*Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
*GECUBE HV195XTG3-E3 Radeon X1950XT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16
*A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
*LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe
*Vista 64 bit Home Premium
*Westinghouse 19" Widescreen LCD

Error Message:
Description

A problem with your video hardware caused Windows to stop working correctly.

Problem signature

Problem Event Name: LiveKernelEvent

OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3

Locale ID: 1033

Files that help describe the problem

WD-20070825-1940.dmp

sysdata.xml

Version.txt

View a temporary copy of these files

Warning: If a virus or other security threat caused the problem, opening a copy of the files could harm your computer.

Extra information about the problem

BCCode: 117

BCP1: FFFFFA8003C33A00

BCP2: FFFFF98003C61010

BCP3: 0000000000000000

BCP4: 0000000000000000

OS Version: 6_0_6000

Service Pack: 0_0

Product: 768_1


Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[D3kTrix]

I'm having the same exact problem. Monitors go into power save mode and sound loops.
My guess is our GPU's are on the way out.

It only seems to happen on games that really stress the video card though. Like Portal and HL2 Episode 2 make it crash at random

But HL2DM, Quake 4, Doom3, and older games all play perfect.

This just started happening it random, I was playing portal fine all week, and then all of sudden it wasn't stable anymore. Even the nvidia stress tests will fail.
But older games play perfect.

Heres my system specs:
Opeteron 165 @ 3ghz
G.skill 2GB
DFI SLI-DR
XFX 7800GT OC
OCZ 600w
All water cooled running mid 30C load on both CPU and GPU

System passes all non-video bench marks and stresstest programs perfectly fine, will run prime all day.

I just ordered an 8800GT the other day so when I swap that out we'll see if it fixes anything =)

 

[endlessmike]

Yep, it's always during a more intense part of the game, or when scenes change.

I didn't have any problems in 3dmark before, and even then I was crashing during gaming. I should try that again I suppose. I was hoping it wasn't a hardware issue, considering I built the system in August, but if it definitely ended up being one bad component that I could point to I'd feel a lot better about it. As it is right now I'm pretty disappointed being unable to play any relatively new games.

Keep me posted on how the 8800GT fares. Would have been my next upgrade anyways, but not if it isn't going to solve the problem.

A lot of the response I read elsewhere seemed to point to the PSU, but the people in those situations were running 300-350 watt units, and upgrading didn't seem to solve the problem for them.

One thread I found a month or so ago, and can't find now, was someone claiming an issue with DDR2 800 in Vista 64. Poster claimed that dropping down to DDR2 667 sticks would fix it. I suppose going back to XP would too, but I don't have a copy to downgrade (or would it be upgrade? ) to. I find it odd that would be the problem, I'd assume there are thousands of people running that combination without any problems at all.

 

[D3kTrix]

I really doubt its the DDR2 800 in vista64, like you said there has to be tons of people running that combo.

I'm on XP32bit.

Buy.com hasn't even shipped my 8800GT yet so it might be a few days =(

 

[robisbell]

go to http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ burn the ISO from that site to a cd, and reboot, run memtest86+ for 6 hours, and report back the results.

 

[D3kTrix]

Originally posted by: robisbell
go to http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ burn the ISO from that site to a cd, and reboot, run memtest86+ for 6 hours, and report back the results.

I know my problem isn't a ram problem. This sys can run memtest and prime all year long.

I did just find out that the HDD that serves as my C: and D: drives is on its way out.
Spewing errors in event viewer and fails seagate tools check.
RMA drive is on the way.
I have a feeling this is the source of my crashes.

 

[robisbell]

oh goodness, sorry to hear that. that sucks.

 

[endlessmike]

More research = more similar problems and as many different suspected causes.

After a clean Vista install didn't work, I pulled the card and popped off the heatsink and fan. After making sure everything was aligned I tightened down the heatsink, it appeared that it may have pulled slightly away from the board at some point.

I also used my PSUs other 6 pin connector and fired up the COD4 demo. It's been my benchmark, since I could essentially count on it to fail at the same place, like clockwork.

I was finally able to make it all the way through the demo without crashing. I've no idea if my problems are completely gone, I'll try to pin that down this week, and of course test some other games, but I'm happy to say so far so good.

 

[robisbell]

where did you use the other 6pin connector for? you have the 24pin plug and the 4pin 12v plug connected, right?

you mean to say you've had the card underpowered this whole time??

the board

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...+ATX+Intel+Motherboard

and the video card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...V195XTG3-E3+Video+Card

 

[D3kTrix]

Originally posted by: robisbell
where did you use the other 6pin connector for? you have the 24pin plug and the 4pin 12v plug connected, right?

you mean to say you've had the card underpowered this whole time??

the board

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...+ATX+Intel+Motherboard

and the video card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...V195XTG3-E3+Video+Card

His PSU most likely has 2 6pin SLI power connectors.
He probably just switched which one he was using.

By the sound of it, his HS wasn't making good contact to the core before, and re-seating it fixed it.

 

[robisbell]

I'll wait to hear what he has to say.

 

[endlessmike]

Yes, 4 pin 12v and 24 pin atx power were both plugged into the mobo. I have two six-pins labeled pci-e. I just switched to the other 6 pin.

It was working for a while, but I just crashed again playing the new Settlers game.

 

[robisbell]

whats the model numbers of the ram? I'm going to double check myself on something.

 

[endlessmike]

A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

 

[robisbell]

what model exactly is the board?

 

[endlessmike]

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35

And it's rev. 1.0, which seems to be causing a lot more problems than for the people who were sent rev. 2.0.

The A-data isn't on the supported memory list. I may pick up some Kingston ValueRam to see if that makes a difference, since it is and it seems to be compatible with just about every other mobo around.

 

[D3kTrix]

Have you tried running any stresstest programs like Prime/Orthos to make sure the rest of the system is stable besides the video card?

 

[robisbell]

I'd go ahead and RMA it and try to get a Ver. 2 board.

 

[endlessmike]

I need to run some more tests and do some trial and error component replacements, but everything else seems to be stable. Odd thing is in 3dmark the video card was stable and performed well.

So far I'm looking into:

1950XT issues with Vista
RAM incompatibility with the mobo
less reliable ver. of the mobo
possible faulty PSU?

 

[robisbell]

I am glad you are going to but with the evidence pointing to a bad board and others having issues with the same version, you need to get it replaced to try and eliminate that since if it's faulty you can not be sure of the other tests.

 

[rabidscoobie]

Well I have the exact same problem too.But I have the full version of COD4,I dont have any probs playing that mission but other I do,and it does just as yours does.Does this with my lcd or crt mons.Heres how i gotten it to work some and been working my up...right click on the desktop icon and add to the end of the target line "+safe".put a space between the last word in the line.This will put it in safe mode.Now I can run it all day long on thise settins\gs,but they suck.So I started goin thru the resolutions but leave the sam refresh rate for all and turn off the Dynamic lighting.I believe this is whats causing the crah is the lighting.Currently I am at 1280x1024 I think with 60 refresh rate and no dynamic lighting..played for 2 hours.but as soon as i turned on the lighting...no signal.And if your using lcd then turn on vsync it helps.I also have this same prob with Crysis Demo.Bioshock,MOH Airbourne,GOW all runs great.I think that its really more of a driver issue but I could be wrong.And Please if u come up with aby better solutions please post.

 

[endlessmike]

Just a quick update...

Still using all the same components, Orthos and Memtest both checked out fine. After reading some other forums I tried one of the suggesstions: turning off ATI External Event Utility in services. I'm pretty confident that the 1950xt in Vista issue is what was causing my problems.

So far I've:

Been able to play through the COD4 demo at 14x9, using your suggestion of turning down the dynamic lighting and tweaking some other settings.

Just played through the Crysis demo (!) using the game's recommended settings, 12x7something at medium settings.

Completed a map on Settlers:RoaE on the same resolution, with the AA, shaders, and textures slightly lowered from default.


Obviously I wish I could run in a little bit higher settings, but right now I'm just happy to be able to play these games. I'll continue messing around with settings and looking for better solutions, but as it stands I'm content to just be able to play until I can get my hands on an 8800GT.

I don't know if turning off that service will help you out Rabidscoobie, because what I've read 1950pro was supposed to be alright, the xt has been the one with all the problems, but it's worth a shot.

Thanks to everyone for the help.

 

[rabidscoobie]

OK I got a quick question.On the newer games I have been playing,like 1's that are 4-6months old I am getting a weird color bar at the bottom that goes towards the right corner then follow the edge to the top right side,less than a quarter inch wide.Do you have anything like that?Also in Crysis if open the console when the lvl loads I get a scaleform error...I have no clue what that is.You get that also?

 

[endlessmike]

No, I didn't get anything like that. No graphical glitches, artifacting, error messages or any warning before the system would freeze up. That's what was so frustrating... it would just happen at any moment without warning.


Everything still seems to be fine now, it's really, really odd.

 

[robisbell]

well, in the time you've spent you could have rma'ed it for a rev. 2 board.