Guest Mantis Posted April 21, 2005 Posted April 21, 2005 Hello Forum I am having problems with my video. I am not sure this is the place to address this, so point me in the right direction if I am in the wrong spot. I have had this computer for about 8 months, and I lag when I play games. I have updated the video drivers, uninstalled, and reinstalled to no effect. I have removed all programs that are not essential and removed my spyware (shudder). From the beginnings I have had problems with D2, and lastly Guild Wars. I will be playing then the whole game will freeze and whatever action I had started will have finished. I really want to be prepared for the game... lag free. A friend recommended me runnind 3DMark05. I failed the test before it started test 2. I had an error stating I did not have enough memory. This same friend also stated that it sounded like my MB was in safe mode... I have never heard of such. Stated that my settings might be off in the bios. I do not overclock, but I did search out and set my mermory timings to the correct settings as recommended by the RAM manufactor. Still no good... I noticed a small bit of improvement, but still the lag. I am going to uninstall my drivers for the vid card and retry a different set. Can anyone point me to another potential problem that I am not addressing? I will check back here after I redo the video drivers. By the way, I am on DSL and not sharing with other computers. Any info that I have not provided, please request and I will reply. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinobi Posted April 21, 2005 Posted April 21, 2005 AMD ATHLON 3200XP 2.21GHz That is very likely your problem... You are not the first to have problems with this CPU(or 200fsb CPU's in general) on the Lanparty and Infinity, in fact your the 2nd person just today Do a search of this forum and you'll see... The recommended most stable Bios for the 3200+ XP is the 11/27/2003. You can download it from HERE. The DiamondFlash Image is the easiest one to use but can't seem to see one for the 11/27 there... I suggest you read the guide contained HERE on how to flash your bios properly before you even attempt it though... Hopefully that will fix your problem Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mantis Posted April 21, 2005 Posted April 21, 2005 Ok. I will try the bios. Where do I get the Diamond Flash? Can I google it? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinobi Posted April 22, 2005 Posted April 22, 2005 No, the Diamond Flash is created by DFI and creates a bootable floppy with the flash, bin and batch file with all the correct switches for flashing your bios, just to make it a lot easier to do. Not sure they made one for the 11/27/03 though. There is a Diamond Flash Image of 2004/11/24 on that page though, some XP 3200 users appear to have had some luck with that too, you can download it from the same download page HERE. Just look for the Diamond Flash Image of 2004/11/27 which is the 2nd download down... If you have no joy with that you'll have to use AWDFLASH or WINFLASH with the 11/27/03. You get AWDFLASH with the Bios when you download it. You need to create a bootable floppy(Right Click On Floppy Drive, Format, Create An MSDos StartUp Disc) and then copy the 2 files to another floppy. Boot from the floppy and then switch to the floppy with the AWDFLASH and Bios, then you will have to enter the instruction to flash to that Bios which will be: AWDFLASH N24LDB27.BIN /QI/CC/Sn/Py For the 11/27/03 Bios... Before you flash make sure you've read and follow all the instructions in the link posted above(HERE) to save you from possibly corrupting your Bios. Also, here is the link to the official DFI FAQ for flashing the Bios under DOS: http://www.dfi.com.tw/Support/mb_faq_us1.j...TYPE=US&SITE=US Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mantis Posted April 22, 2005 Posted April 22, 2005 No, the Diamond Flash is created by DFI and creates a bootable floppy with the flash, bin and batch file with all the correct switches for flashing your bios, just to make it a lot easier to do. Not sure they made one for the 11/27/03 though. There is a Diamond Flash Image of 2004/11/24 on that page though, some XP 3200 users appear to have had some luck with that too, you can download it from the same download page HERE. Just look for the Diamond Flash Image of 2004/11/27 which is the 2nd download down... If you have no joy with that you'll have to use AWDFLASH or WINFLASH with the 11/27/03. You get AWDFLASH with the Bios when you download it. You need to create a bootable floppy(Right Click On Floppy Drive, Format, Create An MSDos StartUp Disc) and then copy the 2 files to another floppy. Boot from the floppy and then switch to the floppy with the AWDFLASH and Bios, then you will have to enter the instruction to flash to that Bios which will be: AWDFLASH N24LDB27.BIN /QI/CC/Sn/Py For the 11/27/03 Bios... Also, here is the link to the official DFI FAQ for flashing the Bios under DOS: http://www.dfi.com.tw/Support/mb_faq_us1.j...TYPE=US&SITE=US Followed you instructions for AWDFLASH and it did not seem to work for me. Had no problem getting to the prompt, but after typing in the command, the line jumped down and seem to freeze. After about 5 minutes, I finally softbooted. The diamond flash... there was no problems getting the bios to flash, but now my computer runs slower than ever... I will go through this again later today. Getting really frustrated. Is it possible that I have a bad video card as it seems to be the only thing that is hanging. On the 3dMark5 test, I run out of video memory starting the second test. Is it worth all this or would I be better off chucking the 3200 for a 2600 or 2700 processor? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinobi Posted April 22, 2005 Posted April 22, 2005 Chuck the 3200 for a 2500 or 2600 Mobile is definitely the best idea if your prepared to do that yeah, just sell the 3200 or whatever. Thats what a lot have done who can't resolve their issues, and its a much better idea, because the mobiles will run a lot faster than the 3200's ever could, and they're cheaper. So you don't think much of the 2004/11/24 bios with your 3200 then? Thats interesting to know. Weren't too sure of it myself but i've seen a few ppl recommend it for the 3200's including a guy who has a 3200 himself, just yesterday. Something else you can try is disabling Fast Writes. Heard of a few ppl having stability problems with that enabled on their ATI cards, i think that could possible help resolve your issues. From what you have said it sounds like your possibly encountering memory leaks and thats whats causing your problems. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mantis Posted April 22, 2005 Posted April 22, 2005 I was looking at another failed 3dMark test at the details section. Does the below seem wrong as I have an AGP card? I have no cards in the PCI slots. Slot 2/6 (PCI) RADEON 9600 SERIES Order 2 Designation PCI1 Type PCI Characteristics 5.0V, PME Signal Data Bus Width 32 b Details In Use, Long Device Class Display Adapter Manufacturer ATI Technologies Inc. Driver Version 6.14.10.6525 Driver Date 3-22-2005 IRQ 19 Slot 6/6 (AGP) Order 0 Designation AGP Type AGP Characteristics 5.0V Data Bus Width 32 b Details Available, Long IRQ 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinobi Posted April 23, 2005 Posted April 23, 2005 Where did you get that info from? System Info, Motherboard Info in 3D Mark i'm assuming? Yeah it does seem a bit weird. My AGP Card is listed under AGP. Thats as if its saying you've got your AGP Card in PCI Slot 2, very strange... What does it say for it under Device Manager? For instance, mine says under location, PCI Bus 2, Device 0, Function 0 which is right. Have you tried disabling Fast Writes? And selecting AGP as your First/Primary Display in the Bios(default is PCI, see if it helps... but i doubt it)? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mantis Posted April 23, 2005 Posted April 23, 2005 Where did you get that info from? System Info, Motherboard Info in 3D Mark i'm assuming? Yeah it does seem a bit weird. My AGP Card is listed under AGP.Thats as if its saying you've got your AGP Card in PCI Slot 2, very strange... Have you tried disabling Fast Writes? And selecting AGP as your First/Primary Display in the Bios(default is PCI, see if it helps... but i doubt it)? I have disabled fast writes, changed to AGP which I though I had before, but with the bios flashing and resetting to defaults. Also, read someones post about changing the multiplyer to x11 and the ratio to 1:1. I already had CPU Spread Spectrum disabled. Still getting no vid memory on second test. I then uninstalled my Video drivers and reinstalled with the CD and now my problems are even worse. 3DMark5 says I don't have the right hardware and will not run the test. When I load the client for Guild Wars, I am seeing a bunch of white and if I didn't know what was there already, I would be clueless to what I am seeing.... side effect is that my system in all other areas is running much faster now. I am about ready to toss this machine to the curb. I think I am going to quit for tonight, pull the card tomorrow and see if I can salvage an older/lesser card to see if this solves any problems........ I am so tired I never was able to make the AWARD Flash bios work for the recommended driver. After typing in the commands, it just sat there and never moved... had to reboot again, and yes I had the printed command line to load the bin. :confused: :sad: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinobi Posted April 23, 2005 Posted April 23, 2005 Well trying another card should definitely help to narrow down the problem. I'd also try your card in another system if you can. If your having problems using AWDFLASH you can try WINFLASH which comes on the CD you got with your motherboard. Could also try following the advice on the "How To Flash Your Bios" page that i posted the link too, maybe you'll have more luck. Just hope you don't end up with a corrupted bios to top it all of lol, don't sound like your having much luck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinobi Posted April 23, 2005 Posted April 23, 2005 Just another suggestion, but when you uninstall your ATI Drivers to install new ones try using Driver Cleaner Pro to eliminate all traces of the old Drivers that are left behind. Something else that could possibly help with your lag problems is tweaking your DSL connection(though it won't help with poor Pings or multiplayer gaming over UDP). Download Dr Tcp and then go to www.dslreports.com/tweaks and do the Tweaktest. Enter all your details like operating system, speed, connection type(whatever that is, for instance all ADSL connections in the UK are PPPoA) and then follow the suggestions. I find using the highest recommended figure for Rwin(Recieve Window) to be the best. You can use Dr Tcp to enter the recommended Rwin and MTU values. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mantis Posted April 23, 2005 Posted April 23, 2005 Just another suggestion, but when you uninstall your ATI Drivers to install new ones try using Driver Cleaner Pro to eliminate all traces of the old Drivers that are left behind. Something else that could possibly help with your lag problems is tweaking your DSL connection(though it won't help with poor Pings or multiplayer gaming over UDP). Download Dr Tcp and then go to www.dslreports.com/tweaks and do the Tweaktest. Enter all your details like operating system, speed, connection type(whatever that is, for instance all ADSL connections in the UK are PPPoA) and then follow the suggestions. I find using the highest recommended figure for Rwin(Recieve Window) to be the best. You can use Dr Tcp to enter the recommended Rwin and MTU values. Thank you for pointing me to the Driver Cleaner. That will be my first step in attempting to fix this before trying another card. The rest I will follow once I get my other problems under control Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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