GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB, and total system freeze in Vista? - 2008/04/04 18:56I'm having problems with my BFG GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB and Windows Vista and I am at my wits end. When I play Second Life the whole computer will randomly freeze and I can't do anything. Sometimes it freezes with a looping sound. Either way I have to reset the computer manually. It can happen within 10 minutes, or it can happen after 5 hours. When I first got my computer it ran great with no crashes for 4 months playing all kinds of games and Second Life. Then I bought and installed The Orange Box and it froze for the very first time when it finished installing... And that's when Second Life began crashing too.
I've since replaced everything, meaning mainboard, power supply, memory, case for better cooling except for the processor a Core 2 Quad Q6600 and the video card. I've formatted and reinstalled Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit like 10 times with the latest and original drivers and with or without Vista updates and only Second Life installed with the same results. Tried it with and without RAID too, on different hard drives... Everything is stock, all temps are well below normal, the card goes from 49-68°C. I have never overclocked the card. I recently flashed the BIOS to a newer version that I found here but it still freezes.
It only freezes with Windows Vista and Second Life. When it freezes, it doesn't write anything to the event log. I have installed Windows XP on the same system, using dual boot and it runs perfectly fine with no crashes whatsoever. The wierd thing is I can run Second Life for days at a time on Windows XP. But it still freezes if I use Windows Vista. Now I have changed out the video card with a GeForce 8600 GT and works fine now with no crashes in Second Life. But when I put the GeForce 8800 GTS back in, it will still freeze randomly.
I have tried two discs of Windows Vista, the Home Premium and Ultimate. I have installed SP1 and it still doesn't fix it. I have no more options left. I have replaced everything with newer, more powerful parts from different companies, the system runs cool as ice. The only thing that is original from when I bought it is the CPU and GPU. Is my GPU faulty? Is it a problem with Windows Vista? It runs perfectly fine on Windows XP. But I got Vista so I can use the Media Center with my TV tuner and enjoy DirectX 10.
Now I need to run Second Life because that is where I make my real money, which paid for this system to begin with. I don't know what to do now. Should I send it in for a replacement? I have stressed tested my computer with four instances of Prime 95 set to each core, while running the Freestone video card stress test for hours with no errors. I don't know what else to do now.
System Specifications... - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz Processor - ZEROtherm Nirvana 120 CPU Cooler - BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 640MB Card - EVGA nForce 780i Socket 775 Mainboard - Corsair VX550 550Watt Power Supply - Seagate Barracuda 250GB SATA II Hard Disk - Hitachi Deskstar 320GB (2x) SATA II RAID Config - GoldenMars DDR2-800 Dual Channel Memory - Antec 900 Computer Case
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Mavke
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Re:GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB, and total system freeze in Vista? - 2008/04/05 00:46Okay, I have read through your thread and the only thing that is a bit bothering me is the power supply as it is only a 550W one, though of a very good brand. Now, I am not sure it would be that but is there a way you can try somehow a 650W one? Though I do think it is more Windows Vista than anything else, as we all know Vista is not as good as it should be and is certain a small poke compare to the gaming performance you get by using Windows XP.
Since the GeForce 8800 GTS is a more power hungry card than the GeForce 8600 GT, I can understand that it has no issues if it would just be the power supply. So I would somehow try to get a better power supply to try, which has a very good and dedicated power line for the graphics card with +20Amps on it. But that might already be the case with your Corsair one?
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Amtek
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Re:GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB, and total system freeze in Vista? - 2008/04/05 01:05Oh yes I've tried two different power supplies. Before it ever started crashing, it ran for 4 months on a Hewelt Packard power supply rated for 350W, it had 30Amps. I know it was under powered, but it never crashed in any game and I always run with dual monitors. The box for the video card says it needs a minimum of 400W and 26A, so I thought maybe it wasn't getting enough power. After it began freezing, I bought the Corsair power supply, it has a single rail rated at 41Amps on +12V and is ready for SLI.
It has two PCI Express power connectors, one 6-pin and on 8-pin. I took everything apart, reseated all components, plugged the new power supply in and it started right up and then it froze again when playing Second Life. I was totally bummed. On a side note. Windows Vista did kill my frame rates in alot of games compared to Windows XP. In Second Life I would get 30-40fps in Vista, while I was getting 70-90fps in XP. But after I downloaded and installed SP1, I was getting much higher frame rates in Vista! It was amazing and now I want to go back onto Vista more...
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Mavke
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Re:GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB, and total system freeze in Vista? - 2008/04/05 09:19Well than it is not the power supply, but something else... Though I have no clue really and still I think that your Windows Vista is strange as in all other games even with SP1 should not at all be faster than Windows XP. And that is what all review sites will confirm as well, Vista is slow and will remain slow as SP1 is not doing or giving what Microsoft somehow promised.
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Amtek
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Re:GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB, and total system freeze in Vista? - 2008/04/07 15:47I know its hard to believe, but I did in fact gain a huge amount of frame rates after installing SP1 on Second Life, using the same drivers before and after. I can't show it now, but next time I install Vista, i will take screen shots of the frame rates before and after I install SP1 to give you proof. Though the problem still remains with the system freezes, despite this huge increase in performance. I have now tried overclocking the card, even underclocking to back to the reference 500MHz core clock but still end up freezing randomly.
I don't understand how it ran perfectly for four months in Windows Vista and then suddenly developed this problem after installing The Orange Box but it did. So my only option now is to send it in for a replacement. The GPU and CPU are the only things I haven't replaced at this point. I plan to upgrade to a GeForce 9800 GTX at some point in the next couple of months unless something better comes out. Regardless, thank you for taking the time to reply Mavke. I appreciate it greatly, you have helped so many people!
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Mavke
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Re:GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB, and total system freeze in Vista? - 2008/04/07 19:59Strange indeed, but then again Second Life might just be the game that really does benifit while all others the gain is almost nothing. And no I don't need proof on this. Well I doubt somehow it will be the graphics card since you have used it under Windows XP and no issues with freezes. But then again, hardware is sometimes unpredictable and maybe Vista is more stressfull on the graphics card causing the freezing of the system.
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EVGA 9600GT (SC) PCIe 512MB - Rev 01
