Quick Video card question.. hope everyone can give me an answer

[Larus-Fel]

I had to ask this because i'm using a 300 Watt powersupply. the card i have runs all the games fine without crashing etc etc.. but at some points in HZ my game.. totally locks up.. i just got a new Geforce 5900.. and i was wondering if the powersupply has anything to deal with just a game locking up?.. i would think if the videocard failed at making an attempt to run something it would lock up the computer indefinantly.. but i need everyone elses opinion on the matter

Edit: also from what i was told from my friend is that i need atleast a 350 watt powersupply.. tho.. like i said.. i need everyone elses thoughts or professional opinion :P

[Larus-Fel]

quick edit.. it doesn't freeze my game entirely.. the game stops running for about.... 10 seconds... then plays again..

[Stranyr]

Depending on your the rest of your system a 300w PS is prolly a little low for a 5900 to be in it.

I had trouble with mine when my PS started to die. I picked up an Antech 430w (350w+ is prolly good enough but I wanted some room to add more HD's) and things are good :)

[Larus-Fel]

when you were having problems was it causing your games to run.... slower?..
i hooked up two powersupplies.. 1 300 watt for my computer.. and a 300watt for my videocard.. and it still doesn't help ;(

[Kulamata]

Hard Freeze is how I usually crash, rather than to desktop. It is perhaps the more common crash mode for Horizons. How often does it happen? On ports between cities? In battle? You can use /window lagwindow to see your frame rate and tex mem. I'd also suggest filing a trouble ticket.

[gopher65]

GF FX 5900 has a recommended minimumpower supply of 350W. I don't know how the card (or HZ) would react if it tried to draw more power and couldn't. Maybe it steals power from other components (Hard drive? Memory? That could cause a slowdown).

Assuming for a moment that your power supply isn't the problem, you may be overheating. The 5900 creates a lot of heat. If this is happening, and your CPU/memory are being affected by the extra heat, it could explain your symtoms (they get throttled down when they overheat. Since HZ uses all avalible memory and CPU power it would be far more noticable in this game than in one that only uses a fraction of your computer's resources).

[Larus-Fel]

its not that at all.. its only WHEN i play HZ.. everything else runs perfectily fine, WoW.. i can multi task etc.. but i do anything out of the ordernary the game just locks up and kills my PC.. even so with the powersupply. the game shouldn't be taking that much memory without a CPU falsafe to prevent that from happening.. (usually just sends you an error and kills the program.. which doesn't happen in HZ.. it more along the lines locks the computer).

Edit: that and i never had to turn in a ticket before.... ever.. so i have no idea how to do that...
never had a problem with the game till now >_>

running a Geforce FX 5900XT 128mb, was previously used by my friend who never had a lock down problem with the game.. using same wattage on powersupply as i.. so.. i really dont know whats up.. Windows XP pro, 2.4ghz mhz intel 4 processor, 1ghz ram. are my close specs. running a 300watt powersupply

[Seikojin]

:o I have had the game lock on me a few times, but I mean llike literally 3 times in a year... My specs are xp2600 512mbs of ram and a geforce fx 5700 ultra with 256megs od ram...

I think my issues are all ram related and temperature related... my cpu runs after 20minutes at 130+degrees ferenhieght (sp)... So I know I need a better cooling solution... I also have a 350 watt powersupply and I believe I need more... So my tax return may make me a happy camper...

As for your situation, try lowering the settings in game to minimum and see if that stops it (this would help prove that it is performance based)... You may also want to enable the debug logger (in the main directory I believe its the enable_debug.exe) and let it make some logs...

[Aamer Khan]

So many factors are involved, that you will have to systematically work through each area and do lots of testing to figure it all out.

I have 3 machines that run HZ at my house. My main comp, had your exact problem until I replaced the powersupply with a 450. My wife's comp, needed more memory to keep from crashing. My son's comp had temp issues and needed a new heatsink.

So, ask your self these questions...

1. Is the CPU or Video card getting too hot?

2. Is the memory on your motherboard matched and proper for your MB, and hopefully over 768 mb?

3. Do you have multiple HD's and cd/dvd-roms and really need more power?

[Larus-Fel]

thanks for everyones insight into the matter. i'm getting a new 450W powersupply on friday anyways. need it if i want to use the 6800 GT i'm getting for my Bday.. but thank you everyone so much[:)]

[Guaran]

Power supply is a critical part, can't hurt to have more than you need (Helps the power supply itself to run cooler, last longer when you have alot of power supply "capacity" to spare)

What driver version are you using? I have found Hz is super stable with the 61.77's

Make sure you have several gig's of free space on the hardrive with the swap file for windows. Running out of space makes windows freak, and Horizons' can chew up alot of virual ram after a few ports.

Goto the nv control panel (5900Ultra tabunder advanced display settings), selcet"Performance & Quality Settings" in the slide left menu, then select Image settings, and try sliding left 1 step from Quality to Performance.

Try these things. First thing since your new PSU hasn't come in yet, switch to the 61.77 driver. Make only 1 change at a time.

Guaran

[Larus-Fel]

*sighs* well i have rolled back to the 6.1.7.7 drivers.. the games runs for about... 2 extra hours then freezes my computer completely.. its not a temperate issue, and its only for HZ.. i got my 450w, and did everything that i should do/try.. and nadda.. i cant even do my adventure quests to get ready for AROP.

this is getting very... frustrating.. having to play a game after a year with NO problems.. then all of a sudden this..

someone give me an idea how to turn in a ticket.. never had to before.. so i have no idea how.. i'm at the point of hitting the /quit function for HZ

would really like a tech dev to answer this one.. because i cant afford another videocard..

using a 2.4ghz intel processor 1ghz ram. 450w powersupply, nvidia geforce 5900 128mb.. 6.1.7.7 drivers for videocard ::.. the new one doesn't even allow me to stay stable in the game for more then 10 seconds

what happens in game is that my game would play fine.. then suddenly i freeze in place.. i can still hear sounds/ music/ can still move my mouse.. then the game resumes itself.. then the second time it happens.. i the game totally freezes.. music/mouse are still working.. but.. it takes forever for me to ctrl+alt+del out of the game

[AmonGwareth]

Larus-Fel,

The best thing to do here would be to

a) double-click enable_debug.exe so that you will have logs generated during and after a crash

b) open a ticket at support.istaria.com

c) zip/rar the log files and upload them to the ticket

That way we can look at what the logs show and perhaps determine a more detailed reason of why you are having freezes and crashes. Would also help if you could upload or paste your dxdiag info into the case.

- Amon

[Larus-Fel]

thanks amon.

[Bori Grimbattle]

Questions...what sound card are you running? There is always the possibility that it has nothing to do with the video but perhaps audio.
Are you running full screen? Windowed?

Turn sound off
Turn graphics down to minimum
Then try and if that helps increase or turn on 1 step at a time.

[Tryagain]

If it was a powersupply issue you would be seeing issues with the whole system. Most likely it wouldn't even be powering up. If anything believe it or not WoW's graphics would cause more problems than HZ's.

But still yes you would probably do better with a nice 450W PS but that won't address your problem. PS inadequacy is more pronounced with AMD processors and or ATI cards and the new nvidea 6000 series cards.

One thing to check when it freezes is the hard drive stuck in a perpetual spin ? ( IE is the HD on constantly ).

[Custard]

Problems with power supplies are usually never simple to diagnose unless you've got the tools to check the voltages on each rail while the PSU is under load.
The problems a badly behaving PSU can show are anything from video glitches, crashes, file corruption or just pick a random windows system error message. It just depends which part of the system is receiving too little or too much voltage and the flow on effect from that.
Usually it's easier to swap out the PSU to see if the problem goes away.

I don't know if the original poster has tried turning off AGP Fastwrites in their BIOS (this setting may also be lurking in the video driver settings in control panel as well).
Not all cards actually support this feature and seldom does it give any significant performance boost. Do a google search with your video card model and the word fastwrites to see how many problems it has caused other people.

[pogowolf]

[Edit: My response was about as clear as mud...]

I don't think you've got a problem with the power supply or the video card. The power supplyproblem would effect the WHOLE system, NOT just HZ and you wouldn't hear sound and music. The whole system would just drop, like having a brown out.

I also betting that it's not the video card,HZ really doesn't use the video card anyway, andYou would see problems in EVERY game.. not just HZ.

So, I'm betting that your issue is being caused by one of two things.

1) Background windows programs. Sounds to me like you've got other programs running in the background. Perhaps an Anti virus.. or something Disk Keeper.. Some program that's hitting HD.. or even one of those Memory defrag programs.. or worse yet, Norton Utils.

Programs like anti virus, and disk keeper will really hound your CPU Cycles if they think your system is idle. So the first thing I would do is make sure NOTHING extra is running in the background, and be sure to check more then just TaskMan, check your services also, and if you don't already, I would also run a good Spyware check, full Virus check, AND defrag the drive.

2) The level 250 Lag monster with 48594^56*2 Hitpoints.
This is guaranteed to kill your game faster then turning the power off. If you are on dial-up.. well.. I'm sorry. ;)
as for Broadband, check your router logs. See if your system is being pitched a new IP address, perhaps there's a 'brownout' from your ISP.. or worse yet, that some idiot is trying to hack into your system...

[Larus-Fel]

aahh for the soundcard question.. i really dont have one installed atm.. just got done my fresh reformat about a week ago.. so i'm using my usb steareo headset atm...

as for the programs in the background, nope no antivirus.. i found the hard way that they store deleted files of things they find in the back of your harddrive and takes up space.. so i never had that installed :P the only other thing i run other then HZ is mIRC so i can keep track of chats. i run windowed mode.. along with any other game i play. WoW, Warhammer 40k DoC, counterstrike, CoH,.. not having any problems that i am getting like i am from HZ :\

for background on the cpu i'm only running MSN/and irc

EDIT: oh! hehe running a cable modem, about 528k up/ 1,300k down
sharing a router.. but wouldn't cause my acual CPU lock up with just one game.... i think [^o)]

[gopher65]

Run an antivirus, run an adware checker, and maybe just wipe your computer and start again:P. Assuming you haven't done so already.