DFI LANPARTY NFII ULTRA B Game Crashes

[jayh2o]

We have a standard non-overclocked
DFI LANPARTY NFII ULTRA B
CPU AMD|2800/333 ATHLON XP BARTON
2ea 512mb |64X64 184 pc3200 Corsair Value Select
New install XP Home Sp1a DirectX9b same prob with previous install
Latest BIOS 11/27/03 same prob with earlier version
Onboard sound latest drivers used the drivers on CD with same prob
Nvidia FX5900 used 45.23 and 53.03 with same prob
300watt ps

Everything thus far has run great except for games. The issue is 1 to 10 minutes into playing the games the sys crashes must reboot or sys error and goes back to desktop.
Games- BF42 Desert Combat, Wolf ET, WarCraft 3, UT2003.

 

[mechBgon]

Welcome to the Forums jayh2o A 300W power supply, you say... what brand & model? Your CPU and video card both pull about 60W at full load and I'm wondering if your PSU is up to the challenge here. Also, what is your case ventilation like, does the case have an exhaust fan besides the one in the power supply? And what heatsink did you use for the processor... for example, was it the stock retail AMD-supplied one, or a certain aftermarket one?

Besides those details, I'd also be interested to hear if you've tried some adjustments to the memory timings yet. Otherwise, try manually setting the memory to run synchronously with the CPU (meaning, both operating at 166MHz base speed, or DDR333). If you need a bit more detail on what settings to change in the motherboard's BIOS, I can probably help with that.

 

[jayh2o]

Everything is stock, no overclocking at all. We were getting it up and running before overclocking. AMD-supplied heatsink and fan. We have a imput and output of case ventalation. We got a WhisperRock IV on the way but I don't think it's a heat issue, the temp looks ok. We're gonna swap out the ps with a 450watt ps and see what happens. We also have some extra Mem so after we try the ps we will try the mem before we start tinkering with the BIOS settings. Won't be able to mess with it utill tonight. thanks

 

[jayh2o]

Ok. We installed a 420ps and we got the same crashes. Next we put some pc2100 mem in and it looks like it's stable in games. We run BF42 for about 45min with no crash and 45min in ET with no crash. So far it looks like the cause is the memory. I was hoping it was the ps, now I have to get this pc3200 Corsair Value Select replaced with a different type. Thanks for the help, jayh2o

 

[mechBgon]

Before you do that, I want to suggest boosting the memory voltage a little bit, to 2.7 volts, and ensuring that the memory is operating at the same speed as the CPU, which is 166MHz base speed, aka DDR333. The system will perform best with the memory sync'ed to the processor's bus speed.

 

[jayh2o]

Nice call mechBgon, we set the pc3200 Corsair to the desired setting and no crash! We?ve played BF42 for about 4hrs and ET for about 2hrs and so far so good. It will get the real test this weekend at the LAN Party. Thanks

 

[mechBgon]

 

[AngryGames]

jay please PM me or look here:
http://forums.amdmb.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=66

if you have any questions or issues with your DFI motherboard

 

[jayh2o]

Originally posted by: AngryGames
jay please PM me or look here:
http://forums.amdmb.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=66

if you have any questions or issues with your DFI motherboard

Thanks, I'll check it out