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Can video card freeze system...

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by jmarchetto 3 views

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Can an AGP video card (VooDoo 3500 with 16megs of on card RAM) be the culprit of my system freezing (especially when running video or a significant screen change (like menus opening)? I have had this problem for a while and when it occurs, the system responds to nothing but hitting the power switch off. I swapped out the 256 RAM stick with new Kingston (instead of the generic I was running). I also recently upgraded to XP. Yet still have this problem. I am running an Athlon 750 on an EPOX 7-KXA board. Any suggestions or similar experiences greatly appreciated.

11 replies

by dmiles

Yes,the video card will cause freeze ups,when the driver needs updating

Go to the manufacturers web site and download the updated drivers for specific operating system

by jmarchetto

I tried the 3rd party driver. XP told me it didn't pass their test and I should not install them.

by thechas

Your upgrade to XP may have actually made your problem worse.

XP does not have good support for the 3dfx cards.

Try downloading a 3rd party XP driver for your card from one of the links at www.voodoofiles.com

Other suggestions:
With XP, goahead and max out the RAM on the board (756MB)

Adjust the AGP apperature in BIOS settings to a minimum of 32MB, 64 would be better.

Do not restrict the size of the swap/paging file.
The more screens that you switch between, the more real and virtual memory you need.

Chas

by jmarchetto

I tried the 3rd party driver. XP told me it didn't pass their test and I should not install them.

by brian

You may also want to check your Bios at startup and look for Video Caching - TURN IT ALL OFF. These cards do their own caching on the card and do not benefit from this. It can be a source of memory address conflicts which will lock your system. It may not be the problem but you won't know unless you disable it. In addition the caching is redundant and not beneficial. This is an important step.

by searcher41

Yes, it certainly can. I had the very same problem recently with an nVidia AGP video card. The machine kept freezing up then on reboot, would keep losing its display settings. After numerous attempts to reinstall the correct drivers, I finally changed the video card and replaced it with a PCI card. Instant solution and have had no further problems.

It's worth a try, since video cards are not too expensive.

by jmarchetto

I am considering buying a new card. But I am getting married in 9 days so the "money tree" has no more leaves on it! :)

by thechas

Yes, the 3rd party drivers are not "Windows Certified". In fact, many manufactures drivers are not certified. To save money, they do not submeit the drivers to MS for certification.

The warning from Xp is valid. However, in this case, the 3rd party drivers are your best bet. (short of a new video card)

You really have little to loose from installing the 3rd party driver. You just might get your system to work well enough so that you don't need to spend the money for that new video card, and can take your spouse out to dinner instead.

Chas

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