Beosboxboy, if you have time could you help? :) UPDATE: RESOLVED see last post!
BeosBoxBoy:
Hi again, Tina.
If you have a 350 watt power supply, this is most likely the cause of the issue. Upgrading the power supply to 500 watts should cost in the area of USD $ 50-75 depending on your local source, similar figures in £/€ for anyone else reading this.
I read the files for DXDIAD and EAsy Info - both give what I would typify as "stellar" results; so we have eliminated software drivers and low system resources. The only thing I saw that I don't care for was the monitor's refresh rate set to 60MHz.
Try looking on the MAG website and see if they have a download that will more properly identify the refresh rate for the game, it will likely be called a driver, but isn't really a driver. Just a file with the proper refresh rates for the different dimensions the monitor supports. The optimum will usually be 75 or 85 MHz; this will result in superior performance under DirectX.
If you can't locate a driver - in DXDIAG under "More Help" tab you will see a "Override" button - there you can manually enter a refresh rate to force the game to use in full screen mode. Be sure to look at the monitor's user manual or the MAG Technologies website to get the proper value to enter.
No need to thank me, it may not be my job, but it allows me to be of some use to people to answer these more troubling questions and earn my keep as an admin :lol:
sweetswami77:
Hi, trl!
Don't know how much I can add to this conversation, but I was also having the problems you're describing, and (funny enough) I also have a GeForce card and a MAG monitor. I got mine to work, so I thought I'd tell you what I did, just in case one of these things might be the fix.
First of all, I went through 3 video cards before I got the right one. Beosboxboy is right--determining faulty cards is a pain! The first two failed because they didn't have a place to plug the power supply unit directly into them, and the load of the game was just too much for them to handle, I guess. I finally settled on a new GeForce 8600, updated the driver (like you've done), and changed the system BIOS from "onboard" to "PCI-e". I also bought a new 650 watt PSU. And though that made my game look really good, none of that seemed to do the trick.
I don't know how much cc you have in your game, but I had about 5.5 gigs (about 20,000 files), which I ran through the Sims2 Clean Installer. I got rid of all the duplicate files, but I didn't find any problems. Since the game worked without my cc, I decided to organize my downloads folder into subfoldered categories (kitchens, bathrooms, hacks and mods, etc.) and put them into my game one at a time to see if I could determine if it was a corupt file that was causing it. Sure enough, everything was fine until I put my "Other" file in, and the crashes started again. I took the file out, and put another one of my folders in, and the problem went away. However, the more cc I put in, the more my game lagged and stalled. I think I was battle a couple problems and didn't realize it. So, the main problem was the corrupt file (which I still have to isolate), but I think my game also just might have a limit to how much cc it can handle before it slows to a grinding halt. I have about 2.5 gigs in there now (11, 263 files), and I'm right on the edge. It's a little jerky sometimes, but it's not crashing anymore.
So, I don't know if any of that will help you, but I thought I'd mention it, just in case. Hope you find a fix soon! I know how difficult withdrawal from your Simmies can be. Good luck!
:)April
trl:
Hi Yakov,
I went to the MAG website and there were no drivers for my monitor model. I also let Windows search and it said that I was up to date. My monitor is new so maybe I have the latest stuff available. I manually changed the monitors refresh rate to 75 (picked this at random) and did the same for my graphic card as well as in my game. I am not sure if they all need to be set to the same rate but it made sense to do it. My husband, Steve, said that he had disabled the onboard card before putting new card on so that is ok.
I went in game for a short time and things seemed better. I messed around in a few different community lots and deleted items, added items and was able to save without any crashing. I wasn't in game long and will know more tonight but so far so good. :angel:
As for the power supply, since the minimum required for my computer is 350 watts we are going to get a 500 watt supply, as you recommend, even if I have no more issues. I am sure that is in my best interest.
I also went to E-Machines and saw many drivers to download. We have never done this since I got my computer in December so I probably need to. There are several available for my model here . There are ones for BIOS, Intel VIIV Driver1.5.1.188.50 , Chipset- Intel Quick Resume Driver, Audio, Video, Fixed Drives-Intel SATA RAID Controller Driver and Chipset Intel Chipset Driver -Original Driver Version 8.0.0.1010. I know in your first post you mentioned chipset drivers so I definitely should download those but should I download all of them? (except of course the ones for Vista as I have Media Center edition of Windows XP. Also should I still run that other test you linked me to? I haven't done that yet.
I definitly see a light at the end of the tunnel! Again, I will know more later when I have more time to mess around with the game. Thanks again!
Sweetswami, thanks for your help as well. I do have many many downloads but my game runs very quick inspite of this. My issue only began when I put this card on and it just kept crashing. I do appreciate it though and I do need to clean out my D/L folder. Yuck!
sweetswami77:
Yeah, my game ran fine until I installed my new video card, too. That's why I thought I'd mention it. Turns out, the corrupt file is one that I've had for almost a year, not a recently downloaded one. My old video card didn't have a problem with it, but my new one does. Maybe it conflicts with the updated driver or something. I didn't even know that was possible. So, if all else fails, I'd suggest checking the cc. It might be something you've had for awhile.
Good luck! Hope you find the solution soon!
:)SS
trl:
That is always the first thing I check when I have trouble, I just put my D/L folder to the desk top. I don't use subfolders though, I like the chaos! lol Thanks though, it was definitly worth a mention. :)
Well I have had the game running for about 4 hours decorating/furnishing community lots. I saved with no issues amd I even changed my graphic settings to high with reflections turned on then changed them again and all was okey dokey. (Sometimes changing my graphic settings would cause a crash). I don't want to speak too soon but it appears that changing the refresh rate has done the trick but I am still not gonna hold my breath yet. Tomorrow I will actually play one of my families and see how that goes. *crosses fingers*
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