Computer Science Canada

Video game graphics render errors

Author:  Blade [ Wed Jun 22, 2005 11:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Video game graphics render errors

okay, well i just got myself a copy of the new Battlefield 2, and its probably one of the most demanding games i've run lately, but i'm getting different distortions and rendering problems while playing it. it starts out fine, but start garbling up. i think its either a ram error or something wrong with the cooling system

specs:
athlon xp-m 2500+ @ 2.0ghz (180x11)
abit nf7(nf2 chipset)
radeon 9800pro with heatpipe cooler installed not OC'd
160gb ata 133 7200rpm WD w/8mb cache
dvd burner that aint important
1x512mb pc 3200 generic ram... @ 180mhz, 2.5-3-3-7

i've had nothing but problems with this ram, but it was able to run doom3 properly with mid settings... i think, i've had it running like this for the longest time with no problems. if i put it on 3-4-4-8 @ 400 i get tonnes of errors with a program i got (used it a while ago i dont remember what its called)

i'm using catalyst v5.6 which i just dl'd and installed today. and i'm using directx 9.0c

cooling system: i'm using an 80mm fully Cu heatsink i ripped off of an aero 7+, and put an 80mm tornado on it for a heatsink/fan
my radeon 9800pro has Coolermaster CoolViva heatpipe installed on it without the crap fan that came
i'm using a 92mm tornado and have that mounted on the side of my case to blow cool air onto my heatpipe
i have 2 standard 80mm exaust fans mounted on the back by my cpu

the cooling system was originally designed differently, but the size of the 92mm tornado, its so thick that it blocked the exaust holes on my psu, and i ended up blowing it up (i didnt realize it did it at the time) but it was designed for major overclocking. iam able to get the cpu up to 2.5 ghz with the crap ram i have... 195x13 w/ram @ 3-4-4-8 @ 40C idle... i was planning on getting 1gb dualchannel ocz platinum but other things came up..

i honestly dont know why its doing this, i check the tempature of my cpu and while the game is running its running at 38C, my VC runs at around 50C which is much better than the stock cooler.. but the only thing i can think of is to either increase the voltage of my ram, reduce the speed of it to take stress off, or scrap it, because thats the only thing i can think of thats causing it.
any ideas?

Author:  Blade [ Thu Jun 23, 2005 10:41 pm ]
Post subject: 

alright, well if any of you end up having the same problem, i finally solved it so i'll post what happened.

it DID turn out to be a cooling issue. With the new heatpipe cooler i got on my videocard the mounting wasn't very secure. being with AGP cards the processor is on the bottom, and so the block for my heatsink sort of falls off of my processor because it weighs a lot and the screws that come with it aren't quite strong enough to hold the card up. so what i did to push it up tighter was i took my 92mm tornado and put it between my heatsink and my soundcard. it works for my situation because of my setup, but i'm sure another solution would have worked such as getting the proper size bolts and bolting it on. just be sure not to tighten it too much because you dont want to destroy your processor, you may crack the card or the chip or something. i would suggest finger-tight.

i know the image is kind of dark but i had no decent source of light


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