Hi.. I got a similar problem.

Motherboard: Abit KT7A
CPU: Was Duron 850 (Now AMD Athlon 2000 XP, at 1600 Mhz)
Memory: Was 1 x 256 Mb PC100 (Now 1 x 128 PC133)
Video: Nvidia GeForce 256 DDR
Sound: SB16

Okay, it all started about a month ago, I got midnight club 2, and installed it with directx 9. It banged out to windows about 30 - 60 seconds after loading. I put it down to the game being buggy. So I forgot about it.

Played away at Day of Defeat and Quake 3 (OpenGL) no problems...

Then i got Republic the Revoluion, exact same problem. So i put that down to a bug in the game and decided to await an update. Then.. i got Fire Warrior, the graphics were screwy at first so I updated my vid drivers to the 45.23 ones, it then worked but.. banged out to windows 30 - 60 seconds into it. So then Im thinking... okay somethins wrong... I tried a lot of things.. Played with the Bios, Changed my RAM and slot it was in, Changed my CPU, tried a GeForce MX2 , installed win98/2000/xp home, same problems on all, updated the Via Hyperion 4 in 1 , same problems. OpenGL games seem to work. GTA3 no longer worked.... so I rolled back to a windows 98 image where I had directx 8.1 with an older video card driver.. and GTA3 worked.. but all the new games said they needed d3d9.dll (fair enuf, they need directx 9) so I updated Dx9, the games still bang out.. but GTA3 works... (but the others dont) so I installed the 45.23 driver and not even GTA3 works now. I've tried everything hardware wise expect change the mothing board. Remember, I can play quake 3 for hours, or Day of Defeat, so i dont think its an overheating problem, it seems directx 9 the nvidia 45.23 driver and 4 in 1 Via driver and my combination of hardware is just not happy as it works with older drivers. I badly need to play Fire Warrior and Halo.. so any help would be sweet.

Anything else i can try?

You can have your cake and eat it to. So, do what I did. Keep the computer, but for god sakes, get an XBOX or Playstation for your gaming! After countless hours of reading forums, upgrading drivers, etc, you know the drill, I got an XBOX instead and my stress level has gone down dramatically!

When I am connecting to internet, my Xp pro. is updating itself. In the beginning I used to play e.g: Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 but now i can not. When I want to open the game it automatically turns to desktop before beginning. Also i wanted to install Vietcong but the result is same. I am using 45.33 nvidia detonator for my card geforce 4 4200 ti 4X 128 Mb and directx 9.0. I have changed back with directx 8.1 and old detonator, but it doesn' t effect. I think the problem comes with XP updates. What do you think? What I have to do to open those games? Thanx for your help, Sam

I can relate to the problems on this forum, been going thru this for 2 months now. I tried bios tweaks, updated drivers Via, Nvidia and Directx, and windows updates nothing worked until i got geforce tweak utility. i slowed my core speed from 250 to 200. now 3D blazes once again! A thanks goes out to all the people on this forum for tackling this problem, you've been a great help! ...... and No thanks to Nvidia or Via who have abandoned Us after taking Our Monies.


Win98,ME,Xp
DFI AD73 pro 266
768 ddr ram
GeForce4Ti 4200
Via Chipset
maxtor 40 & 80
300watts

umm.. wow ??
i've seemed to have fixed my problem and i wasn't even trying to

i'm not sure what _exactly_ fixed it... but i opened up my case because i was concerned about my HOT cpu temp (64 C) and i was just checking to see if the fan was working etc.
anyway.. i noticed a little switch on the motherboard that i wasn't too familiar with (i'm a novice)
i looked in the motherboard manual and found that it was SW1 switch used to change the system bus speed... and i realised that mine was set at the default 100MHz... instead of 133MHz... so i switched it out of curiosity.
The next thing i did was take out my RAM to see what kind it was (because i remember somebody mentioning RAM type being the possible problem)... but when i put it back in, i decided to place it in a different slot.
And the last thing i did was take the motherboard battery out for a couple of minutes (to reset the BIOS - just cos i felt like it)

so i'm not exactly sure WHAT fixed it... but now everything is running fine... (hasn't crashed/frozen yet) and i'm finally running in AGP 4x mode and it WORKS

now my only worry is the hot cpu temp... is that hot? my cpu is an AMD Athlon 1800+ XP

my cpu is an AMD Athlon 1800+ XP

I have an 1800 XP chip, and I have never seen mine go above 43; that's when gaming with high graphic/resource hog games i.e. Splinter Cell, FS2002, etc. So, 64, I would be a little concerned about that. That seems to be awfully hot. How many fans do you have running on your system? Mine ran hot for a bit, although not 64, and I put two more exhaust fans in my system, which helped bring the temperature down quite a bit. If you do have extra fans running, I'm not sure what the cause would be for the 64 temperature, but if you don't, I suggest that you get extra fans. With the temperature at that level, you won't have your chip as long as you should. It will burn out sooner than expected.

I also am having the same problems. First the system is a homebuilt with the following specs:

icute 400w ps
pny gf4 ti4200
512 meg (2 x 256 in dual channel)
Biostar m7cnd pro nforce 2 400 ultra
on board lan
on board sound
dx9b
win98se

I get the same freezes in dx games. I also ran dxdiag adn found that it too locks up when doing hardware 8 pass and above (runs 7 pass fine)
I have checked the ram with memtest86 (an excellent program, found many memory errors in my ram which i was able to replace)

I have read the forum and it seems that some people have had success by turning down their core speed and going from agp 8x to 4x or less. Since this is essencially "underclocking" the card, is there anyone here that thinks that heat may be the primary cultrit? I am thinking about trying a better cooling solution on the card, assuming that the initial underclocking makes a difference. Comments?

oops, forgot to say that the cpu was a xp1600

yes i am concerned about it
some people have told me that AMDs often get this hot... and others like have told me that this is a very dangerous temp.
About the number of fans i have... i'm not sure.. 1 i think... or whatever it came with... i mean, i haven't added any extra fans.
But i am gonna do something about it very soon.

And yeah i also thought that heat may have been the problem with graphic card issue... but it wasn't... well, not for me.
Mine was the system bus speed as i mentioned in a pervious post, set at 100MHz instead of 133mhz
But i'm so happy it's fixed now.... it still hasn't frozen yet, since the day i corrected the bus speed

Dan:

Yes, 1 fan isn't enough, for sure. AMD's do run hotter than Pentiums, but I do know that 64 is a dangerous temperature. I'm not sure if you know how to convert to Farenheit, but take 64 multiply by 9, divide by 5, then add 32. That's 147.2 degrees Farenheit! That is pretty darn hot! As I said in my post, my chip never gets over 43, and that's during game play. With the same calculation that comes to 109.4 degrees Farenheit. So, that's a difference of almost 40 degrees!

What I have is an Enermax PS, which has an intake and exhaust fan. I bought two 8 cm exhaust fans, and made a mod to the side of my case. Cut out a couple of holes, filed them up, so that there were no sharp edges, then put the fans in. This made a big difference! One fan was placed close to the top of the case, about the same height as the processor, and the other was placed right where the video card is. I have a Geforce 4 Ti 4200. The design of this card is such that airflows over the heatsink and out of the side of the card, but this hot air was just hitting the inside of the case and not being dissipated out of the case. So that's way I placed the second fan in this spot. It made such a difference that the room where the computer is is the warmest room in the place. That's from all the hot air being exhausted out. I hope I helped, Dan.

I had same problem, and I have tried all those how to fix it. It didn't help me at all.

But if I use windows XP without SP1, every game work very well, no problem at all, no matter what version driver, after I update XP, then again about 20 minutes when I play those games happen blank screen.

So, have anyone try it before install SP1?

We'll i'm back,

After reducing my clock speed 250 to 200 on GeForce4Ti 4200 i've been able to play games requiring DirectX. Also have been able to benchmark in 3Dmark03 a pitifall score of 536. several apps tell me i'm running in X4 Agp mode but i'm only getting 25fps which makes everything kinda choppy. I had considered flashing new bios to the card, but i hear it's risky.

Athlon XP 1800+
DFI AD73 pro KT266
Via Chipsets
768ddr ram
Geforce4Ti 4200
Maxtor 40 & 80

Windows 98,Me,XP

Yes Games play better prior to sp1 in XP

Hi

I had some problems with directx applications since I switched from a gf2-ti to a gf4-ti4200 : applications hung after a few seconds, computer rebooted etc...
No way to finish a 3dmark 2001 or 2003 test.

My system :
Abit kt7a-raid v1.1 (9A) -> VIAHyperion 4in1 447
t-bird 1400
512 mo sdram 133
generic Geforce 4 TI 4200 128 mo (Palit) -> Denator 45.23
PSU : enermax 350

This forum has helped me to find the fix :

Via beta patch
http://downloads.viaarena.com/drivers/others/Test_driver1.zip

No more problem. Thank you.

Recommendation Reinstall Vid drivers and Install Direct X 9.0b after installing newest drivers

No To mention This is for Everyone, when getting Newest Hardware,(Cards designed for AGP 8x and such) Install Service Pack 1a and install all current patches from microsoft

another suggestion for all u people get a 400 Watt PSU minimum.

Thanks for jay Graves so much, now I finally sloved my problem. after use RivaTuner reducing my clock speed 250 to 225 on GeForce4Ti 4200, I can play those games without blank screen...reboot....problem. and I didn't install Testdriver.

Athlon XP 1900+
Windows Pro XP +Sp1
MSI KT3 Ultra2
Via Chipsets
768ddr ram
Geforce4Ti 4200
Maxtor 80
DirectX 9.0a
All update drivers and Bios
250 W power

Good luck!

In your message, you have a 250 watt power supply. You should go to 350 because MSI recommends it for their Ti 4200 vid cards; I would think that other Ti 4200 cards take the same amount of juice. This may have been part of your grief. I have never needed to turn down the clock speed on this card. NEVER!

Oh, almost forgot, specs.....


Windoze 98, yes, 98
Audigy gamer sound card
5.1 Creative Labs surround sound system
2-40 gb Western Digital hard drives
LG burner 32x10x40
MSI Ti 4200 128 mb ddr video card
Enermax 350 Watt power supply
Gigabyte GA-7VAX mobo
Thrustmaster racing wheel/peddles
Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback joy stick-the 1st one, and yes, it still works!
256 mb PC2100
AMD XP 1800

and a few more things......;)