My computer reboot problem finally fixed

[legacy-TalonEyez]

I've been having problems trying to play Unreal Tournament 2004 since I bought it. Within 10 seconds of starting a single player game, my computer would reboot itself. I perused these forums looking for anything that I could do to be able to play this game. I used MemTest86 and Hot CPU Tester Pro and got no errors at all while testing both the memory and the cpu. Always keep drivers/motherboard bios up to date so knew that wasn't the problem.

Then on a hunch I decided to raise the core voltage on my Athlon XP 3200+ from the default 1.65 to 1.75 and I've been playing just fine ever since. Don't know why this solved my problem but it has. Thought I would post to this forum in case others would like to try this also. If it helps one more person play the game without it continually rebooting their computer then I'll be happy.

My computer config:
Athlon XP 3200+
ASUS A7N8X Deluxe V2.0 Motherboard
1GB Mushkin Special 2-2-2 PC3200 Memory (2x512), Dual Channel Mode
Hercules (ATI) 9700 Pro Video Card, 128MB

Now it looks like the game stalls for a second or so every once in a while but at least now I can play. I'll take a small studder any day compared to completely rebooting my computer after 10 seconds or less. Again, hope this helps somebody.

TalonEyez

[legacy-[ZT]PanHead]

I've been playing 2k4 just fine since it came out until I installed 2 SATA drive in a Stripped RAID setup, reinstalled windows XP pro and 2k4. Now I'm having the same problem you were and I've never changed any of my BIOS settings except my drive setup. Would I be safe to try the same thing with my setup?

ASUS A7N8X DLX V1
AMD Barton 2500+
1 GB DDR400 Dual Channel (2x512MB)
Gforce TI4200 128MB

[legacy-TalonEyez]

You should be fine trying it out. With the Athlon 2500 that you have, I would try 1.7V VCore voltage first. If that doesn't do it, raise it to 1.75V but I wouldn't go beyond that. If anything is unstable, change it back. That ASUS MB is almost exactly like mine and if your cooling isn't good enough, it will shut down by itself without ruining your processor so not much risk involved.

TalonEyez

[legacy-TalonEyez]

If anyone tries this, please let me know if it worked for you or not. And have a decent idea of what you're doing before you do it. If you've never messed with your bios before, research it a bit before you proceed. I changed my cpu core voltage from 1.65V to 1.75V. Since your cpu may be different from mine, know what your default voltage is and what others have safely used during overclocking a cpu like yours. Most motherboards these days automatically shut down if it sees there's something wrong with the settings or if the cpu is getting too hot so unless you've really done something drastically wrong, there should be no damage by doing this.

I would guess that most people on these forums know what they are doing but sometimes people can get so desperate that they'll do something without thinking it through. Guess what I'm saying is that I want to help others play the game but not to help them screw their system up. Just know what you're doing.

TalonEyez

[legacy-Wizo]

I did try this as my last straw.... and to my surprise :) :) :) IT Works great for me.... with a Amd 2.5 Ath clocked to 3.2

Thankx a lot :) played 4 games on the trot..... Which never happed before......

Not seen the small studder yet. (Hope i Dont)

Big Thankx to TalonEyez.... (Be Happy. I am).

My Spec.

Gigabyte 7N400 Pro
Amd 2.5 Ath (Clocked to 3.2)
Ati 9800 XT 256mb ATI Cat 4.4 Drivers
2x 512 @400 mhz
2x Sata 120gb's Stripped

[Folk]

Hey TalonEyez... were you overclocking? If not, you might want to take a look at your power supply. You shouldn't have to raise your core voltage from default, so maybe your power supply isn't providing a clean feed?

[legacy-Wizo]

Bump..

[legacy-TalonEyez]

Yeah, I agree that the power supply is probably the culprit. Why I failed to consider that before is beyond me since I've done the computer help desk thing for a living, good catch Folk. The thing about it is that changing the core voltage works for me and I don't have to replace anything. This is the only game that it effects and all testing programs work without error on my computer. I may pick up a power supply in the future but have figured out a fix for now. Since I'm not overclocking it, raising the core voltage as I have will not significantly decrease the processor life. At least not enough to matter to me since I replace my processors about every 18 months.

And no, I'm not overclocking. I have a true Barton 3200+ processor.

I would bet that there are a few others in my situation that don't buy the best power supply around. I usually just make sure that it's powerful enough for what I need to run.

And congrats, Wizo!

One more thing. Looks like another poster fixed his problem with this: http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=369807

TalonEyez

[legacy-[ZT]PanHead]

Worked Great Talon, Thanks. I believe my power supply is getting to be a little below par with everything I've added since I built it but like you said Talon, it does the trick for now, lol. A PS will be on my next "to buy" list. Thanks Again.........

[legacy-TalonEyez]

Bump

[legacy-CeltMage]

I used this guys fix and have been 17 days crash free... simple too...
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=83754

[legacy-CowboyBebop]

I was having this problem with the UT2k4 demo and not on my laptop. So I figured it was something wrong with the demo and didn't concern myself with it until I got the full version. I got the full version when it came out while I was out of town and it installed and played fine on my laptop. I FINALLY got around to installing it today on my desktop and WHAMMO! REBOOT HELL!

I figured I couldn't be the only person with this problem and thankfully Talon you had the same problem and discovered a solution. I have the exact same MB with an Athlon 2500 overclocked to 3200. My VCORE was 1.6 so I did as you suggested and raised it to 1.7 and it appears to be working fine.

I tried the adaptec driver route and that did not work for me, but raising the VCORE did. Thanks a bunch Talon!

[legacy-InsnC2]

I know this may be a really stupid question, but how do I change the CPU Voltage?

I have had a brief look through my BIOS, and I can only seem to find the current speed it is running at, and there is no visible way to change it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I am having the exact same problem with some other games.

Thanks.

[legacy-«Isildur»TS]

Hey PanHead http://mysmilies.ipbfree.com/s/contrib/icw/028.gif noob

[Folk]

Originally posted by InsnC2
I know this may be a really stupid question, but how do I change the CPU Voltage?

I have had a brief look through my BIOS, and I can only seem to find the current speed it is running at, and there is no visible way to change it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I am having the exact same problem with some other games.

Thanks.

Not all motherboards support voltage adjustments, and certainly no OEM (HP, Compaq, Dell) systems support it.

[legacy-neilbyrne]

bump...

I am researching, may end up trying this, i'll report back later

[legacy-CowboyBebop]

Originally posted by InsnC2
I know this may be a really stupid question, but how do I change the CPU Voltage?

I have had a brief look through my BIOS, and I can only seem to find the current speed it is running at, and there is no visible way to change it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I am having the exact same problem with some other games.

Thanks.

Sometimes it's done with changing jumpers on a MB. With the Asus A7N8X, it's done through the bios. Check with your MB manual or the manufacture.

[legacy-Hexx Da Millian]

[i]
Now it looks like the game stalls for a second or so every once in a while but at least now I can play. I'll take a small studder any day compared to completely rebooting my computer after 10 seconds or less. Again, hope this helps somebody.

TalonEyez [/B]

the small studder is probaly due to when a player joins the server you computer has to load the players skin. happens to every that has "preload all player skins" unchecked.

if you have this option checked than your map load times will increase from the minimal 10seconds(unchecked) to nearly 2 minutes or more. becuase your computer is loading the entire list of skins/models from you drive into memory.

[legacy-[ZT]PanHead]

Sup «Isildur»TS.

Do I know you?