GW + 9800 GTX+ = HW crash

I've updated to the latest BIOS to my board (went from the first one to the latest one, skipping all in between). I read the update notes with each BIOS update and there was nothing at all about graphics cards.

It'd be nice to know if someone out there has got a 9800 GTX+ to work on an ASUS P5B-Plus motherboard though

Currently my last resort is to just re-format my computer, but this is my *last* option (I've got other stuff to try first).

As far as "software" goes, I've never known a software problem to just kick off the computer instantly and reboot. I've had this sort of behavior before when my RAM settings were wrong, so it smells of hardware to me at the moment.

I eagerly await work to be over so I can figure out if it's my PSU or not. I know you are all eagerly awaiting my response to so I'll keep you posted

So I think we might have this *SOLVED* (knocks on wood for about an hour)

I successfully played GW all night without a single crash... with a new PSU.

The free version of Everest didn't work for me (incompatible with my south bridge), so I just went out and bought a PSU with the intention of returning it if it didn't work. And... seems to have worked.

So in summary the problem was that I had a 4 12V rail PSU that had 18A on each rail. The first two rails are dedicated to the processor and the last two are for everything else, and I guess however it's configured the last two don't have what it takes for my 9800 GTX+. Keep in mind I am also running 2 HDD (1 10,000 RPM raptor and one 7,200 RPM), 2 optical drives, 4 case fans, and 2 other PCI cards.

So I went out and bought a single 12V rail rated at 60A and it seems to have fixed my problem. Here is what I bought at an awesome price with rebate: http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0273362 (yes I'm lucky in that I have a Micro Center nearby)

well, two 12v rails at 18A each is 36A, which is a ridiculous 432W. trust me, no processor in the world (or graphic card for that matter) uses that much by itself.

it's more than likely that you were trying to power the card from one 12V rail, which is 216W, and then somehow ending up sharing that rail with a bunch of other peripherals.

Your second idea is probably the case, but I tried using all 3 PCI-E connections and each one failed so time to Ebay it and keep my new PSU

ive been having similar problems with my new 9800gtx+, except now instead of crashing or freezing, my game will not even start. my latest efforts of installing the newest bios update are to no avail. (sry to bring this thread to life)

my specs:

windows vista 32 bit home premium
nvidia geforce 9800gtx+ (disc drivers, the latest make my pc crash)
intel core 2 duo 2.4Ghz e6600
2 GB ram ddr2 667
motherboard is a Dell DXP061

i have directx 10

it might also help you guys to know that i have only one pci express card slot on my motherboard and that my power supply is a BFG GS-series ATX12V 2.2 650w. http://www.bfgtech.com/bfgr650wgspsu.aspx

to be honest, i'm surprised that you've managed to hook a 3rd party PSU to a dell motherboard. normally dell motherboards are purposely designed to be incompatible with normal PSUs, which forces you to upgrade through dell instead.

ahaha. lets just say, i went through a deal of trouble, a 15 pin sata cable extender, and some terrible looking cable management to make it work. In reality, it wasnt the motherboard that made it incompatible, it was the fact that i only had one sata cable with multiple male ends, and the hard drive and cd/dvd drives were on opposite ends of the case, so the cable didnt reach to both.

any1 guna post with some new advice here? ive tried most of the things posted here and the power supply is well over the requirements for my card.

Santa,

You are probably having the same problem I've had even though it may not seem like it. Your have multiple 12V rails just like I did and your graphics card might be on a rail with a bunch of other devices and exceed your 20A limit.

You might try switching your graphics card PCI-E power to another connector if you have some.

Soo, for the Geforce 9800 GTX+ you need:

1. a PSU with 36 Ampere on all 12V lines (dont think 24A +12A=36A, there goes a bit lost!)
->Look up in the manual, there have to stand it!

2. you need 2 x 6Pin Males

3. check if you Mainboard is comatible with the Graphicscard, can check that by
asking the seller

-> If you card still dont works, then its damaged!
have the same card.
At the beginning always got a blackscreen by playing some games.
Then i buyed a new PSU and then i got Graphic Errors.
-> I send the Card back and got a new graphic card (the same type again)
now my computer works.

There are in general great problems by some gtx+, so get a new one.

I unfortunately do not have any other pci-e slots to switch to and only 2 6 pin connectors(which is all i should need), the other issue i have with the power supply thing is that the card only hiccups when i start guild wars; it works like a charm for everything else, and my screen becomes unresponsive forcing me to shut off the computer only when i play guildwars.


an update, i looked up the psu rails, and both 12v rails are rated for a max of 20 amps on each, though i dont know why i need 36 amps on each rail for guildwars when my card runs smoothly for other games at only 20 amps max a rail, lucid snake, if u could tell me how to find out whether or not my card is running off of one rail or both and what other peripherals are running off each rail as well, it would be most helpful(in the same category how to reroute what runs off of each rail)

You dont need 36 ampere on each rail.
watch in the internet or the manual.
All 12 volt rails should have more then 36 ampere at all.

ill show you an examble of my psu:
+3,3V 36 A
+5Vsb 3 A
+5V 30 A
+12V1 18 A
+12V2 18 A
+12V3 18 A
+12V4 18 A
+12V All in All 48,3 A
-12V 0,5 A

This is what you have to look up.
My PSu is an OCZ StealthXStream 600W.

yes sry i didn't post back earlier, i did some serious researching last night about the advantages of single and multiple rail psu's, and yes my psu is 40 amps on all 12v rails, which u think would do the trick right? But after some research i found that similar to the op's problem, the manufacturer doesn't tell me how the loads are distributed to each rail; for instance, my cpu could be hogging one entire rail to itself and all the other power cords from the psu devoted to everything else could be running off of another rail. Since multiple independent 12v rails have a max of 20 amp load, if one rail does indeed power my card and everything else (e.g. 2 dvd drives a hard drive a floppy drive etc) then my power needs might exceed the ampere load for one rail, and my comp would freeze or crash. So assuming this is the problem, which would make sense, as the op had the same one, i am going to buy a single rail 650 watt supply with the good chance this will fix my issues as well.


i am now really jealous you do have a micro center near you lucid :P, but actually i am purchasing the 650 watt version of the psu you bought, thx for the idea http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0273361

No problem.

I had a 700W PSU with 4 12V rails at 18A before and it didn't work, so yeah it has to do with how good the load balancing is on those rails. I found out with mine that the CPU alone took the first two rails, and the last 2 were for "everything else". Clearly not a good load balance considering the 9800GTX+ required the most power.

Got a single 12V rail and now everything works beautifully. Worth a shot anyway, if it doesn't work you can always return it!

EDIT: Corsair PSUs are awesome!

PC specs

cpu: Intel Q6850 Core 2 extreme
ram: 4 x 2gb Corsair
Video: 2 x nVidia 9800gtx
mobo: XFX nForce 790i ultra sli
PSU: 1kW PC Power & Cooling
OS: Vista Ultimate 64

Zero problems with any other games I play!

Basically I've been fighting with this problem since I built my pc about a year ago.

I update to the latest drivers and I can fudge with display settings until I get GW to run (single gpu or sli, vert sync on/off, split frame rendering, etc), then a 'patch' for GW is released and I'm back to crashing until the next driver update!

I am not having psu issues, I am not having cooling issues. I've had GW running fine after previous nVidia driver updates until a new GW update comes along.

If anyone has and new solutions that haven't been posted yet please share them with me, I am at my wits end!

Anyone...any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.

Update: I've now also tried compatibility mode for xp with no help. Also, my audio card is the x-fi extreme pci express.

Update:

I'm at 2hrs and counting in GW. Here is my fix for others to try if they're still having problems. I formatted my Vista partition, reinstalled with Vista 64 w/sp1, and installed ONLY the drivers on windows update that are Vista certified. It worked for me, and luckily windows update had drivers for all my hardware. True the nVidia drivers are a couple steps behind the latest from nVidia, so no physx support yet, but GW WORKS and that's what matters to me!

In short, it had to be driver incompatibility or a corrupt os file.

P.S. Thanks to those who posted. I wanted to try everything else before nuking my os.

Well, I'm back. Everything was running fine, I enjoyed a weeks worth of playing for up to 7 hours at a time, zero crashes. Then the thursday update, and bam! I can't play for more that 1/2 hour without crashing!

I haven't changed or installed anything, the only change was the update!!!! I'm starting to believe in the nVidia conspiracy!

Helllppp!!!

I'm beginning to wonder if your best bet might be to raise a support ticket with ANet. If everything is stable until GW updates, then it must be a problem with GW. Something in your configuration just doesn't play well with GW.

Yeah, I'll try that. I have nothing to lose. But I've read in most forums that I've found that anet just tells everybody it's their card & their problem basically.

So I'm still hoping someone out there has had these problems and found the solution. Hell, I fixed it...till the 2/5/09 patch.