ATI Radeon X800 freeze!

OK,so here's my problem:I have:
AMD 64 3800+
1024 MB RAM
ATI Radeon X800
The problem:
Whenever i play GW,the game often freezes for 10-20 secs,unfreezes,goes back to the desktop and gives me a VPU Recover error message.This is quite annoying cause it happens very often(every 5-10 mins),and after several times i have to reboot!
I tried reinstalling GW,my video card drivers(i tried several infact)....nothing!
Does anyone have any idea how to fix this?

I've heard rumors about that card running pretty hot. Maybe check your tempature settings, add some fans, or open case to cool it off.

Is that a straight X800? Or a X800XL, X800GTO, X800GT?

I have the X800XL and I leave the PCI slot right next to it open for more air.

It's a normal X800.The temperature seems fine,the fans work ok,and this happens only in GW,everything else works fine.

That is Weird.

I'm using a X850 Pro by Connect3D (roughly a card and a bit up from yours)

and have absolutely no problems. The X800 is quite a beast, and can run very hot, depending on what particular settings the game needs.

If the problem is related to Guild Wars only, then the first thing i would do is start changing some of the options that are likely to put the card under strain..start with AA

Also, ATI's knowledge base is very handy for problems like this ..can't remember the link, but if you google 'ATI Knowledge Base' you'll get there

Also try www.rage3d.com - lots of very helpful people there.

You can try disabling/enabling fastwrites, or changing your AGP port settings to x4/x8, alos in the CCC put the AI settings down (not off, just down).

Another point to mention - is that I started having an issue with my vid card in GW, it was getting badly corrupted - but it ended up being my PSU and not the card or GW. Just that GW was the first game that started showing sings of it failing.

I had a similar problem with my x600. I even asked for help in this forum, here. I ended up buying a new card, x700, but I hope you will fix yours. Does x800 have an "open" or "covered" fan? that seemed to be my problem. This link has some nice info about vpu recover problems, you might want to check it out. Good luck.

It often happens when your over clocked.... Or when you have AGP Fast Writed Disabled (Since the card is designed to work WITH Fast Write, and Side Band Addressing)

the biggest problem tho is power supply, because the cards demand alot of power (you need to plug them in o_0) a lower wattage power supply causes errors such as this :\

i use slot fans to cool off all my video cards

I had the same problem with the same card, but I was running it on a laptop. So obviously overheating was a problem. The company replaced the card with nvidia but it sometimes has the same problems if I dont stack my computer on some books so that the vent has plenty of "blowing" space.

couldnt a slot fan fix the problem for desktop?

The temperature isn't a problem:i opened the case,the card has plenty of "breathing room" and it isn't hot while working....but GW still freezes .
I believe this could do with the fastwrites(i read somewhere),but i can't disable them(can't find the option ><)...

Can someone tell me where to disable fast writes,cause i can't find them in Catalyst control center(although they should be there)...

Although I have no direct experience with this issue, I believe the Fast Write (among other options) are accessible through your computer's BIOS.

Nope.Searched through the whole BIOS-nothing there(i know it should,but it isn't).
It should be right at the bottom of the Catalyst control centre,but it ain't there either.