Kiradien

Hello, I found this forum while searching for a solution to my problem and it seems it may hold the possibility of a chance of a solution, hopefully my attempts at finding a solution will be more fruitful here than in other places I have tried.

My Specs:
Graphics Card: ASUS GeForce EN8800 GS

And just incase it is not related to the video card after all:
Motherboard: ASUS P5QL-E
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
Operating System: Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3

Now, the error that occurs is the atkdisp display driver fails constantly while playing one specific game - BattleForge - and makes gameplay completely impossible. Until I started playing around with the drivers after getting the problem, I recieved the following error message within 15 seconds of it freezing up:
After updating my Nvidia drivers to the latest version (And thereafter the beta in hopes that it would hold my solution), it no longer goes to that message at any rapid rate - but still forces me to perform a hard-reset on the computer. With the new drivers - which did Not replace, update, or in any way touch the atkdisp display driver - it tries to recover for approximately 10-15 minutes, completely hogging all the processing resources on my computer before coming up with the above error message (Or the rapid blue screen of death also mentioning atkdisp, though the screen disappears too quick to read any more than that.)

As I said before, it is only this one game that gives me these errors, but the fact that others are not having the same issue leads me to believe something may be wrong on my side - although the issue only started after one of the last patches. I have tried they're support forum and they're customer support to no avail, and am hoping that someone here will know what no one else seems to.

One other error I had also received while playing said game - one which is more likely to be related to the game than anything else, but may offer some inkling of information is the following:



That error message was a one-time thing, and while I have doubts it is related, I am not entirely certain, hence the reason I posted it here as well.

Any possible solutions would be greatly appreciated, I am truly out of ideas here. Thanks for your time. :)

emosun

That is one interesting screen shot.

Post the power supply make model and wattage and also post the cards temps under load.

Kiradien

Wow, that response was rediculously fast...

As per my power supply, I can't say too much about it, as the box itself doesn't say too much...

TaoTec 650W Super Silent Power Supply ATX 12V V .2.01
Voltage: 100 ~ 240 Vac
Frequency: 50 ~ 60Hz
Output Characteristics:
+3.3V +5V +12V1 +12V2 -12V +5Vsb
24A 24A 19A 19A 0.8A 3A

As for Video Card temperatures, that I do not know, However... You mentioning video card temperatures AND power in one message did remind me of something - I added a fan to my box that was not there initially, which also keeps my computer cool when the box was formerly getting hot running certain games - Battleforge, and Supreme Commander - Perhaps the cooling fan has something to do with it, I had used it in my old computer for years without a problem, but perhaps the additional power-load is too much for it or something? Though, I know after first installing the fan the game was running smoothly...

How would you suggest finding the Video card temperature? I can find the processors temperatures but not the video card anywhere :(

emosun

Use riva tuner to get the card temp. That power supply is basically junk and probably the cause of your problem. Not a day goes by here I see people having artifacts resulting from junk power supplies. Also the fan you added barely uses a few watts. Fans / lights / drives , don't use much power at all. Mostly the cpu , videocard , ram ect uses the most power.

Kiradien

I know it only uses a few watts, but if it is as you say caused by my power supply not giving enough power, even though it Did give enough power when I first started playing, then it must have had just enough power before, and now be short by a few watts... It would also explain why I never had similar issues with any other game I have ever played on this computer...

As to using riva tuner to check the card temperature, I cannot find any form of reference to temperature in it, I must be blind or something... In either case, the video card hardly gets warm ever since I put that fan in, so I have doubts that it is the issue...

But... As you seem practically certain the problem is with my Power Supply, I must pose the question... What power supply would you recommend? :)

emosun

The power supply that the 8800 need has to be 600w or higher with 26amps on the 12v rail and an 80+ certification , good brands include corsair , coolermaster , silverstone , ocz , thermaltakes toughpower , pc power and cooling , ect....

The fan isn't causing the problem as stated already. The power supply your using is under stress from the power heavy components in the pc and basically has begun to wear out. The pc will work initially with a bad power supply , but that powersupply eventually stops running do to be low quality.

Kiradien

Thanks for your awesome advice, I'll give EA a day or 2 to respond in hopes there is another, less expensive solution, but I'll most likely go with the 850 watt Corsair as well as potentially a new graphics card depending on what I find (To guarantee its solved xD)

Thanks for all your help, here's hoping its all solved, if after getting the new power supply I still have problems I'll be sure to post again, though here's hoping that will be the last of it.

emosun

850 is a bit overkill. Meant for sli machines , since you only have one pci-e slot a 650 or 750w model will be plenty.

Kiradien

I got my 650Watt Corsair, its installed, and now my video card does heat up! Well, a little anyway, No way I can tell you the temperature of it, as this model of video card apparently had the heat sensors removed (Oh yay!)

Now, I thought it was fine, I played without any errors, but then I got to a map that I spent 45 minutes on, right at the end, before I could get to the boss, it crashed - No error message, and it DID spend 10 minutes trying to recover (To no avail, I had to hard-reset it). So unless Corsair is crap, or 650 watts isn't enough... I'll have to guess its my video card... Glad I ordered a SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 at the same time...


I will say, My computer does apparently work better with the new power supply.

On the off chance the video card upgrade doesn't do it (Which it should, as sapphire shouldn't be using asus' atkdisp display driver) are there any other suggestions?

Phædrus2401

Unlikely on both counts.


A bad power supply can damage components over time. Unstable voltage can damage graphics card VRAM, and overvoltage can damage any component. It's quite possible that the old junk PSU damaged the graphics card in some way before you replaced it.


The driver doesn't really have anything to do with it, when the driver "crashes" it's basically just shouting, "Oy! There's a problem with the graphics card!" It's rarely a problem with the driver itself. If it is a comfort, though, the ATI card will be using a different driver than the nVidia card.

If this doesn't fix it I'd start looking at the motherboard.