Finished with SH4 (Just kidding!)

[Dmsdmullins]

Lets see here...

1st comp
Asus a8n-sli mobo
amd 2800 fx x2 64bit cpu
2gig kingston ram 3-3-3-8 timing (stock)
x2 Nvida 7600 gt vid cards w/4 displays (locks on one display or any combination there after, sli on or off)
800w power supply (cant remember manufacturer) but more power than required
on board realtec ac97 sound & emulated altec lansing. Tried both
380g sata hd (game is on two different partitions using two different operating sys's.)
running 64bit xp pro on one partition and 32bit xp standard on another

All drivers updated... Crashes with all voltages, clock freqs, etc stock/or oc'd.
I rarely have trouble with any other software and can run most at max settings... SH4 will soft/hard lock at minimums. My system setup is extreamly stable with settings resonably set. all temps run low, case and hardware is well ventillated.

2nd is a toshiba satellite laptop, 1.7 pentium, 1 gig ram, 80gig ide drive, xp standard, all stock no mods. Drivers are all current but this is the only game I have on it. I use it for school and rarely anything else.

I can give more specifics if needed on drivers bios etc...

[tedhealy]

I thought this was an April Fool post:rotfl:

Then I see you are serious. All I can say is in the course of over a year with the game and the various patches, I have had maybe 10 total CTDs or lock ups. I'd say half of those were directly due to mods. The other half I'm unsure what caused them. If there's one thing I can't complain about with this game, it's stability. With SH3 I remember saving every few days just in case something happened, in SH4 the thought never even crosses my mind to save just in case I get a CTD and lose progress.

As they say, I think the problem is on your end.

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by Dmsdmullins

Lets see here...

1st comp
Asus a8n-sli mobo
amd 2800 fx x2 64bit cpu
2gig kingston ram 3-3-3-8 timing (stock)
x2 Nvida 7600 gt vid cards w/4 displays (locks on one display or any combination there after, sli on or off)
800w power supply (cant remember manufacturer) but more power than required
on board realtec ac97 sound & emulated altec lansing. Tried both
380g sata hd (game is on two different partitions using two different operating sys's.)
running 64bit xp pro on one partition and 32bit xp standard on another

All drivers updated... Crashes with all voltages, clock freqs, etc stock/or oc'd.
I rarely have trouble with any other software and can run most at max settings... SH4 will soft/hard lock at minimums. My system setup is extreamly stable with settings resonably set. all temps run low, case and hardware is well ventillated.

2nd is a toshiba satellite laptop, 1.7 pentium, 1 gig ram, 80gig ide drive, xp standard, all stock no mods. Drivers are all current but this is the only game I have on it. I use it for school and rarely anything else.

I can give more specifics if needed on drivers bios etc...

Let's see, A8N32-SLI Deluxe is what I have (identical or nearly so), 2 gig go-fast memory, check!, two 7600GT in SLI is what I had (don't ask!), yada, yada.....hold it!

If you check out the Newegg comments for the A8N32-SLI you'll find that many have had problems related to their on-board sound. Plugging in a sound card fixes that. I'm running a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card, but anything will work. That would also unload your microprocessor a bit. It will definitely eliminate game stutters in lotsa games.

I disagree that your 800 watt ps is too small. Well, it could be, but my 650 watt SLI certified Rosewell ps was wonderful with two of your cards. The important thing is the wattage on your two +12v rails. EVGA website say!-->Minimum 400 Watt for SLI mode system. (Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 24 Amp Amps.) So do you have 24 amps on those puppies? Then you're OK.

Your 7600GT cards are fine. I liked my SLI setup just as much as I like my single 7900GS that I'm running now. Frame rates were only a little less and I liked the rendering maybe a bit better. The 7600GTs have been very popular with SH4 and I'm not aware of any issues but the detonations I had. We'll talk about that after you get fixed.

There is also a hard to find gotcha on the motherboard! And failure to do this will make your system unstable when SH4 wails on those two graphics cards you have. SH4 is not impressed by them and will work them to within an inch of their lives. Look on page 2-32 of your motherboard manual and you will see an innocuously labeled EZ_PLUG. This takes a standard 4 pin molex connector. Very cutely and not highlighted, in the middle of this irrelevent page you'll get a nice harmless bullet:

* When using two graphics cards without auxiliary power plugs (sound the alarm!!! 7600 GT!!!!), do not forget to connect a 4-pin ATX power plug to the EZ Plug (TM). Otherwise the system will be unstable.

Uh, they aren't kidding!!!! But my experience was that only SH4 was loading my graphics cards down enough to cause a problem without the plug. The instruction lives far away from any other graphics related issues, so a search won't find it. Only a fortunate accident led to my discovery.

If this ends up solving your problem you owe SUBSIM a donation. Unless Ducimus is right in which case you owe two donations.