brand new 'puter, sh4 crashes and crashes :(

[hardwir3d]

Hello everyone,

After lurking around this forum for almost three years and having envied lots of people here for being able to run SH4 for almost 2 years now, I finally got around to purchasing a new rig to play SH4. Finally got rid of the 512MB P4

Ofcorse, 1st thing I did after installing the OS was installing SH3 and 4. SH3-GWX runs fine (@220-250 fps), but SH4 keeps crashing and crashing

First, my system specs:
i7-920 (not overclocked... yet )
6 GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600
ATI Radeon HD4870 OC 1 GB GDDR 5
Soundblaster X-fi
2xSamsung Spinpoint 700GB -> 1.4 TB RAID0
Windows Vista SP1 &
Windows XP Corp x64 SP2
ATI Catalyst 8.12
SB Drivers 2.18.0008

I have SH4 and Uboat missions installed, which patches it to V1.5... right?

Second, the problem that occurs:
In both Vista and XP x64, everything runs fine until the actual game starts. It immediately 'stutters' and everything is 'garbled up', like seeing 2 portions of the interior mixed together. Uh, this may sound a bit vague, but I've got no clue how else to describe this. The problem seems to be largely concentrated to the sub's interior. If I switch to free camera view, the game behaves much better, almost like normal (tho it still tends to crash way too often). Windows XP x64 runs the game better than Vista does (crashes 'only' after 3 minutes, instead of seconds on avg. in #$%%^ Vista. (damn. vista is a real pain in the ass. bill still manages to make things worse and worse))

I get no error code or error message or anything. It just garbles things up, stutters, hangs and crashes to desktop as soon as I move back into the interior from freecam mode. In Vista it is almost impossible to even get to freecam mode, as it tends to crash before that, in XP I usually manage to go to freecam before it crashes.

I've tried different graphic settings, different drivers, different OS's, different resolutions, it all doesn't matter, SH4 stutters, hangs, crashes, stutters, hangs, crashes.

I'm really at a loss here. *sniffles*

And I FINALLY wanna play this game so bad! I hope some subsim kaleun can save me from my misery

[AVGWarhawk]

I'm running SH4 with Phenoms/4 gig ram and 9800 GT, Vista 64 bit. No problems. I suspect your problems are coming from you vid card. Last night, I reinstalled SH4 into the Microsoft Games folder. When done, the game would load but no screen. Just black. I defaulted my settings in the Nvidia control panel and then reset them to where I wanted them. Problem solved. Set your vid card up to the default values and see how it runs. If it runs like it should. Start your tweaking

[FIREWALL]

Welcome Aboard Hardwir3d

I have a dual boot XP Pro sp2 and Vista Ultimate 64 setup.

I just let SH4 UBM Gold install by default on Vista and no problems. Try a reinstall first before fecking with everything.

In the past once with XP I installed SH3 and didn't have any sound.

Swapped out sound card and almost bought new speakers.

Try the easy shet first. AND... Let us know when you get it going so as to help others.

Catch you later and enjoy SH4

[Soundman]

I run SH4 on two computers, both with vista. It runs great on both of them. I doubt vista is the issue here.

[hardwir3d]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

I suspect your problems are coming from you vid card.

Yeah, so do I. I just don't have a clue what the exact problem is. Crysis crashes all the time too. And much quicker when all GFX settings are to max. Weird, cos it runs very smoothly even then. It's almost like Vista sees the GPU temp and just crashes when it gets high. Even tho I've read Radeon 4870's should be able to operate normally at 135C. Dunno if thats true tho. It's really noisy after it CTD'ed. And I suspect someone like Bill Gates is truly capable of releasing an OS that doesn't give my Radeon permission to operate at high temperatures, even if the Radeon is built to operate at extremely high temps. M$ Vista being that wonderful... Well, it wouldn't really wouldn't surprise me. This OS is an insult to one's intelligence.

"Bill Gates doesn't give your Radeon permission to operate at temperatures over 90C. Vista will now 'protect' your hardware. Click 'next' to continue, if you have permission to click 'next'."

It isn't anywhere near that noisy when SH4 crashes. But I don't know. Maybe Catalyst 8.12 really has ****ty drivers. Red Alert 3 runs like a dream tho.

Set your vid card up to the default values and see how it runs. If it runs like it should. Start your tweaking

Are you talking about GPU overclocking? All system settings are still default. There's an ASUS Triton 81 CPU cooler in my system, for future overclocking. Heard ~4Ghz should be possible with a good cooler. And the Radeon... well, maybe +8 or 10%? I just haven't gotten around to do that, as I'm still trying to figure out lotsa other new things that come with a new system and OS. (Like Vista refusing to install 64-bit codecs demmit) Besides, I haven't even been able to stretch this system to the max. (First Futuremark test still isn't performed :p) No matter what I do with it, it just happily complies while still picking it's nose.

I really hope I don't have to wait for a next driver release. Only to see the SH4 problem isn't fixed.


Are there other kaleuns here who have a Radeon 4870?

Originally Posted by FIREWALL

Welcome Aboard Hardwir3d

Thank you. How very kind.

I have a dual boot XP Pro sp2 and Vista Ultimate 64 setup.

I just let SH4 UBM Gold install by default on Vista

I have installed it under Vista. Besides Crysis CTD's (which does run properly before it crashes, no stuttering and all) I dont have much problems with all other games I own.

and no problems.

I wish. SH4 is one of the most important games I wanna play on this system. Another one is the upcoming Cities XL. I'm already having nightmares CXL won't run properly either.

Try a reinstall first before fecking with everything.

Check. *stutter, hang, CTD*

What videocard do you have?

In the past once with XP I installed SH3 and didn't have any sound.

Swapped out sound card and almost bought new speakers.

Try the easy shet first. AND... Let us know when you get it going so as to help others.

If I get it running, I'm gonna hire a small biplane with a 'SH4 runs like a dream on my i7-920' banner. That's how happy it will make me.

Catch you later and enjoy SH4

I have... a bit. Freecam in the harbor in XP x64. For five minutes. Perhaps I should start playing it in XP and save it every 2 minutes. And only go to the interior when it's really needed. "I'll take the first, second, third and fourth watch!"

[FIREWALL]

Originally Posted by hardwir3d

Yeah, so do I. I just don't have a clue what the exact problem is. Crysis crashes all the time too. And much quicker when all GFX settings are to max. Weird, cos it runs very smoothly even then. It's almost like Vista sees the GPU temp and just crashes when it gets high. Even tho I've read Radeon 4870's should be able to operate normally at 135C. Dunno if thats true tho. It's really noisy after it CTD'ed. And I suspect someone like Bill Gates is truly capable of releasing an OS that doesn't give my Radeon permission to operate at high temperatures, even if the Radeon is built to operate at extremely high temps. M$ Vista being that wonderful... Well, it wouldn't really wouldn't surprise me. This OS is an insult to one's intelligence.

"Bill Gates doesn't give your Radeon permission to operate at temperatures over 90C. Vista will now 'protect' your hardware. Click 'next' to continue, if you have permission to click 'next'."

It isn't anywhere near that noisy when SH4 crashes. But I don't know. Maybe Catalyst 8.12 really has ****ty drivers. Red Alert 3 runs like a dream tho.

Are you talking about GPU overclocking? All system settings are still default. There's an ASUS Triton 81 CPU cooler in my system, for future overclocking. Heard ~4Ghz should be possible with a good cooler. And the Radeon... well, maybe +8 or 10%? I just haven't gotten around to do that, as I'm still trying to figure out lotsa other new things that come with a new system and OS. (Like Vista refusing to install 64-bit codecs demmit) Besides, I haven't even been able to stretch this system to the max. (First Futuremark test still isn't performed :p) No matter what I do with it, it just happily complies while still picking it's nose.

I really hope I don't have to wait for a next driver release. Only to see the SH4 problem isn't fixed.


Are there other kaleuns here who have a Radeon 4870?

Thank you. How very kind.

I have installed it under Vista. Besides Crysis CTD's (which does run properly before it crashes, no stuttering and all) I dont have much problems with all other games I own.

I wish. SH4 is one of the most important games I wanna play on this system. Another one is the upcoming Cities XL. I'm already having nightmares CXL won't run properly either.

Check. *stutter, hang, CTD*

What videocard do you have?

If I get it running, I'm gonna hire a small biplane with a 'SH4 runs like a dream on my i7-920' banner. That's how happy it will make me.

I have... a bit. Freecam in the harbor in XP x64. For five minutes. Perhaps I should start playing it in XP and save it every 2 minutes. And only go to the interior when it's really needed. "I'll take the first, second, third and fourth watch!"

My new homebuilt rig with parts from TigerDirect

Intel DX58SO Socket LGA1366 Motherboard CPU Bundle - Intel Core i7 965 Quad Core, 3.20GHz, 8MB L3 Cache, Hyperthreading, Extreme Edition Processor



Thermaltake ProWater 850i Liquid Cooling System


Corsair TWINX Dominator Dual Channel 2048MB PC14400 DDR3 1800MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) x 2

Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 Video Card - 2GB GDDR5, PCI Express 2.0, CrossFire, (2) Dual Link DVI, HDTV

Ultra X3 ULT40070 1600-Watt Power Supply - ATX, SATA-Ready, PCI-E Ready, Energy Efficient,
Modular

Cooler Master RC-1100 Cosmos S ATX Full-Tower Case

[AVGWarhawk]

Go to 3DGuru and there is a ATI vid card utility there. I forget the name. Do a search. I found the Catalyst with ATI are horrible. In fact, the one ATI card I had I did not like. Any, fool around with your card and see how it goes.

[FIREWALL]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

Go to 3DGuru and there is a ATI vid card utility there. I forget the name. Do a search. I found the Catalyst with ATI are horrible. In fact, the one ATI card I had I did not like. Any, fool around with your card and see how it goes.

I'm going to keep this tip. While I've always used the drivers that came with vid card with no probs you never know.

I did put in new drivers with this card compatable with Vista tho.

[Fish40]

Didn't see it mentioned, unless I missed it, but what wattage PSU are you useing? You would be surprised at the havoc an underpowered PSU could cause!

[hardwir3d]

Originally Posted by Fish40

Didn't see it mentioned, unless I missed it, but what wattage PSU are you useing? You would be surprised at the havoc an underpowered PSU could cause!

630W

Originally Posted by FIREWALL

My new homebuilt rig with parts from TigerDirect

Intel DX58SO Socket LGA1366 Motherboard CPU Bundle - Intel Core i7 965 Quad Core, 3.20GHz, 8MB L3 Cache, Hyperthreading, Extreme Edition Processor

Nice

Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 Video Card

Ah, another Radeon... So SH4 runs on your computer with Catalyst 8.12?

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

Go to 3DGuru and there is a ATI vid card utility there. I forget the name. Do a search. I found the Catalyst with ATI are horrible. In fact, the one ATI card I had I did not like.

That's a tip worth checking out.

Any, fool around with your card and see how it goes.

I will as soon as I've had enough coffee to start the day :p

Will get back here later to tell you all how it went.

[Gato76]

Don't forget to install the chipset drivers for you motherboard,and if you have onboard sound make sure is disable in the Bios,and last I could be wrong but I think ur video card has integrated sound build in.Go to control panel --Sounds, if im right you will see two choices there like HD audio and xf sound blaster disable hd audio and hit apply Hope it works.

[RickC Sniper]

@Firewall.

Holy Sh** that's a heck of a pc!! I did not even know they made a 1600 watt psu.

Would you build one for me?

:p

[hardwir3d]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

Go to 3DGuru and there is a ATI vid card utility there. I forget the name. Do a search. I found the Catalyst with ATI are horrible. In fact, the one ATI card I had I did not like. Any, fool around with your card and see how it goes.

Originally Posted by Gato76

Don't forget to install the chipset drivers for you motherboard,and if you have onboard sound make sure is disable in the Bios,and last I could be wrong but I think ur video card has integrated sound build in.Go to control panel --Sounds, if im right you will see two choices there like HD audio and xf sound blaster disable hd audio and hit apply Hope it works.

Thank you all for your suggestions.

* Downloaded "ATI-DNA-8.6B" (URL) from guru3d.com, and installed it.

* All mobo drivers are present without conflicts, onboard sound was of course disabled.

* Disabled the Hi-def audio listed under Soundcontrollers.

Although I noticed some differences (like an "Intel Core2" or whatever logo suddenly appearing when loading Crysis), the same problems remain. SH4 tends to crash a bit later: most of the time I am able to quickly switch to freecam before it CTDs. Again, the game behaves normal in freecam, except -forgot to mention this earlier-, when rotating the freecam, the water gets kinda 'blurred', like the scope does when you raise it at periscope depth. It does this even when I'm high up in the sky, for about 1 second, then the waves behave normal again. Crysis too, still crashes within 5 minutes.

There is this ATI hotfix for Catalyst 8.12, but it fixes a problem with crossfire and AGP radeons, so it doesn't seem to apply to my system.

I have a Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 mobo, are there any known issues with that perhaps?

I almost don't dare to ask, but.... suggestions, anyone?

This system should be able to run SH4 like a dream, or am I really just being plain stupid?

[Gato76]

Open the case and check if the heatsink is properly attach to the CPU,not loose or anything like that.the same for the video card and the memory sticks if everything is ok the next step is to test your system with a different video card ,you mention garbled up display ,that is a video card problem.I would replace that video card

[AVGWarhawk]

This is the tool I was telling you about at 3DGuru. ATI Tool Try. It works better then the ATI catalyst. I have know idea what you downloaded as noted above.


http://downloads.guru3d.com/ATI-Tray...nload-733.html