GeFORCE 6600 AGP8X

I'm using a GeFORCE 6600 AGP8X graphics card that was just recently installed, and I have updated the drivers. Now my Second Life client freezes after a couple minutes that I'm inworld. I re-installed SL, cleared the cashe, turned off all the extra settings and even uninstalled a few large programs on my computer. It still freezes. I'm not sure what to do?

I'd guess it could be a weak power supply. 6600s are power hogs, and if you have less than a 350w power supply, it will act up.

how do i check how much ram i have? it might be that

Right click My Computer and choose properties..

I'd look into RAM only if the problem is not limited just to SL. Bad RAM would most likely bring everything down.

actually it freezes when i play another graphic intense game as well

size: 104 bytes

size on disk: 4.00kb (4,096 bytes)

sorry im totally retarded at computer hardware stuff

Yeah I was having troubles with my 6600 512er and I upgraded my power supply to a 500w and it doesn't do it anymore.

how did you do that? is this something controled? or like just better batteries or something?

It depends on your computer. Try to post some specifications or at least its model number.

Upgrading the power supply will require physical replacement of the existing power supply.

here is a pic of removing apower supply:

Replacing a power supply is fairly easy as long as the computer does not have one of those small, nonstandard power supplies.

If you had an ATI card before then installed this new card, you likely need to completely remove the old AT drivers and reinstall the new Nvidia ones. ATI drivers suck and don't uninstall they way they should. ATI has a drive cleaner available on their web site to get rid of all traces of the old rivers or you can use this program:

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=745

In all honesty it does sound like a wimpy power supply though. Nvidia recommends a 300watt power supply as a minimum, I would suggest 350w or better and the 12volt rail should be rated 15amps or better. Have to be careful of the cheap power supplies, 300 watts doesn't tell you much since there is no standard way of calculating wattage and ol' Honest Wang's Super Power Supply and Ultra Rice Cooker might not be quite up to snuff, the 12volt rail amperage is a much better indicator and 9 amps on a 300watt PS means it is likely junk.

I ran that program and got rid of the old ATI drivers but it still freezes, it just takes a little longer now then it use to. My power supply is good, its like 400 or something so i know that isnt the problem.

Well, if you can post some specs we can possibly be better to help you. Also, like I sais, just because it says 400watts it doesn't mean didly. If you can look at the label it tells you the amperage on the 12volt rail. If it isn't 15 amps or better then it may be the power supply. It may also be heat, open up the case and make sure all the fans are running and not clogged with dirt. Leave the cover off and try blowing a house fan into the innards and see if that makes a difference.

Also, have you updated the motherboard drivers? If they are out of date that could cause problems as well.

I have the computer open, it still freezes. It's not actually crashing, it just freezes, and i have to restart. It seems to only freeze when im doing stuff like moving around or looking in my inventory.

System:
Microsoft Windows XP
Professional
Version 2002
Service Pack 1
Computer:
AMD Athlon(tm)XP 2600+
1.91 GHz
1.00 GB of RAM

Are you on some sort of wireless connection? What is your connection speed and are you getting packet loss? Might go into preferences and turn down your network speed (or turn it up) and see if that makes any difference. If you are on wireless try running connected by wire and see if that helps as well.

Motherboard drivers and bios up to date?

i think if it it made other online things crash i would check the connection speed, but thats not it, i mean its not like any of that changed from before when it was working really well. Its just SL that keeps freezing. Im running on a cable modem thats being split. Im not sure about the motherboard drivers/bios, is there a way i can check?

Lets look at this from what we know:

1. The computer has a new video card recently installed. Before the card was installed, SL works fine. Now, SL no longer works fine.

2. The computer has crashed on other games.

My questions for you:

1. How long (usually) do you spend in SL before the program crashes?

2. Did your "other games crashes" occour before you installed your new card?

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When I see a post like this, it reminds me of when I personally have had video-related problems, or percieved video-related problems. The way I see it, there are 5 possible causes to this issue:

1. Your power supply is not supplying enough voltage to the new card.

2. Your RAM has a failure.

3. Your drivers are not up to date.

4. Your new video card is overheating.

5. Your new video card is bad.

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Now, obviously with that many possibilities, I can't just come right out and tell you what is wrong with the PC, so I have to ask you questions to help rule out what is -not- wrong with your PC, in order to find out what -is- wrong with it. The 2 questions above are probably just a few in a long line of questions I will ask you in order to weed out the problem, just give me the best estimation you can as an answer. The good news is that by weeding out the things that do work, you wont spend a gimungous ammount of time and money trying to find the things that dont work.

thankyou so much, i really appreciate this

My questions for you:

1. How long (usually) do you spend in SL before the program crashes?

-Usually it takes a few minutes, or more. Its almost always when i think Its going to be ok and then BAM it freezes.

2. Did your "other games crashes" occour before you installed your new card?

-I didnt have this other game before i installed the new card. I could only play The Sims 2 (thats the game) by having this new one. So no.

Ok, sorry about the wait, holidays and whatnot.

Based on what you answered here, we can probably rule out your RAM being bad. If you are still wanting to check it, you can download a free tool that will check all of your systems RAM. Google up "Memtest 86+". You will need a CD Burner, and a program that can burn an ISO image, you will also need to know how to set your compuer's BIOS to boot from CD before your other drives. If you need help with this, you can google it up, or ask here, and someone will be glad to help you.

Now, we can almost definitly assume that the video card is at fault. We can also almost definitly assume that the card is not competely bad (because your computer would not boot properly if it was). So, that narrows it down to 2 most likely candidates:

1. Not enough voltage from power supply. Again, you will need to check the information on the side of the power supply itself, paying special attention to what is listed by "+12v". Knowing what brand power supply it is may be useful too, because alot of manufacturers use complete junk power supplies, in order to save money in the manufacturing process.

2. The card may be overheating. Personally, I feel at this point, this may be the best thing to check into, and you can test this on the cheap too. You will need to remove the side of your computer's case (this is the left hand side, facing the front of the computer, which you probably aready know if you installed the card yourself =). You will need a small desktop house fan, or any house fan, that can blow directly into the case. Basically, what we are doing, is verifying that a constant stream of cool air is blowing directly over both the top and the bottom of the card, keeping it as cool as posssible.

Better yet, when you open your case to try the cooldown, go ahead and check the power supplies 12v rail information as well, just to save time. Understand that I am not a voltage expert (I hate Ohm's Law.), and someone else will probably have to give their 2 cents on the voltage, but post it here anyways.

Now, back to the cooldown thing. When you are blowing cool air into the case, go ahead and power up the computer, and log into SL. See if the pc lasts longer before it craps out.
If there is no difference, we can almost definitly assume that your power supply is at fault, or there is also a possibility of a fault in your new card.

Very, very important: if there are loose wires hanging from your case, make absolutely certain that none of them come close to entering the fan blades. Usually, a PC chassis fan will not hurt wires immediatly, but a house fan may do more damage, and it would be best to avoid that =)

Hope this info helps =)

omg i updated my divx driver and its all good! thanks so much everyone

woah. I so did not expect that.

Khashai Steinbeck eats his hat, then realising he has no hat, and is actually eating his feet, cries himself to sleep. Then he wakes up and does The Chicken Dance.

Question, what has a divx driver to do with Second Life, I don't see the connection. Is it because of the "live imaging" in game (meaning movies some clubs play. This might also be a problem for mine

mostlikly divx has no real effect on secondlife, but it many have had effect on the graphics drivers.

in what way i am not sure.