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Solutions for screen freezes while running 3d applications

Posted by sporg

If you are having problems with your 3d graphics card where it hangs or freezes while running a 3d application here are a few solutions you can try to get it working again. Have a read and try the solution that you think applies to your situation.

Warranty

Some of the solutions described in this article could void your warranty. Please make sure you are aware of what is allowed by you warranty agreement before proceeding. If you are having problems with a new purchase you may find it better to contact the people you bought the item from before proceeding with these solutions. Now as the warning is out the way we can continue with some solutions and a bit of fun.

Have you made any changes?

If you have recently installed a new video card the problem may be with drivers. Here is a list of drivers and software you may need to re-install or update.

1. Download and install the latest drivers for your motherboard.
2. Make sure you have uninstalled old video card drivers.
3. Download and install the latest drivers for your video card.
4. Download and re-install DirectX.

If you are still have the problem you also need to make sure that your computers power supply is big enough to supply power to your machine and the video card. Use a program like Motherboard Monitor and monitor the power voltages on your computer while testing the video card. If the voltages drop below the normal range then you will need to look into replacing the power supply for one that has a higher wattage output.

Problems after installing a program or driver

Try Microsoft’s System Restore. This is a tool in Windows XP and Vista that backs up all your s settings before new software or drivers are installed. To restore your settings to before an application or driver was installed do the following.

Through Help and Support:

1. Click Start, and then click Help and Support.
2. Under Pick a Task, click Undo changes to your computer with System Restore.
3. Follow the instructions on the wizard.

Through the All Programs menu:

1. Click Start.
2. Point to All Programs.
3. Point to Accessories.
4. Point to System Tools.
5. Click System Restore.
6. Follow the instructions on the wizard.

Problems with no apparent cause (Temperature)
One of the big causes for graphics cards freezing while running 3d applications is due to the GPU (Graphics processing unit) getting too hot.

If your video card has a temperature gauge built in you could run an application like Futuremark’s 3dmark software for a minute or two and then check the cards temperature. (Nvidea users can download ntune, ATI user can download ATITool) if it shows a high temperature then you need to open up the case to check why.

Most of the video cards you buy today have fans and heat sinks attached. First thing to do is to make sure the fan is working and that there is no dust trapped in the heat sinks stopping air flow. Also check that there are no other cards restricting flow to the fan.

Sound card

3d applications like games also use the sound card. What this means is that it could be the sound card and not the graphics card that is causing the problem. So if your application has sound try disabling the sound card.

Follow the next few steps to do this:

1. Click start then Control Panel.
2. In the control panel double click System.
3. Click on the Hardware tab.
4. Click Device Manager.
5. Click the + by Sound, video and game controllers section.
6. Right click on your sound card and click Disable.

With the sound card disabled try your application again and see if your computer still has a problem. If not you need to start troubleshooting you sound card (Will write up an article for this soon too).

Slow down you AGP, PCI Express or DirectX acceleration.

Most computers will have a setting in the BIOS for the speed of the AGP or PCI Express interface. If your BIOS setting is set to max speed try slowing down the interface then check if you still have the same problem. If not this is where it get a bit tricky. The problem could be either the motherboard or the video car. In some cases it’s a matter of motherboard and video card combination that has a problem. The only way to sort out the problem is trial and error.

Another method worth trying is to slow down the 3d acceleration in windows.

To do this

1. Click start then Control Panel.
2. Click Display.
3. Click on the Settings tab.
4. Click Advanced.
5. Click on the Troubleshooting tab.

There is a slide called hardware acceleration. Try moving it to the left a notch or too and see if that stops the screen freezes. Again there could be a problem with either the motherboard of the video card or they are just not compatible.

Check the computers memory

Use Microsoft’s Memory Diagnostic tool to make sure you do not have a problem with your computers memory.

I hope this information is of use to someone out there having problems. Would also like to hear from anyone that might have another solution to the problem

Technorati Tags: 3D Graphics, Solution

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