Help with D3D and a V3 3000

[Ping666]

Hi ppl :)

I have a:
-PC Chips 100 MX7(i think) motherboard
-AMD K6-2 400
-128mb RAM
-Voodoo3 3000 gfx card
-Win98

I can play any software/3dfx games on my PC without a problem and with good performance.

However when I try and play D3D games, they will work from anything between 1min-15mins before the screen freezes up, yet the sound continues for about 30 secs, then the whole PC stops responding.

This is most annoying for me, as many of the games I wanna play are D3D only http://forums.gameplay.com/ubb/furious.gif

So plz any help will be appreciated. I understand that my PC is a bit pants, and am definitely in the market for a new Motherboard as I think that may be the problem. :confused:

Any ideas? :)

[Champ]

u didnt say which drivers for the v3 u are using, later ones solved some problems.
mobo's not great, but try enabling write allocation in the bios, if it has that option, if it doesnt you'll need a utility like powertweak to do it for u, or setk6.
also, disable external cache in the bios settings.this helped me, and make sure u r using latest drivers from 3dfx and dx 7a.
let us know how u get on...... :)

[Champ]

oh, and which games.....? :)

[Ping666]

Ahem i really should check this board more often http://forums.gameplay.com/ubb/laughing.gif

[Ping666]

Ok i am using the latest drivers and DirectX versions. And I have this problem on ALL games/demos that use D3D, too many to list tbh.

There are no glitches and it runs quickly, but then suddenly freezes up and dies on me http://forums.gameplay.com/ubb/furious.gif

And im just going to do that BIOS thing u said...3 months later isnt too bad http://forums.gameplay.com/ubb/laughing.gif

[Ping666]

OK, the enabling write allocation thing wasnt an option, but I disabled the external cache, reinstalled drivers, game, DX7a and STILL have the same problems :(

Im back to square 1, help plz peeps!

[Slide]

Get yourself a proper motherboard, PCChips aren't exactly greatest motherboard manufacturers in the world, I'd recommend an Asus P5-A the best SS7 motherboard money can buy.

[[Borg]McSmiggins]

I think u'll find UT_Champ is right and it's the K6 Write Allocate.

U can get SetK6 from
http://www.3dnow.net/files/setk6v2.zip

just remember 2 add the /on to the command line

[This message has been edited by [Borg]McSmiggins (edited 07-06-2000).]

[Champ]

actually, i re-enabled the external cache a while back, after installing the 4 in 1 bus thingy patch doofah for my mv3p mobo and no probs so far.
gives about 7-8 xtra fps on quake 3 timedemo, so i'm happy!! :)

that write allocation is a definate need tho'

[Ping666]

Ok well Im not one to get overly optimistic about my PC as it always proves me wrong...BUT :)

After installing and running the setK6 proggy and enabling write allocation, I managfed to play over 30 mins of FIFA99 without it crashing...the only reason I left is that I got bored hehe ;)

On my PC without write allocation on, I could play maybe 2-3 mins before it crashed...now either the thing worked or Im extremely lucky today...

Cheers ppl who helped out, but one more thing...it seems every time I restart my PC, write allocation has turned itself off again, but its easy enough to restart...any way I can get this permanently on or should I follow the old cliche 'If it aint broke, dont try to fix it'? :)