rec.autos.simulators

   The Voodoo 5 I purchased in September seems to need to
be underclocked to 142 MHz, from 166 MHz in order to not
freeze on GPL, and the NASCAR Heat I purchased today.  

   Thanks to those who suggested this fix.  

   What effect does underclocking the V5 do?  Things seem
to be OK, but I hate to throw away performance.  

   Is there something I can try to get this to work with
the default clock speed?  Things I can dabble with in the
card's properties window or the system's BIOS?  Or should I
just blow it off and enjoy what I've got.  This is a two
year old P3/600.  I could just accept the situation and
hope for better things when I get a new PC next year.  

   The card ran the sim I needed it to, NFS/Porsche Unleashed,
when new, and now that I see that I need to***with it for
other sims it's probably too late to demand a replacement.  

                                                     Thanks
                                                     Larry

Have you tried a new/better power supply?  Have you checked the voltages?
Motherboard Monitor will get voltage readings from the mobo and that might
be a way to check if the power supply is sufficient, or a generic voltmeter
could be used.  Are the fans on the stock heatsinks spinning and do they
need cleaning?  Do you have enough case cooling?  A case fan that blows
across the PCI/AGP cards can help make the whole computer run more reliably.

Are you overclocking your PCI/AGP bus?  Check your BIOS settings and do the
math to make sure you're not dramatically over 33/66 mhz for the PCI and AGP
bus.

As for what underclocking does, you're pretty much just losing performance
and losing cool points :)

Sean Long
eagl

I found after fitting a new power supply which I think is 3.5 amp from 2.5,
that my Voodoo 5500 card worked in gpl without locking up but I was clocking
up to 180 I also fitted a new motherboard, so I can't be sure that's what
cured it :-)

Regards

Bob

All my money goes on the suggestions of fitting a new power supply. I
have 2 V5's and can clock both of them over 185mhz reliably. Also make
sure that the case is not getting too hot.  I have a temp probe
sitting on the AGP slot on my iWill KK266 and it never goes above 103f

PAPA DOC

Pierre PAPA DOC Legrand
Never Forget Never Forgive
September 11, 2001
We Will Find You

Thanks for your responses.  

   Power - I was having problems with four SCSI drives, and a
SCSI DVD player, and two P3/600s  on a 250 Watt power supply.  

   I swapped in a 350 watt unit and things seemed to work fine.  

   I lost a hard drive, and removed it, so the power supply only
three HDs now.  If the supply is up to spec, I'm thinking Power
might not be the problem.  But you never know, and when it was,
the symptoms were very strange.  I'll put a VOM on it.  

   This summer I did have heat problems, the heat alarm would go
off.  So I popped the side of the PC off and blew a small but
high volume fan into it.  The fan solved that problem.  

   My first V5 was working reasonably well.  

   It's winter now, and quite a bit colder.  I pulled out the
fan and have blowing it on the PC again, to see what's happening.  

   The motherboard is a Supermicro.  I've used these for many
years.  They have proven a stable platform for my Solaris
development, but there have always been a few sims that I just
couldn't get working.  I'm not planning on getting another
Supermicro again.  

   Microsoft CFS 2 has never run on my PC, it would freeze solid
as soon as I was in the***pit.  This was on the old  V5.  After
lowering the clocking on the new V5, I could one quick mission,
the sound died half way through, then crashed so hard I had to
cycle power.  So I had the blue ScanDisk screen on start up.  

   I appreciate your suggestions, and I'll do what I can, but I'm
kind of resigned to having fun on a not quite right PC until I get
a hot box next year.  

   Thanks again.  

                                                             Larry

Larry, with that many devices it's no wonder you were having troubles.
Even your 350Watt PSU may have troubles. The V5's are reknowned for
their huge power draw, this is likely a big problem. If the voltage is
dropping a bit because of the large power demand, this will cause
lockups.

The other issue of heat is a possible contributor. The best solution
is like you've done, with the small desk fan blowing in.

I'd suggest trying to unplug 2 HDD and your DVD drive, then boot up
and test it out. If it is suddenly stable, you've found your problem.
If not, it may be heat or poor/unstable components.

BTW, you are simply getting a bit less performance by underclocking,
that's all. If it runs fine like that, you may find it acceptable.
Also, you know you don't have to wait through the blue scandisk
screen, right? I hate that thing, I always cancel it.

Rafe Mc

You can also get corrupted data on your hard drive from voltage drops.
Not good at all...

--

Fester