GPL: New P450 and Monster2 - Constant Lockups

I just got my new PC, a 450mhz, with a Monster2V2 12mb card. I got lockups with every set of Voodoo2 drivers I could find, reference or otherwise. It has to be the Monster2 since I swapped my old Monster 1 out of an older PC and put it in the new computer and can play GPL stably for hours and hours (and hours) on end with no lockups at all. The lockups occur on the track. At Monza it will ALWAYS lock up before Ascari. At Kyalami, it happens before the car rolls 5 feet. I should mention that ONLY the video locks up. Sound continues, I can hear myself shift, hit the wall etc. What is the deal? Why is it happening with just a few people. I tried all weekend long and I was NEVER able to get GPL to run with a Voodoo2 installed. If I didn't have this Voodoo1 here, I would be really disappointed. A brand new, state of the art machine, and I STILL can't run GPL. The whole situation is very very frustrating. Is there a solution? Randy? Eric? Anyone?! Will a different brand Voodoo 2 work better? How can I solve this problem? Jeff H.

>I just got my new PC, a 450mhz, with a Monster2V2 12mb card. I got lockups

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>>installed. If I didn't have this Voodoo1 here, I would be really >disappointed. A brand new, state of the art machine, and I STILL can't run >GPL. The whole situation is very very frustrating. Is there a solution? >Randy? Eric? Anyone?! >Will a different brand Voodoo 2 work better? How can I solve this problem? >Jeff H.

I think V2 is overheating. You need to get some airflow over the card. This seems to be more of a problem with the higher speed machines. Faang

Dump the Diamond Junk and get a Canopus Pure 3D II. Much better card. - Todd - Todd Siechen - RealEyz Imaging - www.realeyz.com - ICQ# 12011473 - Reply by removing "SPAMFREE" from address

Voodoo 2s are very prone to overheating. The symptoms that you describe are classic. You should try reducingthe clock speed on the card via the slider that installs with the Monster drivers back to 3dfx default of 90Mhz. Also, try to place the card so that there's a spare slot on either side to help disperse the heat. If you're in the U.S you'll be able to buy a fan/heatsink assembly for the Voodoo. Some people have found these necessary. My own experience is that the cards vary in their ability to deal with higher clock speeds (if you're using a clocking utility). I've a Monster2 8Mb which when new wouldn't tolerate anything over 95 but will now run at 99 without a problem. OTOH, I have a pair of new generic 12Mbs which will give trouble at anything over 92! I hope that this helps and let me know if you continue to have problems. >I just got my new PC, a 450mhz, with a Monster2V2 12mb card. I got lockups

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>with every set of Voodoo2 drivers I could find, reference or otherwise. It >has to be the Monster2 since I swapped my old Monster 1 out of an older PC >and put it in the new computer and can play GPL stably for hours and hours >(and hours) on end with no lockups at all. >The lockups occur on the track. At Monza it will ALWAYS lock up before >Ascari. At Kyalami, it happens before the car rolls 5 feet. I should >mention that ONLY the video locks up. Sound continues, I can hear myself >shift, hit the wall etc. >What is the deal? Why is it happening with just a few people. I tried all >weekend long and I was NEVER able to get GPL to run with a Voodoo2 >installed. If I didn't have this Voodoo1 here, I would be really >disappointed. A brand new, state of the art machine, and I STILL can't run >GPL. The whole situation is very very frustrating. Is there a solution? >Randy? Eric? Anyone?! >Will a different brand Voodoo 2 work better? How can I solve this problem? >Jeff H.

I forgot - there are specific problems with the latest RC1 drivers from 3dfx. I suggest that, to avoid confusing symptoms, you go back to the latest Monster drivers until you have resolved this. >Voodoo 2s are very prone to overheating. The symptoms that you describe are >classic. You should try reducingthe clock speed on the card via the slider >that installs with the Monster drivers back to 3dfx default of 90Mhz. Also, >try to place the card so that there's a spare slot on either side to help >disperse the heat. If you're in the U.S you'll be able to buy a fan/heatsink >assembly for the Voodoo. Some people have found these necessary. >My own experience is that the cards vary in their ability to deal with >higher clock speeds (if you're using a clocking utility). I've a Monster2 >8Mb which when new wouldn't tolerate anything over 95 but will now run at 99

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>without a problem. OTOH, I have a pair of new generic 12Mbs which will give >trouble at anything over 92! >I hope that this helps and let me know if you continue to have problems. >>I just got my new PC, a 450mhz, with a Monster2V2 12mb card. I got >lockups >>with every set of Voodoo2 drivers I could find, reference or otherwise.

It

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>>has to be the Monster2 since I swapped my old Monster 1 out of an older PC >>and put it in the new computer and can play GPL stably for hours and hours >>(and hours) on end with no lockups at all. >>The lockups occur on the track. At Monza it will ALWAYS lock up before >>Ascari. At Kyalami, it happens before the car rolls 5 feet. I should >>mention that ONLY the video locks up. Sound continues, I can hear myself >>shift, hit the wall etc. >>What is the deal? Why is it happening with just a few people. I tried

all >>weekend long and I was NEVER able to get GPL to run with a Voodoo2 >>installed. If I didn't have this Voodoo1 here, I would be really >>disappointed. A brand new, state of the art machine, and I STILL can't run >>GPL. The whole situation is very very frustrating. Is there a solution? >>Randy? Eric? Anyone?! >>Will a different brand Voodoo 2 work better? How can I solve this problem? >>Jeff H.

I doubt the Diamond is the problem here. I run with a Creative 12MB Voodoo2, which is basically the same card, and it runs perfectly (on a P2 300). Joe

I use a Celeron 266 o/c to 400 and a Viewtop Voodoo2, and have no problems, and use no additional cooling other than the standard heatink/fan that came with the Celeron.

Ok,Thanks for the posts! Let me clarify some things: GPL is the only game that locks up. I can have a lockup in GPL, go to Quake2 and run fine for many minutes. I have the card in a "roomy" slot with emptys above and below. I have turned the clock speed back to the default of 90, turned off the machine for a while, the come back, and lock up immediately in GPL. This is why, although it sounds like overheating, I have a feeling it isn't. I don't think it is the card because I can put it in the machine I had the Voodoo1 in and it will work fine, albeit with un-outstanding results (it is a P1, 166). I re-seated the card, tried it in several different slots, installed of the drivers I could find, reference or otherwise. I will try this stuff again, since I really want the Voodoo2 to work for me in GPL. Right before it locks up, I can see the frame counter pegged at 36 and I REALLY want it to work. If it really was heat-related, wouldn't this make ALL Glide games lockup? When I get some time this week, I will go back and try this all over again. Thanks for all of the suggestions, J. : Voodoo 2s are very prone to overheating. The symptoms that you describe are : classic. You should try reducingthe clock speed on the card via the slider : that installs with the Monster drivers back to 3dfx default of 90Mhz. Also, : try to place the card so that there's a spare slot on either side to help : disperse the heat. If you're in the U.S you'll be able to buy a fan/heatsink : assembly for the Voodoo. Some people have found these necessary. : My own experience is that the cards vary in their ability to deal with : higher clock speeds (if you're using a clocking utility). I've a Monster2 : 8Mb which when new wouldn't tolerate anything over 95 but will now run at 99 : without a problem. OTOH, I have a pair of new generic 12Mbs which will give : trouble at anything over 92! : I hope that this helps and let me know if you continue to have problems.

I've been having BIG problems with heat on my hardware since I put my G200 and Voodoo next to each other. The heatsink was almost touching the back of the voodoo so crashes occurred all the time. It's getting more and more difficult to cool a PC with the fans the cases ship with. Soon I'm going to have to do what a friend of mine did and cut a hole in the case for a 3rd unit. M

Just some info for you. I just recieved my new Dell R540 over the weekend. It has a 16mb tnt, Monster 3D II 12mb, 128Mb ram, Monster sound M80, 3com PCI NIC, and a 3com PCI modem installed in it. Well as you can see I went all out with it and all my pci slots are full. The Monster 3D II is right next to the TNT card that gets very hot. To my point now, I have been playing every game I own that has 3D support with both cards and only turned the PC off maybe once this weekend. I played GPL for about 8 hours non stop using the Monster with no luck ups at all. So I don't think it's a heat problem. I did install the new beta drivers from 3Dfx and couldn't get GPL to run so I went back to the diamond drivers and everything was fine. I'm not sure why your is locking up, Have you reinstalled GPL? Did you install Win98 to a clean formated disk or just upgraded from 95?

go to the monster setup and lower the speed from 93 to 90.. It works better for me since doing that. Probably a heat issue. Cyriel On Sun, 25 Oct 1998 23:29:47 -0500, "c0ldfusi0n (jeff h.)"

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>I just got my new PC, a 450mhz, with a Monster2V2 12mb card. I got lockups >with every set of Voodoo2 drivers I could find, reference or otherwise. It >has to be the Monster2 since I swapped my old Monster 1 out of an older PC >and put it in the new computer and can play GPL stably for hours and hours >(and hours) on end with no lockups at all. >The lockups occur on the track. At Monza it will ALWAYS lock up before >Ascari. At Kyalami, it happens before the car rolls 5 feet. I should >mention that ONLY the video locks up. Sound continues, I can hear myself >shift, hit the wall etc. >What is the deal? Why is it happening with just a few people. I tried all >weekend long and I was NEVER able to get GPL to run with a Voodoo2 >installed. If I didn't have this Voodoo1 here, I would be really >disappointed. A brand new, state of the art machine, and I STILL can't run >GPL. The whole situation is very very frustrating. Is there a solution? >Randy? Eric? Anyone?! >Will a different brand Voodoo 2 work better? How can I solve this problem? >Jeff H.

c

Thanks, I also went all out and got a GP6-450 from Gateway. It also has a TNT, Network card, etc but I have 3 slots free. I have a free slot on either side of the MOnster. I will turn down the clock speed again when I try it but, as I said before, I did that and it still locked solid. I added the card after I got the computer. It did not come factory installed. I may call gateway and see if there have heard of this problem. I will try to play with some cooling stuff, since drivers don't seem to make any difference. The airflow in the case is very good though. I just don't know what to think. THanks for your post, J. : Just some info for you. I just recieved my new Dell R540 over the weekend. : It has a 16mb tnt, Monster 3D II 12mb, 128Mb ram, Monster sound M80, 3com : PCI NIC, and a 3com PCI modem installed in it. Well as you can see I went : all out with it and all my pci slots are full. The Monster 3D II is right : next to the TNT card that gets very hot. To my point now, I have been : playing every game I own that has 3D support with both cards and only turned : the PC off maybe once this weekend. I played GPL for about 8 hours non stop : using the Monster with no luck ups at all. So I don't think it's a heat : problem. I did install the new beta drivers from 3Dfx and couldn't get GPL : to run so I went back to the diamond drivers and everything was fine. I'm : not sure why your is locking up, Have you reinstalled GPL? Did you install : Win98 to a clean formated disk or just upgraded from 95?