some of you may remember a thread a while back where i was asking for suggestions for my new rig.
http://forums.bf2s.com/viewtopic.php?id=22118
well, the parts got here recently and i've assembled the thing. here is what i went with
mainboard - biostar nf4ul-a9
proc - amd athlon 4200+ x2
hdd - wd caviar se16 250gb sata 7200 rpm
memory - 2x1gb g. skill ddr400 2.5-3-3-6 in dual channel
gpu - xfx 7900gt 256 mb
sound - creative x-fi xtrememusic
psu - enermax elt500awt 500w SLI [22a @ 12v]
case, peripherals, etc.
running winxp pro sp2 corp edition
as mentioned in the previous thread, this is my first build from scratch, so problems are expected. well, it's certainly met that expectation.
windows itself seems to bluescreen whenever i have too many things going on at once, which is contrary to how a dual core setup should be performing. the sound will sometimes not work, but can be fixed by toggling the x-fi's mode of operation. STEAM does something strange - it opens up multiple windows once i am logged in, none of which do anything. they can't be closed and do not show up in task manager, they are just buttons in the taskbar with the STEAM logo.
now, on to bf2. i've never actually gotten to the game, the menu has thus far crashed before i can get anywhere. while configuring my controls, everything seemed normal, until i tried to rebind the radio key [default T]. bf2 refused to let me click on it, freezing up for a few seconds but then returning to normal. further attempts result in more of the same. after a few minutes in the menu, the video freezes completely, while the sound will cut in and out. at this point the entire system is frozen, bf2 cannot be isolated and shutdown to regain control.
according to speedfan, my cpu is idling at 40 deg C. i don't know what its temperature is under load because, well, nothing heavy has been able to run so far.
what i have done:
updated all drivers[nforce, video, audio, amd x2 cpu]
updated windows, including dual core hotfix
set bf2 affinity to single core
what i plan to do:
run memtest to diagnose RAM for faults
attempt to install ut2k4 and farcry
watch for changes as the 'burn-in period' elapses
disable firewalls and try bf2 again
whew....ok, that is the situation thus far. I NEED YOUR HELP! the system is pretty unstable at the moment. if anyone has any ideas how to make windows run better, or to fix the problems with bf2, that would be very helpful.
http://forums.bf2s.com/viewtopic.php?id=22118
well, the parts got here recently and i've assembled the thing. here is what i went with
mainboard - biostar nf4ul-a9
proc - amd athlon 4200+ x2
hdd - wd caviar se16 250gb sata 7200 rpm
memory - 2x1gb g. skill ddr400 2.5-3-3-6 in dual channel
gpu - xfx 7900gt 256 mb
sound - creative x-fi xtrememusic
psu - enermax elt500awt 500w SLI [22a @ 12v]
case, peripherals, etc.
running winxp pro sp2 corp edition
as mentioned in the previous thread, this is my first build from scratch, so problems are expected. well, it's certainly met that expectation.
windows itself seems to bluescreen whenever i have too many things going on at once, which is contrary to how a dual core setup should be performing. the sound will sometimes not work, but can be fixed by toggling the x-fi's mode of operation. STEAM does something strange - it opens up multiple windows once i am logged in, none of which do anything. they can't be closed and do not show up in task manager, they are just buttons in the taskbar with the STEAM logo.
now, on to bf2. i've never actually gotten to the game, the menu has thus far crashed before i can get anywhere. while configuring my controls, everything seemed normal, until i tried to rebind the radio key [default T]. bf2 refused to let me click on it, freezing up for a few seconds but then returning to normal. further attempts result in more of the same. after a few minutes in the menu, the video freezes completely, while the sound will cut in and out. at this point the entire system is frozen, bf2 cannot be isolated and shutdown to regain control.
according to speedfan, my cpu is idling at 40 deg C. i don't know what its temperature is under load because, well, nothing heavy has been able to run so far.
what i have done:
updated all drivers[nforce, video, audio, amd x2 cpu]
updated windows, including dual core hotfix
set bf2 affinity to single core
what i plan to do:
run memtest to diagnose RAM for faults
attempt to install ut2k4 and farcry
watch for changes as the 'burn-in period' elapses
disable firewalls and try bf2 again
whew....ok, that is the situation thus far. I NEED YOUR HELP! the system is pretty unstable at the moment. if anyone has any ideas how to make windows run better, or to fix the problems with bf2, that would be very helpful.
