Upgraded to GeForce 6600 GT - HL2 Source Engine Causes Reboot

[xtwos]

Below is a list of my computers current product specifications:

WinXP Professional 5.1 Service Pack 2 (Build #2600)
Intel P4 (Northwood/Prescott), 3.20 GHz, L1: 8KB L2: 512KB, FSB: 800MHz w/ HyperThreading
ASUS P4SD-LA PES (rev 0.01) Motherboard w/ Intel 848P (Breeds Hill) Chipset
Kingston 1Gb Non-ECC CL3 PC3200 DDR 400MHz RAM
HP F1903 19-inch LCD Thin Transistor Monitor
XFX NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT AGP 8x 128Mb, RAMDAC: 400MHz
1280 x 1024 32bit 75Hz (Desktop Resolution)
1024 x 768 32bit 75Hz (In-game Resolution)

Two hours ago, I upgraded my computer from an ATI Radeon 9800SE AGP 8x 128Mb to the above listed video card and now, approximately 5 minutes after Half-life 2 or CS:Source is launched using the shortcut on my desktop, whether I have an actual game/server loaded or just sitting at the main menu screen, my computer will reboot.

During the time either game is loaded, which both use the same Source Engine, I press no keys on my mouse or keyboard. I am using the latest video card drivers, as well as all the latest Windows updates. Just yesterday I played Half-Life 2 and CS:S for several hours while my ATI Radeon 9800SE AGP 8x 128Mb was still installed, and had no problems, I have had both for months, and even completed HL2 while using my previous card when it first came out.

I have searched Google and found nothing pertaining to this problem, as well as the official Steam forums. This problem is reproduced every time, however it does not occur while operatng Windows normally from the desktop, only while in-game with HL2 or CS:S. Below are my command line parameters from my desktop shortcuts for both games:

HL2: "C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\Steam.exe" -applaunch 220 -console
CSS: "C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\Steam.exe" -applaunch 240 -console

The previous video card I had stated above, was hardware DX8 while the new card is DX9, so I am not 100% sure if the problem lies in the video card itself, or if this is a DirectX issue, as I have heard reports both causing similar problems with Half-Life 2 AND Doom3. I have also disabled every option for hibernation through the Windows control panel, as well as tried forcing a different level of DirectX for shaders by using the command line option -dxlevel 80/81/90, none of which sovled the problem.

I have tried my video card with the following games: Call of Duty, GTA:VC, The Sims Online, RTCW, BF1942, BF1942: Vietnam, and Soldier of Fortune: Double Helix. All of which run great and have no problems with the new card.

 

[^Ben]

Have you completly got rid of the old drivers before installing the new ones?

 

[Dumb Dude]

Hmm, I wonder what the problem is.

 

[Kirkburn]

Do you not get any error message after the restart? Usually XP should say something along the lines of 'critical error occured' and blame it on the gfx drivers for this kind of thing ...

 

[diluted]

Since you switched from an ATI card to a nvidia, its a good chance the problem is something to do with the drivers.
Download the setup file for your latest driver version. Then go to http://www.drivercleaner.net/ and download driver cleaner, and install it. Then go into 'add/remove programs' in the control panel, and remove all ATI stuff (the drivers, the control panel, etc.... assuming you have done this already). Then uninstall all your nvidia stuff too.
Now boot Windows into safe mode. (click cancel if any stuff comes up asking to install drivers). Use driver cleaner to remove all traces of nvidia and ATI drivers. Reboot again (not into safe mode this time), cancel all 'install drivers' prompts. Then install the latest drivers for your card, and reboot.

 

[Dumb Dude]

Do you not get any error message after the restart? Usually XP should say something along the lines of 'critical error occured' and blame it on the gfx drivers for this kind of thing ...

That only happens if you turn off the "Restart after system failure" option, which would be a good idea to see what the problem is. To turn that option off, right click my computer, go to properties, advanced, under start up and recovery click on settings, and the option should be under the System Failure section.

 

[Kirkburn]

That's not true ... After such a system reboot an error message will often display telling you that the system has recovered from a serious error. If you then ask for further details it'll take you to the ms website which will attempt to give a diagnosis.
I know because it has happened to me several times.

Anyways, I support the idea it's likely a driver problem.

 

[Beavis]

I played through the game when it first came out with my old setup (AMD XP2100, radeon 9800Pro) and didn't have any issues. I then upgraded to my current setup (specs in the sig) and have had nothing but trouble (lockups and reboots).

Do you think upgrading your hardware might screw with some deep rooted settings for Half-Life2? I know I am reaching but I haven't been able to play in over a month because of this problem.

 

[xtwos]

The problem seems to have been resolved now. I took another look at the power configuration and it turns out I didn't have the 12-volts reccomended for use for the NIVIDIA GeForce 6800-based video card, which includes the 6600 apparently. The manual states you should have at least a 350Watt or higher power supply. So, after connecting the appropriate Y cable with enough power, all is well.

I think it's interesting though, out of all the games I tried this on, the Half-Life 2 Source engine was the only one which caused the card to require that extra power, resulting in a system crash and reboot.

 

[63]

I know what Kirkburn is talking about, the 'send microsoft error report' thing. Dumb is thinking about the 'bsod' screen.

 

[Dumb Dude]

Yeah, Dumb was talking about the Blue Screen. Oh well. Alls well that ends well right?

Sonic!?

 

[Kirkburn]

Indeed.

However, am a little confused ... I don't remember attaching a power cable to my 6800 GT. Oh well, I suppose I must have (well, I can't be bothered to check, ok!).