MSI FX5950 Ultra VTD-256 System freeze in fullscreen 3D games

Question

Greetings everyone
I changed from a MSI GF4 Ti4200 to a MSI FX5950 Ultra VTD-256 about two months ago and since then I have the following problem:
During any 3D game I have tested so far (which are a very few, I admit... too little time available) and after about 10 secs to 10 minutes of the game running in fullscreen, the system freezes completely (no mouse movement, no alt-tab, no soft reset) while the sound goes on looping. Games I have tested include UT2003, Star Wars Racer, Syberia. System also freezes during any version of 3DMark.
Strangely enough, I never had a problem with UT. No problem also with any game in windowed mode (where available), for instance played UT2003 in windowed mode for about an hour, then switched to fullscreen, then system freeze after about one minute. Furthermore, no prob in any 3D app (3DS, ...) or while developing 3D (OpenGL).
I have tried each and every available VGA driver, either from MSI or straight from nVidia. No change at all except with the 52.16 drivers using which the system still freezes but does not remain frozen, instead, after about two minutes a BSOD comes up announcing that...
"A problem has been detected ...
The problem seems to be caused by the following file: nv4_disp.
If this is the first time ...
The device driver got stuck in an infinite loop. This usually indicates
problem with the device itself or with the device driver programming the
hardware incorrectly.
Please check with your hardware device vendor for ...
Technical information:
*** STOP: 0x000000EA (0xFF0B5020, 0xFF6CB810, 0xFF597198, 0x00000001)
nv4_disp"
Same behaviour with the card severely underclocked through the MSI Timings control panel tab.
Other things I have done:
- Changed aperture size to various values: No change
- Reinstalled nForce2 drivers: No change
- Uninstalled and cleaned (Driver Cleaner) sound drivers, disabled SB: No change
- Disabled onboard audio and LAN: No change
- Tried all possible device driver setting for AA, filtering, rez, others: No change
- Checked memory (memtest86+): No errors
Another issue with the card that might be of use mentioning here is that the 3D!Turbo Experience app does not display Temperature, Voltage and Frequency: The respective displays are dimmed and controls are grayed.
Thanx in advance for ANY help / suggestions / similar experiences
Jorge

Answer 1

Greetings my good mates.
GlennVidia, a great and professional post about parametric differences! Finalreminder thanx a great lot for the versions and info! It seems that 3D!Turbo Experience does not work with 5950U eventhough it bundles with it. On my mobo the "Version 1" tag is under the VGA so this is probable why you can't see it (needless to say that I am not suggesting that I want you to remove your VGA just to give me this not-so-important info ).
Here's what happened last night.
I finally decided that I could no longer avoid what I've been avoiding since the very beginning, that is, mess with my other desktop, a Linux box with a Shuttle AK32 mobo, an Athlon XP 1800+, 256 of noname DDR and various other stuff. Another reason I didn't transfer the card to the AK32 mobo at the first instant is that I had always considered the AK32 an inappropriate testbed for the 5950. However, I felt I was in desperate need to check the 5950 on another mobo. So I set up the system above with very conservative bios settings and crap memory timing, the 5950, the Heroichi 450w psu, neither chassis nor chipset fan, and then installed WinXP Pro, SP1, DX9.0b, Hyperion 14.45 and MSI VGA 56.63.
The 5950 was running at AGP 4x, CPU at 50-52C idle, system 27C idle, voltages a little low (for instance, 11.75 for the 12+), however:
- 3DMark 2003 completes at first run (first time I was able to see the entire test).
- 3DMark 2001 completes at first run.
- UT2003 does not freeze no matter how long it runs (and I am talking extreme settings for AA, details, resolution, etc).
- Both 3DMarks keep running countless times or in loop mode without freezing.
I understand that the AGP 4x makes a huge difference on the communication between the mobo and the VGA. However, I doubt that the problem will go away on the K7N2 if I set it to AGP 4x (which I am not willing to do anyway). There are yet many tests to be done (new K7N2 bios, etc), however this is the first optimistic result I have got since three weeks now and I am quite happy about it. I might be wrong, but now I am almost 100% certain that the 5950 is not faulty.
Furthermore: On a K7N2, Finalreminder had the exact same problem as me with 3DMark 2003, that is, freezing during CPU tests (mine would also always freeze during the CPU tests and nowhere else). I think this rules out the chance of a HW fault on my mobo only.
Another pattern I have isolated is that better cooling has solved most (if not all) of Finalreminer's problems and quite a few of mine (at the beginning, 3DMark 2001 would freeze during the first run and UT2003 after a few minutes), and this too is common in both cases, Finalreminder's and mine. However, in my case, the freezing is still there even in extremely low temperature cases. To rule out the chance that temperatures go high during fullscreen 3D, I used Motherboard Monitor to log temps and voltages. Right now the log file is on a non-attached disk so I can't upload it and give you the url (I'll do that), but I can tell you that the temps and voltages are great during an entire 3DMark that ended-up freezing: CPU goes to max 58C, system to max 37C.
I think that the only hypothesis that may still stand is that MSI K7N2 Delta and MSI 5950U VTD-256 is, sometimes, a bad combination, no matter how ridiculous this may sound.
By no means am I suggesting that this is MSI's fault! As GlennVidia has explained in his latest great post about parametric differences and as my basic knowledge of electronics enables me to understand (I am a radio amateur), these are things that happen and cannot be predicted. I trust MSI and will keep trusting it.
To solve my issue, after some more testing, I am most probably going for a new mobo. I am open to suggestions and wondering if it would be a good idea to start a new thread about WORKING combinations of MSI 5950U-VTD256 and various mobos. This forum has been far too helpful for me to go out and buy something without getting feedback first .
Jorge