The software, the drivers or the video card?

[ainwood]

I've been playing a couple of games lately that tend to crash reasonably frequently, but are much more stable when the graphics detail is turned-down (Dawn Of War II, Fallout 3).

I realise that turning down the detail also turns-off some of the more graphically intensive lighting & shading effects etc, and I assume it is likely these that are causing the instability.

But what is the root-cause likely to be? Do these effects result in instability because of the games themselves, the software graphics drivers, the graphics card, or something else (motherboard drivers perhaps?)

Any views on this?

 

[Maniacal]

If the game is buggy sometimes soem settings can cause problems, but generaly that is fixed pretty fast if present at all after release. It is most likely your graphics card or some part of the computer (RAM, Power Supply, cooling) that is bottlenecking the rest of it (if you do have a good card). Making sure your graphics drivers are always up to date is a good way to keep out of problems, and most of my graphical issues in fact almost all I can think of off hand were solved by updating my drivers.

What graphics card do you have? That would be the most likely culprit.

 

[ainwood]

I have an nVidia 8800 GTS.

I have updated virtually every driver I can think of (mobo, sound, graphics card etc)... new drivers appear more stable, but haven't solved the problem completely. Hence, I'm wondering whether its the software or something else.

And the wider perspective of the topic, too (ie. "in general", rather than specific to me).

 

[Genocidicbunny]

I havent been able to get DoWII to run stable at high settings either. I end up with graphical corruption 15 minutes in.

 

[Fetus4188]

Given past experience with Bethesda, I'd say it's certainly reasonable that Fallout 3 isn't the most stable software on the market.

I've never had any problems related to my 8800GTS 640MB so I would guess the problem is with the software. Unless you don't get enough cooling through your case, as the card puts out a lot of heat.

 

[ainwood]

I don't think its heat, as in some cases, its reasonably reproducable. Eg. using cyclone missiles seems to cause a crash against orks. Go figure.

 

[GravityWave]

Some thoughts, though I haven't played Fallout 3 so this is random clutching at straws... but it's a relatively new game... I would guestimate a 8800GTS would not be able handle the games higher detailed settings. The last few driver updates have however had specific patches for Fallout 3 when at 1440x900 or higher... could be driver and might be worth waiting for the next update or try the beta driver if your feeling brave. Do you have an other card you can try? Iirc Nvidia have a System Tools application that can be downloaded from nvidia.com and will amend your Nvidia Control Panel .. iirc one the options allows you to perform a system stability test that will deliberately try to crash your PC. Might be worth checking out if your sure the card should be able to handle the settings your running it, however I'd use as a last resort and don't complain if your PC never works again (and read the instructions!). You can also use System Tools to monitor the temp of the GPU which might be more useful.

What is your OS? If Vista try using compatibility mode to disable Custom DPI and Desktop Composition.

 

[Mulholland]

I've been playing a couple of games lately that tend to crash reasonably frequently, but are much more stable when the graphics detail is turned-down (Dawn Of War II, Fallout 3).

I realise that turning down the detail also turns-off some of the more graphically intensive lighting & shading effects etc, and I assume it is likely these that are causing the instability.

But what is the root-cause likely to be? Do these effects result in instability because of the games themselves, the software graphics drivers, the graphics card, or something else (motherboard drivers perhaps?)

Any views on this?

Have you tried monitoring the temperature of your GPU while the game crashes? The 8800 GTS is a very respectable card and shouldn't have any trouble running those games on mostly high details. That being said, while Fallout 3 is a very good game it also tends to be a crasher, so don't go by that as any indication that your graphics card is bad. From what little I've heard however, especially problems with other games, my gut instinct is an overheating card, or that your 26A rail isn't supplying enough juice at peak load.

 

[GoodGame]

I wonder if when the settings are high the software is trying to execute some kind of protocol that your video card simply doesn't support. E.g. trying to get 3.0 shader support on a 2.0 card.
Or if maybe it can't adapt to the amount of RAM your card supports? Like maybe it's calling to many effects at once. Does it make a difference if only one effect is called, vs. say 10x the number of effects is called?

 

[Maniacal]

Some thoughts, though I haven't played Fallout 3 so this is random clutching at straws... but it's a relatively new game... I would guestimate a 8800GTS would not be able handle the games higher detailed settings. The last few driver updates have however had specific patches for Fallout 3 when at 1440x900 or higher... could be driver and might be worth waiting for the next update or try the beta driver if your feeling brave. Do you have an other card you can try? Iirc Nvidia have a System Tools application that can be downloaded from nvidia.com and will amend your Nvidia Control Panel .. iirc one the options allows you to perform a system stability test that will deliberately try to crash your PC. Might be worth checking out if your sure the card should be able to handle the settings your running it, however I'd use as a last resort and don't complain if your PC never works again (and read the instructions!). You can also use System Tools to monitor the temp of the GPU which might be more useful.

What is your OS? If Vista try using compatibility mode to disable Custom DPI and Desktop Composition.

Fallout 3 uses the same engine as Oblivion and looks very similar, it is much better optimized as well and should run perfectly fine on an 8800GTS. Although random CTDs are normal in Bethesda games.