Farcry 2 and GTA IV on new M17X R2

I got my new M17X R2 a few days ago and decided to install some older games that I felt like playing. None of the two works...

Laptop Description:

M17X R2
i7 820M
Hyper X RAM
Vertex 2 (Tested, all is fine)
5870 Crossfire (New vbios installed successfully confirmed by 3D Mark Benchmark running smoothly and Dell 10.8 driver installed)


What is not working:

GTA IV just does not start. I have no error code whatsoever, it just hang in there. I can hear the DVD turning and accelerating then I see the mouse logo stating it's thinking and then nothing.

I uninstalled the game, re-installed it, same thing.

FarCry2 starts smoothly, everything is running smooth until 1 or 2 minutes into the game, it crashes. Every single time. The worst is that is crashes windows also. What happens is the game is running smooth, then the video crashes and some distorted frames appear but the game continues to play since I can move, shoot, etc... All the sounds are still going correctly just the crashed image is on. The only way to get out of this is a hard restart as trying to go back to windows crashes windows and a blue window appears and automatically restart windows stating a critical error happened requiring a restart.

Both of the games are done on a fresh install of Windows 7, temps were monitored and never exceeded 78 degrees celcius.

Any thoughts?

 

well, I have the same problem with GTAIV, but I run FC2 without problems...looks great and plays well on a 5870CF, with the new driver and vbios.

 

Any reasons it could crash on mine knowing temps are good and drivers are up to date? What could cause that every single time? Always after 1 to 2 minutes.

There has to be something doing that, I just cannot figure it out.

Concerning GTA IV does that mean we cannot play it? Does Liberty work?

 

hello bud if i remember right you need to run gta4 in admin and or compatability mode....

they both work on my laptop r2+5870cf

 

, I don't know what the heck I am doing wrong. I am always in admin though.

 

Win7 has 2 kinds of admin.

There is pretend admin, where you make an "administrator" account in user config. This is not real admin, it is equivalent of "power user" and frankly crap.

Then here is the " open cmd as admin and type 'net user administrator /active:yes', then rename the NEW administrator account that shows up to YOU, then delete the old 'admin' account" administrator.

The latter is much better.

Also, played FC2 at the last lan I was at, smashed it full graphics and 8x aa, 60fps vsync all through.

-Ash

 

Nice tip Ash. I've just been using the compatibility checkbox to run specific apps as admin.

 

Thanks Ash... but I think there is something wrong with my new PC. I get a blue screen in all the games now. I have done a fresh install last night and the problem still persist. From the windows error code it seems it is due to some video driver problem which I have re-installed also. I am guessing the driver is not really the issue. There might be something else.

Could it be my Hyper X RAM that is defective?

I guess I have to call Dell now and spend the countless hours over the phone with them.

 

UPDATE:

On the phone with Dell technician. He checked the blue screen codes and it seems that they are all related to the ati driver according to him.

The issue I have is that I have done two fresh install of windows and re-installed all drivers. There is no way that on a fresh install the drivers would be responsible for only my pc crashing.

There has to be something else.

 

Just to double check. It might not be this. You probably already got this sorted.

Are you using dells new Beta 10.8 7.863 drivers by any chance? If so you will need to use the vbios as well.

Cheers.

 

Yes I have installed the vbios and beta drivers. We just did a test with the technician and when crossfire is disabled, the games run perfectly. The only issue is that on just one card it does not run as smooth in Ultra settings.

There might just be an issue with my crossfire cable or second GPU.

 

Ah trues trues. Yeh sounds like issue with ur 2nd cards ram chips perhaps if it keeps BSODing like that. Or could be the crossfire cable. Most likely the other card though.

Hopefully they can just send you out another new card with a crossfire cable just to be sure.

Cheers.

 

I got the PC a week ago. They better send me a two new cards just in case...

 

Ah true that.
What did dell say now. Any news?

Cheers.

 

I emailed my technician with my findings. Still have not heard from him. I hope to hear from him soon.