Problem with Avid and new Computer

Glenn Chan · November 27th, 2005, 06:40 PM

A hot-rod computer with a high-end video card will draw about 150W maximum, at load. silentpcreview.com has some figures.

In any case, if you can measure the power supply voltages when the computer is under load you can check if the PSU is good enough. One way is to manually measure power supply voltages with a voltmeter (this is somewhat tricky). The monitoring utilities are better if you can get one to work.
An alternative approach is to stress test the computer with prime95.

Alexey Malyshev · December 3rd, 2005, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glenn Chan

A hot-rod computer with a high-end video card will draw about 150W maximum, at load. silentpcreview.com has some figures.

In any case, if you can measure the power supply voltages when the computer is under load you can check if the PSU is good enough. One way is to manually measure power supply voltages with a voltmeter (this is somewhat tricky). The monitoring utilities are better if you can get one to work.
An alternative approach is to stress test the computer with prime95.

I've tried Prime95 the other day on my computer and it doesn't look like CPU utilization was above 50%. It seems that it loads only one core of the CPU while the other core just idles. I also have AMD 4400 x2

Glenn Chan · December 3rd, 2005, 03:39 PM

Hi Alexey,
You can run two instances of Prime95 to utilize both cores.

See http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16446

Van Lam · December 4th, 2005, 01:35 PM

You gave us detailed information concerning your CPU, MOBO, etc, but you didn't specify your power supply's brand nor model number! My guess is: the problem is not not having a high enough wattage rating, but rather that you don't have a high quality power supply.

Michael Guarino · December 4th, 2005, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Martens

Not sure about that driver...could be needed to use a 64 bit processor in a 32 bit OS, or maybe only necessary if you have the 64 bit version of XP. I have no experience with that (not yet, anyway; sooner or later I'm gonna get me some new 'puter parts).

I'd say your best bet right now would be disabling the service. If that doesn't work, then you can take things further, but if it does, it could save a whole lot of headaches, you know? Here's hoping all goes well!

THIS REALLY HELPED!!! After disabling the service, the crashes stopped almost completely! I was testing it a little bit and it does indeed still crash in the same way at least once a day, but before this, it was at least a dozen times every day. It's interesting though, the crashes would occur (after disabling the service) but wouldn't be reported in the DrWatson log or the event viewer... so I have no idea what is causing the ones that still occur.

I thank you though cause it made using this computer ALOT more bearable, I can actually work on things long enough to actually get them done... But I am at a loss, cause like I said, the same crashes still happen from time to time...

I might try to format again to see if it was something I might have installed that's causing the crashes...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexey Malyshev

Your MB may not be able to supply that current to it.

Excellent point! I honestly wish I had another PCIE video card to test out in the system, but i only have a few AGP ones ...

would you or anyone have any suggestions on a good card for video editing? Considering I'm having tons of problems with ATI, maybe something from someone else ... I would say price is no object, but I'd feel real crappy if I buy a great new card and the problems persist...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glenn Chan

A hot-rod computer with a high-end video card will draw about 150W maximum, at load. silentpcreview.com has some figures.

In any case, if you can measure the power supply voltages when the computer is under load you can check if the PSU is good enough. One way is to manually measure power supply voltages with a voltmeter (this is somewhat tricky). The monitoring utilities are better if you can get one to work.
An alternative approach is to stress test the computer with prime95.

I ran Prime95 for about 10 hours, no errors, no stops...so I'm guessing nothing is wrong with my hardware??? I really think it might be video card related, at least with respect to software... I mean, like I said, after disabling the Ati2evxx.exe from starting, the crashes "virtually" stopped, but it still freezes at least once a day... before disabling the Ati2evxx.exe service, it crashed a few times every hour while working in avid.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Van Lam

You gave us detailed information concerning your CPU, MOBO, etc, but you didn't specify your power supply's brand nor model number! My guess is: the problem is not not having a high enough wattage rating, but rather that you don't have a high quality power supply.

I agree, that was my suspicion at first as well considering it was a 420watt (no-name) that came free with my case. So I went out and spent around $150 on a brand new Antec 550watt continuous power PSU and the errors continued to happen as frequently as before. In essence, this effectively eased my worries about the problem being the PSU, unless I'm doing something wrong... :(

Glenn Chan · December 4th, 2005, 04:27 PM

Michael,
If your computer passes Prime95 for 10 hours then the CPU, power supply, and motherboard are fine. The RAM is very likely fine, although you can double-check with memtest86 if you want (I wouldn't bother yet).

It seems like the problem is related to the video card... you could also try downloading the latest ATI drivers and trying those. Download the drivers, uninstall the current ones, REBOOT, and then install the latest drivers, reboot.

In rare cases you might also get bizarre behaviour if the video card is not seated properly. You can try removing and re-installing the video card. Watch out for static and ground yourself first of course.

Michael Guarino · December 7th, 2005, 10:00 PM

Thanks Glenn,

I did exactly that, except first, I formatted my drive and started with a completely fresh system... downloaded/installed the latest ATI drivers... the works... now, Avid did freeze twice, so I disabled the ATIEXX service like before and the crashes stopped altogether, used it for a day straight, no crashes, no BSODs... *KNOCK ON WOOD*

BUT I do plan on obtaining another video card (non-ati) within a week, just to be sure.

I'll keep you guys posted if I have more problems.

thanks again!!

December 4th, 2005, 01:35 PM	#19
Van Lam Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Marin, CA Posts: 35	You gave us detailed information concerning your CPU, MOBO, etc, but you didn't specify your power supply's brand nor model number! My guess is: the problem is not not having a high enough wattage rating, but rather that you don't have a high quality power supply. __________________ "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." -Mark Twain

November 27th, 2005, 06:40 PM	#16
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	A hot-rod computer with a high-end video card will draw about 150W maximum, at load. silentpcreview.com has some figures. In any case, if you can measure the power supply voltages when the computer is under load you can check if the PSU is good enough. One way is to manually measure power supply voltages with a voltmeter (this is somewhat tricky). The monitoring utilities are better if you can get one to work. An alternative approach is to stress test the computer with prime95.

December 3rd, 2005, 03:39 PM	#18
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	Hi Alexey, You can run two instances of Prime95 to utilize both cores. See http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16446

December 4th, 2005, 04:27 PM	#21
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	Michael, If your computer passes Prime95 for 10 hours then the CPU, power supply, and motherboard are fine. The RAM is very likely fine, although you can double-check with memtest86 if you want (I wouldn't bother yet). It seems like the problem is related to the video card... you could also try downloading the latest ATI drivers and trying those. Download the drivers, uninstall the current ones, REBOOT, and then install the latest drivers, reboot. In rare cases you might also get bizarre behaviour if the video card is not seated properly. You can try removing and re-installing the video card. Watch out for static and ground yourself first of course.

December 7th, 2005, 10:00 PM	#22
Michael Guarino New Boot Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 23	Thanks Glenn, I did exactly that, except first, I formatted my drive and started with a completely fresh system... downloaded/installed the latest ATI drivers... the works... now, Avid did freeze twice, so I disabled the ATIEXX service like before and the crashes stopped altogether, used it for a day straight, no crashes, no BSODs... KNOCK ON WOOD BUT I do plan on obtaining another video card (non-ati) within a week, just to be sure. I'll keep you guys posted if I have more problems. thanks again!!