FSX Random CTD's

[bkircher 0]

Hi there to allI have a question for all of you. Is there any sort of solution or fix to FSX for its random CTD's? I have been recently having a lot more random ctds than usual. For example the most recent one was about 10 minutes ago and i pressed Q to turn the sound off to see if my mom was calling me, and then a minute later or so i pressed q again, and nothing happened then about 30 seconds later i get a message that says a fatal error has occured.I have vista home premiumFSX SP1Ultimate terrain xFlight Environment Xand no other major addons, a few ground texture tweaksIt is really annoying to have the sim just random crash when im happly flying along. I really am getting frustrated with all of the bad things that fsx has brought. But then at the same time i love the sim and what new features that it brings. I just hope fs11 will cure all of these problems

[timest 472]

Hi:Can you list your system specs? That would be helpful.

[bkircher 0]

Yes sirI was actually just on my way to edit my post to add themokAMD 64 4600 2.4ghz x2 (Dual Core)Nvidia 8800 GTS 640gddr3 drivers: 163.694gigs of ram, 3.37 gigs regrestering in computer profile, 2 sicks or ram stock and 2 sticks addon320gig hd430watt power supply22inch flat moniteranything else

[timest 472]

Are you overclocking at all? Also, might want to try this; remove the 2 RAM chips, then test again for maybe a full day. My buddy had the same issue, and after MUCH work and research, he found out he had a faulty RAM chip. Also, are you running any other RAM intensive program BEFORE running FSX? Sometimes after I run Photoshop CS3 and test in FSX, I get the ol BSOD. Not sure why, but that's the ONLY time I get them, and it really isn't that often. Report back ;)

[bkircher 0]

No overclocking at all. I do use riva tuner to adjust the fan settings of the card. A long time ago when i first got the new system and was finished adding theses to the computer i did try to remove the 2 addon sticks of memory and leave the 2 stock ones. With just the stock ones in i can get the pc to boot up. but with the 2 addon sticks in and the stock ones out, the pc doesnt boot. but when they are both in they work and it only regeresters 3.37g of ram when i have 4 installed. but the ctds have just been more often, when in the last 2 weeks they have been happening before. i do kno that the ai causes ctds because of something being wrong the traffic bgl. i have had a few of those but these new ctds are not ai releated.thanks for the help

[nigelgrant 4]

Look on the AVSIM CTD forum and check your PSU, I wouldn't be surprised if it was lean at 12v; search for entries with my nameNigelVancouver

[bkircher 0]

what do u mean? the min specs for the 8800gts was 400 watts. and my power supply is 430 watts.

[bkircher 0]

just had another one. but this time i think this one was ai influenced. is there a way to stop the ctds cause of the ai?

[nigelgrant 4]

If your GPU wants 400watts, 430 watts doesn't leave much for your other hardware ie CPU, hard drives, fans etc. What is the 12v demand of your GPU and what is the 12v output from your PSU, very often the 12v supply is broken into separate "rails" and if one rail does not have the capacity to meet the demands of your GPU, then problems occur. This was my problem, my ATIX1950XT has a demand of 30amps!!! and I had two 12v rails in my 600w PSU, each giving 18amps that was where my CTD problems came from. Buying a PSU today is becoming a lot more sophisticated. Look at the CTD forum you will get more info.There is a lot of info on this if you want to get into any more detail at the Sapphire forum http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=4 (I know it is for ATI cards and not Nvidia but you may get a sense of the problemsGood luckNigel

[bkircher 0]

ok then.... what is 12v rails? also my stock psu was 300watts. so upgrading should have made the computer better all around because of the extra power. but i have had this psu for well over 2 months and have been fine, maybe 1 ctd every month, but now within the last 2 weeks i have had nearly triple that. i dont see how i could possibly need another power supply since i just bought one to meet the specs of the gpu.thanks for the help

[bkircher 0]

ok i see what u mean nigel. do u think that 650watts would do the job suffectenly? also do u recommend any specific brand, or where i can get a good psu for a cheap but not to cheap price?

[Palebushman 0]

>ok i see what u mean nigel. do u think that 650watts would do>the job suffectenly? also do u recommend any specific brand,>or where i can get a good psu for a cheap but not to cheap>price?Noticed in your second post specs that you are using old nVidia drivers. Try installing the latest nVidia 163.75 drivers first, using this young man's brilliant method :- http://www.tweakguides.com/NVFORCE_1.html

[Guest fireflyfx]

430 watts should be plenty as long as its a decent brand name psu- Antec, corsair etc..Any more than that is usually only necessary for SLI setups.

[nigelgrant 4]

There is lots of info which will answer your questions at the Sapphire Site I mentioned above including models of PSU - as I said selection of a PSU today is becoming a lot more sophisticared and you have to make sure you have an adequate amperage supply at 12v to meet some specific requirements, ie GPU's which have become very power hungry (but I also think there is a trend started to make these more efficient and power requirements are reducing). A weak PSU may not be your problem but it does look suspicious.Try this site http://digg.com/hardware/Power_Supply_Calculator_2 it calculates your PSU requirements based on the hardware you have, I don't know whether it is still active, it was changing some of its criteria last time I was there.Nigel

[bkircher 0]

well, i hate to say it but i just bought a new psu, rated at 680watts. I called my local tech guy that i just about talk to before i buy any sort of coumputer hardware and he said that indeed the problem could be because of insufficient psu and he recommeneded getting a bigger one.this is the psu that i gotAPEVIA(ASP)|ATX-AS680W-BL RT. from newegg.com