Doom 3 Tech Support

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-08-13 11:45pm

I have been having a consistent problem with Doom since I bought it. I can play for quite some time, then the game freezes for a moment, then I can play again. I thought this might be a caching issue so I have the settings turned way down, but that doesn't seem to stop it. Well I get my video cards most recent drivers. Now the problem is worse. After the temporary freeze the game comes back but all the lighting it gone. Doom3.com has no support. ID website has nothing for Doom3 yet.

How the hell do I solve this problem?

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2004-08-13 11:49pm

Some hardware specs/ OS information, etc would help.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-08-14 02:30pm

Could be some subtle problems with your computer related to cooling or a part that is marginal.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-08-14 07:45pm

A couple months ago I was having a CPU overheating problem and it manifested shortly after buying Far Cry. I finaly found out what it was after putting up with crashes for a few months. Got a new CPU fan and a new case. Though since then the freezing issue takes place on other games it didn't use to.

Does that mean my CPU might have been damaged?

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-08-14 11:17pm

Alyeska wrote:Does that mean my CPU might have been damaged?

Probably not. However, the D3 engine utilizes parts of the GPU not heavily used by most games. Even stock cooling for them might not be up to snuff, esp. if your case cooling is not so good. Try underclocking your GPU.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-08-15 07:01pm

I have a better CPU heatsink/fan and I upgraded from 2 case fans and one power supply fan to 5 case fans and 2 power supply fans. Heat should not be an issue.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-08-15 07:11pm

Alyeska wrote:I have a better CPU heatsink/fan and I upgraded from 2 case fans and one power supply fan to 5 case fans and 2 power supply fans. Heat should not be an issue.

Again, it might be for your video card. Underclock the GPU and see if D3 runs well. If not, we can go from there.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-08-15 07:17pm

How might I go about that?

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-08-15 08:18pm

What video card do you use?

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-08-15 10:13pm

GeForce 4 Ti-4200

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-08-15 10:29pm

Do this tweak and a new tab will appear somewhere in your display drivers to adjust your card's operating frequency.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2004-08-16 02:53am

There's also the possibility that, hey, maybe your PC has a weak power supply (350 watt?), not enough to drive the graphics card and processor when they're being used intensely?

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-08-16 02:58am

A decent 350W should be enough juice to power his system.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-08-16 11:24am

Try 420w supply.

Spyder · Post by **Spyder** » 2004-08-16 05:20pm

phongn wrote:Do this tweak and a new tab will appear somewhere in your display drivers to adjust your card's operating frequency.

Whoa...sweet.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2004-08-16 06:54pm

Doom 3 requires:
A) Underclocking on some cards to function correctly, particularly if you experience a lot of flickering white dots. This applies especially to 9800 Pro and 9800 XT cards
B) Latest drivers (Duh)
C) /LOTS/ of cooling. Built a computer for a friend of mine, P4 3.0E with an ATI Radeon 9600 XT, in an Antec full-tower with 3 case fans. Had to add two more to max it at 5 to let him play without lockups. That game makes your video card get /hot/.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-08-16 07:11pm

Core clock is set to 275 and Memory clock is at 600. Which one should I alter and how much?

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-08-16 07:12pm

Play around with the settings, you might have to do both (or maybe not). Obviously, don't underclock too much.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-08-16 08:10pm

Well i dropped it by 25 on the core clock. That seems to have worked.

Previously I was running D3 at medium with 800x600 and I was having problems. Dropping it to low and 640x480 fixed them. Well I just played an entire level at medium set at 1024x768 without a problem.

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2004-08-16 08:35pm

phongn wrote:Do this tweak and a new tab will appear somewhere in your display drivers to adjust your card's operating frequency.

Oh fucking Hells yeah! It works for Win2K SP3 with a GF2MX too...

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-08-16 09:12pm

Have you tried updating your chipset drivers?

You shouldn't have to underclock your GPU in order to play the game, especially on a GPU that is underclocked anyways.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2004-08-16 11:02pm

On any other game you'd be right, but Doom 3 is funky that way. It stresses cards in strange and distinctly unnatural ways, so underclocking is very commonly required.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-08-16 11:09pm

The Kernel wrote:Have you tried updating your chipset drivers?

You shouldn't have to underclock your GPU in order to play the game, especially on a GPU that is underclocked anyways.

Reports on ArsTechnica are indicating that quite a few people are having to underclock their GPUs. It looks like parts of GPUs not heavily stressed before are suddenly being greatly taxed with Doom 3.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-08-16 11:10pm

phongn wrote: Reports on ArsTechnica are indicating that quite a few people are having to underclock their GPUs.

I've heard that too...I just hoped it was fucking bullshit...

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-08-16 11:11pm

White Haven wrote:On any other game you'd be right, but Doom 3 is funky that way. It stresses cards in strange and distinctly unnatural ways, so underclocking is very commonly required.

Far Cry has managed this on my machine as well.