"jj" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Thanks to you all for the tips. Just FYI, I ran the 3DMark03 test about
15 times. 5 times it was able to complete the 3DMark03 test with scores
ranging from 5100 to 5400. The rest of the times, it just shut down,
and threw me back to the Windows XP desktop, no error messages, no
nothing. And, when it shut down, it happened at different points in the
test. Sometimes, right after very first test. Sometimes, after the
first Trolls Lair test, sometimes after the first CPU test, and
sometimes after the Nature test.

Changing from "max performance to max quality" makes no difference. In
fact, the times it did complete the test, quality was set to "Balanced".
But it still shut down other times with "balanced."

Am trying to determine what is most likely cause, when a 3D game or
benchmark shuts down, and throws you back to desktop with no error
messages. Is it more likely the card, the drivers, or the PC's
chipset/mobo/memory timings?

ATI Tech seems to think it might be the PC's chipset/memory timings. I
have a single 1 Gig RAM chip on this P4/3GHz Intel 875P-based PC. I also
have "Fast Writes" and "Sidebanding" enabled, along with AGP-8X. Not
sure if these settings have anything to do with this problem.


When you drop to the desktop in games and benchmarks after a certain period
of time like that, it is often a sign of overheating. Don't know much about
Dells, though I know they emphasize quiet over good airflow. If there is a
way to monitor case and cpu temps you might check them.

Dell also has a habit of using the minimum psu for the configuration they
sell, so adding extra components can sometimes suck more juice than they can
comfortable provide.

Also you might try to isolate other potential causes of the problem. Relax
ram timings in the bios to make sure it's not a stability issue. Use an
overclocking utility to UNDERclock your Radeon to see if the problem
disappears.

There is a great Radeon forum and troubleshooting tips at www.rage3d.com

P.S., I also have an 875P with fast writes and AGP 8X, and I have no such
problems, even though my system is seriously overclocked with an fsb of 275.