Wall of disappointment...

[Lateralus]

So I bought Oblivion for the PC about two weeks ago, and I was enthralled by the game/graphics/sound etc. Put aside the minor (starting to become MAJOR), levelling and combat annoyances the game is great, but there is one thing that drives me crazy...

Vista... Yes, apparently, vista loves the smell of it's farts so much that it feels that it needs to crash the game at least once or twice every couple of hours. This is bullshit, my PC is alright, it's spec is more than capable of playing the game smoothly, but somehow Vista has gained sentience and decides to crash the game when it sees fit.

I have scoured troubleshooting forums, read every piece regarding my problem, to no avail. Although, doing a few things has helped reduce the amount of crashes, it still does so at least twice every session....

This isn't a world shattering problem, I simply restart and continue, but I'm having serious thoughts on whether to keep the game or return it. I can grind my teeth and just take the crap...

But the receipt is still sitting on my desk...


Thoughts GR? Any gaming grievances out there other than mine?

 

[BigZell2020]

Need specs

 

[madster111]

Update Oblivion.
Fix'd.

Happened to me, till i updated to the update previous to current (because current screws up ground textures for about 60% of ppl), and it worked without issues.

If it's still not working, reinstall and try again.
still not working after this, and if it crashes after a while playing the game, get Ram that doesn't suck.

 

[Lateralus]

Need specs

Intel Pentium D CPU 3GHz
2 GB RAM
256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro
160GB HDD


That's well above the requirements.

And I have the latest version of the game: 1.2.0416

 

[De-Ting]

When my computer crashed and my step dad's friend gave me a "temp" replacement while he "fixed" it, I discovered that I could no longer play any computer game made after 2001.

That is disappointment.

 

[Lateralus]

When my computer crashed and my step dad's friend gave me a "temp" replacement while he "fixed" it, I discovered that I could no longer play any computer game made after 2001.

That is disappointment.

That's a right shafting....

 

[madster111]

256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro

Anyone tell you the X1xxx series doesn't fly well with Oblivion?
I think it's a combo of Oblivion not liking it in general, and Vista wanting to steal half it's memory (ie; oblivion only has 128 to use) to keep itself running in the background.

I THINK ATI fixed this in the newer drivers, so my advice is try the latest 8.7 drivers, update to vista SP1 if not already done (reduces system use by about 30%) and download the unnoficial update.
With any luck, it should run not only faster, but reduce crashes so much so you need to be playing 10hrs+ for it to crash.

If none of the above works, keep vista install disc and HDD, update CPU, better ram (4gb of 800mhz+ is needed) and get a HD 4850.
That will not only make Oblivion go light speed on high settings, but will stop Vista stealing performance from itself.

 

[Lateralus]

Where do I check what version driver I have now?

Edit: Nevermind.

 

[madster111]

Where do I check what version driver I have now?

ATI Catalyst Control Center.

 

[Lateralus]

Ok I've found this... http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/GRAPHICS-BOARD/ATI/ATI-Catalyst-87-HydraVision.shtml


I check the drivers on the PC, says they're all up to date...

 

[madster111]

Ok I've found this... http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/GRAPHICS-BOARD/ATI/ATI-Catalyst-87-HydraVision.shtml


I check the drivers on the PC, says they're all up to date...

You checked the drivers?
How?

Because 99% chance it says that because your GPU is too old, in which case a modded .inf is in order, which i shall not post here due to the mods being too strict with things that break certain EULAs.

 

[Lateralus]

Ok I've found this... http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/GRAPHICS-BOARD/ATI/ATI-Catalyst-87-HydraVision.shtml


I check the drivers on the PC, says they're all up to date...

You checked the drivers?
How?

Because 99% chance it says that because your GPU is too old, in which case a modded .inf is in order, which i shall not post here due to the mods being too strict with things that break certain EULAs.

No... I simply went to device manager, checked my display adapter properties, then the Driver info. It's 8.3. I installed that 8.7 file , but it didn't select it because vista deems that 8.3 is the best.

Anyway, screw it, my GPU isn't "too old", but a bit dated. It works fine.

 

[madster111]

No... I simply went to device manager, checked my display adapter properties, then the Driver info. It's 8.3. I installed that 8.7 file , but it didn't select it because vista deems that 8.3 is the best.

Anyway, screw it, my GPU isn't "too old", but a bit dated. It works fine.

Because 99% chance it says that because your GPU is too old, in which case a modded .inf is in order, which i shall not post here due to the mods being too strict with things that break certain EULAs.

 

[GRColin]

It's probably the GPU, like Madster had said. I'm not sure if the Pentium D outperforms an AMD 64 939 3500 or not, but I too have 2gb RAM, Vista (Ultimate 64 though), and a single core CPU, and Oblivion runs better under Vista than it ever did on XP for me.

Only major difference, is my video card is a 6800 GT.

And there goes Madster recommending someone upgrade yert again and drop money on a new video card, more ram and a new cpu . Money doesn't grow on trees for all of us .

 

[Lateralus]

It's probably the GPU, like Madster had said. I'm not sure if the Pentium D outperforms an AMD 64 939 3500 or not, but I too have 2gb RAM, Vista (Ultimate 64 though), and a single core CPU, and Oblivion runs better under Vista than it ever did on XP for me.

Only major difference, is my video card is a 6800 GT.

And there goes Madster recommending someone upgrade yert again and drop money on a new video card, more ram and a new cpu . Money doesn't grow on trees for all of us .

Hehe, one thing is for certain, I will NOT upgrade for a 30 euro game. It's just about bearable, it crashes, I go back and restart it... It only makes the reliability graph look shit.

I am planning to upgrade the graphics card eventually, but it trying to upgrade a Dell Dimension E520 isn't exactly a breeze.

 

[madster111]

And there goes Madster recommending someone upgrade yert again and drop money on a new video card, more ram and a new cpu . Money doesn't grow on trees for all of us .

If you can afford to put $5 a day away, you can upgrade your Ram
Oh, and i get $40 a week..i know money doesn't grow on trees

Seriously, spend $400 on upgrades once every couple of years or so, and it will suffice..in this case, judging by specs, your PC is about that age..in which case i would recommend an upgrade to more today standards.
The way software is going, you will need a basic C2D just to have iTunes run decently in 3 or so years..

 

[lokness]

install xp. instant fix.

 

[madster111]

install xp. instant fix.

but I too have 2gb RAM, Vista (Ultimate 64 though), and a single core CPU, and Oblivion runs better under Vista than it ever did on XP for me.

Vista = better than XP.
Vista = Epic Win.

 

[maca2kx]

Seriously, spend $400 on upgrades once every couple of years or so,

You seem to have quite a loose grasp of the concept of money. Wait until you need to pay bills, petrol, internet, food and so on all with a basic (or not much better than basic) wage while waiting for your trust fund to mature and then see if you can drop $400 on something that isn't necessary to keep you alive.

Sam

 

[madster111]

Seriously, spend $400 on upgrades once every couple of years or so,

You seem to have quite a loose grasp of the concept of money. Wait until you need to pay bills, petrol, internet, food and so on all with a basic (or not much better than basic) wage while waiting for your trust fund to mature and then see if you can drop $400 on something that isn't necessary to keep you alive.

Sam

Ahh, but this is where you're wrong.
to drop $400 on a PC is something life-essential for nerdlings like me.

$400 once every couple of YEARS isn't hard to do..if it were every few months or so, yes it would be hard..but not $400 every 2.5 years or so.
And $400 is Australian..and everything over here is expensive as hell, ESPECIALLY things to do with technology.
If we were to say american prices, reduce that to $250..