Simviation Forums

I've had my FS9 game now for a couple of months and enjoying it a lot.  I haven't had any problems with the game until I changed my processor this week.  I went from a 2.4c to a 3.2e (Intel obviously).  Now when I'm playing everything is great until I experience a random restart.  I don't know what to think.  At first I thought maybe it was the processor, but I'm not having problems w/ any other apps.  Then finally tonight I caught a glimps of a blue screen as it restarted.  The only thing I could see that caught my eye was a reference to  IRQ.   I have a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro joystick, a MX500 mouse, and a Track IR3 Pro unit on USB.  I've never had a problem before, but is it possible that something happened during installation, or would plugging a device into a different USB slot cause a conflict (don't know if this is feasible).  Feedback would be very much appreciated.  Or any suggestions please !!!

Did you re-format after fitting the new CPU? Personally after any big Hardware change like that I do.

I was suffering this when I first installed my AthlonXP 2000 but it went away by itself pretty quickly. Only after a couple of restarts.

Is the BIOS set correctly? Make sure it has the correct FSB and CPU speeds. Some will do it automatically but you have to go in there and set the multiplyer speed with others.

I did reformat (twice as a matter of fact) and yes the bios is correct.  I have a gremlin in my PC.  Other than a couple of quirky things that come and quickly go, my new processor seems to not like FS9.  Now I can't use the icon to get into the game.  I realize that it sounds more like a software prob, but I've not had any problems up until now.  I have to use a saved game icon to load it.   I read that the P4C800 can be quirky w/ the Prescott chips.  (I do have the latest  bios).  Switching the usb port seems to have helped, at least for now.

There are lots of people reporting random restarts lately, seems like many more than normal. Diagnosis has been difficult with the cases I've heard of.

In your case Hawkeye, if you had an IRQ warning, perhaps there is an IRQ conflict, where different devices are using or trying to use the same IRQ channel unsuccessfully.

After that, I would check CPU temperature for a possible overheat problem, Your new CPU may not have adequate cooling, possibly because of the heat transfer compound between the CPU and the heatsink not being quite right or seated in properly. The CPU temp should be monitored while running FS9, and not while the PC is at idle. That can be done by running FS9 in a window, or quickly switching to the desktop to see the temp, which may drop sharply once you are on the desktop.

I've never heard of any CPU incompatibility problems with FS9, so don't blame the CPU because it is different.
Instead, if all other avenues have been explored, consider the CPU may be suspect.

You could test the CPU with other intensive gaming apps or another intense flight sim, or test it with specific CPU test software such as overclockers use to test their CPU stability at overclocked speeds.

Good Luck

Don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily blaming the CPU.  I think the answer may lie in the BIOS (at least somewhat).  I've read where some people w/ the same mobo couldn't get it to recognize their 3.2e as anything over 2.8, despite having the latest bios.  I think my main problem is possibly heat.  So I'm using the money I was counting on for a new VGA card  to purchase a Swiftech water cooling system and a new Antec tower.  This new processor is costing more than Newegg knows.  Thanks for the advice guys.

CPU overheat = shutdown whitout the usual PSU clicking


the IRQ message: probably STOP: IRQ_LESS_OR_EQUAL

means you need a driver update... or a MOBO BIOS update