OT: Out Of Range Error
 

Ok, so I now have my shiny new gaming computer. I hook up my 19" flat screen monitor to it, and it works perfectly. I install one of the free games that came with the system, Microsofts Lost Planets, after 5 hours waiting for steam to download and update the game I finally get to play it. I start the game only to get a "Out of range" message on my monitor. WTF? I update the drivers, I change and test all the monitor settings, and I still get this Out of range error.

So I do a search for the problem on the web and find that many of Microsofts games cause this problem. So I go through the troubleshooting guide, which is pretty much the same thing I had done earlier on my own, and still no results.

So have any of you encountered a problem like this and if so how did you resolve it? Do I need to buy a new monitor? The one I am using is only a year old Emprex.

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

AT, change your resolution down to 1024 x 768 or lower and see if that will get you running. You might need to update your video card drivers too! Hope this helps you at least get up and running.

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

When adding a second SLI video card does it have to be absolutely identical to the one you already have? I have an EVGA GeForce 8800 GT 512m card but not sure of the model number and there seem to be like six different models. I am thinking about buying a second card.

Thanks Xrati, I did that but it did not work. There is a problem with MS games that cause this problem. They need to fix their games.

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

Everything I've heard from people I talk to, they have to be exact. Model, Batch, whatever you want to call it. It is a common thing to upgrade this way down the road, just have to find the right vid card.

You could go to some of the tech sites and do some research.

http://forums.slizone.com/
www.tomshardware.com
www.gpureview.com
www.arstechnica.com

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

Thanks, I took you suggestion and sent an email to EVGA tech and asked them. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Figure they know best since its their video card.

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

That will be one supped up PC there just to run SEIV and SEV. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

What else could you be running on there? Email? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

Right now I just wanted a PC that would run the new games coming out. The problem is that most of the games want you to use VISTA OS. We all know that vista is currently not an option given its immature drive data base. Eventually I will have to install VISTA on this PC. You know the funny thing, this is the quite literally a top of the line PC, with the latest video card, yet it will only run Crysis at below medium level. I don't want to have to spring for a second video card but in order to get the performance I desire, I just might have to do that. After I get 4.0 gigs of memory. (Assuming XP can handle having 4 gigs of ram.

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

This isn't January 2007.. vista works just fine for most games (so long as they aren't DX8). The drivers for major hardware are fairly mature now.

XP cannot really handle 4 GBs of RAM. The most you can get addressed is around 3.5, depending on the motherboard design. However, user applications can only use 2 GB of RAM at most (the other 2 are reserved for kernel space, including non-ram hardware addresses), unless you enable the PAE hack, which can cause instability with certain applications.

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

I've run into the 'Out of Range' error a couple times myself. The vast majority of the time, it's a result of a program (or an OS. That was fun) trying to use a refresh rate (as opposed to resolution) than the monitor supports.

You've got a few options for fixing it. One is to see if they were kind enough to include such settings in a text file (.cfg, .ini, that sort of thing) which you can edit to change the refresh to something your monitor will allow.

Another is to see if there's any "command line" options you can add to a shortcut to alter the refresh rate. Odds of this one working aren't good, but it's always worth a shot.

The only other thing I can think of is to hook up a CRT to your computer to load the game, since as far as I know 'Out of Range' errors are the exclusive domain of LCDs. Then hopefully there's an option within the game itself to knock back the refresh.

Otherwise, it sounds like someone made an oopsie somewhere, and you'll have to twiddle your thumbs until a patch comes out.

PS: I'm pretty sure the hardware that can handle Crysis with ease isn't on the market yet. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

AT, I have a similar video card EVGA GeForce 8800 Ultra with 768Mb. Although the system info tells me I have 1024Mb (maybe they screwed up and sent the wrong one! I'm not complaining). It's on a ASUS "Crosshair" Mobo and runs great. If you’re talking about getting another video card I hope you know that it is a two slot card and you will be using up 4 PCI slots (the card uses one slot but are double height). There is also a jumper that comes with the card to allow you to connect the two so you can run dual monitors (which I am assuming that you are going to do). You should have a small cable somewhere in your box with the computer or you’ll just get another one with the new one. I don’t believe that the memory has to be the same but the cards will have to be.

Fyron is right about the memory. I have 4Gig of RAM which WinXP recognizes only ~3.5Gig. The Mobo will handle 8Gig if I run Vista (NO WAY)… Like Fyron says there are no programs that exceed the 2Gig mem. usage, so far!!!

The refresh rates are generally handled by the drivers. You may be able to find an old drive to use.

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

Can you have a duel install of both windows XP and Vista?

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

I'm not up to speed on Vista. I would think that you can, BUT knowing mickysoft, http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/Sick.gif both programs will want to control the system. You could probably do it by partitioning your hard drive and installing XP on D: part. and then install Vista on C: part. You might have to edit the .ini file in the root directory to accept either program at boot and specify/choose the default OS and how long of a wait to make a decision on which OS to choose (on boot, you'll have to choose an OS). You'd have to ask someone who's more familiar with Vista.

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

Knowing Microsoft, they made the OSes continue the long tradition of installing side-by-side in dual boot configurations, and not "controlling the system." Ever since NT 3.0, Windows has worked fine in dual+ boot setups. It was only the Win9x and earlier lines that were designed to take over the system with a single-OS boot loader. However, MS even made it possible to dual boot them, if you installed an NT OS afterwards so the multiboot capable boot loader would be loaded into the MBR. The Windows NT installers automatically detects other MS operating systems and configures itself.

Apparently there is some issue with XP deleting Vista system restore points during boot, however. There is a workaround involving installing on separate drives, instead of just partitions.

If you want to dual-boot alternative OSes (like Linux), you have to install a different boot loader (eg: GRUB), however. Even in that case, Windows will happily run in its own world when you boot into it, and not do anything to sabotage the other OS install.

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

There are programs that allow for use of multiple operating systems on the same pc. You can switch between operating systems instantly with a click of a mouse and share files. I can't remember the name of the program my brother uses but I could shoot him an email to ask if you are interested? Requires a really good processsor (at least dual core to work right) but sounds like you have a kick pc and should be no problem.

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

Thanks guys for all the great info and stuff. I had considered the option of adding a second HD to the system but wasn't sure how to go about using it as a bootable drive for VISTA. I would like to be able to select between the OS I run. If VISTA is stable now and has mature drivers I might have made a huge mistake by going with XP.

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

rstaats10 said:
"There are programs that allow for use of multiple operating systems on the same pc. You can switch between operating systems instantly with a click of a mouse and share files."

Sounds like an emulator, probably Virtual PC or VMware. Note that this works fine for regular programs, but is very problematic for gaming; until very recently, no emulator actually had any sort of emulated 3d video card. VMWare now has one, but it is still very primitive.

Atrocities said:
"I had considered the option of adding a second HD to the system but wasn't sure how to go about using it as a bootable drive for VISTA. I would like to be able to select between the OS I run."

With any recent NT based OS, you simply select the drive you wish to install to (can be literally any drive), and it will set up the boot loader with any detected installations of MS OSes automatically. You will then get an extra loading screen when you power on the PC, with a list of available OSes (and a 30 second timeout by default). The last OS you install will be the default choice, but you can edit this however you like with the MSConfig.exe app.

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

Thank you for this information Fyron. It is extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. Thank you all for your comments. You guys make coming here worth it each and every day. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: OT: Out Of Range Error
 

If you have the bucks for a new drive then that would be easier than partitioning. You should have SATA drives which will make it a breeze. Most new mobo's still take IDE connections too!