Crashes during gameplay

[goatjc]

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: goatjc
Ram would be my guess. Memtest86 has a file on their site. I had the exact same issues (almost exact same rig too) and ran the bootable CD (b/c I dont have a floppy either lol) ISO file off their site and sure enough, it was one of my 512 sticks of ram. Replaced it and runs like a charm now. No more random crashes, no freezing during games. . .I can actually install BF2 without any problems.

When I did this, I also replaced the stock cooling on the CPU and there was a noticable performance increase, namely better fps in CS:source and the like.

if you replaced the stock cooler on the cpu and you actually gained performance then your case has serious airflow issues causing your cpu to throttle meaning it was very high because there is no way a different hsf can make a game play better unless there is a serious overheatiing problem that still needs to be addressed.

Going from high 50-60ishC to mid-high 30C. . .by solely replacing the stock hsf. It could of been that the stock fan was dying and I just didnt notice, but you will see better performance significantly from those temps.

I've had the same issue in the past on another rig where you had to do the "flicking the switch trick." and it was indeed a PSU going bad.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: goatjc

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: goatjc
Ram would be my guess. Memtest86 has a file on their site. I had the exact same issues (almost exact same rig too) and ran the bootable CD (b/c I dont have a floppy either lol) ISO file off their site and sure enough, it was one of my 512 sticks of ram. Replaced it and runs like a charm now. No more random crashes, no freezing during games. . .I can actually install BF2 without any problems.

When I did this, I also replaced the stock cooling on the CPU and there was a noticable performance increase, namely better fps in CS:source and the like.

if you replaced the stock cooler on the cpu and you actually gained performance then your case has serious airflow issues causing your cpu to throttle meaning it was very high because there is no way a different hsf can make a game play better unless there is a serious overheatiing problem that still needs to be addressed.

Going from high 50-60ishC to mid-high 30C. . .by solely replacing the stock hsf. It could of been that the stock fan was dying and I just didnt notice, but you will see better performance significantly from those temps.

I've had the same issue in the past on another rig where you had to do the "flicking the switch trick." and it was indeed a PSU going bad.

so you are saying that if my temps are normally 50C and i can drop them to 30C my performance will increase???? please show proof of this without a throttling issue as 50-60C a cpu shouldn't throttle anyway

 

[Insidious]

Hijack :|

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Insidious
Hijack :|

it is not a hijack, somebody is claiming something that is not true and i want to see benchmarks to back it up, and it does have to do with the original thread of crashing during gaming. dropping temps = more performanc @ the same clock is b.s., i just want to see where people that claim this are getting their info. hell, we are talking differences in C not anything more

 

[Insidious]

I don't know if the OP is even still watching, but this is a help thread for him.
Yours is a good point and a great thread to start. But it isn't going to help this guy get his pc running.

 

[HailAngus]

Originally posted by: Insidious
I don't know if the OP is even still watching, but this is a help thread for him.
Yours is a good point and a great thread to start. But it isn't going to help this guy get his pc running.

hahha I'm still watching...


I can't afford any computer hardware right now so this is really hard for me... I want to end this but If i buy the wrong thing then i screw myself over. The reports from windows say RAM and you say PSU..... aaah

 

[Insidious]

Have you run the memtest86+ yet?

Becareful in your interpretation of the BSOD when windows crashes. It will almost always be a page fault (RAM) error called out. It's reporting the symptom of misreadiing RAM. Only a fraction of the time is this due to a faulty stick.

-Sid

(Memtest test is free!)

 

[HailAngus]

I have the memtest package on my desktop but i dont know how to put it on a CD-R so it will be bootable at startup.... my floppy is broken.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: HailAngus
I have the memtest package on my desktop but i dont know how to put it on a CD-R so it will be bootable at startup.... my floppy is broken.

just make sure you d/led the iso - i think even the built in xp burner can burn those no problem, or d/l the demo of nero. drop it in the cd drive, make that the bootable drive and let 'er run overnight

 

[Insidious]

download the one called pre-compiled bootable ISO (it is zipped, you have to un-zip it)

now, start your burning program and for type of project, select burn image.

Then navigate to the .iso file you received when you did the download. Your burning software will do the rest.

now, make sure your machine (BIOS) is set up to boot to CDROM before the HD, put in the CD and re-boot. Memtest will start automatically. Let it run and if there are memory errors they will be clearly highlighted in red on the lower portion of the memtest screen.

edit: Bob types fast! :thumbsup:

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Insidious
edit: Bob types fast! :thumbsup:

i have slowed down to ~60wpm including #'s...use to be around 80 haha

 

[HailAngus]

Okay I will work on that

And

Could a bad PSU be causing crash to desktops while playing battlefield2?

It is so aggravating not being able to play that game; it used to be my life. Now when i get on a server after waiting 5 minutes for it to load the map and i start working into the game i get SO mad when something on my computer messes up. I can't ever get a full game in.

AAAAAH

 

[Insidious]

It could...

When your video mode switches to 3D, your RAM and HD usage goes up, and your CPU usage goes up to 100% it takes more power and that could trip out a bad PSU or cause voltage fluctuations that take your system unstable.

Unfortunately, without specialized equipment, it is very difficult to diagnose a problem like this with absolute certainty. You need to use the tools you do have (ie: memtest86 in this case) to help you know what component to swap.

-Sid

 

[HailAngus]

I was just wondering if thats possible... PSU is bad so it tells the computer to shut off that single program? Because if that's not how it works then i dont see how it does

 

[Insidious]

We don't know it is your PSU. We just suspect it.

WindowsXP is written in a way that when a program crashes, it doesn't take the whole system with it.

I certainly can't pretent to be able to diagnose your system from the info. that is in this thread. We're just trying to help give you ideas to help you diagnose/fix it.

-Sid

 

[tweeve2002]

I'm coming in kinda late, but I have had a PSU crap out, this helped me some until I could get a new one.
if you are just drawing too much current, try unplugging any extra hard drives or CD/DVD drives that you don't need.
I have seen many weird PSU problems, if you have a fan controller unplug it, I don't know why but when we did that to a friends computer a system that would not boot or be very unstable, booted up and ran great. The theory right now is that the fan controller was sending some feedback along one of the rails and crashing the system. PSU's are a pain to fix and diagnose. Be warned if the PSU does go completely out, it can take the entire system down or only part of it, I have seen both.

 

[HailAngus]

Originally posted by: Insidious
We don't know it is your PSU. We just suspect it.

WindowsXP is written in a way that when a program crashes, it doesn't take the whole system with it.

I certainly can't pretent to be able to diagnose your system from the info. that is in this thread. We're just trying to help give you ideas to help you diagnose/fix it.

-Sid

I didn't mean it like that at all.... What i was saying was a question.... Can windows XP recognize that it needs to turn off a program due to a lack of power?

 

[Insidious]

Winows isn't that smart.
it just kills any program when it gets an illegal op (crashes).

Not to add to the confusion, but when the game is running your video card goes to 3D mode. Apparently the only thing crashing your PC is this game and system start-ups. It does open up the possibility that a video card issue is causing the instability. (It could show during boot of the GPU (video card) making your computer difficult to get running from a cold start and during a game (3D operation).

You might try uninstalling your video card drivers (add/remove programs) then re-installing with the latest version (downloaded from the manufacturer of your video card website). The Power supply (PSU) would be next if it was me.

-Sid

 

[HailAngus]

Originally posted by: Insidious
Winows isn't that smart.
it just kills any program when it gets an illegal op (crashes).

Not to add to the confusion, but when the game is running your video card goes to 3D mode. Apparently the only thing crashing your PC is this game and system start-ups. It does open up the possibility that a video card issue is causing the instability. (It could show during boot of the GPU (video card) making your computer difficult to get running from a cold start and during a game (3D operation).

You might try uninstalling your video card drivers (add/remove programs) then re-installing with the latest version (downloaded from the manufacturer of your video card website). The Power supply (PSU) would be next if it was me.

-Sid

I think we can take out the possibility of the graphics card, I got a brand new one (xfx nvidia geforce 9800xtreme) replacing the 9800 pro and the problems persisted.

 

[Insidious]

(I've heard of an ATI (GeCube) 9800Xtreme. I'm not familiar with that model from Nvidia)

But on the bright side you've got a new Vid.

Keep at it.. you'll get it. (The life of a builder can be a lonely road )

 

[HailAngus]

Originally posted by: Insidious
(I've heard of an ATI (GeCube) 9800Xtreme. I'm not familiar with that model from Nvidia)

But on the bright side you've got a new Vid.

Keep at it.. you'll get it. (The life of a builder can be a lonely road )

Ooops make that a 6800 xtreme

I have memtest on a disk now, and I tried booting from disk but i first have to change my settings from boot from hdd first to the drive... and i can't get the setup menu at the beginning (is it called bios settings?) i think the screen that tells me what key to press to open it only flashes for a fraction of a second... so i dont know what to do

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: HailAngus

Originally posted by: Insidious
(I've heard of an ATI (GeCube) 9800Xtreme. I'm not familiar with that model from Nvidia)

But on the bright side you've got a new Vid.

Keep at it.. you'll get it. (The life of a builder can be a lonely road )

Ooops make that a 6800 xtreme

I have memtest on a disk now, and I tried booting from disk but i first have to change my settings from boot from hdd first to the drive... and i can't get the setup menu at the beginning (is it called bios settings?) i think the screen that tells me what key to press to open it only flashes for a fraction of a second... so i dont know what to do

it is usually the delete key. just start your computer up and hit the delete key and it should get you in there

 

[Midnight Rambler]

I got my money on it being the PS too ... just fixed a system with very similar probs. Local hack shop had taken the owner for a ride, charged serious $'s (labor only) but failed to fix problem. I then threw in a new Corsair PS and all has been well since (approx. 3 weeks).

 

[HailAngus]

gaaah i cant even get it to boot, gaaay

but i got the blue screen of death>>

http://xs412.xs.to/xs412/07073/computercrashed.jpg

 

[HailAngus]

woah that was weird, a few minutes ago i was listening to music(itunes) and on the internet and when i was loading a page it kinda stopped loadin and sat there,,, the music continued playing through each song but i couldnt click on anything but the pointer would move. keyboard lights didnt change if i hit the lock keys, so it was like it was in a state of a freeze.... but only halfway??? and then after a few minutes it turned off by itself.... booted up and it said "CPU has been changed" - that happens a few times a week when i turn on my computer btw

wtfuxorz