System locks up in games

Paladine · 10-07-2006, 07:27 PM

Hope the Guru's here can once again help me. HELP ME PLEASE

Issue: In Games (only, never windows itself) the system will get into a sound loop or video flicker loop and lock up completely. CTRL+ALT+DEL isn't even a possibility, must use reset button. The system just seems to hang/lock up in games like City of Heros, City of Villains, NFS:Most Wanted, Half-Life2.

SYSTEM (initallly)
AMD X2 3800+ CPU (not being overclocked)
EVGA 133-K8-NF41-AX Motherboard
EVGA nvidia 7800 GT PCIe Video Card (Not overclocked)
Creative SBAudigy2 Value Sound Card
10K 74 GB Raptor SATA
80GB WD SATA drive
LG DVD/RW DL Drive

Steps Taken

1.System was running perfectly fine, then after several weeks of not playing NFS I tried to play it, and it wouldn't run period. Ok, something strange happened, I will uninstall and reinstall it. When I tried to reinstal it, the installer kept saying DX 9.0c not installed, but it was. <-- 4 weeks ago

2.Then a new COH/COV game patch came out, installed this and the game began locking up. To the point of 4 to 5 times per 30 mins. Annoying. <--2 weeks ago

3.Tried to play Jedi Academy, and it ran like I was on Amphetamines (Speed), so it was unplayable. <-- 2 weeks ago

** Was running 84.21 Nvidia Drivers

4. Installed the latest nvidia 91.47 drivers. Same issues existed, and were seemingly magnified.

5. Installed latest sound/audio and on-board nForce4 dirvers Same results.

6. Formatted system, and reinstalled Windows XP SP2. Windows and all other programs run flawlessly. Tried COH/COV, Half-life2, NFS, and was able to play about 10 to 15 mins before it locked up. <--- Using EVGA shipped drivers (74.21)

7/ Used Driver Cleaner, and removed old drivers, and installed the latest and greastest for all. Able to play about 15 to 30 mins before I locked up.

8. At this point I was thinking it ws the motherboard. Purchased Asus A8n32-SLI Deluxe Board , with all other hardware remaining the same. <--- Used ASUS shipped Drivers Results were the same, but slightly more stable.. NFS now was playable, but had severe screen flicker in menu and load screens. I didn't try the other games, because they take forever to install.

9. Not sure what to try next?

Is it the Video Card, since this only occurs in games??
Is it the SOUND Card, since this only occurs in games and I get a definite sound loop when I lock up??
Is it the Video Card, since this only occurs in games?? -- Go buy an ATI card? hehe

I was thinking of swapping my Audigy2 Gamer-X sound card from another system into this system and see if it changes things? (see sig below for other system, which runs COV/COH fine)

Powersupply is an Enermax 565P-VE, Ram is OCZ PC3200 Rev 2.0

Something I did try. Ran 3DMark06 and on this system in question the first two tests were sluggish (at default settings) and the first test had colored speckles like snow on a rabbit ear antenna TV appearing. The second test looked like I was entering Hyperspace in Star Trek. The center of the screen was all messed up, with a starburst (like warpspeed) view coming out of the center of the screen.

I ran the exact same 3DMark settings on my other system, 6800GT card and it ran fine, none of these artifacts appeared, and it was reasonably non-sluggish.

Both systems are running 91.47 nvidia drivers.

Thinking video card? But no artifacts or issues windows alone.

Power supply??

Paladine · 10-07-2006, 08:19 PM

Also, I got NFS to run, with periodic lag / lockups, where the system would eventually recover and the game would come back. But the screen was hindered with a kalidescope of colors and triangular shapes.... gotta be video! ??

zapionics<alt> · 10-08-2006, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paladine

...the first test had colored speckles like snow on a rabbit ear antenna TV appearing. The second test looked like I was entering Hyperspace in Star Trek. ...

Paladine, first up thanks for a very informative post!
Looks like you've given quite a bit of good info there so I'm sure ppl will be able to help you, especially the Gurus.

I strongly suspect its the vid card, with symptoms as you describe.
Are you able to swap it out with some other card you know is working as a test?

CYCLOPS · 10-08-2006, 10:45 AM

Vid card heat....
Even though they state the heat threshold is much higher, I find my X850ST PE cards start to get funky anywhere over 136 F. Game dumps with memory errors, BSODs, all kinds of strange behavior.
Exit the game or reboot, let the card cool down, all is well.
I think it is the vid memory and not the GPU that is suffering from heat.

ATINUT · 10-08-2006, 12:44 PM

Tell me, did you install the drivers for the cpu, followed by the Microsoft Dual Core Hotfix and then the AMD Dual Core Optimizer. Something tells me you didn't do this.

I had trouble running Call Of Duty, until AMD came out with the Dual Core Optimizer.

I think you need to install the AMD CPU driver, the Microsoft Hotfix, and the AMD Dual Core Optimizer.

leeghoofd · 10-13-2006, 06:45 AM

In what you describe you have had bad luck and your EVGA card is dying same symptoms as my 7900GT KO. All games ran fine, they they got sluggish, aquamark passed, though scores were slightly lower than normal, 3dmark gave some weird artifacts but gave a pretty normal score. eg I had weird walls, all characters were attached to a stick, explosions were pixelated. Card temps etc were normal so it wasn't a heat issue. Tried the card in another rig and same stuff happned there.
Normal windows operation never locked up or artifacted.
Contact EVGA for a RMA, I got my replacement card in 2 weeks.

Paladine · 10-28-2006, 12:33 PM

Yup, you were correct on your guess. I RMA'd the card, got the new one yesterday, plugged it in and things are rock solid again.

Never would have guessed the card first, but the time frame of this whole ordeal was long enough for the card to also begin showing artifacts on the screen.

Thank you everyone for you help and suggestions!

zapionics<alt> · 10-28-2006, 07:33 PM

10-07-2006, 07:27 PM	#1
Paladine Registered User Join Date: May 2004 Location: Alberta Posts: 118	System locks up in games Hope the Guru's here can once again help me. HELP ME PLEASE Issue: In Games (only, never windows itself) the system will get into a sound loop or video flicker loop and lock up completely. CTRL+ALT+DEL isn't even a possibility, must use reset button. The system just seems to hang/lock up in games like City of Heros, City of Villains, NFS:Most Wanted, Half-Life2. *SYSTEM (initallly)* AMD X2 3800+ CPU (not being overclocked) EVGA 133-K8-NF41-AX Motherboard EVGA nvidia 7800 GT PCIe Video Card (Not overclocked) Creative SBAudigy2 Value Sound Card 10K 74 GB Raptor SATA 80GB WD SATA drive LG DVD/RW DL Drive Steps Taken 1.System was running perfectly fine, then after several weeks of not playing NFS I tried to play it, and it wouldn't run period. Ok, something strange happened, I will uninstall and reinstall it. When I tried to reinstal it, the installer kept saying DX 9.0c not installed, but it was. <-- 4 weeks ago 2.Then a new COH/COV game patch came out, installed this and the game began locking up. To the point of 4 to 5 times per 30 mins. Annoying. <--2 weeks ago 3.Tried to play Jedi Academy, and it ran like I was on Amphetamines (Speed), so it was unplayable. <-- 2 weeks ago Was running 84.21 Nvidia Drivers 4. Installed the latest nvidia 91.47 drivers. Same issues existed, and were seemingly magnified. 5. Installed latest sound/audio and on-board nForce4 dirvers Same results. 6. Formatted system, and reinstalled Windows XP SP2. Windows and all other programs run flawlessly. Tried COH/COV, Half-life2, NFS, and was able to play about 10 to 15 mins before it locked up. <--- Using EVGA shipped drivers (74.21) 7/ Used Driver Cleaner, and removed old drivers, and installed the latest and greastest for all. Able to play about 15 to 30 mins before I locked up. 8. At this point I was thinking it ws the motherboard. Purchased Asus A8n32-SLI Deluxe Board , with all other hardware remaining the same. <--- Used ASUS shipped Drivers Results were the same, but slightly more stable.. NFS now was playable, but had severe screen flicker in menu and load screens. I didn't try the other games, because they take forever to install. 9. Not sure what to try next? Is it the Video Card, since this only occurs in games?? Is it the SOUND Card, since this only occurs in games and I get a definite sound loop when I lock up?? Is it the Video Card, since this only occurs in games?? -- Go buy an ATI card? hehe I was thinking of swapping my Audigy2 Gamer-X sound card from another system into this system and see if it changes things? (see sig below for other system, which runs COV/COH fine) Powersupply is an Enermax 565P-VE, Ram is OCZ PC3200 Rev 2.0 Something I did try. Ran 3DMark06 and on this system in question the first two tests were sluggish (at default settings) and the first test had colored speckles like snow on a rabbit ear antenna TV appearing. The second test looked like I was entering Hyperspace in Star Trek. The center of the screen was all messed up, with a starburst (like warpspeed) view coming out of the center of the screen. I ran the exact same 3DMark settings on my other system, 6800GT card and it ran fine, none of these artifacts appeared, and it was reasonably non-sluggish. Both systems are running 91.47 nvidia drivers. Thinking video card? But no artifacts or issues windows alone. Power supply??** __________________
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10-07-2006, 08:19 PM	#2
Paladine Registered User Join Date: May 2004 Location: Alberta Posts: 118	Also, I got NFS to run, with periodic lag / lockups, where the system would eventually recover and the game would come back. But the screen was hindered with a kalidescope of colors and triangular shapes.... gotta be video! ?? __________________
(Offline)

10-08-2006, 10:45 AM	#4
CYCLOPS Registered User Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: S NJ Posts: 527	Vid card heat.... Even though they state the heat threshold is much higher, I find my X850ST PE cards start to get funky anywhere over 136 F. Game dumps with memory errors, BSODs, all kinds of strange behavior. Exit the game or reboot, let the card cool down, all is well. I think it is the vid memory and not the GPU that is suffering from heat.
(Offline)

10-08-2006, 12:44 PM	#5
ATINUT Just Plain Crazy! Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 3,278	Tell me, did you install the drivers for the cpu, followed by the Microsoft Dual Core Hotfix and then the AMD Dual Core Optimizer. Something tells me you didn't do this. I had trouble running Call Of Duty, until AMD came out with the Dual Core Optimizer. I think you need to install the AMD CPU driver, the Microsoft Hotfix, and the AMD Dual Core Optimizer. __________________ Intel D975XBX2 Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 8GB's of Mushkin HP2 6400 memory(DDR2 800) two Sapphire GDDR4 Radeon 3870 videocards HT Omega Claro(Cmedia 8788HD chip) 120GB&200GB&320GB Western Digital harddrives LG DVDROM & LG DVDBURNER HP Deskjet 920C Logitech X-540 speakers Viewsonic VG2030wm 20inch Widescreen LCD Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit with Service Pack 1 Who'se the fool that approved the design for this place. - The Dwarf, Sacred Underworld.
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10-13-2006, 06:45 AM	#6
leeghoofd Registered User Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 628	In what you describe you have had bad luck and your EVGA card is dying same symptoms as my 7900GT KO. All games ran fine, they they got sluggish, aquamark passed, though scores were slightly lower than normal, 3dmark gave some weird artifacts but gave a pretty normal score. eg I had weird walls, all characters were attached to a stick, explosions were pixelated. Card temps etc were normal so it wasn't a heat issue. Tried the card in another rig and same stuff happned there. Normal windows operation never locked up or artifacted. Contact EVGA for a RMA, I got my replacement card in 2 weeks. __________________ AMD64 X2 4400@2600 - ABIT Fatal1ty AN8 SLI 16 Bios- 2 x 1024 Gskill ram 3-3-3-8 - XFX 7900GTX 512mb 91.47 - Plextor 52x Cd writer - Plextor 7140 DVD Writer - Enermax Libery 500 - Rage3d Folding team Intel E6600@3600 1.47 - Asus Striker (0402 bios) - 2 gig OCZ 4-4-4-10 1T 2.1 volts - EVGA 8800GTX 1 Gig 97.92 - Plextor 7140 DVD Writer - Enermax Liberty 620 - Rage3d Folding team
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10-28-2006, 12:33 PM	#7
Paladine Registered User Join Date: May 2004 Location: Alberta Posts: 118	Solved Yup, you were correct on your guess. I RMA'd the card, got the new one yesterday, plugged it in and things are rock solid again. Never would have guessed the card first, but the time frame of this whole ordeal was long enough for the card to also begin showing artifacts on the screen. Thank you everyone for you help and suggestions! __________________
(Offline)

10-28-2006, 07:33 PM	#8
zapionics<alt> <unknown level> Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: AUSTRALIA Posts: 2,938	__________________ * Please note: any advertising within this post has been placed there by the site owner and NOT by me! * "To Boldly Go..."
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