Computer Issue: Locks up when playing Video Games

[Grifter]

Hey guys,

I've been having an ongoing comp problem and I'm hoping to get your insight.

AMD 64 3000+ 2.01 GHz. 1GB RAM
nVidea 7600GT Video Card
Sound Blaster Live Sound Card

I've uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers about three times and still having same issue. It happens in Hidden and Dangerous 2, Madden 2008, and even IL2 on occasion. Any thoughts?

[Softball]

Does it only freeze up during games? Sounds maybe like a hardware issue. (Bad RAM, overheating, etc..) Maybe you can run some tests on your system hardware and see if anything fails or is below standard performance? I know I have seen some free utilities that you can DL and run tests on your system.

Check the inside of your case for any dust, and maybe check to see of all the system fans (CPU and Video card) are working when the computer is running. If there is any dust in the CPU heatsink, blow it out with a can of spray air or other compressed air.

[Buffalo Six]

sounds like a heat or a PSU issue.

If your going to blow dust out of fans and heatsinks.....DO NOT allow the air stream (as its super cold) to blow forcefully on the fan bearings as it will cause them to fail rapidly because you just removed any lube on bearing type fans or blew crap into the bushing of cheaper fans....both will cause fan bearing failure...it may take a few weeks but they will fail....trust me.

Is your PSu big enough to drive your system?

[Grifter]

Well my initial suspicions may bear out to be true. I have long since thought that these lock-ups, which do only occur in video games, have something to do with my Sound Blaster Card. I think it's EAX settings that my card can't handle. For the first time last night I got through an Hidden & Dangerous 2 mission without lock-up because I shut the EAX off (I didn't know it was on in the first place). I'm going to do some more testing. Overheating is NOT the issue. This hardware is well within limits, and yes I think the CPU, RAM, and other parts should be plenty of muscle to handle what I'm doing. So, I'm thinking it's probably time to upgrade to a new PCI slot Sound Card. This Sound Blaster Live! is just too old. No money though...will have to wait.

[Falker]

Sound like computer junk to me. You know after you run your computer for about a year it starts to have video problems. ( even in games) I get that way mostly after watching Porn. I’m not sure what it is that does it but it happens all the time after awhile.

As I was saying ,.. sound blaster 24 bit, hasn’t released a driver for their sound card in about 3 years now . I’m sure it's not that. Nope , I’m not guessing either lol.

Ok , to cut to the chase… you’ll need to reformat , After you reset Cmos. Be sure to reset Cmos before reformatting. It really does make a difference. Really… Just pull out the Board Battery if you cant find the Jumper.

Then reformat , really easy stuff. Here.. Load up Windows , start windows , load drivers and watch some video , and see the magic. It has nothing to do with your hardware. It’s just your software got corrupted somewhere along the line and needs to be cleansed.

Unless your a magic computer Magician, who wants to spend several days trying to figure this out , I'd say sick to the path and reformat. It’s really not that complicated. Just a few short hours and you'll be up in running in no time. That’s my Opinion.


BTW: I started having freeze problems with Lost Planet. A few month ago. I reformatted but haven’t check it out lately. I’ll haft to reload it and see if I'm a lire. I’ll post in another day , then we’ll see what’s what.

Ps. turn off digital sound. The Sound blaster really has a problem with that on my system.



Ps I hope you have partitioned your drive so that reformatting is easy. I allow 15 to 20 GB on the Windows drive. All my other files are kept on other drives. Get Partition Magic if you have not already. It makes maintaining your computer simpler.

[Softball]

I don't think reformatting is necessary, that's a last resort option only if the computer is really hosed. Reformatting is very time consuming and if there is in fact hardware failure somewhere, he will be back where he started.

Grif, if you are still having issues, check this: Do you have an onboard sound card built into the motherboard? If so, make sure it is disabled in the BIOS. Or another thing you could try if you do have an onboard sound card, remove the SBLive card, enable the onboard sound card in the BIOS and install the necessary drivers. See if it freezes up again.

[PanzerMeyer]

It sounds like an overheating issue to me if the lockups are only occuring while you are playing games. Did you check the fan on your video card to see if its full of dust? I've found that sometimes the card will overheat if there is a large amount of dust and debris in the fan. Also check the CPU fan as well.

[PanzerMeyer]

Well my initial suspicions may bear out to be true. I have long since thought that these lock-ups, which do only occur in video games, have something to do with my Sound Blaster Card. I think it's EAX settings that my card can't handle.

But Grifter, IL-2 doesn't use EAX and didn't you say that IL-2 also causes your pc to lock up? I'm not convinced that its an EAX issue.

[Grifter]

Well, it's been two whole days since I shut off EAX in Hidden and Dangerous 2 and I haven't had a single lock-up. The on board sound card has been disabled for quite some time, I assure you, but good suggestion. Falker, I'm not quite ready to reformat yet, but when I do I'll be sure to CMOS. I didn't even think to do that, but now that you mention it, it's so obvious that you'd want to yank the battery or jumper to wipe the system clean. duh. Thanks for teaching me man. Good idea.

[Grifter]

Yes, Panz it did lock up in IL2...albeit very rarely. No I'm not convinced either, but until it happens again in IL2 I'm not quite ready to format my HD...for the third time this year no less. Moreover, if I do reformat, I'm not doing so without buying a new sound card first. It can't hurt to put a more modern card in, certainly.

[daofcmacg]

Unfortunately everyone is right in this situation since the sympton can be produced by all of the above problems that you guys have been listing. Only issue is to pick the right problem and apply the proper solution. This is a throw them all in a hat and pick one resolve that until you have a winner. Hopefully you get it right the first or second time around.

DA