Classic problem, freezes during gameplay

Reakt · 12-29-2007, 11:07 AM

Hi Folks.

Just got an almost entirely new computer and everything works smoothly, or it did anyway.

On the normal Desktop everything is rock solid stable. Now I just installed and formatted last night and a few hours after I installed Defcon and it ran fine. A while after I installed C&C Tiberium Wars and I played it for about half an hour then it froze. Now this happened again and I removed the side of my case and pointed a fan at the graphics card (which just had a heatsink with no fan) and the game ran stable for about 2 hours until I stopped playing. I do think this was a coincidence though.

Now the freezes arent completely sudden. The image on the screen will shift slightly and freeze and most parts of the screen will have a purple and green colour. The mouse will work but the keyboard wont respond. Then a few seconds later the music loops, then the mouse stops and eventually the music stops, so it becomes a total lock-up.

I thought this was a Tiberium Wars problem but I played Defcon for a while today and the same problem happened then with the lock-up and the green and purple colours on the screen.

I thought it might be temperatures but my CPU is at 35c and my Graphics card never goes above 55c. I even tried putting a fan under the gfx card which brought the temperature down to 45c but the problem still happened.

I have the latest Nvidia drivers, latest directx9c, latest Realtek HD audio drivers. Reinstalled them all.

Specs:
OS: Windows XP professional x64 SP2
AMD Athlon 62 x2 duel core 4400+
RAM: 1gig Samsung 6400 800mhz
MB: MSI K9VGM-V
Graphics Card: Sparkle Nvidia Geforce 8400GS 512mb ddr2
60gb Maxtor HD
600w Colorsit PSU
Nvidia driver: Driver Version: 6.14.0011.6921 (English)
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Sound driver version: Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5532 (English)

Any ideas/help would be much appreciated guys, thanks.

dai · 12-29-2007, 12:07 PM

check your voltages

Reakt · 12-29-2007, 01:01 PM

Voltages are all fine I think.

I don't know if this is a concidence (don't think it is) but I've just underclocked my GPU core and gfx memory by about 50mhz and the games ran for quite a while now without a problem. Underclocking like this can't possibly solve a heat issue though because I had a fan on the fan-less GPU and it brought the temperature right down as much, if not more, than the underclocking did.

Any thoughts?

dai · 12-29-2007, 01:19 PM

underclocking it drops back the power pulled by the card,your power supply is a low quality supply and could be the problem
see if you can borrow a quality 550w to try in it
Power Supply Information and Selection

12-29-2007, 11:07 AM	#1 (permalink)
Reakt Registered User Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 58 OS: Windows XP	Classic problem, freezes during gameplay Hi Folks. Just got an almost entirely new computer and everything works smoothly, or it did anyway. On the normal Desktop everything is rock solid stable. Now I just installed and formatted last night and a few hours after I installed Defcon and it ran fine. A while after I installed C&C Tiberium Wars and I played it for about half an hour then it froze. Now this happened again and I removed the side of my case and pointed a fan at the graphics card (which just had a heatsink with no fan) and the game ran stable for about 2 hours until I stopped playing. I do think this was a coincidence though. Now the freezes arent completely sudden. The image on the screen will shift slightly and freeze and most parts of the screen will have a purple and green colour. The mouse will work but the keyboard wont respond. Then a few seconds later the music loops, then the mouse stops and eventually the music stops, so it becomes a total lock-up. I thought this was a Tiberium Wars problem but I played Defcon for a while today and the same problem happened then with the lock-up and the green and purple colours on the screen. I thought it might be temperatures but my CPU is at 35c and my Graphics card never goes above 55c. I even tried putting a fan under the gfx card which brought the temperature down to 45c but the problem still happened. I have the latest Nvidia drivers, latest directx9c, latest Realtek HD audio drivers. Reinstalled them all. Specs: OS: Windows XP professional x64 SP2 AMD Athlon 62 x2 duel core 4400+ RAM: 1gig Samsung 6400 800mhz MB: MSI K9VGM-V Graphics Card: Sparkle Nvidia Geforce 8400GS 512mb ddr2 60gb Maxtor HD 600w Colorsit PSU Nvidia driver: Driver Version: 6.14.0011.6921 (English) DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904) Sound driver version: Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5532 (English) Any ideas/help would be much appreciated guys, thanks.

12-29-2007, 12:07 PM	#2 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,593 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Classic problem, freezes during gameplay check your voltages __________________

12-29-2007, 01:01 PM	#3 (permalink)
Reakt Registered User Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 58 OS: Windows XP	Re: Classic problem, freezes during gameplay Voltages are all fine I think. I don't know if this is a concidence (don't think it is) but I've just underclocked my GPU core and gfx memory by about 50mhz and the games ran for quite a while now without a problem. Underclocking like this can't possibly solve a heat issue though because I had a fan on the fan-less GPU and it brought the temperature right down as much, if not more, than the underclocking did. Any thoughts?

12-29-2007, 01:19 PM	#4 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,593 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Classic problem, freezes during gameplay underclocking it drops back the power pulled by the card,your power supply is a low quality supply and could be the problem see if you can borrow a quality 550w to try in it Power Supply Information and Selection __________________