Game freezes, but OS is still running. Need help!!!

velimir_bg · 03-22-2009, 02:19 AM

Hello. I've had this issue for over a month now. It is extremely annoying. All the games I try to play freeze after a while. Initially they freeze at the loading screen, after one reboot I run the game and I play for a good 10-30 minutes and then the game freezes. The interesting thing is that the music keeps going. It is not looping, it is going as if the game is still on. The mouse and keyboard still work, the OS is still working, even though I can not alt+tab from the frozen game. The only thing that freezes is the game, but I have to reboot in order to fix that. It started when I got a new geforce 8800GT a month ago. Initially I thought that is the problem so I switched back to my old geforce 7900GT. I got a new BFG 550W PSU. I tried everything to fix the freezing problem. Reinstalled XP about 5 times, all new drivers, everything is up to date, run benchmarks, checked the temperatures on my second monitor. The 7900 runs around 70-75C in game, 55 idle. CPU runs around 35 idle, 45-50 in game. I got a pretty stable cooling. I also took the whole PC apart a couple of times. That didnt help either.
My config is:
Motherboard: Asus M2N sli deluxe
CPU: AMD Opteron 1210 Santa Ana 1.8GHz
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2 x 1GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Video Card: GeForce 7900GT 256MB
PSU: BFG Tech GS-550 550W

velimir_bg · 03-24-2009, 01:39 PM

No one knows what is wrong with my system? At least give me some suggestions. Maybe I've missed something and that is the problem. Please help!!!

**RockmasteR** · 03-24-2009, 02:04 PM

hello and welcome to TSF
the problem here could be from your PSU
please list the amps under the 12V
you said that you had a new PSU and the problem started, it could be that it's not giving the power that your PC Needs and especially the 7900 GT
high end cards needs powerful PSU

velimir_bg · 03-24-2009, 04:25 PM

Thank you for the quick answer.
I have 2 12V rails and each is 18A.
I was thinking that I am under powering the video card, but it was working fine with my old one, which was a generic 400W PSU. Actually it all started when i got a 8800GT and I blew my old PSU. The problems continued after that no matter what I did. Is it possible that I blew something else other than the PSU? And if so why is the OS running fine, and all the stress tests can't catch anything?

**RockmasteR** · 03-24-2009, 05:40 PM

try to remove one stick of RAM and test the games, then swap it with the other one (test each one alone)
also download memtest and test your RAM
http://www.memtest86.com/memtest34a.zip
that way we can check if your RAM are good or not...
anyway I also agree with all my team when we say that people spend lots of money on Video Cards or CPUs but not on PSU!
the PSU is the most important thing in the PC
and you said you fried the 1rst one, that could damage some of your parts, and I hope it's not your motherboard...

Mcninjaguy · 03-24-2009, 06:02 PM

The corsair 550w PSU has 1 single 12v rail @ 41 and its the same price as the corsair 650w PSU which has a single rail 12v @ 52A

corsair 650w
$90
after rebate $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

ohh I would maybe think about changing your motherboard driver but I doubt it has anything to do with it.I have the M2N SLI DELUXE and its a horrible motherboard with constant lockups when transferring files and stuff like that.

try one of the four drivers except don't use the second newest one made in November 2008, I'm using the latest NForce driver but I can't say I like any of them really

velimir_bg · 03-26-2009, 01:57 AM

The memory test runs fine. I was playing around with the power supply today. Mostly I switched the cables around and tried different combination. Nothing helped of course. I have been running this on a stock power supply which is 400W with 14A on the 12+ volt rail, so I really don't know what the problem is. I hope I did not fry the motherboard either. I was reading around and I thing my problem has something to do with my video card working in 3D mode, since that is what it works in in games. Any ideas what might get in the way of that?
About the motherboard. I can't say that I am impressed with it either. I got asus, because I like the brand, this particular model is not all that good though. I got it for overclocking mainly, and sadly it can not get the memory voltage high enough, therefore I could not clock more than 15%.
About that hanging problem...I talked to so many people lately and the conversations usually end with "that sucks, maybe you will have to get new mobo + cpu + ram" :)

**RockmasteR** · 03-26-2009, 06:34 AM

can I ask you a question?
how much did that video card cost you?
I think you could pay half its price and get a decent PSU
all your problems will just fade away...

**vladimirb** · 03-26-2009, 06:51 AM

So you did OC your CPU lately...
Try with default settings...
And if you can borrow from a friend a descent PSU [more powerful than yours off course] do it and test your rig in games...
If you blew your PSU before, you could have damaged your Motherboard...
Check if your Motherboard has popped up or leaked capacitors perhaps...

Do you have latest graphic card drivers installed????
Did you install drivers which came with graphic card or you did use Forceware graphic card drivers which you have downloaded from Internet????

Keep us posted...

velimir_bg · 03-26-2009, 01:49 PM

I paid 90$ for the video card, and I paid I think...65 or something for the new PSU. I just woke up to check my memtest again(it was still running) I did 11 passes and no errors, so I don't think It's the ram. Yesterday I got some older geforce drivers from the Nvidia website. I got 178.24. They are from October. I was hoping that will do the job....but it didn't.
The CPU is not clocked atm. It was till a couple of months ago, but 10% don't really make that big of a difference, so I dropped it down to stock speed.
The capacitors are fine. They were the second thing I checked. I also took a look at them yesterday. They are still fine. I'm really starting to think that I either damaged the PCIe when I blew my PSU, or my new PSU is not big enough for my system. I will go on the lookout these days and see if I can borrow those 2 from a friend. Maybe I will burrow them from Best Buy like I usually do, and order them from newegg for half the price later :)

**vladimirb** · 03-26-2009, 01:53 PM

You are right: could be graphic card, PCI-E slot or insufficient power...
After you check with friend's components, we will know what could be the problem...

Keep us posted...

03-22-2009, 02:19 AM	#1 (permalink)
velimir_bg Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5 OS: xp	Game freezes, but OS is still running. Need help!!! Hello. I've had this issue for over a month now. It is extremely annoying. All the games I try to play freeze after a while. Initially they freeze at the loading screen, after one reboot I run the game and I play for a good 10-30 minutes and then the game freezes. The interesting thing is that the music keeps going. It is not looping, it is going as if the game is still on. The mouse and keyboard still work, the OS is still working, even though I can not alt+tab from the frozen game. The only thing that freezes is the game, but I have to reboot in order to fix that. It started when I got a new geforce 8800GT a month ago. Initially I thought that is the problem so I switched back to my old geforce 7900GT. I got a new BFG 550W PSU. I tried everything to fix the freezing problem. Reinstalled XP about 5 times, all new drivers, everything is up to date, run benchmarks, checked the temperatures on my second monitor. The 7900 runs around 70-75C in game, 55 idle. CPU runs around 35 idle, 45-50 in game. I got a pretty stable cooling. I also took the whole PC apart a couple of times. That didnt help either. My config is: Motherboard: Asus M2N sli deluxe CPU: AMD Opteron 1210 Santa Ana 1.8GHz RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2 x 1GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Video Card: GeForce 7900GT 256MB PSU: BFG Tech GS-550 550W

03-24-2009, 01:39 PM	#2 (permalink)
velimir_bg Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5 OS: xp	Re: Game freezes, but OS is still running. Need help!!! No one knows what is wrong with my system? At least give me some suggestions. Maybe I've missed something and that is the problem. Please help!!!

03-24-2009, 02:04 PM	#3 (permalink)
RockmasteR Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Lebanon Posts: 3,218 OS: Vista Ultimate 32bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Game freezes, but OS is still running. Need help!!! hello and welcome to TSF the problem here could be from your PSU please list the amps under the 12V you said that you had a new PSU and the problem started, it could be that it's not giving the power that your PC Needs and especially the 7900 GT high end cards needs powerful PSU __________________ CPUz GPUz Nvidia Drivers ATI Drivers System Information for Windows (SIW) Revo Uninstaller RivaTuner ATITOOL Directx 9.0C !!Please don't PM me for Tech Support!!

03-24-2009, 04:25 PM	#4 (permalink)
velimir_bg Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5 OS: xp	Re: Game freezes, but OS is still running. Need help!!! Thank you for the quick answer. I have 2 12V rails and each is 18A. I was thinking that I am under powering the video card, but it was working fine with my old one, which was a generic 400W PSU. Actually it all started when i got a 8800GT and I blew my old PSU. The problems continued after that no matter what I did. Is it possible that I blew something else other than the PSU? And if so why is the OS running fine, and all the stress tests can't catch anything?

03-24-2009, 05:40 PM	#5 (permalink)
RockmasteR Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Lebanon Posts: 3,218 OS: Vista Ultimate 32bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Game freezes, but OS is still running. Need help!!! try to remove one stick of RAM and test the games, then swap it with the other one (test each one alone) also download memtest and test your RAM http://www.memtest86.com/memtest34a.zip that way we can check if your RAM are good or not... anyway I also agree with all my team when we say that people spend lots of money on Video Cards or CPUs but not on PSU! the PSU is the most important thing in the PC and you said you fried the 1rst one, that could damage some of your parts, and I hope it's not your motherboard... __________________ CPUz GPUz Nvidia Drivers ATI Drivers System Information for Windows (SIW) Revo Uninstaller RivaTuner ATITOOL Directx 9.0C !!Please don't PM me for Tech Support!!

03-24-2009, 06:02 PM	#6 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Temporarily Banned Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 10,422 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Game freezes, but OS is still running. Need help!!! The corsair 550w PSU has 1 single 12v rail @ 41 and its the same price as the corsair 650w PSU which has a single rail 12v @ 52A corsair 650w $90 after rebate $70 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005 ohh I would maybe think about changing your motherboard driver but I doubt it has anything to do with it.I have the M2N SLI DELUXE and its a horrible motherboard with constant lockups when transferring files and stuff like that. try one of the four drivers except don't use the second newest one made in November 2008, I'm using the latest NForce driver but I can't say I like any of them really

03-26-2009, 01:57 AM	#7 (permalink)
velimir_bg Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5 OS: xp	Re: Game freezes, but OS is still running. Need help!!! The memory test runs fine. I was playing around with the power supply today. Mostly I switched the cables around and tried different combination. Nothing helped of course. I have been running this on a stock power supply which is 400W with 14A on the 12+ volt rail, so I really don't know what the problem is. I hope I did not fry the motherboard either. I was reading around and I thing my problem has something to do with my video card working in 3D mode, since that is what it works in in games. Any ideas what might get in the way of that? About the motherboard. I can't say that I am impressed with it either. I got asus, because I like the brand, this particular model is not all that good though. I got it for overclocking mainly, and sadly it can not get the memory voltage high enough, therefore I could not clock more than 15%. About that hanging problem...I talked to so many people lately and the conversations usually end with "that sucks, maybe you will have to get new mobo + cpu + ram" :)

03-26-2009, 06:34 AM	#8 (permalink)
RockmasteR Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Lebanon Posts: 3,218 OS: Vista Ultimate 32bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Game freezes, but OS is still running. Need help!!! can I ask you a question? how much did that video card cost you? I think you could pay half its price and get a decent PSU all your problems will just fade away... __________________ CPUz GPUz Nvidia Drivers ATI Drivers System Information for Windows (SIW) Revo Uninstaller RivaTuner ATITOOL Directx 9.0C !!Please don't PM me for Tech Support!!

03-26-2009, 06:51 AM	#9 (permalink)
vladimirb Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Banja Luka, Serb Republic Posts: 3,715 OS: xp pro sp3, Server 2003, Windows 7 Professional x64bit My System	Re: Game freezes, but OS is still running. Need help!!! So you did OC your CPU lately... Try with default settings... And if you can borrow from a friend a descent PSU [more powerful than yours off course] do it and test your rig in games... If you blew your PSU before, you could have damaged your Motherboard... Check if your Motherboard has popped up or leaked capacitors perhaps... Do you have latest graphic card drivers installed???? Did you install drivers which came with graphic card or you did use Forceware graphic card drivers which you have downloaded from Internet???? Keep us posted... __________________ MCP - MCSA Cisco SMB Account Manager

03-26-2009, 01:49 PM	#10 (permalink)
velimir_bg Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5 OS: xp	Re: Game freezes, but OS is still running. Need help!!! I paid 90$ for the video card, and I paid I think...65 or something for the new PSU. I just woke up to check my memtest again(it was still running) I did 11 passes and no errors, so I don't think It's the ram. Yesterday I got some older geforce drivers from the Nvidia website. I got 178.24. They are from October. I was hoping that will do the job....but it didn't. The CPU is not clocked atm. It was till a couple of months ago, but 10% don't really make that big of a difference, so I dropped it down to stock speed. The capacitors are fine. They were the second thing I checked. I also took a look at them yesterday. They are still fine. I'm really starting to think that I either damaged the PCIe when I blew my PSU, or my new PSU is not big enough for my system. I will go on the lookout these days and see if I can borrow those 2 from a friend. Maybe I will burrow them from Best Buy like I usually do, and order them from newegg for half the price later :)

03-26-2009, 01:53 PM	#11 (permalink)
vladimirb Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Banja Luka, Serb Republic Posts: 3,715 OS: xp pro sp3, Server 2003, Windows 7 Professional x64bit My System	Re: Game freezes, but OS is still running. Need help!!! You are right: could be graphic card, PCI-E slot or insufficient power... After you check with friend's components, we will know what could be the problem... Keep us posted... __________________ MCP - MCSA Cisco SMB Account Manager