[tomcass]

Hi Everyone. I recently purchased a new computer (which I built myself) and installed WinXp SP2. I installed all the latest drivers for my computer and an up-to-date anti-virus. The specs of my computer are as follows.

Corsair 6400C4 DDR2 800MHz/PC2 6400 x 2

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ AM2 3.0GHz

Asustek AM2 nForce 590

MSI GeForce 8600GTS 256MB GDDR3 PCIE

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 80GB

Keyboard: Microsoft Wired Media Keyboard

Mouse: Razer Diamondback 1600

The problem I am having is that when playing games I am getting a freeze every 5 Seconds. When the freeze occurs the computer will not accept any keyboard input for about a quarter of a second then the screen will suddenly jump. Then everything will go back to normal and then EXACTLY 5 seconds later I get the same problem again.

I presumed it could be because the resources of the game were too high for my system specs (was playing world of warcraft on full graphics settings) so I decided to test out a web-based flash game and had exactly the same problem.

I have also observed the freeze whilst watching the clock, and it will freeze every 5 seconds exactly. I thought that it could be a problem with the graphics card (I always have problems with them :sigh so I sent my old graphics card back and recieved a new one (and a different model) with exactly the same problem.

I also suspected that it could be any programs/services I have installed, so I disabled all non-essential programs/services and still recieved exactly the same problem. I have also noticed that the freeze DOES NOT occur whilst watching videos in a media player, or on the web (eg. Youtube).

Unfortunately I have no spare parts in order to test individual components, but due to the precise nature of the freeze, I am suspecting that it is a software problem rather than a hardware fault.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advanced.
Tom

 

[twajetmech]

Hello and welcome to the TSF, what psu do you have, and is the aux power connector for the 8600gts plugged into the graphics card. Is the aux 4/8 pin motherboard power connector installed, all cables secure, fans all working, did you apply thermal paste the the cpu when you installed it, are your case fans situated as front intake, rear exhaust, what are your voltages and temps reading as?

 

[tomcass]

Hi, thanks for the reply. My PSU is 570W, the power connector is connected to my graphics card, I have plugged in the Aux MB Power, I have checked all cables are secure and my fans are all working, I have front intake rear exhaust and my voltages and temps are:

Vcore - 1.44v
+3.3 - 3.36v
+5.0 - 5.00
+12.0 - 12.16

CPU: 45ºC
MB: 30ºC
Case: 30ºC

 

[twajetmech]

Check (using cpu-z) that your memory timings are set to 4-4-4-12 @2.1V). Make sure that your virtual memory (page file) is set to either let windows manage or at least 1.5X your total system memory. Disconnect the computer from the internet (unplug the modem) and uninstall any anti-virus program you have running, see if that helps, Norton is a well known memory hog and well known to cause a myriad of problems (if that is what you're running) same goes for Symantic. If you have another computer in the house, swap out the keyboard and mouse, sometimes they go bad and can cause such issues. It does sound like you have something running in the background causing the issue, see what the task manager says....what is using a ton of resources in the background.....normally with nothing open, you should see the sys idle resorces at 99%.

 

[tomcass]

Hi again, been looking for months for a solution and still havnt found one. I have tried/checked all of the above posts suggestions with no success and I have also replaced both my psu and graphics card with no change. This leads me to believe that the problem is located in the remaining components or drivers as I doubt it is a resource issue as I have uninstalled all non-essential programs/services on my computer with no change. Any more suggestions as to what this problem might be and how to fix it are more than welcome.
Thanks

 

[maurijlozano]

Hi, i recently bought an new computer.... its and an AMD 6000 x2 and i have some problems too, I've been reading a lot of forums and as a solution it could be the next.
If you are running windows xp (32 bit) this could solve the problem, it didn't work completely to mi (it improved but stil i have some temporary freezes playing assassins creed):

1. Download and Install: ******************* <Removed direct link to exe (Microsoft KB update, might not be suitable for tomcass's computer)>
(you have to download the language matching your os)
REBOOT Machine

2. Download and Install: ******************* <Removed direct link to exe (I've had trouble with this file on an AMD system)>
(or newer AMD x2 Driver from AMD page)
Reboot Machine

 

[maurijlozano]

I forgot something
Now that you've gotten them installed you must go into the registry and add a few things.

1. Goto Start Menu then Run. Type REGEDIT and press enter.

2. The registry location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager should have a key named Throttle there, if not make it by right clicking, point at New then Key... name it Throttle.

3. Inside Throttle key: should be a DWORD called PerfEnablePackageIdle with the value of 1.
If NOT there, right click on Throttle folder, point to New then DWORD... name it PerfEnablePackageIdle.
then double click PerfEnablePackageIdle change the value to 1

4. Close out Registry and Reboot.