Help please, computer crashing during games

[Liquidparadox]

Ok, obviously from the title, I need some help with my computer crashing during gaming. Basically I am getting this

Details
Product: Windows Operating System
Event ID: 1003
Source: System Error
Version: 5.2
Symbolic Name: ER_KRNLCRASH_LOG
Message: Error code %1, parameter1 %2, parameter2 %3, parameter3 %4, parameter4 %5.

Here are the system specs for my pc.

AMD 64 3400+
Ultra 500W PSU
2 Gig of Muskin ddr 667
Gigabyte K8NXP-SLI Mobo
XFX NVIDIA 7950 GT 512Mb GDDR3
74 GB WD Raptor 10K RPM SATA II
250 GB IDE WD 7200 RPM
120 GB SATA I WD 7200 RPM
Soundblaster X-FI
Windows XP Pro Edition
and plenty of cooling, no overheating issues.

When I play guild wars, I am constantly getting random crashes. Either it crashes the kernal, and reboots the computer, or it just boots me out of guild wars completely. Really annoying. I originally thought that it might be the video card, and I just upgraded from an Nvidia 6600GT. I am running the newest 93.71 NVIDIA drivers. I have also done Memtest +86 on the ram to check for faulty ram. It made it through two passes with no errors, so I can effectively rule that out. I have also tried to increase my virtual memory size as well to see if that would help, but no go. As for defragmenting the hard drive, I have diskeeper pro that runs all day every day, so my hd is not fragmented. I have the mini dump info, so if anyone can help me analyze it and let me know what is going that would be greatly appreciated.

*--> Crash <--*
Exception: c0000005
Memory at address ffffffff could not be read
App: Gw.exe
ProgramId: 1
Build: 20602
When: 1/12/2007 20:42:01
Flags: 0

*--> System <--*
Name: ASHER
IpAddr: 192.168.1.2
Processors: 1 [AuthenticAMD:15:15:0]
OSVersion: 5.1

*--> Thread 0xfffffffe <--*
eax=018aeaa1 ebx=0059c637 ecx=040059c2 edx=018aeaa0 esi=013efe30 edi=00000000
eip=013efe41 esp=013efdfc ebp=013efdf0
cs=210207 ss=001b ds=0023 es=0023 fs=0023 gs=003b efl=00000000

eax-32 018AEA80 04ad5d68 00000001 00110002 02000001
eax-16 018AEA90 04e168a0 04c938e0 000200a3 ec080148
eax +0 018AEAA0 018a6ea0 018aeaa1 00000000 018aeaac
eax+16 018AEAB0 018aeaad 00000241 011a2d40 0000000c
eax+32 018AEAC0 018aeac0 018aeab5 0000000c 01a38fcc
eax+48 018AEAD0 01a38fc0 0000000c 011a9b6c 011a9b60
ebx-32 0059C614 8ddc458d 0001b48e ade85000 8d00004c
ebx-16 0059C624 558dfc4d 458d51f8 8d5052f4 19e8dc4d
ebx +0 0059C634 85000052 8b2c74c0 558bfc4d 505751f8
ebx+16 0059C644 f4558b52 91e8ce8b 8dfffffd 4d8dfc45
ebx+32 0059C654 558d50f8 8d5251f4 ede8dc4d 85000051
ebx+48 0059C664 8dd475c0 41e8dc4d 5f000051 5de58b5e
ecx-32 040059A0 c32b0000 bc2aaaab 00000000 c0000000
ecx-16 040059B0 3f57ea00 3f5fe800 46bb8000 43f00000
ecx +0 040059C0 c3cc0000 00000000 00000000 c0000000
ecx+16 040059D0 3f4fec00 3f57ea00 46ba0000 43f00000
ecx+32 040059E0 c32b0000 00000000 00000000 c0000000
ecx+48 040059F0 3f3ff000 3f57ea00 46bac000 44100000
edx-32 018AEA80 04ad5d68 00000001 00110002 02000001
edx-16 018AEA90 04e168a0 04c938e0 000200a3 ec080148
edx +0 018AEAA0 018a6ea0 018aeaa1 00000000 018aeaac
edx+16 018AEAB0 018aeaad 00000241 011a2d40 0000000c
edx+32 018AEAC0 018aeac0 018aeab5 0000000c 01a38fcc
edx+48 018AEAD0 01a38fc0 0000000c 011a9b6c 011a9b60
esi-32 013EFE10 00000000 0510e7f0 0510e7f0 018aec5c
esi-16 013EFE20 018aec4d 0059c268 00000004 00000000
esi +0 013EFE30 013efe68 0059c271 00000001 018aeaa0
esi+16 013EFE40 0023c404 00000001 018aeaa0 0023c404
esi+32 013EFE50 00000000 00000000 018aeaa0 b957ca6c
esi+48 013EFE60 00000000 00000015 013eff14 0059bdc1

*--> Code <--*
013EFE21 ec8a0168 c2590004 00000000 00000068 ...h.Y.........h
013EFE31 fe3e0171 c2590001 000000a0 ea8a0104 .>.q.Y..........
013EFE41 c4230001 000000a0 ea8a0104 c4230000 .#...........#..
013EFE51 00000000 000000a0 ea8a016c ca57b900 ...........l.W..
013EFE61 00000015 00000014 ff3e01c1 bd590020 .........>...Y.
013EFE71 ff3e011c ff3e01ff ffffff01 00000004 .>...>..........

*--> Trace <--*
Pc:013efe41 Fr:013efdf0 Rt:000a4e70 Arg:000a3278 013efe28 013efe2c 00000001
Pc:000a4e70 Fr:000a4e90 Rt:00000000 Arg:00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000

*--> Stack <--*
013EFDFC 013efe28 013efe2c 00000001 018aeaa0 (.>.,.>.........
013EFE0C 018aec54 00000000 0510e7f0 0510e7f0 T...............
013EFE1C 018aec5c 018aec4d 0059c268 00000004 \...M...h.Y.....
013EFE2C 00000000 013efe68 0059c271 00000001 ....h.>.q.Y.....
013EFE3C 018aeaa0 0023c404 00000001 018aeaa0 ......#.........
013EFE4C 0023c404 00000000 00000000 018aeaa0 ..#.............
013EFE5C b957ca6c 00000000 00000015 013eff14 l.W...........>.
013EFE6C 0059bdc1 013eff20 013eff1c ffffffff ..Y. .>...>.....
013EFE7C 00000001 0023c404 7c809512 00000001 ......#....|....
013EFE8C 00000001 00000000 0000006c 00000070 ........l...p...
013EFE9C 00000000 018aece8 00000005 013efe04 ..............>.
013EFEAC 01040000 013efef8 00000014 00000001 ......>.........
013EFEBC 00000000 00000000 00000010 00000000 ................
013EFECC 00000000 011a2c28 7ffda000 7ffdd000 ....(,..........
013EFEDC 7c910570 013efec8 013efe94 018aeaa0 p..|..>...>.....
013EFEEC 00000001 00000000 00102cbf 7c80a43b .........,..;..|
013EFEFC 013efe70 013efa20 013effa4 00539eec p.>. .>...>...S.
013EFF0C 00878c08 00000000 013eff34 0055b1d2 ........4.>...U.
013EFF1C 0059bc40 00000001 00000001 ffffffff @.Y.............
013EFF2C 0023c404 00000001 013eff68 0055ef2b ..#.....h.>.+.U.
013EFF3C 7c913d00 0104ac50 0110d888 001234de .=.|P........4..
013EFF4C 00000000 b9573b54 00000000 0023c3e6 ....T;W.......#.
013EFF5C 0023c404 0000006c 00000070 013eff80 ..#.l...p.....>.
013EFF6C 00558db1 00000001 7c913d00 0110d888 ..U......=.|....
013EFF7C 0110d888 013effb4 007b35fe 0104ac50 ......>..5{.P...
013EFF8C 7c913d00 ffffffff 0110d888 c0000005 .=.|............
013EFF9C 013eff8c 013efa20 013effdc 00539eec ..>. .>...>...S.
013EFFAC 008b2960 00000000 013effec 7c80b683 `)........>....|
013EFFBC 0110d888 7c913d00 ffffffff 0110d888 .....=.|........
013EFFCC 7ffdd000 8a6fc600 013effc0 871bce20 ......o...>. ...
013EFFDC ffffffff 7c839aa8 7c80b690 00000000 .......|...|....
013EFFEC 00000000 00000000 007b359f 0110d888 .........5{.....

*--> LogQueue <--*
(1) Repairing corrupt archive

*--> DirectX Device Info <--*
VendorId = 0x10de
DeviceId = 0x0295
Version = 6.14.0010.9371
Description = NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT
Compat = 0x00800001
VidMem = 512 MB

*--> DirectSound Device Info <--*
Description = SB X-Fi Audio [7000]
Module = ctaud2k.sys
Version (MS) = 0x0005000c
Version (LS) = 0x000104a3
Company = Creative Technology Ltd
3D channels = 128
2D channels = 128
EAX support = EAX 5
Device count = 2

[glc]

Control panel, system, advanced. Startup and recovery, uncheck restart on error. Next time it crashes it should bluescreen instead of reboot, read the first few lines of the bluescreen.

[Liquidparadox]

Ok, so I got the error, and I was doing some research on it. The error that I get has to do with the NV4_disp.dll file. Of course this the main driver for the graphics card, and I am guessing that something must have gotten corrupted during the install. I am going to uninstall the driver, and then reboot, and reinstall the drivers. Hopefully this will fix my problems. Do you guys have any other advice maybe?

[glc]

Before reinstalling the driver, take a run with Driver Cleaner Pro to make sure all video drivers are completely uninstalled.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Uninstallers/Driver-Cleaner-Professional.shtml

[Liquidparadox]

Ok, I did all that, and now I am getting a couple of different errors. I got this error just while surfing the net, and it was stop: 0x00000050. The other error I got while playing guild wars, and that was stop 0x0000008E. Could it be possible that this is a memory related error, maybe not so much ram. Is it possible that my amd chip could be having issues in the L1 or L2 cache? Or is it a result of some driver that my system just doesnt like. If someone will tell me how to find where my minidumps are, I can zip them up and attach them here for viewing if anyone is willing to look them over.

Overall, my system is pretty stable, but I cant really play guild wars, and that is making me mad.

[glc]

Test your memory with memtest86+.

www.memtest.org

[Liquidparadox]

I already did two passes with memtest 86+, and it passed. Do I need to let it go farther?

[glc]

2 passes should be fine.

The minidumps are only understandable by engineers.

You aren't overclocking, are you? You may want to set the bios back to defaults. Something in there may be too aggressively timed.

[Liquidparadox]

Nope, no overclocking, everything is at its standard timings except for the ram. I have pc 5400 ram, and it underclocked to pc 3200. I updated the bios to the latest bios that is available by gigabyte. For the most part, my computer is pretty stable, however whenever I want to play guild wars, it just seems to crash.

[Liquidparadox]

Ok, so I went to the dxdiag screen, and I tried to run the 3-d directx tests, and I wasnt able to run those. I was getting stop errors on that. So I went out and unstalled all of my chipset drivers as well as my graphics drivers. I then went in under safe mode and used that tool that you sent the link to GLC and I cleaned out the system of any and all nvidia drivers that were on my computer. I then rebooted and installed them all again, and now I can get all the tests to work, I havent played guild wars yet, but I am hoping that since everything appears to be working now, it will be all good now. Thank you glc for the help.

[Liquidparadox]

Ok, it looks like I am still in need of some help here. Let me run by all that I have done with this set up so far. I am still unable to avoid random startups, and I still can not play guild wars as it says that there is a hardware error. It takes me to a website, and gives me 4 possible reasons as to why the game will not work.

1. Bad Memory. I have run memtest86+ and did 2 passes on the ram that I have in there, it passed with no errors.
2. Overclocked processor. I have everything running stock in my computer.
3. Overheating of the system. I ran the torture test on prime95 for 10 hours and it all passed, no errors.
4. Under Powered or faulty power supply. This one I could believe as I had an ultra x-connect 500 watt power supply. I went out last night and bought a brand new OCZ GameXstream 700 Watt power supply with quad 12V Rail. I put that in last night, and I still can not run the game.

I also did a complete reinstall of windows xp pro the other night and loaded just the bare minimum on it, and I still can not run it. All of my drivers are WHQL certified, and installed correctly. I am down to just the mobo or the processor being the cause. Any ideas guys?

[flanzig1]

Could go to Gigabyte's web site to see if a BIOS up-date would correct your particular problem.

[Liquidparadox]

They do have a bios update, and I downloaded that and flashed my bios. The newest version that they have out is F11, and when my system starts up, I get the bios info, and the motherboard information. At the end of the mobo number I see the number F11, so I am assuming that the flash took, and I am running the most up to date version of the bios. If there is another way to definatively look and find this information out, please let me know.

[flanzig1]

Sorry I didn't see where you already updated the BIOS.
If the PC only crashes while playing Guild Wars, then I would start looking at GW as the possible cause.

[Liquidparadox]

The only problem is that guild wars runs on my wifes computer flawlessly, and it directs me to a website that says it is hardware related. I just got another error while trying, and it came back with a microsoft error report.

Problem caused by Device Driver

You received this message because a device driver installed on your computer caused the Windows operating system to stop unexpectedly. This type of error is referred to as a "stop error." A stop error requires you to restart your computer.

More information

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Problem report summary

Problem type
Windows stop error (a message appears on a blue screen with error code information)

Solution available?
No

What does this problem mean?
Windows has encountered a problem it cannot recover from and it needs to be restarted

Cause
Unknown

Computer symptoms
A message appears on a blue screen with error code information (for example: 0x0000001E, KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED)

Additional steps for you to take
Please continue to send problem reports so analysts at Microsoft can study and try to correct the problem as quickly as possible


So apparently there is a driver in there causing these crashes. I am going to have look and see if anything that is not whql certified made it on my system.

[flanzig1]

Thought # 26: If you have the 7950 with out the fan, may want to add a fan to blow on the heatpipes.
Try the older 6600 to see if you get crashes.

[Liquidparadox]

My GPU core is running at 52 C and it doesnt raise much up above that during load. My old 6600 GT with the artic cooler on it idled around 48-50 C and it got much hotter under load. I was also facing this problem with my old 6600GT card, and as a result, I thought that it was the graphics card getting old, and so I replaced it. End result has been the same either way. In my case, I have one 120mm fan in the front pulling air in across the hard drives, I have one 80mm fan on the side of the case blowing in just above the gpu, I have an 80mm fan on the thermaltake cpu cooler, I have a 120mm fan blowing out through the back of the computer, and I have a 120mm fan on the bottom of the psu blowing out as well to keep it cool. Heat in my case isnt a big issue. I also downloaded the program speedfan, and it came back with all good temps. There are a few that off the wall, and I dont think my motherboard fully supports this program or something.
Temp 1: 25C
Temp 2: 28C
Temp 3: 69C ????
Temp: 1C
Core: 40C

Anyone know what temp 3 is for my motherboard? Is this just a phantom reading, or is something really hot in my case?

[flanzig1]

I haven't gotten accurate readings with Speed fan. Run the system with a game so every thing is warm then reboot into the BIOS to see what it reads the CPU temps at.

[Liquidparadox]

Ok, did that, the cpu temp was at a beautiful 35C. I do not think that heat is an issue here.

[flanzig1]

The last area of possible causes for your problem would be the motherboard. Specificly, the chipset. With just a passive heatsink, there may not be enough air flow to cool the chipset properly. Try having a house fan aimed at the chipset area and try a game.

[Liquidparadox]

Ok, I have come to the conclusion that this problem is all software based, unless if there is a problem with the motherboard which I cant detect. Everytime my computer restarts after trying to play a game I am getting that kmode exception error, or an infinate loop error. The infinate loop error tells me to update my nvidia drivers to the most recent one. I have done that, and I am running 93.71 which is fully whql listed and compatable. I also went and reinstalled directx 9.0c thinking maybe that was the problem. Maybe I will just have to try another reformat unless if you guys have any other ideas. I know that card is good cuz I took it out and put the old 6600GT back in and it did the exact same thing.

[glc]

Why don't you go to the Nvidia archives and get some older drivers - use Driver Cleaner Pro to rip out the existing drivers. Definitely worth a try.