[Win 7] Cod: Black Ops randomly freezes

[Anomo]

As you see in the title, I have Call of Duty: Black Ops. It is a great game and I like it allot, but it seems to randomly freeze. By freezing I mean the picture stops where it last was and the sound either stops or loops (about a half second loop) All the visual options are at max, but that should not make the game freeze.

Normally there is little or nothing running in the background, and the only way to exit the game is by closing the process. Something I have noticed is that the game normally lays around 500.000 K memory usage, but when the game spikes it goes up to 1.000.000 - 1.500.000.

Sometimes I can play for hours without this happening, other times it happens after 10 minutes.

Are there any solutions or at least answers to this behavior?
Specs for the computer are in my sig.

[David M]

First, make sure you have all the game patches. Then make sure your graphics card drivers are current.

Although as you say it should not matter, turn all you game settings down to minimum and try that. If it works then turn your game settings up gradually to see what might be causing the crash. As the doctor says, if that's what causes the crash then don't do that.


Sometimes there is no cure for a badly behaved game until they make a patch, if they ever get around to making the patch that cures your particular problem. It's still a new game, therefore patches are bound to come out.

[Anomo]

Thanks, will do next time I get a chance to play

Just it would surprise me if it was the graphics seeing that I have a 1GB Radeon 5870 and it handles CoD:MW2 like a charm.

[mknabster]

That's interesting to hear, I have Black Ops as well and I have it maxed out on graphics and I never have an issue. Now when i minimize the game, i will get a yellow screen when I open it back up, it flashes for a few seconds then goes back to the way it was. But other than that, never had an issue with it freezing. As Dave said, wait for a patch, which I do think there is an update available for it, at least I think i saw one on their site.

[Hi Ho]

I have the same problem with random freezing. It is not very frequent but it is very annoying when it happens. Quite a few people seem to be having the same issue. The game is simply buggy and not well optimized. MW2 looks better while running smoother. There is obviously something up with the engine optimization in Black Ops.

I am running a fresh install of Windows and Steam/Black Ops on a new SSD and I still have the freezing problem. It has, however, happened only once since I reinstalled two days ago.

[Anomo]

Originally Posted by mknabster That's interesting to hear, I have Black Ops as well and I have it maxed out on graphics and I never have an issue. Now when i minimize the game, i will get a yellow screen when I open it back up, it flashes for a few seconds then goes back to the way it was. But other than that, never had an issue with it freezing. As Dave said, wait for a patch, which I do think there is an update available for it, at least I think i saw one on their site.

How do you minimize black ops? And the game is hosted via steam so it automatically updates when possible.

[Hi Ho]

Originally Posted by Anomo How do you minimize black ops? And the game is hosted via steam so it automatically updates when possible.

ALT + ESC will minimize the game. I have had that cause it to freeze so I avoid it.

Speaking of updates. It was actually one of the updates that seems to have caused the freezing issue. The game had many other issues before but it did not freeze.

There is another patch in the works:

Call of Duty: Black Ops PC Community Update 12/2/10

All I want is for the game not to freeze and to be able to easily play with friends. MW2 had a party system and playing with friends was easy like Xbox Live. Friends even showed up on the mini map in different colors. Black Ops is back to the traditional PC gaming model. We might as well all be lone wolf's. When me and a friend join a server we are split and put on opposite teams 90% of the time. It is very frustrating.

[Anomo]

Well...Seems like the almighty Radeon 5870 isn't so almighty. It can handle full graphics and 1920x180 EXCEPT anti aliasing (at all). When everything else is turned to max it works fine, but as soon as i turn on AA it freezes at random points

[Hi Ho]

It's the game. Lack of optimization. I can run Crysis and MW2 with full AA on my 5870 without issues. I have to turn it down to 4x in Black Ops.

[Anomo]

Are the rest of your settings on high/highest? And is your res 1920x1080?

[Hi Ho]

Yes. Everything is at the highest setting.1920x1080