Freezing while gaming

[bouchusar]

I can't seem to get games to play longer than 2 minutes without my computer freezing. The sound dies out and the picture freezes and a hard reboot is needed. No error messages are displayed or sent to the Event viewer.

My system
ATX 12V 420 watts power supply
3 case fans
3.4 Ghz Pentium 4
GA-8N-SLI Royal F1 motherboard (Rev. 1001, BIOS 6.00PG)
2G RAM (PQI DDR2 667 PC2 5400)
74GB SATA drive (setup as single nvidia striping array)
Geforce 7800 GTX
Realtek onboard AC97 sound

This only happens in certain games, such as World of Warcraft and Rome Total War. The system run fine otherwise - scrolling the net, playing games such as C&C General and Star Wars Battlefront with no problems. I assume it is not a RAM issue if the problem is not universal. I updated my Direct X to 9.0c, I've tried the latest and previous Video Drivers. I disabled the onboard sound and ran the games with no sound and still it froze. I've tested the fans in the case and overheating doesn't seem to be an issue. I have a single Sata drive installed with the OS on it, but, once again, no other problems so I'm assuming I have the bios and raid setup correctly. I'm really not sure what else to do.
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Rome Total war message (Froze then closed on it's own, only got these messages once):

The description for Event ID ( 0 ) in Source ( ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE= flag to retrieve this description; see Help and Support for details. The following information is part of the event: 6.

The description for Event ID ( 0 ) in Source ( ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE= flag to retrieve this description; see Help and Support for details. The following information is part of the event: 7.

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Ran another test with Battlefield 2 and it froze after about 2 minutes, also with no error message. I think it may have something to do with newer games??? Any Ideas?

[Baskervore]

The things that their knowledge bases give are pretty basic, but it may give you some ideas, and I added some ideas of my own for you to think about.

For Rome - Total War:

Make sure the computer meets the minimum system requirements for the game. (which they do)

Make sure you have the latest video and sound card drivers from the manufacturers' websites. (You did the video drivers at least, try the sound drivers)


Make sure the 3D hardware acceleration is turned all the way up. (you probably already have this set, but make sure)
1) Right-click on the My Computer icon on the desktop and select Properties.
2) Select the Performance tab and click the Graphics button.
3) Make sure the acceleration slider is set to Full.

For Windows XP and 2000:
1) Click on the Start button > Settings > Control Panel.
2) Double-click the Display icon.
3) Click the Settings tab.
4) Click the Advanced button.
5) Click the Troubleshoot tab.
6) Make sure the acceleration slider is set to Full.


All background applications must be shutdown prior to running the game. (Just Applications, not the processes)

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You pretty much did most of these things...and the error message you get suggests a reinstall might help, but I'm assuming you did that already. Try the hardware acceleration thing anyway, you never know.

Also make sure you have installed all the patches and stuff.

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For World of Warcraft:

Closing Background Applications (same as above)
Click here for instructions on closing all background applications, then try restart the downloader. If the problem persists, then continue to step 2.


Update Network Card Drivers (might wanna try this)
If you have any issues with the download client, you may have a network card and/or drivers that are known to have issues with the Blizzard Downloader. Please visit our Network Driver Update page for a list of known devices.


Adware/Spyware/Virus Scan (This is a good idea; these can hog your resources)
Adware/Spyware or a virus on your system may also cause these symptoms. Be sure to run full scans of your system with the latest definitions for your malware programs. If you need more information regarding where to get a virus scanner, please visit our Computer Security Page.

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The same things are mentioned for BF2, with one other idea: Try running the games at lower quality, and see if they run normally that way.

[jayb1234]

What power supply are you running. That motherboard should have an SLI certified PSU. See This Link for the list. They are all over 500W. That might be your problem.

[Jaggannath]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought a SLI PSU was only necessary once you actually have them in SLI, when it's a single it doesn't matter.

I personally would be using Memtest to check my RAM out, although as stated above it could actually be the PSU isn't supplying enough for your build

[jayb1234]

Umm, I believe you are correct there. Might be a ATX vs ATX 2.0 issue though.

[bouchusar]

PSU calculator brought me only to 330 required

I just ran memtest and got quite a few errors. I then tested each stick in DIMM 1 and no errors were reported on either. I put them both back in DIMM 1 and DIMM 3 and errors again. I also tried them in DIMM2 and 4, no go. I'm not sure what the problem is? Is there some setting to get RAM to work with Gigabyte boards while on dual channel DDR2 mode? Is it a bios setting...I don't see any way to verify the voltage settings. All I see is +/- .1 changes to dimm voltage. Does turbo have to be enabled?

/sigh