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[Dogus1]

every error is listed as an "Access Violation" ...no game is safe. This is such a broad issue! What can be done!?

[DrZaius]

Hi Dogus1,

What are your system specs, esp. video card?

[Dogus1]

a homebuilt AMD Athlon 2100+, 256 2700 ram, windows XP, GeForce4200 128 ...system seems completely unstable... it will usually always crash in a game, though not right away ...sometimes computer will randomly restart, even at desktop. I recently put this computer together, so it could be any number of things, i know

[Cricket]

Hi Dogus1,

What brand and wattage is the power supply?

Do you have extra sticks of DDR RAM to test with?

Try running the system with the sides off to see if heat is a factor.

Cricket

[Nuclear Krusader]

I'm suspecting this is a heat related issue.

[Dogus1]

would a heat issue only effect games and not regular windows applications and desktop functions? I ask only out of sheer ignorance ...does the CPU get hotter when computing games and other intense functions -- if so, I suppose that makes perfect sense. If a heat issue is a real possiblity, then perhaps i put the thermal compound on poorly? If I did apply the thermal compound incorrectly, could that be a possible solution?

[Dogus1]

would a heat issue only effect games and not regular windows applications and desktop functions? I ask only out of sheer ignorance ...does the CPU get hotter when computing games and other intense functions -- if so, I suppose that makes perfect sense. If a heat issue is a real possiblity, then perhaps i put the thermal compound on poorly? If I did apply the thermal compound incorrectly, could that be a possible solution?

How can I check my cpu temp?

Would a CPU heat issue crash just the game, or would it cause the whole comp to crash?

[Nuclear Krusader]

It depends on how much it's heating. When the HSF fails it will crash almost immediately.

But when the HSF is not enough or the thermal compound wasn't applied properly, it will crash only in high intensive apps, like games.

You can check the temp in the BIOS.

[Dogus1]

Okay, so I'm having all sorts of crashes in XP, specifically in 3d intense games, though simple games like CivIII will also crash, but it usually takes them a while. I've got lots of logged errors in the Event Viewer, but I don't understand them ...is anyone out there able to translate if I send them to you? I think it's either a heat issue or bad memory. The crashes always point to either the executable of the program or some random .dll that I know nothing of.

If it is bad memory, how do I test this -- all diagnostics I have say my memory is "fine." But I am getting rather sluggish desktop performance, specifically after I exit a game (I would think 256 DDR should not be eaten up so easily).

As for heat, I'm around 60 degrees Celcius. The computer never usually completely crashes, but just the app I'm running. Would a heat issue cause total system failure -- a complete freeze?

I have an AMD Athlon 2100+ on a Biostar VIA KTS400 with one 256 2700 DIMM. I have a GeForce 4 4200 128.

All Diagnostics and Device Manager show no real problems.

I am at a complete loss.