XP Freeze while playing games

[gneo]

I experienced a motherboard failure in January and replaced SOYO Dragon with ASUS A7V8X. When i installed the new board and installed Win XP Pro SP1, started having problems playing games. Games would install correctly and allow me to play for about 15 to 20 minutes and then the system will freeze up with no error messages. Have trie new hard-drive, video card, sound card, re-installed XP twice and nothing seems to work. If anyone can offer any useful suggestions, i would be eternally grateful.

Gneo

[reboot]

Have you thoroughly checked the RAM?
Have you monitored heat?
How about video driver updates?
A hard freeze like that is usually due to hardware, so reinstalling XP twice is a waste of time, and I suspect flaky RAM, or RAM timings in BIOS are too agressive.

[gneo]

The RAM has been tested and there was one bad generic 256MB stick that has been removed. Since the CPU is AMD, i've been monitoring the temperature on a steady basis and have experienced no problems. I have an ASUS Geforce4 TI 4200 128 MB video adapter and am running the drivers that came with the adapter but am currently i'm downloading the latest drivers from NVIDIA. What should the correct RAM settings be in the BIOS?

[reboot]

Depends on the CPU and what type of RAM.
If you have a 200mhz Athlon, then RAM speed (for DDR2100) is 100mhz (or 200mhz) depending on how the BIOS sees it.
If you have a 266mhz Athlon, RAM speed is 133mhz (or 266mhz).
If you have DDR 2700 or DDR 3200, then you can run it "Asynchronously", and have the RAM run faster than the CPU bus, but this can cause some problems.
If your RAM is CAS 3, or 2.5, dont' try and run it at CAS2. If you're not sure, set it to CAS 3, and see if the game works. Then try 2.5 etc.

Have you got a fan on the video card, and is it working properly?

[Confused]

Go to MS updates and check out recommended update 327979 and see if it might apply to you. Did wonders for my freezing.
Chas

[gneo]

The video card has an on-board fan and it is working properly. I'll try the BIOS settings that you mentioned and see if that helps. I've also updated the video drivers and played Warcraft III for about 15 minutes without a system freeze or crash, so maybe it was the video drivers. I'll do a thorough system check tomorrow and see if the problem continues with other games.

I also have already installed all the MS update 327979 and it only corrects the problem with introductory clips but not the problem when actually playing games.

327979: Recommended Update
Download size: 862 KB, 3 minutes
This update addresses the "Game Stops Responding (Hangs) or Quits Unexpectedly When Introductory Video Clip Is Played" issue in Windows XP, and is discussed in Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) Article 327979. Download now to prevent your computer from not responding during video playback

[Cpt.Kirk]

Have you tried playing the games with more cooling on the Vid card??? I had issues of my games locking up in which a side intake fan pushing air towards my Vid card solved. Which was an issue with a GF and Radeon. Something to try is popping the side off and putting a fan blowing towards the card then see if you are still locking up. ONLY DO THIS FOR TESTING. Also make sure that your PC is clean (as in dust-free as much as possible). Hopefully you get it figured out......Good Luck!!

[Padaxus]

Sounds like i was getting a while back

I was playing games and after a while all i would get is a repeating sound in speakers and the game completely freezing up.

I would have to restart comp after trying everything i finally added some case fans cleaned my Heatsink and never had any troubles again, i gave the same computer to my sister after i built this one and its still runing NP.

So my suggestion is that it could be overheating

Good luck and let us know how it goes