Am I just obsolete?

mvmone · § #1 11-06-2009, 09:53 PM

Hi all,

If you all can help, I'd be greatly appreciative. I'm experiencing regular blue screens and sound loop crashes while gaming...pretty much everything else runs perfectly. I've gone to Steampowered.com and followed most all of their suggestions for solving these issues, but to no avail. My specs are in my sig below.

Here's what I've done so far: First, I installed the latest drivers for my vid card and sound card. After that didn't work, I tested my memory (which had recently been replaced) using memtest86. I ran that for 24hours with no errors...so it ain't the RAM. Next, I ran Hotcpu and let it complete it's testing, also with no errors...so not a cpu malfunction. After that, I ran Left4Dead in a window, while monitoring my paging memory, which maxed out at about 110MB (according to steampowered, anything under 150MB should be fine). While doing this, I also had Abit EQ running so that I could monitor my cpu and psu temps. cpu maxed out at 58C and the psu at 64C, ambient case temp ~58-60. After that, I ran ATI Overdrive to see how hot I could get the gpu before it crashed. It maxed out both clock settings without a crash...so it's not a heat issue. While doing all this, I watched the Abit EQ to see if there were any wild voltage swings, but didn't notice anything more than say a .06-.08 volt variance on either the +3.3v and +5v monitors. I don't think it's psu related. I guess my question is, am I overlooking something? Or is this nforce2, agp machine just not capable of provide the processing power to run games like L4D and BioShock?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Best,
Mike

**uddarts** · § #2 11-06-2009, 11:44 PM

you don't mention any of the blue screen messages. sometimes they have a clue.

http://www.tunexp.com/tips/maintain_...h_auto-reboot/

you could run a hard drive diagnostic but i'd think it's the game or os related.

you've pretty much ruled out most of the usual suspects already.

ud

mvmone · § #3 11-07-2009, 01:32 AM

You think an OS reinstall might help? I'll give that a try and see what they say next time. Generally, there seems to be 3 levels of crash in order of severity: 1. sound loop crash to desktop, 2. sound loop forever until reset, and 3. Blue screen, then complete reboot.

abb1 · § #4 11-09-2009, 10:38 AM

An operating system reinstall will ONLY help if it is software related. If it is hardware related, you will still have the problem. I would say to also run a HDD diagnostics test to make sure that it is not the hard drive. I doubt it because your problem seems to be only with gaming, but it doesn't hurt to rule it out

Pixels303 · § #5 11-09-2009, 12:18 PM

I ran diagnostics on a video card I had from ATI, and it showed that the memory was intermittent. During normal desktop apps, the video card would perform normally but when under load during online gaming, the card would eventually crap out and I would get blue screens.

When inspecting the fan operation while the PC was on, it was discovered that the fan was not turning which caused the video card to overheat for extended periods of time. Damage was already done as changing the broken fan did not resolve the issue.

Just an experience I should share, ATI does have diagnostic software which did point out the problem to me.

Mind you, your issue may be different.

3dfxrain · § #6 11-09-2009, 01:13 PM

On the BSOD blue screens there could be a little information about file or memory location, information about it online, for fix, keep troubleshooting for fix

millerman61 · § #7 11-09-2009, 06:38 PM

You didn't mention how current your drivers are. A sound loop crash I would start with the sound drivers.

mvmone · § #8 11-10-2009, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by millerman61

You didn't mention how current your drivers are. A sound loop crash I would start with the sound drivers.

They are the latest version offered by Creative for the SB Audigy LS. Those were the first thing I updated after the sound loops began.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pixels303

I ran diagnostics on a video card I had from ATI, and it showed that the memory was intermittent. During normal desktop apps, the video card would perform normally but when under load during online gaming, the card would eventually crap out and I would get blue screens.

Is this software that's part of the CCC, or something downloadable? Do you recall the name? These crashes do sort of correspond with my upgrade to the HD3850 card that's in there now...perhaps there's an issue with the card? I'm running the latest Catalyst drivers...perhaps there's a better reference driver or some-such for that card? If anyone else has an HD3850, can you let me know your driver version?

@3dfxrain: Yeah, I still have to shut off the auto reboot and check the blue screens for info...haven't had much time for gaming lately. I'll give it a go tonight and see what it says.

Thanks all for the suggestions. This forum is an invaluable resource.

I'll post back with any errors and what I find out about them. Although I'll be building an X2 box, I don't want to scrap this system, it's been very reliable since I first built it 5 years ago. I'll be a good upgrade for my kids.