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horst wessel
Head Merchant
Joined: 13 Dec 2005
Posts: 56
Location: Toronto |
| odd, persistent problem... |
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I posted a while back that I got a new computer, and GII crashes every minute or so...
Anyways, I ran a memory test for 36 hours, and it gave me no problems. Then I exchanged my crappy Radeon 9250 with GeForce 6200 (still crappy, but I'm waiting on GIII for a decent upgrade). Same thing, crashes after 3-4 minutes of gaming.
Then I got Vampire the Bloodlines- and it behaves in exactly the same way as GII! Bloody hell, it's frastrating.
Any idea, what would it be? Other programs I'm using, like Sony Vegas, or Photoshop, or Soundforge- run perfectly.
I have AMD Socket939 Athlon 64 3000+(1.8GHz)
ASUS MOTHERBOARD A8V K8T800PRO Socket939 HT1000
1024MB DDR 3200 DUAL CHANNEL cl3
Thanks in advance |
Mon Jan 16, 2006 1:51 am |
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Gorath
Mostly Harmless
Joined: 03 Sep 2001
Posts: 6327
Location: NRW, Germany |
IŽll move this to AOT. Seems you have a serious problem with your PC.
_________________
Webmaster GothicDot |
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Sun Jan 22, 2006 1:07 pm |
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Danicek
The Old One
Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 5922
Location: Czech Republic |
Hard to say anything without more details. First thing I would try would be opening you PC case and try to run your games. This way we will be sure it is not overheating. |
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Mon Jan 23, 2006 1:01 pm |
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bjon045
Fearless Paladin
Joined: 02 Jun 2003
Posts: 234
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Try stopping any background processes (very small chance of making a difference), if you have starforce installed run the removal tool, remove all optional hardware including your sound card and then replace one by one if the problem goes away.
I have had this happen a few times to me and the first time it was caused by overheating (as the poster above mentioned) and the second time by a device conflict (sound card) and the 3rd time the problem occured after i installed a starforce game (found out starforce conflicts with some VPN software i use).
Sadly there are a huge number of possibilities that could cause this to happen and the problem is really hard to diagnose without having direct access to the pc. |
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Mon Jan 23, 2006 2:08 pm |
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horst wessel
Head Merchant
Joined: 13 Dec 2005
Posts: 56
Location: Toronto |
Thanks...
So far, I tried to re-install Windows, and then installing just Vampire The bloodlines- (after installing drivers, of course)- no difference, crashes every 3 minutes or so. |
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Mon Jan 23, 2006 4:34 pm |
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Cm
Sentinel of Light
Joined: 26 Jan 2003
Posts: 5209
Location: Missouri USA |
When you say crash what do you mean? Does it go back to desktop? Any messages pop up at all?
How much ram do you have? How much VM? Add a lot of specs and details, maybe someon will see something that can help.
_________________
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Member of Worshippers of the Written Word=
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Mark Twain
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Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:27 pm |
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horst wessel
Head Merchant
Joined: 13 Dec 2005
Posts: 56
Location: Toronto |
I have AMD Socket939 Athlon 64 3000+(1.8GHz)
ASUS MOTHERBOARD A8V K8T800PRO
1024MB DDR 3200 DUAL CHANNEL cl3
My videocard is nvidia 6200 128 Mb
Games crash in two ways: 75% of crashes are just to desktop, no message.
In other 25% of cases, the game gets stuck- the sound keeps repeating in a loop, and the only way of getting out of this is rebooting my PC. Actually, a few times I encountered a different crash- the game just got minimised, as if I pressed Alt+Tab. But that happened two or three times (despite this awful situation, I'm still trying to get through the Vampire, and I'm as far as Hollywood:)) |
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Mon Jan 23, 2006 11:59 pm |
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Jaz
Late Night Spook
Joined: 20 Jan 2002
Posts: 9708
Location: RPGDot |
Perhaps a heat problem or a problem with power, or a problem with your board... could be so many different things.
I'd check the board first; you might try and swap it with that of a friend (or a spare if you have one).
If it's a power problem (which is often the case with persistent application CTDs or reboots), you might want to overclock VCore voltage by 0.5 notches, but that's dangerous and might fuse your board for good, so don't do this unless you feel you have no other option.
Heat: try running the computer with the case open... then put it out on the balcony or some such when it's cold outside (provided it gets cold outside).
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Jaz |
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Tue Jan 24, 2006 6:11 am |
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horst wessel
Head Merchant
Joined: 13 Dec 2005
Posts: 56
Location: Toronto |
Thank you all.
Last night I insalled a new power supply (with two fans), plus a fan for each Hard Drive, plus a case fan. I also opened my case as you suggested- it did not seem to have any effect whatsoever. In the shop where I bought my PC, they're saying "it is defenetly the HD problem"- well, indeed, this was the only thing I didn't buy from them.
I have another 300 Gb HD, however, that I'm using as storage. It's half empty, so I'm thinking of getting patrtition magic and trying to install OS on it, to see if it'll make any difference. I doubt so though... But I think that'll be my next step. |
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Tue Jan 24, 2006 11:50 am |
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Gorath
Mostly Harmless
Joined: 03 Sep 2001
Posts: 6327
Location: NRW, Germany |
Also run a memory test program. Damaged RAM is very hard to diagnose, but crashes are a symptom. Search the Gothic troubleshooting forums for links.
_________________
Webmaster GothicDot |
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Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:06 pm |
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horst wessel
Head Merchant
Joined: 13 Dec 2005
Posts: 56
Location: Toronto |
I ran memtest32 for about 36 hours, with no errors
is there a better test? |
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Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:10 pm |
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Gorath
Mostly Harmless
Joined: 03 Sep 2001
Posts: 6327
Location: NRW, Germany |
I donŽt know. 36 hours without errors sounds convincing, though.
_________________
Webmaster GothicDot |
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Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:23 pm |
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Shimbatha
Village Leader
Joined: 15 Feb 2002
Posts: 78
Location: Jersey Shore |
I had a very similar problem once before, but it wasn't 3 minute,s it was morelike 10-15. The cause was bad Video Ram on my Geforce 6800Ultra (eventually bought a better card).
But since you said you went and swapped in a totally new graphics card and the problem still persists, it must be something else.
Sounds like a RAM problem, but you said you tested it. So we can check that off the list too. (Though I think you should grab some RAM from an old PC or from a friend to determine if that's it anyway)
Could be a sound driver problem, since the sound loops sometimes. SB Audigy ZS cards are notorious for this. Especially if you pair them up with a VIA Motherboard. If you have such a pairing, that's probably your problem.
Could also be adware/spyware or a virus. Seems simple, but it is often overlooked. Go download Lavasoft's Ad-aware and run it. Then grab AVG Anti virus (They have a free edition, google it) and let that do a whole system scan. Then top it all off with a defrag and see what happens.
There is *no way* that the problem is your HD. The guy who said that back at the shop is an absolute idiot. If it was your HD, you'd KNOW it because you'd HEAR it. Unless you have an IBM/Hitachi drive, then maybe he's right...because they were all recalled not too long ago.
I Wish you luck! |
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Tue Jan 24, 2006 2:16 pm |
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horst wessel
Head Merchant
Joined: 13 Dec 2005
Posts: 56
Location: Toronto |
Thanks, I will need that luck.
It can't be virus/spyware, since I re-installed my windows about 7 times since I got that PC.
My HD is Seagate, both of them actually (I heard many good things about seagate, so after my old western logical burnt, destroying 200 gb of most precious stuff, there was no way I could get another WL)
As for a sound card, I'm using on-board. I have a good stereo system, so one out is plenty.
I guess I need to get new RAM, many people suggest it is likely causing the problem. But damn, when I just bought the PC, I couldn't even install OS on it- it would give me a blue screen after blue screen. So, I went back to the shop and they replaced the RAM. So it is hard to believe they gave me another defected stick (or it is easy to believe it, but hard to convince those fools).
I already invested way more than I meant to, with a new power supply, new GPU, cooling fans, not to mention all the cab rides to the shop and back.
Hell, I hate these idiots.
Going there back on Friday, hopefully they'll let me test it with a new RAM. Otherwise, I will have to buy new RAM myself.
Thank you all, you're so much help! |
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Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:22 pm |
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Gorath
Mostly Harmless
Joined: 03 Sep 2001
Posts: 6327
Location: NRW, Germany |
You should post in a specialized hardware forum before you invest more money.
_________________
Webmaster GothicDot |
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Tue Jan 24, 2006 5:05 pm |
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