Computer constantly locking up during certain games...

Tellox

In games such as generals and battlefield, After a certain amount of time, my monitor would go all black and the sound would stop. Numlock ect doesnt respond, and forces a hard reboot

In most games of generals,I usually last about 10-15mins, although once I've had a 50min game without problems, and another I've had about 2mins before a crash.

According to MBM, my comp is running at these temp(s)
Sensor 1: 47'C
Sensor 2: 57'C
Sensor 3: -55'C (obviously not working)


I've been thinking that the most likely answer is overheating, but I never get these lockups during normal surfing/mircing ect, and during HL/CS/NS/TFC, Everything runs fine.

Attatched is my DxDiag..

Dont suppose anybody can help me out here?

BKtje

What do each of those sensors correspond to?

I've been thinking that the most likely answer is overheating, but I never get these lockups during normal surfing/mircing ect, and during HL/CS/NS/TFC, Everything runs fine.

My first instinct would be to say that it is indeed overheating. The reasons it would lock up in generals/BF is that these games put a much larger strain on the system that say HL etc as these are much much older and designed to run on less powerful systems.

Im assuming those tempearatures are 'idle' temps. Ie when the system isn't under a lot of stress. Get a cpu tool that will stick a heavy load on it and see if it crashes then. (ie when it gets hotter).
Also check the BIOS to see if you got an option checked that makes the computer shut down when the sys/cpu reaches a certain temperature. If you have overclocked the grpahics card/cpu then return them to stock speeds.

Can't think of anything else at the moment..
Good Luck

Tellox

Sensor 1: Sis950/ITE8705f-1
Sensor 2: Sis950/ITE8705f-2
Sensor 3: Sis950/ITE8705f-3


Cant enter my bios, as some fecking n00b put a pw on it at a lan I was at, and I dont have a clue what it is..

Doing a search for that cpu tool now

BKtje

Hmm that sensor info doesn't say much does it but im assuming your cpu sensor is the 57degrees one and the 47degrees one is th system temperature. If this is what its like when it's idle then (depending on HSF) you Load temperature could be anything from 5-15 degrees hotter(apparox) than that. AMD cpu's start to 'break' when they hit 80 apparently. Intel's would be different but they dont tend to run as hot so im assuming its an AMD chip you got.

I can't remember the name of tha utility off hand but ill have a look for it tonight if you still havent found one. Theres load of them out there but some can be a bit dodgy apparently.

maxheadroom

Originally posted by Tellox

Cant enter my bios, as some fecking n00b put a pw on it at a lan I was at, and I dont have a clue what it is..

You can reset the bios password on most mobos by changing a jumper...

Tellox

I just tried CPUKiller (which I previously used to slow down my machine in order to play older games), and the heat on sensor2 went to about 59'C and stopped..

Also, I thought that 70'C was the boiling point for just about any CPU?

I've also had this problem with planetside, but not as frequently as generals. But when playing generals once, I took off the side from my pc case,and stuck a fan next to it, the heat dropped to about 51/52'C, but raised back up to about 56 or 57'C during generals gameplay.. which I thought would be fine, but it still crashed after the usual amount of time..

BKtje

Could also be faulty memory or graphics issue i guess.
i really dont know tho.. sorry

Tellox

anybody else got any other ideas?

aclane

If you take the battery out then the BIOS should reset itself

Originally posted by Tellox
Sensor 1: Sis950/ITE8705f-1
Sensor 2: Sis950/ITE8705f-2
Sensor 3: Sis950/ITE8705f-3


Cant enter my bios, as some fecking n00b put a pw on it at a lan I was at, and I dont have a clue what it is..

Doing a search for that cpu tool now

Tellox

Just checked the temperature during a game of generals, the max heat sensor 2 reached was 61'C , Sensor 1 reached about 55'C ... would this be enough to cause these problems?

Dooom

what's your power supply? i had this problem aswell a while back. i got a bigger psu (i did have a 400w, upgraded to a 550w) and everything works fine....try that out if you have or can get your hands on a more powerful psu

Dr Bolouswki

Forgive me if these suggestions seem churlish:

Have you tried a different video driver?

Have you/ can you borrow a different video card, CPU, Mem?

Try it consecutively with only one of your mem sticks in (hope its not dual channel) - or switch to other banks?

You can pick up cooling devices for Vid card / CPU / Nortbridge / Memory fairly cheaply - though obviously it'd be nice to fix without resorting to spending money

I heard too that 70C was the highest a CPU should go - mine runs everything at no higher than 39C - hard drive never goes over 25C:D

Freezing like that, I'd concentrate on vid card or CPU awlrite...

To combat overheating, you should try to have an airflow that comes in from the front and gets sucked out the back OVER the memory and CPU...

And the BIOS clue above is right - there should be a jumper that allows you to reset the BIOS - usually its just sitting on 2 of a 3 pin set... also, from the DXdiag it looks like a VIA chipset Version 1.00 - there's got to be a BIOS upgrade available from the board manufacturer... this would be the first step I'd take...

BKtje

" The 95 degrees Celsius is a not to exceed temperature for the CPU set forth by AMD. This is to prevent thermal damage. In reviewing several postings to several overclocking andcooling sites on the Internet, we have read that the AMD CPUs lockup around 65 degrees Celsius and above. "

^^ that is on the newer Athlon's. ie XP 1900 and above.

I believe there are also 2 different types of sensors, a cpu diode sensor and another type. The diode one is more accurate. Could be you've got the oher type and that you are infact breaching the 65 degree barrier. Try what Killah_B suggested tho tho i dont think they are the problem seeing as other games work fine.

Not sure where i got 80 from, might be older AMD thresholds, must look into it.

RapierX

try a different plug socket, yes i am serious

Sir Random

Does your PC get sluggish before freezing or is it sudden?
Have you tried any benchmark software to check components?
Si Sandra is a good set of tools for diagnosing your system:
http://www.sisoftware.net/

You could also try memtest88 to check your ram for errors as it could be a ram issue.

red_ice

Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 1 (2600.xpsp1.020828-1920)

dont use a womans os for a mans game! i had that on my old machine for about 3 days, untill i went mental and changed to 2k. ATM im trying xp pro - one or two crashes here and there, but nothing like the home edition ones that occur every 15 or so minuts.

is it Blue screening at all? It could be your ram, so id run a test. I had alot of lockups and it was caused by my gfx card, you could always try an old/**** one for about a week, not play anygames and see if it locks up? if it doesnt, it is then blatent your gfx card is faulty.

BKtje

not play anygames

How would this help him? He said that it only happens in CnC and Battlefield etc. He said it wasn't happening while mirc'ing/surfing etc. (ie when no/little strain on system)

Check out the memory so you can rule it out.

Matfinn

Microsoft have released a ram test tool that you can use to test your ram. I have used this tool and found that I had a faulty stick of PC133 SDRAM that I used in my old machine that went undiagnosed for years. It was generic ram, purchased 3 years ago when ram was very expensive.

I also had games like Command and Conquer Generals, Rise of Nations, Battlefield 1942 and mafia crash on my old machine, effectively locking up the whole machine. Bad memory is most likely to blame for these happenings. These games would be quite memory intensive.

Download the tool here --> http://oca.microsoft.com/en/mtinst.exe

Matt

Tellox

Just ran that SiSoftware thing;

Board temperature; 47'C
CPU temperature; 55'C
Power/Aux temperature; 81'C


Also gave me a warning at the end;
Warning W2518 - Mainboard temperature is too high (i.e. over 50ºC). This should appear only if the mainboard has a temperature-monitoring sensor installed.
Fix: Power down the system immediately. Open the case and check that all the fans are working and check whether components are unusually hot inside. Make sure the components have good all-round ventilation. Use more fans if required.



SiSoftware Sandra Help File



Shall do a check on the ram sometime tommorow when I get a hold of a blank cd..

Dr Bolouswki

let's keep this thread alive - I wanna see how things pan out...

unkel

Originally posted by B-K-DzR
" The 95 degrees Celsius is a not to exceed temperature for the CPU set forth by AMD. This is to prevent thermal damage. In reviewing several postings to several overclocking andcooling sites on the Internet, we have read that the AMD CPUs lockup around 65 degrees Celsius and above. "

Pretty much all Athlon XP's can run merrily @85 Celsius. They don't usually fry unless u go 95-100+

Mind, the life expectancy of the cpu would decrease dramatically if ur running at that kinda temp, say from 10+ to 2 or 3 years, but who cares