PC Freezes when playing graphically intensive games~HELP!

[xSimmyn]

Hey, so this is a shameless re-post from another forum of which i'm sure you know (PCHelpForum)... The people there were very helpful and had good ideas but nothing got the problem fixed.

So here's what i originally posted: http://www.pchelpforum.com/xf/threads/computer-freeze-when-under-stress-randomly.134670/#post-854601

 

This was my original post, if you didn't click the link-

"

I recently purchased Battlefield 3 and to my surprise it ran,as my Graphics Card is one under the minimum spec for the game. But every 10-15 minutes it freezes up and the only way to restore it is to restart my computer (From the tower) which, as you can imagine, is extremely frustrating.

 

As it freezes suddenly from what i can tell there is no error logs created.

 

It started happening in other games also, such as Counter Strike:Source but the gaps between freezing seemed to be longer. I've tried everything i can think of (Rolling back drivers, Checking hard drive for errors)

 

My computer specs:

Nvidia Geforce 8500 GT

AMD Phenom 9550 Quad-Core Processor

ASUSTeK M3A Motherboard

 

Any help will be awesome.

 

-Simmy

"

Any other suggestions that what has already been suggusted would be greatfully appreciated as i am getting very annoyed with this problem.

 

Cheers buds

 

-Simmy

[KenB]

Hi and welcome to ExTS

 

We are not gamers here - so advice may be limited.

 

Take a look here and run the software to see if your machine can run Battlefield III and the other games you are having problems with.

click here

 

I think the other thread came to the conclusion that the temperatures were OK - and I have to agree .....they are not hot.

 

How much RAM do you have ?

[xSimmyn]

Hey! Sorry for the really late reply, i was expecting a email when someone replied, not sure if it was a bug and I didn't get one or it just doesn't send one.. Hm..

Anyway, My PC is fine on running BF3 apart from my Graphics card; Which is only a few models off. But the strange thing is it DOES play it! It just crashes sometimes... and this crash also happens on other games which i know my PC can run (Modern Warfare 3, Counter Strike: Source, Garry's Mod, Team Fortress 2).

I have 4 Gigabytes of RAM (3.25 usable apparently). Thanks for the reply bud and again sorry for the late response.

 

PS. It was recently my birthday and my brother got me a new Heatsink+Fan (I know this probably isn't important because as you say, the temperatures dont seem to be the problem but ohwell)

 

-Simmy

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, the first time you ran that game and it crashed after 10 to 15 minutes, that initial crash may have been due to the graphics card overheating at that time,

 

those processors, and in fact all processors, can be very sensitive to overheating and although do shut down, there is nothing to guarantee that a small amount of damage has not already occurred.

 

Considering you know already the graphics card is under spec for that game, why not invest in a card that is at least, if not more than, good enough. That will also rule out any fault on the present card.

 

Nev.

[xSimmyn]

Hmmm. Okay... But I don't have any disposable income at the moment and I would really not like to buy a graphics card and then find out the problem still persists... But i guess if thats the only way then that's what i'll have to do... Thanks for the help.

[Plastic Nev]

Any chance you can borrow a card to try? or if possible try the card in a friends computer. Unfortunately sometimes hardware faults can only be diagnosed by swapping stuff, especially as we are offering help by remote means.

Another approach may be to take the said card to a reputable repair shop and ask for it to be checked out. A decent place shouldn't charge too much for that.

 

Nev.

[xSimmyn]

Thanks for the reply. Tonight I'm going to buy a new card (hopefully the 9800GT) but as i look deeper into the logs I'm not so sure that it is my graphics card.. I've cleaned it out, applied new thermal paste and moved around my pc a little for more airflow and it now idles at about ~55c. I played Battlefield 3 earlier with a in-game overlay of my current temperatures and when it crashed i took a picture for you guys. The temperatures don't seem to be high when it crashes but a few major spikes happen beforehand.

Sorry for the bad picture, i had to take it on my phone.

The yellow line is the CPU and the green line is the GPU[ATTACH=CONFIG]805.vB5-legacyid=1596[/ATTACH]

[KenB]

i was expecting a email when someone replied,

You were not subscribing to auto Thread Notification - I have made the alteration - hopefully you will get emails now :)

[xSimmyn]

Woowoo! Thanks

[Plastic Nev]

OK, I will forgive you for making me put my head sideways. :D

 

Those graphs are temperature and not the load or usage graphs?

I ask that as there is one great big spike on the yellow CPU line that I find strange to say the least, temperatures even with the best heat sink shouldn't be as quick to fall as they seem to rise. I could expect that spike if it was on a usage graph, especially if there was some odd software conflict, but not heat.

Just in case it is a usage graph, one question not asked yet, is what antivirus and other security are you using? Please list all that you have installed of that sort of thing, antivirus, antispyware and also firewall.

 

Nev.

[xSimmyn]

Ahhh, Sorry about the sidewaysness :D

 

I turned all off the anti-virus software and such off a few days ago thinking it could be a conflict but looking through my processes on Task Manager I can see vprot.exe (Vprotect Application) which I'm not sure what is but sounds anti-virusy and 'avgwdsvc.exe' (AVG Watchdog service) other than these i cannot see any other kind of process running connected to antivirus..

 

After looking at that graph again I'm not sure if its usage or not... Didn't these people learn to lable their graphs? I'll post a another picture (the correct way around) of all the numbers at the bottom

 

Also, Just lost the auction I was betting on for the graphics card so it'll be another few days before i receive it... ****** to the person who bid at 3 seconds left :(

 

Cheers for all your help bud

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]806.vB5-legacyid=1599[/ATTACH]

 

-Simmy

[xSimmyn]

UPDATE: New graphics card should be here in 2-3 days.

[KenB]

Sounds good - keep us informed :)

[xSimmyn]

Quick kind of related question; I got the Geforce 8800 GTS Alpha Dog Edition and the minimum requirement for BF3 is the Geforce8800 GTX, Which ones better and I'm guessing the little difference in-between them wont be noticeable in framerate terms whilst playing?

Thanks

-Simmy

[KenB]

The GTX is the superior card.

see here

 

There are 3 GTS options ( use the down arrow at "Compare any two graphics cards )

[xSimmyn]

Awh, Well it's too late now.. managed to get the card in after hours of shifting hard drives and the like. Will play some BF3 when i've got all the drivers and stuff sorted out and report back.

[xSimmyn]

Okay... I played Battlefield 3 for a good 45/50 minutes and i didn't experience the crash that i had before, this could of been just luck or it could be fixed, but I experienced another crash where the game would freeze and repeat the sound i had heard over and over for about 20 seconds then repeat another sound. This crash i could ctrl+alt+delete out of so it's not as bad but it closes the game straight after I tab out.

But it's nice to play Battlefield 3 on a graphics card that isn't made out of wood.

-Simmy

[KenB]

I experienced another crash where the game would freeze

Does this happen at the same point each time ?

 

Does the system run OK with all other applications ?

[xSimmyn]

I think the crash was me getting kicked from Battlefield so i think i'm pretty much crash free. Thanks for all the help you guys have given me and put up with my noobyness. I can see myself becoming a regular member here at these forums.

 

-Simmy