Big time problems with computer.. crash central!

d0wnShifT · Jan 29, 2005, 12:22 AM

Ok ladies and gentlemen, i'm at the end of my rope trying to figure out what's going on with my computer lately. Here's what's going on.. I play counter strike and CS:S quite often. Every once in a while my computer would either lock up, exit to windows, give me the blue screen of death, or just reboot while playing. I figure I would try to update my drivers to see if it helped out a bit, but just made things worse. Now I can't play counter strike for more than 2 mins before errors. It's just not CS specific either, 3DMark also crashes. 3D screen savers I have don't crash though.

I've tried quite a few things to fix this problem but I can't, so I'd like to get your opinions on what I should do next... Here's my computer specs....

AMD Sempron 2500+
ASUS A7V8X-X board
512 MB PC 2700 DDR
40 GB Maxtor HD
Ati Radeon 9500 Pro video card

Drivers:
Omega 2.5.97a
All latest chipset drivers and bios updates for motherboard..

I've already tried a number of things like a memtest and burn in test to see if anything is faulty, but still haven't found anything.. someone please point me in the right direction.. if i left something of importance out then ask.. thanks!

d0wnShifT · Jan 29, 2005, 12:46 AM

one more thing... are there any programs that will test video card memory?

cswiger · Jan 29, 2005, 01:04 AM

There's ATItool from http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/ which you can use for the purpose. I'd consider underclocking your card and see whether that does anything, or even try to swap your video card out with another one briefly to test....

d0wnShifT · Jan 29, 2005, 01:58 AM

I've been considering swapping out video cards just to see what happens.... I tried the ATITool and had my mem clock over 300 without any errors... Are there any tools that actually scans the memory??

Not quite sure what the problem is but I still don't think my motherboard and video card like eachother. Ever since I got the card a year ago this has been happening. Sometimes rarely, but, like now, happens alot...

d0wnShifT · Jan 29, 2005, 04:13 AM

well I ran another memtest 86 and got 90 errors... i'm scratching my head even more

MindlessOath · Jan 29, 2005, 04:36 AM

try differnt drivers.

im betting 10 to 1 that you have a hardware problem tho, probably most likly a falty or broken grfx card fan. also see if u can check the temp of the grfx card - it doesnt have a probe so u will have to touch the heat sink to find out if its running to hot.

put your computer sideways and put an 80mm fan right next to it blowing air at it and see if that helps.

other than that it could be some kind of software problem, or some other hardware defect.

of course i didnt read your last post, it could be because of your faulty memory. make sure to buy QUALITY memory next time, with good timings, and do your research on it before you buy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 why because many people dont and they luck out just like you may have (i cant say you bought bad memory :P cause i didnt see what kind u have.)

d0wnShifT · Jan 29, 2005, 12:02 PM

hey thanks for the post.... i don't have a probe on my video card but i have felt it before and doesn't seem hot.. i have 2 80mm fans on the side of my case that blow right on it...

as for the memory, yes it is a generic kind.... cpu-z shows it being nanya technology, the speeds aren't too bad though... 2.5 3 3 7 not fast by any means

i'm still suspect of the drivers though..... depending on which one i use the system will run stable in the game either a matter of 30 seconds or quite a while before crashing

coldfrontt · Jan 29, 2005, 03:01 PM

You could try the memory in different slots, or try different memory altogether...it does sound more like memory problems.

INSTG8R · Jan 29, 2005, 03:15 PM

What chipset does your Motherboard use? I just got a Abit VT7 with VIA PT880 and using the VIA drivers I get the same issues the workaround is to use the Microsoft UAGP drivers in my case. Now granted I have only had the MoBo for 48Hrs and I knew this was going to be an issue it has worked and I am currently trying to run it at 8xAGP (FW off of course)

DEDloc · Jan 29, 2005, 06:21 PM

If it's failing memtest then you either have bad ram or an incompatibility of the chips with your MB.

Why would you think a vidcard would cause memtest to produce errors?

d0wnShifT · Jan 29, 2005, 09:57 PM

I have the VIA KT400 chipset....
I think I've found a fix for most of my problems... I uninstalled all the via drivers and when windows rebooted it found the new video card drivers as well... I installed them and things have been working better than before. I played HL2 and the first time the system hung after about 10 minutes... It kicked back to windows saying that the memory could not be read. Second time I went into HL2 I played for over an hour with no errors....

I never thought my video card could produce errors with memtest86... I was just trying to find a way to check the vid card memory

I still think I have bad memory though, and will probably upgrade to PC 3200 sometime in the near future....

twangman51 · Jan 30, 2005, 03:18 PM

I had the H/L 2 memory errors problems (have). I swapped my 1024 of OCZ for 1024 of vitesta that I just happened to have sitting in my desk and get the same results. I don't think it is a system problem it's something to do with the game so don't go wasting your cash on more memory.

H/L 2 and Counterstrike may be great games but are they bug riddled or what and as for 'Steam' isn't that what you get off a fresh turd? !!!!

Jan 29, 2005, 12:22 AM	#1
d0wnShifT DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: SC Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	Big time problems with computer.. crash central! Ok ladies and gentlemen, i'm at the end of my rope trying to figure out what's going on with my computer lately. Here's what's going on.. I play counter strike and CS:S quite often. Every once in a while my computer would either lock up, exit to windows, give me the blue screen of death, or just reboot while playing. I figure I would try to update my drivers to see if it helped out a bit, but just made things worse. Now I can't play counter strike for more than 2 mins before errors. It's just not CS specific either, 3DMark also crashes. 3D screen savers I have don't crash though. I've tried quite a few things to fix this problem but I can't, so I'd like to get your opinions on what I should do next... Here's my computer specs.... AMD Sempron 2500+ ASUS A7V8X-X board 512 MB PC 2700 DDR 40 GB Maxtor HD Ati Radeon 9500 Pro video card Drivers: Omega 2.5.97a All latest chipset drivers and bios updates for motherboard.. I've already tried a number of things like a memtest and burn in test to see if anything is faulty, but still haven't found anything.. someone please point me in the right direction.. if i left something of importance out then ask.. thanks!

Jan 29, 2005, 01:04 AM	#3
cswiger DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: NYC Posts: 233 Rep Power: 0	There's ATItool from http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/ which you can use for the purpose. I'd consider underclocking your card and see whether that does anything, or even try to swap your video card out with another one briefly to test.... __________________ Do you remember Shalebridge Cradle? Beware! The Cradle doesn't forget.... AMD Opteron 185 @ 2.6GHz/200HTT \| 2GB G.Skill DDR3200 @ 2-3-2-5/1T \| 512MB eVGA 8800GT @ 600/1800 \| SB Audigy 2ZS eX, Outlaw 1050 6.1ch amp, Paradigm speakers \| MSI K8N Diamond Plus mainboard \| black Lian-Li USB68 case + Foxconn FX600-GLN 600W PSU \| 2xWDC3200AAKS (RAID1) \| Sony GDM-F500R CRT, BENQ G2400W LCD

Jan 29, 2005, 04:36 AM	#6
MindlessOath DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 1,121 Rep Power: 0	try differnt drivers. im betting 10 to 1 that you have a hardware problem tho, probably most likly a falty or broken grfx card fan. also see if u can check the temp of the grfx card - it doesnt have a probe so u will have to touch the heat sink to find out if its running to hot. put your computer sideways and put an 80mm fan right next to it blowing air at it and see if that helps. other than that it could be some kind of software problem, or some other hardware defect. of course i didnt read your last post, it could be because of your faulty memory. make sure to buy QUALITY memory next time, with good timings, and do your research on it before you buy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 why because many people dont and they luck out just like you may have (i cant say you bought bad memory :P cause i didnt see what kind u have.) __________________ ATI Radeon X800XT PE <---- LOOK UPDATED!! AMD Athlon 2Ghz, nforce2, 512mb ddr3500 LINKS U SHOULD KNOW!!!! DriverCleaner - use every time u install new drivers! ATI driver feedback - to report driver problems Tacticalcenter - my Gaming website and forums ATI 3rd party Optimized Driver Compairison Last edited by MindlessOath; Jan 29, 2005 at 04:46 AM.

Jan 29, 2005, 06:21 PM	#10
DEDloc DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 13 Rep Power: 0	If it's failing memtest then you either have bad ram or an incompatibility of the chips with your MB. Why would you think a vidcard would cause memtest to produce errors? __________________ R9500pro.3.3ns Infineon. CPU Cooler Mod, Vgpu Mod, Vmem Mod. 396core/330mem. AthlonXP2500+@2.2ghz Gigabyte GA-7N400-L 1024mb Kingston HyperX(2-3-3-11) Sound Blaster Audigy Gamer Macron 400watt PSU My Aquamark Results

Jan 30, 2005, 03:18 PM	#12
twangman51 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 50 Rep Power: 0	I had the H/L 2 memory errors problems (have). I swapped my 1024 of OCZ for 1024 of vitesta that I just happened to have sitting in my desk and get the same results. I don't think it is a system problem it's something to do with the game so don't go wasting your cash on more memory. H/L 2 and Counterstrike may be great games but are they bug riddled or what and as for 'Steam' isn't that what you get off a fresh turd? !!!! __________________ twanger

Jan 29, 2005, 12:46 AM	Thread Starter #2
d0wnShifT DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: SC Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	one more thing... are there any programs that will test video card memory?

Jan 29, 2005, 01:58 AM	Thread Starter #4
d0wnShifT DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: SC Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	I've been considering swapping out video cards just to see what happens.... I tried the ATITool and had my mem clock over 300 without any errors... Are there any tools that actually scans the memory?? Not quite sure what the problem is but I still don't think my motherboard and video card like eachother. Ever since I got the card a year ago this has been happening. Sometimes rarely, but, like now, happens alot...

Jan 29, 2005, 04:13 AM	Thread Starter #5
d0wnShifT DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: SC Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	well I ran another memtest 86 and got 90 errors... i'm scratching my head even more

Jan 29, 2005, 12:02 PM	Thread Starter #7
d0wnShifT DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: SC Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	hey thanks for the post.... i don't have a probe on my video card but i have felt it before and doesn't seem hot.. i have 2 80mm fans on the side of my case that blow right on it... as for the memory, yes it is a generic kind.... cpu-z shows it being nanya technology, the speeds aren't too bad though... 2.5 3 3 7 not fast by any means i'm still suspect of the drivers though..... depending on which one i use the system will run stable in the game either a matter of 30 seconds or quite a while before crashing

Jan 29, 2005, 03:01 PM	#8
coldfrontt DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: canada Posts: 248 Rep Power: 0	You could try the memory in different slots, or try different memory altogether...it does sound more like memory problems.

Jan 29, 2005, 03:15 PM	#9
INSTG8R DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Canadian lost in Norway Posts: 527 Rep Power: 0	What chipset does your Motherboard use? I just got a Abit VT7 with VIA PT880 and using the VIA drivers I get the same issues the workaround is to use the Microsoft UAGP drivers in my case. Now granted I have only had the MoBo for 48Hrs and I knew this was going to be an issue it has worked and I am currently trying to run it at 8xAGP (FW off of course)

Jan 29, 2005, 09:57 PM	Thread Starter #11
d0wnShifT DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: SC Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	I have the VIA KT400 chipset.... I think I've found a fix for most of my problems... I uninstalled all the via drivers and when windows rebooted it found the new video card drivers as well... I installed them and things have been working better than before. I played HL2 and the first time the system hung after about 10 minutes... It kicked back to windows saying that the memory could not be read. Second time I went into HL2 I played for over an hour with no errors.... I never thought my video card could produce errors with memtest86... I was just trying to find a way to check the vid card memory I still think I have bad memory though, and will probably upgrade to PC 3200 sometime in the near future....