Games freezes, computer emmits high pitched beep

[Alf]

hello, when ever i play a game (HL2, tried Doom 3 too) about a few minutes in the game freezes and my computer emits a high pitched beep continuously.
one of a few things have crossed my mind.

1) things are getting too hot, even though my CPU keeps at 45C-50C. but my GPU gets to 63C

2) dual channel memory perhaps does want to work on my non dual channel motherboard.

3) Bad PSU, which came with the case

4) or something else


I have the latest updates for everything, im running 22 background applications altogether, never connected to the internet so i turn off my Anti virus app. even though my Video card is OCed i havent had a problem with it.
also this all happened with i installed the memory. and i dont get the blue screen of death either. The motherboard user manual doesnt mention Dual channel.

System is as followed.
AMD 3000+ @ 2.2 GHz (lower from 2.3 Ghz) (lower 40Cs idle, upper 40Cs full load)
BFG Geforce 6800 GT OC @ 410/1.10 ( finishes 3D mark 03 without trouble) (lower/mid 50Cs, lower 60Cs full load)
Gigabyte GA-7VT600 ( supports Dual Inline memory modules)
1.5 Gigs of Kingston DDR PC3200 (2x512 of that memory is dual channeled)
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS
420 Watt PSU (chances are its generic, ill check on it)

thats should just about do it thanks in advance!

 

[Reefsmoka]

Have you tried with your card at a lower clock speed? 370/1000 should be plenty enough.

The 6800GT only has 1 slot for a power cable to attach to, where as the 6800Ultra has 2. The 6800GT is the same card as the Ultra except for this. So when your overclocking your GT way past the ultra speeds, its just not getting enough power.

 

[Alf]

Have you tried with your card at a lower clock speed? 370/1000 should be plenty enough.

The 6800GT only has 1 slot for a power cable to attach to, where as the 6800Ultra has 2. The 6800GT is the same card as the Ultra except for this. So when your overclocking your GT way past the ultra speeds, its just not getting enough power.

Kinda obvious solution isnt it... oddly enough i havent had a problem until today.

 

[Alf]

Even stranger, i set it to factory setting 370/1.00 and i get to play for about 3 min longer then it freezes.

 

[psd99]

umm tell me more abt the beeps

how many are there?
def one of ur components try reseating them
even ur graphics card take it out and reinsert.

 

[muckshifter]

I have been telling people till I'm blue in the face ...

... there is NO SUCH THING AS "DUAL-IN-LINE MEMORY"

Secondly, a lot of MBs STILL have problems with 400/3200 memory ... your MB manufacturer will have a list of acceptable memory.

Take out one stick and just try 2 x 256 in 'dual-channel-mode' ... don't overclock, any OC'ing is sure to degrade the life of the component ... do you really "see" a difference? then get a faster card.

Even stranger, i set it to factory setting 370/1.00 and i get to play for about 3 min longer then it freezes.

Is it already too late?

 

[Reefsmoka]

I think its a 70% chance that the power supply is the component giving you grief, using a cheap no make processor on a high end rig like that is like using water to put out an oil fire :/, crazy .

In the meantime, you could try a few of these:

What drivers are you using? You could try backdating ur drivers a version or 2, look here: Nvidia Driver Archive

Is your AGP Aperture set to 256MB? (its in your bios)

What About your AGP speed, whats that at? (my friend had his on 8x and it was crashing constantly, he put it to 4x, no performance loss and no more crashes)

 

[Alf]

ok, took out the "odd" 512 out and the game are running perfectly. Bummer that i cant have 1.5 Gigs or memory in my system....
Hey Reef I cant seem to find my AGP Apature thing in bios, and when i installe my new card i can seem to find the Nvidia control panel that changes the x8 to x4. but since i dont seem to have a problem anymore so i guess theres no need in worring about it

 

[CSUnited14]

was the "odd" ram generic brand or what?? Or do you think the slot on yourmobo is bad making your ram lock up???

 

[Alf]

It was a Kingston, same as the others but the other two are Dual channel memory.

 

[CSUnited14]

awwww ok but was there a reason it was making it mess up like it was??

 

[Cache-man]

some mobos will only accept double sided memory in certain slots, and single sided in other slots. The info for your board should be in your board manual.

 

[CSUnited14]

some mobos will only accept double sided memory in certain slots, and single sided in other slots. The info for your board should be in your board manual.

I just Learned soemthing thanks

 

[Alf]

Unfourtunaly i belive my mother board doesnt accept both Dual Channel and errr... single channel memory at the same time. At first i thought that my video card overheated as a result of OCing, then took out the ram and no more problems...

 

[CSUnited14]

Dumb ram and mobo hahah jk jk

 

[muckshifter]

Unfourtunaly i belive my mother board doesnt accept both Dual Channel and errr... single channel memory at the same time. At first i thought that my video card overheated as a result of OCing, then took out the ram and no more problems...

You’re still under a misconception Alf.

There is NO such thing as "dual Channel Memory", any company that 'claims' they sell such memory can be sued for misrepresentation ... however, on certain MBs there is such a thing as "Dual Channel Mode", that is to say ... two matched sticks of ram can be used simultaneously. People get away with using 'ordinary' RAM and just buy two sticks at once.

If you don't buy Crucial RAM I can however recommend you use their free "http://www.crucial.com/uk/promo/index.asp?prog=desktop2RAM check" service ...

 

[Raje]

now that does sound strange that after adding memory the system would freeze up like that only when playing games, I'd say for for plain curiosity switch around those cards. Use different cominations of cards and slots, try to figure out if its the card locking up the system or the slot. Yes the system seems to be working now, but it would erk me not to know EXACTLY what the problem was.

 

[Alf]

Well, seeing how theres only 3 memory slots means theres not much of a combination that i can do, but right now 1 Gig is good or me.

 

[CSUnited14]

just smack it it will work or rub feet real fast on ground and touch the chip that always works

 

[Cache-man]

You’re still under a misconception Alf.

There is NO such thing as "dual Channel Memory", any company that 'claims' they sell such memory can be sued for misrepresentation ... however, on certain MBs there is such a thing as "Dual Channel Mode", that is to say ... two matched sticks of ram can be used simultaneously. People get away with using 'ordinary' RAM and just buy two sticks at once.

If you don't buy Crucial RAM I can however recommend you use their free "http://www.crucial.com/uk/promo/index.asp?prog=desktop2RAM check" service ...

Just an addition to Mucks' comment. There may be no such thing as dual channel memory. But, kits sold by good maunufacturers as dual channel (such as 2 sticks of 512Mb) kits, comprise sticks that are MATCHED (ie. from the same manufacturer batch). The two sticks are normal memory, but by being MATCHED pairs, they are more suited to dual channel operation than unmatched pairs because they are more likely to be 'in-sync' with each other. Dual channel kits are recommended for dual channel setups, but they are nothing different from normal sticks.
I hope that made sense.