Help please, games crash...

[Toodles]

Hey guys.

First of all my PC specs..

AMD x2 3800
PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum nForce4 Ultra
2gb GeIL RAM
Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 NCQ 160GB
NEC ND4570 16x16 DVD±RW
Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450w Smart Power PSU

I've got both my motherboard and graphics cards' latest drivers.

I've installed Sims 2 for my sister but it keeps crashing. First time it crashed when she was creating a family (just randomly, she had been playing it about 15 mins) and second time was when she went in to the neighbourhood screen. We managed to get the game in to one of the houses and I pulled all the settings down to the lowest possible and it was running fine. Just as a text I started knocking things up one at a time and eventually, of course, it crashed again.

Aside from Sims 2, 3DMark 05 also crashed too about 30-40 seconds in to the test.

By crash I mean the PC stops altogether and I have to turn it off at the front.

Anyone know what the problem could be? From looking at my spec it's obviously not the Sims 2 or 3DMark are too powerful for my PC to run so I am really confused. CS 1.6, and Yuri's Revenge work absolutely fine..

Could it be my 450w PSU? I'm hoping not because I can imagine what a bugger they are to take out and replace.

There is also a blue and black wired thing coming from my case's PSU and I can't help but feeling it needs to be plugged in but I don't know what it is. From looking at the end of it (two holes) it looks as though it'd fit a fan header..

Also might be worth mentioning that since I installed the motherboard drivers there is a screen that comes up, inbetween the Windows XP loading screen and the Windows XP logon screen, that looks all crashy.. hard to describe heh..

 

[Me__2001]

a photo of the plug would help in knowing what it was

as for the crashing try updating your graphics card drivers

 

[Toodles]

Got the latest drivers for both my graphics card and motherboard.

I'll get you a photo of that plug..

 

[floppybootstomp]

The two pin lead is probably for plugging into a motherboard fan header if you want any monitoring software to be able to read the PSU fan.

PSU's are actually quite easy to change, four screws and lots of plugs, that's it.

I would think a 450W Antec is ample for your setup.

Not sure why games are crashing, will have to think a whiles.

 

[Toodles]

Ok mate, thanks.

 

[michael 118]

Pretty sure it isnt a hardware problem so at least you dont need to worry about that

 

[Toodles]

Heh suppose.. on the other hand though, is it a good thing? Right about now I reckon I'd prefer to know it's something in particular rather than just being completely stumped like I am now ..

 

[Me__2001]

ok what about any patches or updates for the games ?

 

[chelseafc2005]

why dont you try setting the affinity of the program to cpu 1 that mihgt work some games crash with the dual core processorsn if the game is set to run on both cores

 

[Toodles]

I've installed the patch for Sims 2 yes, no luck.

And I'll try the Dual Core affinity thing mate, cheers.

 

[Toodles]

Was playing CS 1.6 for 10 mins tonight and then it crashed in the same way the Sims 2 and 3DMark 05 do.

So basically I've just splashed out on a gaming PC that won't play any without crashing...

 

[floppybootstomp]

Time to do a few hardware tests I reckon.

Did you set things so that just one CPU is used during gaming?

If so, try running Memtest for at least a few hours.

This is a small program (a freebie) that runs from a floppy disc or a bootable CD and tests your memory. It will show your memory is good - or not.

Similarly, try running games with just one stick of memory for a time, this may show you have one faulty stick.

Check at the MSI site that you have the latest Bios for your motherboard. If you don't, upgrade it. If you need help flashing your motherboard Bios, ask here.

Go to Hitachi's site, download their hard disk diagnosis software and run it to verify hard disk is Ok.

And if you have a spare graphics card you could try for a substitute for a little while, do that.

 

[muckshifter]

There are several main components to look for in "crashing" games ...

Hardware Drivers ... particulary graphics & sound, but all drivers play an important roll
Heat ... again, graphics cards are mini PCs in their own right these days, you need to keep 'em cool
RAM ... you can have the best of the best, and it can fail, but are the "timings" set right?
Patches ... all games get them, some better than others, some just die through lack of support.

Then there is the Game itself ... some games are just not ready for the market and never will be ... I have seen SIMS, one of the top contenders, bringing 'games' systems to their knees no matter what you do.


Now lets break your system down ...

Dual Core CPU ... well, does the game know what that is? are you an Art & Graphics Designer or a Games Developer? Have you turned off the "cool-n-quiet" rubbish?
MSI K8N Neo4 MB ... very good, but did you consult their website for the recommended RAM to use? Better still, run the MB through Crucial's site and see what they say. I would also use the nVidia MB drivers and NOT MSI's
ATI Graphic card ... hmmm, no comment, never liked them, never will, and yes I have used them. (and I don't wan't any flames on that, you know what my sarcasm is like)
PSU ... is it under stress? that kit you got could really do with a "dual-rail" supply. That Antec is a little over hyped and is only a 150W PSU in real terms.
DVDrom drive ... they are slow to spin-up by nature, does the game need to constantly access the drive? if so, get a CDrom drive as well and use it for the game ... I know a couple of "gamers" that sware by it, then gamers sware at anything.
HD ... defrag can work wonders for some games, shame old man Norton isn't around anymore as HE made one of the best (back in 95) ... Diskeeper is a pretty good alternative.


If it's any consolation I have Oblivion ... it has "crashed" on several occasions and "frozen" my system three times ... I am getting a little peeved, to say the least, as there are no 'patches' yet.

 

[Toodles]

Hey guys.

I fixed it..

Basically I had my 2 sticks of 1gb RAM in the wrong slots. I had them in the green slots when one of them had to go in a purple slot.

Things are running very smoothley.

Muckshifter, I've just read your post and I have to say I am very happy with my PC now I've sorted the problem although the DVD-RW is the only thing I am very disappointed with. As you say, it seems to take a long while to start to read CDs, and yesterday I installed Red Alert 2 but at random times the game would freeze for 3-4 seconds and then the DVD-RW would start to read, very annoying. When you said they are slow to read by nature, did you mean general DVD-RWs or mine in particular?

What are the best DVD-RWs on the market today?

 

[muckshifter]

Hey guys.

I fixed it..

Basically I had my 2 sticks of 1gb RAM in the wrong slots. I had them in the green slots when one of them had to go in a purple slot.

Things are running very smoothley.

Muckshifter, I've just read your post and I have to say I am very happy with my PC now I've sorted the problem although the DVD-RW is the only thing I am very disappointed with. As you say, it seems to take a long while to start to read CDs, and yesterday I installed Red Alert 2 but at random times the game would freeze for 3-4 seconds and then the DVD-RW would start to read, very annoying. When you said they are slow to read by nature, did you mean general DVD-RWs or mine in particular?

What are the best DVD-RWs on the market today?

It always the same ... User Error ...

Sorry, no dig at yourself there.


The "best" has never been built yet ... but Plextor are highly regarded to come close.

Don't get the wrong idea here ... DVDs have "slow spin-up times" anyway, it doesn't really matter whos you have, it will still be slow to spin-up ... I was talking to one of my 'gamer' relatives last week about my Oblivion "troubles" and he said to get an ordinary CDRom drive, in his book it has "cured" nearly all his games problems ... now he knows absolutely squatly sh1t about PCs, but it got me thinking and I'll agree he is right on that count as CDRom drives are quite quick to spin-up. Cheap enough these days.

 

[Toodles]

I'll look in to it then. Cheers.

 

[Covenant]

Do you have some sort of display "screen" for things showing things like fan speed or temps on the front of the case. If so, then maybe that what is the 2 pin blue/black wire is for.

Covenant

 

[Toodles]

Yeah I managed to find out what it's for and you are more or less right, it's just so you can get information on the fan speed using a program supplied with the motherboard.