Computer Crash When I Play Any Game

i understand that maybe thetwo sticks might not work together but how did they work before for about 8 month ago when i first built my comp? i built my compwith one stick of my current ram 3 months later i added teh same stick of ram again and all was well still. maybe it died out? or maybe my mobo/slot is screwing me over.

i checked the kingston site and my ram is compatablie with the mobo but maybe becuz the on the modules it has different names on them it might not be compatable with each other? one is epilar and the other nanya i think

thx

The other thing you could do is look for a BIOS update on your mobo and install that.

And/OR just reset your BIOS as it is now and hope it enables dual channel properly.

The other thing is, and I may be somewhat misinformed, but I think to run dual channel the RAM has to be identical. Although, it may only have to be identical in speed and size, perhaps not manufacturer or chip maker. But most people would say it's best to have identical. Such as buying a dual channel "kit" which comes with two identical RAM chips that are meant to run in D.C. mode.

that could be the problem but they are both kingston valueram pc3200 ddr 400 sticks. maybe i need to buy a kit.

i have the latest bios, but ill try resetting it bcuz i dont think bios really imporves anything for me at least not for games.

Yes, normally BIOS updates don't improve much to do with Windows and programs. But they most often inprove hardware compatibility, which can, in turn, improve reliability.

ok thx ill try going back to default bios

i tried the bios thing and know im running on th e latest beta bios. i talked with the tch guy at kinsgton and he said the the ram was not of the same series so he told me to send back the ram (both sticks) and the sticks came back and i checked the numbers they were both the same series. BUT im still gettin the same problem. i tried doing one thing that i totally and disregarded and that was to put the 2 sticks in singla channel mode that is one in slot 1 and the other in slot 4. ie not dual channel mode. however that didint help me.i checked the mobo for the bulging capacitors but no luck there either. all my games crashed again as usuall but this time i havent gotten any new minidump files. wierd.....

any way if anyone as any updates it is much appreciated, thx again.

If your RAM indeed was causing memory errors to filter into programs; well now that you have new RAM, it would be a good idea, I think, to completely uninstall the programs and reload them. That is, your games at least. Just in case there is corrupt data still floating around in them.

It would probably be a good idea to run the System File Checker as well, to check for corruption in Windows own files. Click Start-Run and type sfc /scannow. You will need your Windows CD to do this.

Then after removing the games, check for any spyware and viruses. Then I would clear out your swap file and do a defrag. Then reload the game again.
To clear the swap file:
-right click My computer- Properties-Advanced tab-performance settings-Advanced tab-"change" button. Set it to "no paging file". Then restart the computer and do your defrag.
Then repeat the steps to turn it back on. Only this time, turn it to a "custom" size, putting the min and max to the same value. This value should be whatever you need in order to make your "total" RAM to 2gb. That is, if you have 1gb of RAM, set the swap to 1024. If you have 512mb, set the swap to 1536. You get the idea. The "1.5 rule" is a decent rule, but it doesn't make sense if you had, say, 128mb of RAM, cause that only gives you 386 or whatever. It is a better idea to make sure Windows has about 2gb at it's disposal.

Once you set the swap file back up, try to reload the game and see what happens. Hopefully your bugs will be cleared out. If not, the problem could now be in some obscure thing like sound or network driver, video driver, or registry bugs. Look into the program "JV16 power tools" or something like that, for a good registry cleaner.

The problem is, you've crashed so many times now, who knows how deep the file corruption could have gone? But hopefully these things will replace any bad files and get you up and running again.

Also, is single channel mode really slot 1 and 4? That seems odd, I would think 1 and 2? At least, that is what I've seen most common. Is single channel 1&2, 3&4, or dual channel 1&3, 2&4. Or if it's color coded. But anyhoo.

Good luck, hope it's coming to and end!

THANK YOU SO MUUUUUUCH!!! ok ill try all the things you said. Something that makes sense. BTW, the suingle channel modes on my mobo are 1,2 ; 3,4 ; 1,4 ; 2,3. sry i didnt make it obvious.

thx again. and thanks to all the gusy that helped me. But today for some odd reason i tried one of my old ram sticks with one of the new ones (they were the same series) and i load a game it orked for a min and crashed. then my brother was aplying alot of games today and he told me that nithing froze and everything worked perfectly like b4 with dual channel mode. wired but al try the things u said.

thx again

it's overheating...i beleve....from the cpu

overheating...from the cpu...i belive

could u go into more setail. i dont get it? u mean to much voltage is going to the ram? plz go into further detail.

or u mean my cpu is overheating? i VERY POSTIVELY doubt that assumption. i have a zalman reserator 1+ water cooling system. there is no way in hell my cpu will ever overheat and its not even oc'd. its 36C as we speak.

He thinks the CPU is overheating. Not necessarily from voltage (unless you're trying to overclock), because after resetting the BIOS there wouldn't be any overclock settings.

Inside the BIOS it should have a place where you can see the temps in the system, post those values here. Especially CPU and System temp. But check those temps after the system has been in use. For example, after it crashes, restart right away and check the temps. If it's hot, we'll know.

ok but ive never had any probs like that. 36C cpu and 23C mobo as we speak. ill post it tho. but i havent had any crashing or freezing probs still so hope it continues like this.

btw im using asus probe.

ill post in 5 min ill play some graphically intense game and ill restart. thx

ok i observed some wired volt ratings. i recorded my cpu and mobo temps along with my volt stats with asus probe. i was playin bf1942 and the 3.3v rating awws going below 3.0v. it went down to 2.8,2.9 in between those numbers whenever i played. when i played my asus probe was alerting me (making beepeing alert noises) that the volatge was below 3.0. i shoud have done this b4. what is this 3.3 v rating for? wat does it regulate? is it the ram? btw my ram is 2.6 v so idk wat this is for. however my cpu and mobo temps were perfect. below 41C. i think this is my problem. how can i regulate this voltage rating to be above 3.0v.

btw my psu is actually a turbolink model 420atx-12v (420w) it came with my case. Aspire X-Alien.
voltage
+3.3v>28A +5v>40A +12v>18A
current(amps)
-12>1.0A -5>1.0A +5SB>3.0A

The 3.3 is used for nearly all the motherboard functions. CPU and chipsets, rear panel devices, and more.
But if it dropped to low for the system to operate properly, it would likely just shut off.

While a 420w is not terrible, Aspire is not the super greatest, and most would recommend not using PSes that "came with" the case anyway. As they are often not that great.

But there are some around here more knowledgable in power supplies then myself, and might clear the 3.3 issue up for you. In the meantime, you could consider a new PS anyway, or try another one for testing if you can get your hands on one.

The primary purpose of the 3.3 rail is to drive the PCIx slots. A "brownout" on this line will cause memory problems amongst others.

A new PSU is not always the right answer. Remove all the expansion cards you can, leave but one ram stick, one system drive, and the vid card ... test again.

Minidumps is not the end-all of fault finding.

You should maybe try the ram in a different computer, and also try a different set of ram that is known to work,in your computer. If your ram works fine in dual channel on another computer it is most likely not a memory problem. The problem could also be that your hdd is getting too hot to handle all of the stuff that is going on in the game and it causes crashes,i have seen this happen before.so maybe also try running the games using this hard drive in another computer. i know how frustrating these problems can be and i really hope you can get to the bottom of it.
Regrads,
Moltenz

thx alot guys for helping me. sorry i couldnt respond back sooner. thx again.

:giddy: The Ram is a very good ideea....but i think it's not the problem...it's a power case problem or something...that should be replaced

so u guys really recommend me buying a new psu? i checked my hdd temps, theyre fine. but will getting a new psu stop the instant crashes when i load my games. cuz the crashes started again when ever any video plays or game menu loads. im not sure that the psu will sove that but maybe the uninstalling and reinstalliong the games and/or reformating my hdd might. i have alot of my important data burned to 8 dvds so im not afraind if reformating its just that it takes too long.

so again, is it really worth buying a new psu?
thx again