Computer freezes while playing games!

[dugie77]

Hi,
My computer randomly freezes while playing games from SC2 to C&C and i don't know why its suddenly happening, it used to work just fine. When it freezes the screen just freezes the frame at the moment and the sound just buzzes. How is this happening!
OS: Win 7 64 bit
PSU: NZXT 600 W
RAM: 4 GB DDR2-SDRAM
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad, Q9300 @ 2.5GHz (4 CPUs)
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5770
Motherboard: ASUS P5N-D
Chipset: nVidia nForce 750i SLI (C72P) + MCP51

 

[Archean]

When this happens, is it like the whole system (including OS) is stuck or just the game?

Please go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, and open Event Viewer, go through system/applications logs, and see whether you can find something which can help us get to the root of this issue. Especially look for the events marked with yellow/red icons.

Also, do you remember when exactly did this started to happen e.g. an driver update?

 

[dugie77]

It is the whole system and I have to restart the computer
and this is the one i think:
0000000112: 2010-12-01 23:41:39:607 FAILED:ADL_Display_SLSGrid_Caps and return value is: -1
Error Called by: ATI.ACE.CLI.Caste.Graphics.Runtime.RT_GraphicsAdapter_N::CheckSLSSupported
There is a ton of these errors in the log too.
Also I don't know if it was a driver update that started it but i did have problems and then updated my graphics driver, I've run anti malware programs, and also registry cleaner as well and none of that changed anything.

 

[Archean]

Download Driver Sweeper from Techspot's download section.

Please uninstall your ATI Catalyst drivers, then reboot and install/run driver sweeper to get rid of any remaining graphic driver files.

Once you've done that, download the latest WHQL drivers from AMD's site and install them.

Once you have done that, download OCCT and thoroughly stress test your graphic card's GPU and RAM.

 

[dugie77]

do i get rid of the Chipset? and Driver sweeper comes up with Invidia graphics drivers, as in a section, but when i click on it nothing appears. does that mean its gone or does the fact that it shows up on the list mean there is something somewhere

Also ran OCCT and my GPU tested fine. Can't do the memory test tho its greyed out

 

[Archean]

Fair enough, sorry I just realized that earlier I overlooked the fact you have an Asus board in this machine. Kindly ensure that RAM is correctly configured in the BIOS (settings i.e. Timings/Voltage are exactly the same as on RAM's specs/packaging).

To further stress test your card you can download Furmark and let it run for a while.

Also ensure that your casing have good airflow, and that temperatures are within reason.

 

[dugie77]

Where do i find their specs?

 

[Archean]

Do you know the exact name of your RAM's manufacturer and model number?

If you still have its original packaging this information should be written on it as well.

 

[dugie77]

no i don't its the RAM that came with the computer when i bought it

 

[Archean]

In that case what is the make/model of the PC?

Please ensure that BIOS is set to Auto for RAM settings/voltage etc.

Then download memtest and run it. It should give you a fair idea at which settings it is running.

 

[dugie77]

Its a Cyberpower PC and idk the model but the RAM is Adata 2gb 800(5) 2Gx16 and there is two of them and BIOS has Auto on.

also, i noticed lots of dust on my CPU fan. I'm guessing that would contribute to to problem. I've been running memtest and no issues so far

 

[Archean]

Dust can cause all sort of issues, it would be reasonably good idea to clean your system (using air canisters). Please do let us know about memtest results once you have finished running it. Regards

 

[dugie77]

Memory tests came up with nothing.

 

[Archean]

Fair enough. I need you to do the following though:

Note: Please ensure that you can boot your system in safe mode.

1) Windows Key + R (or go to Start, then click on Run..)
2) Type in 'verifier' and hit enter
3) Make sure 'Create Standard Setting' is selected and hit next
4) Click on 'Select all drivers installed on this computer' and hit Finish
5) Reboot

There is a possibility that your computer will crash on reboot. If this occurs hit F8 when rebooting just before the windows logo screen and select the safe mode boot option. Follow the same steps above but on step 4 choose 'Select driver names from a list'; hit next; check the box next to any driver where the provider is not Microsoft; hit Finish; reboot.

This will slow the performance of you computer a little while enabled but will hopefully catch the driver causing corruption. Next time you crash the blue screen will hopefully say something like "DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION". When this occurs please post your new minidump.


Please note that Driver Verifier will continue to run on every boot up until you run (by going to Start, then to Run):

verifier /reset

If cleaning out all the dust etc. from system in question stabilizes it, just ignore the above suggestion. Regards

 

[dugie77]

I have cleaned out all of the dust and so far no problems but i don't think that its been long enough to truly see if its fixed