Freezing during gaming.

[PaulWuzHere]

Everytime I play a game at 1024 x 768 it plays well, like 50fps+ but after 10min or so it will freeze. at random spots in games. These are the games that I play and they all freeze. NFS-most wanted, Splinter cell chaos theory, Battlefield 2 (bf 2 more than others) But when i turn the games to 800 x 600 they play fine for hours. I have for sure updated ALL of my drivers. Sound, Display, motherboard system driver, windows updates, and the game patches. When the game freezes the screen stays still but it plays a 1 10th of a sec audio clip over and over very fast. This is my system. I run on best performance settings (No AA or AF)

AMD Athlon 64 3000+
Gigabyte GA-K8NS Nforce 3 250
2 x 512MB PC 3200
Leadtek A6600GT Agp
80GB Samsung Hard Drive
Windows XP Service Pack 2
NEC DVD-R/RW

any advice will help. Thank you

 

[DonNagual]

What have you done for troubleshooting already?

In case you haven't already tried these, I'll give you a shotgun approach:

1. Check your temps, both CPU and GPU (especially GPU).
2. Have you tried updating your chipset drivers, and bios?
3. Do you have anything overclocked? Go back to default and try.

But my guess would be that this is a PSU problem. If none of the above fix you up, then I'd probably try a new PSU. You can get a good one in the 60-80 dollar range.

What make is your PSU and how many watts is it rated at? How many amps on the 12v rail?

 

[sjps220]

I used to get the same thing in Medal of Honor: AA when I had my old passively cooled 64mb graphics card. My solution was to take off the side panel and set my computer next to the air conditioning vent! :haha:

Yeah I'd go through Don Nagual's list for sure, but my guess is overheating.

 

[PaulWuzHere]

under full load my CPU never hits above 40 degrees after about 2 hours of gaming. My Video card idles at 40 and hits about 58 after 1 - 2 1/2 hours of gaming. My PSU is a cheapy 420-watt. I was already planning to replace it. And I have updated my BIOs already.

 

[howard_hopkinso]

I agree with DonNagual. It`s likely a psu problem.

That cheap psu won`t be putting out anywhere near it`s rated output. It probably hasn`t got enough amps on the 12v rail either.

Get yourself a good quality 450/500 watt psu from Antec/Enermax/Fortron etc.

Look at this article on psu`s. The psu thread.

Also, checkout this PSU wattage calculator.

Regards Howard

 

[PaulWuzHere]

I'm rated at 241 watts. Lol. Are you sure this is a power supply problem? Could this be a hard drive issue? Because I doubt that even a cheap 420 watt PSU would ave troubles at that range.

 

[howard_hopkinso]

The problem is with a cheap psu is the power output, and the amperage of the 12v rail.

Let`s suppose that your 420watt psu is 60% efficient, and I`m being generous here.

60% of 420watts = 252watts which is very close to your systems requirements.

Even a good quality psu will only achieve around 70% efficiency.

So yes it could well be your psu.

You should also check your system for overheating.

Regards Howard

 

[evildust]

You forgot 1 driver

I know this kind of bug, I saw it in Windows XP SP2 and X64 and I checked all my hardware and drivers are always up-to-date. Lately I did a clean install of Windows XP SP2 and the bug was back. I realize I forgot a important driver to make a computer stable when using AMD Athlon 64: the AMD Athlon 64 drivers for XP. Yes CPU like AMD need drivers and it do a big difference. I don't say is the resolution of your problems but I say try it


AMD Athlon™ 64 Processor Driver for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 Version (exe) 1.2.2.2:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/utilities/amdcpu.exe

 

[PaulWuzHere]

I already installed the offical driver from AMD, that was the second thing I ever did when I built this machine. Good call tho. I am looking at this "inexpensive" PSU, I really have no $70 o $80 to spend on a psu. Its a Xion Simply 400. It is 20amps on the 12-v. Thats fine with me. I have used Xion stuff in the past and I have read reviews I like it. Also I checked my PSU, its 17amps on the 12 volt. Thats pretty low. So I am gonna go with this from newegg. Any complaints about Xion products? Please remember, I do not overclock often and I have no PCI cards, one DVD-Burner and a 6600GT, I don't require ONE HUNDERED BILLION WATTS!. Ok? Thanks

 

[howard_hopkinso]

I don't require ONE HUNDERED BILLION WATTS!. Ok?

No, but you do require a psu capable of at least a sustained output of 241 watts, and enough amps on the 12v rail

Regards Howard

 

[PaulWuzHere]

ya i know that to be true lol , but 20 amps on the 12 volt rail is good, right?

 

[howard_hopkinso]

ya i know that to be true lol , but 20 amps on the 12 volt rail is good, right?

No not really. 30 amps would be better, or a psu with dual 12v rails with about 20 amps on each rail.


Regards Howard

 

[vnf4ultra]

The problem is with a cheap psu is the power output, and the amperage of the 12v rail.

Let`s suppose that your 420watt psu is 60% efficient, and I`m being generous here.

60% of 420watts = 252watts which is very close to your systems requirements.

Even a good quality psu will only achieve around 70% efficiency.

So yes it could well be your psu.

You should also check your system for overheating.

Regards Howard

I am of the understanding that psu efficiency ratings are not the % of the watt rating they actually put out.

I think the efficiecy rating actually means, that say for a 420w psu, it's using 700w from your wall socket(assuming 60% efficiency) to produce 420w from the psu. I think the psu's rating is "supposed" to be what it says, i.e. 420w should put out 420w, whether that power is a continuous, or a peak power rating, is up to the mfg though. Cheaper psus usually use peak(for a few seconds) to make their psu's seem more powerful. A psu that's rated at 420w continuous though, should be able to put out 420w if it's of good quality.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's how I understood psu efficiency ratings.

 

[PaulWuzHere]

Thats what I was lead to believe, and be serious, 30 amps!!! Thats insane! I'm not running a dual cpu system or anything like that. No SATA, no Firewire. One hard Drive. 30 amps on the 12 volt. please lol. That would be near $100. For a power supply to power a mid range system.... thats ridiculous.

 

[howard_hopkinso]

The recommended amperage rating is 25 amps for a non sli system, and 35 amps for sli. Both of these figures are on the 12v rail.

Look HERE for confirmation of this. Top of the page.


The figure I gave of 30 amps on the 12v rail is for a margin of overhead.

Indeed many good quality psu`s will have this amount of amperage on the 12v rail.

I am willing to admit I may be wrong on the meaning of the percentages.

Edit: Having just done some Googling on the subject of psu efficiency. I now fully admit I was wrong.

Thanks vnf4ultra for pointing that out. It is appreciated.

I would like to appologise to PaulWuzHere, for giving you misleading info.

Rest assured that I won`t be making that sort of comparison again.

I still stand by my premise that a cheap no name brand of psu, isn`t capable of putting out anywhere near it`s rated power output.

Regards Howard

 

[vnf4ultra]

I still stand by my premise that a cheap no name brand of psu, isn`t capable of putting out anywhere near it`s rated power output.

I totally agree, a "420w" no name likely puts out less power than a quality 300w unit. I've read that some cheap companies rate the output at unrealistic temperatures(very cold) to get a higher watt value to put on the unit, when they should be testing at a normal usage temperature for accurate results.

 

[PaulWuzHere]

Hey, its all good Howard. But I just re wired my entire system. I gave my graphics card a moltex connector to itself.I am now running Idle 36 degrees celcius on my GPU and now I can play Doom 3 at 1024 x 768 on High no problem. Same with Battlefield 2 and NFS most wanted. My voltages are also pretty even. My 12 volt is at 11.97 - 11.90. Everything is ok. My 2 case fans are nice and glowing and my CPU is running cool. This little Asys PSU isn't ALL that horrible for my mid range system. If I ever decide to move to an Athlon 3400+ or 3700+ or a 6800GT or Ultra then I will blow $70 or so on a good PSU. Untill then, Happy Gaming! And thanks you all your advice.