Games Keep Crashing And I Dont Know If It Is Hardware Failure Or Not

[Darkstar_Zepp]

hi guys at the moment i have recently upgraded my pc to 2gb DDRII or ram and also installed a new 600W psu but still my games keep crashing on me for no apparant reason

they were doing this before i changed my ram and psu and they are stil crashing

can someone please help me

 

[raybay]

It almost has to be a hardware problem... if more than one game crashes.
But you have performed the common tasks that would normally fix it. Something in the original setup is obviously the cause.
Run the free Memtest86 to rule out memory. It must run for four hours or 7 passes, which ever is longer. If you are using memory with "Value" in the name or description, that could be the cause... or if your old, original memory is part of your upgrade, that is a clue.
If the memory tests ok, tell us more.
These problems are usually:
Video graphics card has problems. This is the most common cause.
Video graphics driver is bad, and needs to be replaced.
Hard drive is bad. Replacements are inexpensive, and you can always use an extra.
CPU heatsink is not connected firmly or thermal paste has dried up.
CPU fan is failing.
Power Supply is inadequate. Not all new ones are good.
Any defective component in a PCI slot can cause intermittent problems.

 

[Darkstar_Zepp]

i found out what the error code is now

its an access violation code 0xc0000005

 

[nickc]

it would be good if u would give us u're computer specs.

 

[raybay]

Well, sort of...

It is an exception or access violation (0xC0000005) address, which is or can be a memory address.

 

[raybay]

As nickc suggests, we cannot give you much of our perspective unless you give us your hardware configuration... The access violation may relate to a lot of things... or the memory violation might related to a number of errors...
And the fixes can be more useful to you if we know your computer and hardware.

 

[almcneil]

i found out what the error code is now

its an access violation code 0xc0000005

In most cases, this is what programmers call a "race" condition. I used to be a high tech engineer. What happens in this case is one process or device grabs something before another is supposed to or it doesn't release something in time for another to use.

How old is your system? Have you upgraded to a new video card recently? It could be the video card is too fast for your older system.

 

[raybay]

Generally, this is not a programmer error... It is a common condition associated with hardware configurations and WXP

 

[almcneil]

Ray, "race conditions" are not necessarily a programming error but a condition of independent processes or devices attempting to share a resource. It can be corrected or worked around through reprogramming or you can change the configuration as you pointed out to eliminate the race condition.