JAMerica

If you still have problems or in the meantime, you could try loosening the timings on your RAM.

In the BIOS, hit ctrl-F1 and then go to the advanced MIB tab. Scroll down and you should be able to set manual timings on your RAM. I'm not sure what model your RAM is, but if it's high end, the timing should be at 4-4-4-12. Try relaxing those to 5-5-5-15 and see if it helps.

I have the same mobo, but different RAM. Everytime I try to increase the voltage on the RAM i run into trouble, so I always leave it at the default.

=Sarc=

It's also possible that there's something wrong with the motherboard.

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sc1ence

your work memory passes memtest in your comp, but the mem you have at home does not correct?

try this one more time:
test your home mem in your home machine with memtest. I assume it will fail, but lets make sure it does.

test your home mem in your work comp at normal voltage. if it fails, then something really seems wrong with your home mem.

if your home mem voltage has to be bumped up with your work comp to pass memtest then something is not right. - this is not normal. mem should pass at normal voltage. bumping up voltage is really only for overclocking tweaking.

your work mem passes memtest on your home comp, but you are still having problems.

it sounds like it could be a memory issue. here is why:

the reason you could still be getting errors even with the work mem in your home comp is that over time, bad mem will write bad things to your HD. this will cause lockups etc since files get corupted over time.

I know it is a pain, but I would try reformatting your machine and doing a clean windows install using the work mem. if you are still getting problems, you then know it is hardware and that it is not related to your memory.

another thing to consider is the hard drive and cdrom. a bad cdrom drive can result in hangups as your comp tries to restablish connections. a bad hard drive can write data that is corrupted and over time will result in hangs and crashes.

powersupply issues would most likely result in a reboot rather than a lockup.

another thing to do is check windows event viewer. go to control panel, then administrative tools, then event viewer. check out events for system and applications to see if any errors or warnings are popping up frequently.

i still think it is the memory based on the fact that your work mem passes in home machine, but your home mem does not.

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jonan_

Good stuff science thanks. Last night I tried my regular memory in non dual channel and it passed! So for some reason I tried dual channel again and it passed that too! So now I am really confused. Tonight I am going to try and use the computer and see if I get errors and if I do I am going to start removing components to try and narrow down the problem. Hopefully I won't have to reformat since it has only been about 5 months since I did it last time but if I have to I have to. With the first BFCL match coming up I am going to try really hard to get this working.

P8riot

And as a Heads-up to what Sc1ence said - problems with RAM can possibly result in data being written to the HD in the wrong spots, naturally resulting in data corruption on the HD.

With BFCL coming up, run it hard for a bit to see if any data corruption occured affecting BF.

I don't know what you bought for a new P/S - but regardless, it will probably be better than what you had.

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Age of Conan: Tharashk (Taxiarchos), Thaumiel (alt), guild Ars Tactika - Cimmeria
XBox360 GamerTag: P8riotOne (but it might also be my son playing - he can game with TG tho!)

sc1ence

can you give us an exact description of the problems you are having? how often, what kind, what programs are you using?

what are your cpu temps?


does your HD supports SMART? look at the info for SMART for errors.

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jonan_

When I could actually use my computer I would get a blue screen with some errors (sorry can't remember what they said) every couple of days. I would just shut my computer down and start it back up and everything would be fine. It wouldn't happen when I was doing any particular thing as far as I can remeber.

Then the real killer started happening. When I am in game all of a sudden the screen freezes and I can't get out no matter what I do so I have to power down the computer. This happens everytime I play. The wierd thing is if I am on team speak when this happens I can still talk to the people on team speak.
The only programs I have on my computer are BF 2142, Symantec Anti-virus, hi jack this, ccleaner. I might have microsoft office but I am not sure since I never use it.

My computer runs at about 29c(under no load) thanks to this impulse buy. I don't think I have seen it get much past 40c even after playing all day.

I have not heard of SMART but I am going to look it up. This is the hard drive I have.

On the plus side I found out that there really is life outside of battlefield Blasphamy I know.

sc1ence

ok, we have narrowed things down i think. bsod (blue screen of death) errors happen with some frequency, and game is locking up. in winxp the bsod is technically called a STOP error. the code there can really help us figure things out. next time you get one, write it down EXACTLY and post it here.

previously, somone suggested losening the timings of your memory. I would suggest doing the same thing.

you can get the smart info off of your HD using smartfan. there are more advanced special purpose programs for this, but we just need to look for glaring problems.

start up smartfan, go to the S.M.A.R.T. tab and select your HD and check out the info. importantly check to see if it is reporting low fitness or performance.

the two problems of game locking up and BSOD may not actually be related. I have had my program lock up and have TS work still. not often, but perhaps 5 times out of several hundred hours of play.

the one way they could be related is if something is goign on with the way info is written to your HD. if your game files become corrupted due to a memory error this could cause the lockup.

another problem may be a driver conflict.

first step is to check out your HD info to make sure it is not the source of the problem. if smart says it is ok, it is probably fine and the issue is something else.

your memory is passing in dual chan mode now right? but it failed like nuts a previous time... bleh.

one thing we could try is to get a linux LIVE CD and boot linux from the CD. this would give us access to some more advanced diagnostic tools, but more importatnly we could do some basic computing tasks and see if we get crashing.

one possable thing is that your memory was not making a good connection with your mobo, this would result in occasional BSOD and corrupt data written to your HD which would result in a locking in bf2142.

you know things are bad when you start to think that life is worth living without gaming...

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jonan_

So far I tried using SMART to check my HD but non of them seem to recognize it. So I am uninstalling and reinstalling BF just in case.

JAMerica

This is a great idea....linux is generally quite intolerable of any misbehaving hardware. I've had many instances where failing hardware would chug along in windows but would completely fail to boot my linux.

kin3

I had a problem (can't remember what now) and I booted from Linux and everything worked fine. So I updated all my drivers, everything that had a driver, and after this my computer has been working fine for sometime now. So try Linux and it may give you a new incite as what to do.

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The Old Guy
kin3

jonan_

Finally it works!!! Science I think you were right about the BF freezes and the blue screens being unrelated. The whole memory issue led me down the wrong path from the begining. It turns out that my wireless card went bad and caused BF to fail. Once I removed that and pluged the internet in through a cable it worked fine. Unfortunatly it took me reformating my whole computer to figure that out. Thank you everybody that took the time to help me fix it.

sc1ence

hoooray!!!!!!!!!!!!

im so happy this worked out. it pains me when a fellow gamer cant play due to some strange hardware problem. keep us posted if things go south again.

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Acreo Aeneas

First, I'd swap out that PSU and put in one from a more reputable brand name. One look and I see you are housing a 8800GTS. I doubt the PSU that came with your case can handle the power draw under load.

As for your memory...that's tricky. Just because each stick by itself passes memtest doesn't meant in dual-channel it will pass. Have you tried calling Tech Support to see if they have tested the specific make and model of your RAM for compatibility? And if they haven't, ask them to suggest a make and model that they have tested that works well with the DS3.


Heh. Good job!

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jonan_

I stuck one of these bad boys in there today. I hope it will do the trick. Thanks for the help.