What's causing the CTD/Bluescreens

EagleOC

EagleOC

EagleOC

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For a while now when running games my system has been having CTDs or, more frequently, bluescreening (blank with a rapid soundloop).

I've gone from (1Gb RAM and a ATI Radeon 9800 Pro) to (2Gb RAM and a NVIDIA 512Mb G6800 GS). The same problems still occur (although, so far the 6800 GS has only seen CTD) so I think we can discount the cards/memory.

I can now (finally) play games at 1280x960 with FSAA on without any stutter - but how do I begin to troubleshoot the crashing/freezing problems? Can anyone help? :)

Spec:

• Abit NF7-S v2.0 mobo
• Athlon XP3000+
• NVIDIA 512Mb G6800 GS
• 2Gb Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT RAM
• Enermax 550W PSU
• Soundblaster Live 5.1 (some say this could be the issue as last drivers were released in 2003!)
• Maxtor 40Gb HDD (OS/Program files)
• Maxtor 160 Gb HDD (Data)
• Win XP installation is about 16 months old.
• nForce_5.10 drivers

• Can post DXDiag if needed.

Looking forward to getting this solved. Cheers! :)
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I've used two different sets of RAM so it can't be faulty memory.

Current drivers are 84.43 forceware... but I think that's largely irrelevant in this case.

The bluescreens are blank, generally - with a soundloop. :(

-Which games? (X³ Reunion, Tomb Raider: Legend, Star Wars Battlefront II).
-When? How long can you play from a cold boot? Between 2 mins and 2 hours (with X3)
-Any artifacts on the screen? (Nope, all fine and dandy. :) Fast frame rates too).
-Tried the games with the sound disabled to eliminate that sound driver? (Might just try a new sound card...)

Cheers so far. :)
 
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Well, I've had a very unproductive evening... :(

Installed latest nForce Drivers - CTD

Disabled Sound (in-game) - CTD

Physically removed soundcard - CTD

Replaced Soundcard - CTD

Installed Omega Drivers (Nvidia Omega Drivers 1.6693 (Forceware 66.93)) - nearly hosing my system in the process. :mad: - CTD

Installed default nVidia Drivers (on the CD) - BSOD - STOP number as follows:

0x0000008E 0xC0000005, 0xE1F98787, 0xBABBEB58, 0x00000000

I've recently also been getting the occasional BSOD when installing software (and occasionally just after boot-up). Latest STOP number:

0x0000008E 0xC0000005, 0x8054A95B, 0xF7465B4C, 0x00000000

Help! :(
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caister said:
Run memtest just to be totally sure its not your RAM or a related problem such as a dodgy RAM slot. My mate had exactly the same problem last year and refused to do memtest cause he said the RAM was new and when he finally did run it it failed (not due to the memory but a fault with his motherbaord). So i would recomend you try it just to totally eliminate the possibility.Also cheack the memory timings in the bios are correct?

What harddrive do you have? How is it connected?

Also what are your temperatures like? Have you changed from the stock cooler on the graphics card?
Click to expand...
Cheers. I might do that today. I have to make a bootable CD though? Not sure how to do that... :(

Timings are correct.

Temps are fine. GPU temp is 47 deg during gaming. Bear in mind though that this happened with two different hardware configs.

My hard drives are connected with IDE cables.
 
Thanks, got it.

I don't know how to create a bootable CD though (I don't have a floppy drive). Any ideas?

I've switched the IDE cable for new ones - still no joy.
 
Well, here's the test result and I'm relieved (but not surprised) to see it passed... :D

pa55.jpg


I've tried running the game (Star Wars Battlefront II) without a soundcard attached - so could it still be the soundcard? I'm happy to change it though - what would you guys recommend (budget £40ish). :)

-------

As an aside, my C:\ drive is:

9% Total Fragmentation
19% File fragmentation

And that's after a defrag!!!

Would a format help? (I'd rather buy a new soundcard, tbh as I don't really have the time to reinstall.

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Street said:
I know when I first got X3, it was a nightmare to get working, I could only play for a max of a few minutes at a time before the game would lock my PC up completely or CTD. Apparently there were sound codec problems... I got it working with a combination of a new soundcard and the latest patch for X3:)
Click to expand...
What souncard did you buy? :)
 
I've now installed a brand new Audigy 4 soundcard - CTD. :(

I've removed the USB Modem before playing - CTD.

On reboot, I encountered a BSOD.

0x0000008E (0xC0000005, 0x8054A95B, 0xAD669B4C, 0x00000000)

I am not running out of diskspace.

I'm at my wits end... :(
 
Cheers. :)

Going on the 'swap your mem' suggestion, here's the results of the testing.

Memory stick (1) in Slot 1: Ok Boot/Ok Game (Gametime 45 mins)

Memory stick (1) in Slot 2: Ok Boot/Ok Game (Gametime 45 mins)

Memory stick (1) in Slot 3: Ok Boot/CTD Game (Gametime 30 mins)

Memory stick (2) in Slot 3: Ok Boot/Ok Game (Gametime 1hr 10mins)

Hunch at this point...

Inserts Mem (1) into slot 2 with (2) in slot 3 (Dual Channel again): Ok Boot but BSOD with sound loop after 90mins.

I reckon this is fairly inconclusive and I still don't think this is a memory/slot issue.

Time to reformat/reinstall me thinks... :(
 
Format/reinstall is overdue anyway so probably worth a try at least. If anything, the fragmented files (19%) can't be helping matters. :(

Other things's I've considered:

Although the memory is designed to run at CAS 2, could I make it run at 2.5 or even 3? Would that affect performance significantly?

What if I adjust the page file?

Currently:

pgef.jpg


What about sytem restore? On or Off?
 
caister said:
I normally turn it off. Have you tested your harddrives? Its worth a go because thats what it sounds like to me!!!
Click to expand...
Cheers.

Any suggestions for a good utility that runs in Windows? :)

Not tried the format yet - but it's coming soon! :D
 
Cheers. :) Again, we're in the realms of last resort!

What about the PCI/Busmastering? On of off?

I'm not confident it's a heat issue: Tomb Raider: Legend CTD'd (consistently) within the first couple of minutes. SWBFII (cranked way high) lasted anything up to two hours.

It occasionally crashes when in Windows too. So it can't be heat.

I'd try a new bios but I can't seem to find it.
 
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Righty-ho!...

Settings:

CPU Core Voltage: 1.65v
DDR SDRAM Voltage: 2.6v
Chipset Voltage: 1.6v
AGP Voltage: 1.5v

PSU Actuals (fluctuations etc):

CPU: 1.63 to 1.64v
VCC Voltage: 2.64v
I/O Voltage: 3.28 to 3.34v
+5: 5.02 to 5.05v
+12: 11.97 to 12.03v
-12: 12.11 to 12.19
-5: 5.5v
3.3 Dual Voltage: 3.56 to 3.58v

I also noticed that the SATA Controller was enabled and SATA RAID ROM was enabled also - I take it it won't hurt to disable them (I use IDE)?

PCI Latency Timer: 32 Clock(s)

Phew! All cyrillic to me - but you guys might have an idea! :) :)
 
Spunkey said:
Ding! Ding! Ding!

This memory should be running at 2.75v.

I'm having a similar problem with my memory (actually why i first looked in this thread), where it hangs randomly and fails memtest. I noticed on corsair's site today it needs 2.75v and I'm running at 2.6.

I won't be able to try it on my system until tonight, but hopefully it'll work for you.

edit:
PDF Spec Sheet
Click to expand...
Maybe - but it doesn't explain why my system with the old 512 sticks (Adata 400DDR PC3200 512Mb) had exactly the same crashing problems...

Still, it's one to try. :) I'll let you know the results.

Got the link for that site? :) [edit: seen]
 
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