Computer beeps loudly then crashes - mostly during games

[PascalT]

CPU: Q9450
Mobo: DFI BloodIron P35-T2L
Memory: Mushkin DDR2-800 4x2gb
OS: Windows 7
Video: GTX 460
Hard Drive: OCZ Vertex 60gb + WDC 1TB

This has been a recent problem that happens almost exlusively while I am playing a game (SC2). I'll play for a bit, it can go from 10 mins to an hour, and the computer will make this loud and long beep and then just shut down. The only other times it has done this was while doing something video related like encoding video or recording my screen.

I ran memtest overnight and after 75% of the test done (multiple passes) I had around 4000 errors. I doubt it's normal or good, so is the problem almost certainly ram-related? If so how come it pretty much only happens regularly while playing a game?

I have all the latest drivers and windows updates, and never had a problem with the computer until just recently. I haven't installed any new hardware or any major programs. For some reason my Event Log in Windows won't work so I can't post the error messages it has.

I guess the logical step now would be to try to play a game with some ram sticks out of the mobo to see if some of them are faulty. If anyone has any other ideas it'd help, thanks.

 

[mlc]

most likely shutting down due to thermal overload....

Check the temps of the cpu while its running with a program like Coretemp... both idle and when running with a decent load on the system ...

Make sure the fan on your heatsink is spinning freely, and do the same for your graphics card...

You may need to remove the heatsink and clean it up and reapply some thermal paste...

 

[brandonb]

I'd check the memory voltage on the motherboard and timings, and make sure they fit with the ram's designated speeds. Then take out all but 1 stick, and run the memory tester, and do that with all 4 sticks. See if one is bad while the others are not. If they all report issues it could be something else, but its likely that one stick is bad while the other 3 are good, and then RMA that bad stick.

BTW: The bios will beep if it finds a problem, the length and number of times it beeps depends on the manufacturer but the type of noise usually means something. One loud beep (that is long) usually indicates a certain thing. Look it up in the manual or online. I will search online since I'm not busy at work anyhow atm. http://dfi-acp.com/Upload/Manual/02110732.pdf Looking to see if there are beeps described there. Nope. But it has a tool which monitors temps and such and gives you warnings. Maybe try that?

 

[mlc]

he said the beep occurs while he's in windows.. so i dont think those bios beep codes would apply .. which is why i think its a thermal overload

 

[PascalT]

thanks for the replies. I ended up taking out 2 of the ram sticks and using 2 DIMMS instead of 4.. that didn't help. I cleaned up the dust inside my case, mainly on the cpu's HSF, and so far it has seemed to solve the issue. I also lowered my graphics settings in SC2.. I am not sure which one solved it, but I am fairly confident it was a heat issue.

I checked my cpu temp before cleaning it up while playing Sc2 and it was going to around 84C.. now it goes up to around 73 only. I guess having 3 pets in the house makes dust thicker ;p

 

[Sephire]

Replace memory.