Computer hangs when installing game

[phillufyy]

i've just build an oem with the specs below

amd sempron 2200+ oem heatsink at 1.5 Ghz
msi kt6v ..running on kt600 chipset
1 stick 512 mb kingston value ram
40G maxtor hd...
sapphire radeon 9550 platinum edition core clock at 419 Mhz
samsung dvd rom.

the machine works fine with normal things, like watching movie, surfing internet, music etc except when it comes to installing a game....battle for middle earth, star wars commando....it would install for maybe 30% and then the whole system would freeze, and i would need to go for a reset. it didn't happen just once but every single time i tried to install the game.
i've managed to install fantastic four and demon stone though the comp froze at least once for each of em...but the game plays perfectly fine as long as it's been installed.
did have a problem with the graphic card in a sense that when i used the drivers provided the monitor would go blank when i rebooted. so i've installed the latest catalyst driver and that seems to have solved it...i think
so if anyone can think of something for me to try...i'd be eternally grateful.

 

[fuzzynavel]

do you do unattended installations??

Maybe look to see if your screensaver is on...interfering with setup!!

You say that your GFX card is at 419 MHz...that isn't the stock speed is it?? try at stock and come back and let us know how you got on.......I think you should be at 400MHz!!

Sapphire Atlantis RADEON 9550 128bit
The card has the AGP x8/x4 interface, 128 MB DDR SDRAM allocated in 8 chips on the front and the back sides of the PCB.
Samsung memory chips. 5ns memory access time, which corresponds to 200 (400) MHz, at which the memory operates. GPU frequency ? 250 MHz. 128bit memory bus. Pixel pipelines x shader pipelines - 4x1.

It also has 5ns memory as opposed to the 1.6ns memory on the X800XT. I believe that the nanosecond search rating gives and idea of general quality and not just speed.....


is your system RAM OC'd?

Try making CD images of the offending games and install them using Daemon tools to see if it is a CDROM problem!

Hope this helps!

 

[phillufyy]

thanx for the quick reply....the installation isn't unattended....i'm looking right at it when it hangs...

and the gfx card core clock is in 419 mhz...that's the default, i think this has to do with the fact that it's a platinum edition or something like that....i'm not sure i know how to bring it lower.....

the systme isn't oc'd at all.... no tweaking at all.

 

[phillufyy]

one thing i forgot to mention.....the cover for the mb box says that this mb is designed for athlon xp's.....so i checked the website and found that the latest bios is to enable amd sempron's to work....but it's already working now without the update....think that has anything to do with it..?

 

[fuzzynavel]

that the latest bios is to enable amd sempron's to work....but it's already working now without the update....think that has anything to do with it..?

If you think about it....it can't hurt to give it a try can it......

The mobo may work without it but the patch/bios update may be there to clear up any issues that the sempron has........

Go to the control panel and open "administrative tools".....open the event viewer and see if there are any events recorded at the time of your crash.....

I presume that you have win xp.....but do you have the service packs installed??

As it is a fresh install you shouldn't need to do a virus/spyware check....but it can't hurt....

Post a "hijack this" log and we will see if there is anything suspicious running...

I'll come back a bit later for an update!

 

[RollWave]

Originally posted by: phillufyy
one thing i forgot to mention.....the cover for the mb box says that this mb is designed for athlon xp's.....so i checked the website and found that the latest bios is to enable amd sempron's to work....but it's already working now without the update....think that has anything to do with it..?

I'd be willing to bet that it'd have everything to do with it.

 

[phillufyy]

errrrr. i've almost updated my bios when i realised the version that was factory flashed is the version that supports sempron. so another dead end.

this very instant is the first time this comp has gone online so i dont think it's got any harmful stuffs in this...literally 1st time......