Computer instability in games... I need help!

[jibraltor]

***UPDATE*** I have find the problem! I tried testing my system with just one stick of ram and it goes perfectly.. prime95, 3dmark03, games, everything works fine. I've tried both stick of rams individually and they both work fine and they get no errors in memtest86 but as soon as I put them together my system becomes unstable. I tried to put them in diffent slot but nothing works.

Hi! Here's my situation... Every time I play a game (ex: prince of persia warrior within or chronicles of riddick) my pc does one of the following : blue screen and reboots, freeze and I have to reboot or kick back to windows. The problems only occur during games, everything else is working fine.

The problems started happening a couple of weeks ago when I switched the HSF from a Vantec Aeroflow to a Thermaltake Silent Boost which is working very well.

Here's what I have :

CPU : Mobile 2500 (not overclocked.. it never worked, please don't ask!)
MB : MSI KT3 Ultra2
VIDEO CARD : ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 mb
HD : 40G Maxtor
RAM : 2 x 512 MB PC2700 generic
FANS : Thermaltake Silent Boost + 3 case fans
PSU : Antec 300W

Here's what I've tested so far : I have check the rams with memtest86 and there's no errors. I have tried running prime95, sometimes it can run for hours without an error and sometimes it stops with an error after only 1 minute. I have also try testing with 3dmark03 and the results also varies, sometimes it passes 3 runs and sometimes it stops during the first one.

Also, I've recently formatted XP and it didn't help. The drivers (catalyst, via 4in1) are up to date.

So what do you think is the problem? For my part, I'm leaning toward the PSU because my voltages seems to be low and I've always tought I was pushing it to the limit with the harware I have. The voltages when the pc is idle looks like this: 3.3V : 3.14 , 5V : 4.87 , 12V : 12.05. When I play games they can go as low as this : 3.3V : 3.10 , 5V : 4.81 , 12V : 11.98.

I really hope someone can help me... this problem is very annoying! Thanks in advance.

 

[imported_Kensai]

I think you're gonna need a stronger PSU. Your rig might be drawing too much power and your PSU can't take it, thus screwing up during high loads.

 

[Ike0069]

It's possible the VC is getting hot. That could explain why it only happens when you are pushing the VC (gaming). Is the VC OC'd? Is the VC fan running, or running at full speed?

 

[jibraltor]

My video card was never overclocked and I even tried to underclock it to see if it would help but it didn't change anything. I have the standard fan on it and it seems to be working well. If it would be an overheating problem I guess the problems would have stop when I underclocked to the card.

 

[Ike0069]

Does this happen with every game, or just certain ones?

 

[Ike0069]

After rereading your OP I am wondering if maybe you CPU is getting hot. When you installed the new HSF, did you clean the old paste off and apply fresh thermal paste, and what kind? Also, what utility do you use to monitor CPU temps?

 

[Sqube]

I'm interested in that failed overclock that you mentioned; maybe you did more damage to your processor than you thought. Something that would only appear when you're really stressing it out, like playing a game...?

Give us some more information on that.

 

[nealh]

I had an antec 300w..it was older psu and it was not as good o/cing my athlon xp 1700 ...so I think the psu while very good maybe be a bit stressed on the 12v with the cpu and videocard...if I recall this had like 18A or less

can you try a more powerful psu

also is the cpu getting too hot???...is HSF installed ok

this may seem stupid but turn off the computer and remove the power cord to psu and hit power button this will discharge everything..then open the case and check that all the connectors are seated well..into mobo, pci slots, videocard power plug etc...and try again

 

[Matthias99]

Here's what I've tested so far : I have check the rams with memtest86 and there's no errors. I have tried running prime95, sometimes it can run for hours without an error and sometimes it stops with an error after only 1 minute.

Don't bother testing anything video-related until you fix this, because it will be impossible to know if the issue is from a problem with the video card or the CPU/RAM. Either your CPU, RAM, or motherboard is bad (I've seen RAM that failed Prime95 even though it passed memtest86 -- try one stick at a time, and try underclocking the CPU and RAM), or your PSU is dying.

 

[jibraltor]

First thanks a lot for all the fast answers!! It's really appreciated.

Now here's some answers to your questions...

I use MB5 to read my voltages and temperatures. When the PC is idle, my temperatures are about 36C for the case and 38C for the CPU. On full load, it goes to about 40C for the case and 43C for the CPU.

About the voltages, like I said before it can go as low as 3.10V for the 3.3V rail. I've decided to try to boot my pc without any case fans, no cable modem, no printer, no gamepad and the voltages were still the same.

When I changed the HSF I carefully cleaned the old paste and applied some artic silver 5. I followed all the instructions on the AS5 website.

About my problems with overclocking my mobile 2500... My MB doesn't allow me to put more than 1.675V on the vcore and I can't use a multiplier lower than 14 so the only speed that I could try was 14x166mhz. It booted fine but the computer would restart after a couple of minutes so now I have no choice but to boot at 14x133 mhz.

About the PSU, unfortunately all my friends have old computers with cheap PSU so I won't be able to test my pc with another PSU unless I buy one. And the output of my 12V rail is 15A not 18A. Here's the specifications.

Well I will continue to test my pc, I will try testing with one stick of ram at a time like matthias99 recommended. So thanks again and I hope you can continue to help me.

 

[jibraltor]

I have find the problem! I tried testing my system with just one stick of ram and it goes perfectly.. prime95, 3dmark03, games, everything works fine. I've tried both stick of rams individually and they both work fine and they get no errors in memtest86 but as soon as I put them together my system becomes unstable. I tried to put them in diffent slot but nothing works.

It's nice that i have find the problem but it means that I will have to buy two new indentical 512mb sticks if I want to be sure that there is no compatibility issues. I'm getting tired of all these problems with this pc. I'm beggining to think a lot about buying a new one.. something like an athlon 64 3200+, 1gig PC3200, 6800GT 256mb.

Any comments or advices??

 

[jibraltor]

bump

 

[Arcanedeath]

If both of the sticks work fine alone and don't work in Dual channel then you have a motherboard problem, MSI is well known for having serious QC issues, replace your motherboard w/ a unit that will actualy work in dual channel mode properly and you should be fine.