Constant Game Crashing

[HackDotSlash]

Hey guys, I don't know what's going on with this system i got off ebay. Everytime I play games it seems to crash about 10-15 mins in.
The specs are here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...sPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

I think it might be having trouble accessing files on the sata drives maybe? I don't know. Also it doesn't seem to be overheating and all my videocard drivers are up to date.

Thanks in Advance guys!

Edit: The games I've been playing are HL2 retail, World of Warcraft, and UT2004.

 

[SweetJCS]

he might have messed with the memory too much... but then again I don't know much about memory.. this system looks like a nice system..If you don't get an answer here, I would take it into amom and pop computer repar shop and ask them to take a look at it and test it.. does it work okay when not in a game?

 

[HermDogg]

What do you mean by "crashing"? BSOD, crash to desktop.. ?

 

[HackDotSlash]

Well it seems to be just fine in windows, i've left it on for hours and it's ok. But when i play any of the games above + City of Heroes (Just tried) it will crash, as in the game just freezes without warning, and goes back to windows. Sometimes it freezes in game and i have to force the program to quit. There has been 2 times where the computer just restarted itself.

 

[mechBgon]

Here, hit Quote and give us the lowdown on your system:

• CORE HARDWARE
  
  • Power supply Antec TruePower 430
  • Motherboard Asus K8N-E Deluxe
    • Revision 1.03
    • BIOS 1005
  • CPU Athlon64 3000+
    • Core 130nm Clawhammer
  • Memory (2) 512MB Corsair XMS 3200C2 modules
    • Voltage Manually set to 2.7 volts
    • Timings AUTO, results in 2-3-2-6 @ 200MHz
• CARDS
  • Primary video card ATI Radeon 9800Pro AGP 8x
  • Secondary video card Heh, I wish
  • PCI slot #1 (top) empty
  • PCI slot #2 empty
  • PCI slot #3 LeadTek Winfast TV/FM tuner card
  • PCI slot #4 Creative Audigy 2 ZS
  • PCI slot #5 LSI Logic Ultra160 SCSI
  • PCI slot #6 (board only has five PCI slots)
• DRIVES
  • Boot drive 160GB Seagate 7200.7
    • Interface Serial ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 SATA controller
    • Jumper setting not applicable (SATA)
  • Additional hard drive 40GB Seagate 7200.7
    • Interface Parallel ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 standard ATA controller, primary channel
    • Jumper setting Master
  • Additional hard drive 18GB Seagate Cheetah 15k.3
    • Interface SCSI
    • Controller hosting this drive LSI Logic U160 card
    • Jumper setting SCSI ID 01
  • Optical drive #1 NEC 3500A DVD burner
    • Interface Parallel ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 standard ATA controller, secondary channel
    • Jumper setting Master
  • Optical drive #2 Lite-On combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW
    • Interface Parallel ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 standard ATA controller, secondary channel
    • Jumper setting Slave
• OS AND SECURITY
  • Operating System WindowsXP Professional
  • Service Pack SP2
  • Internet connection Cable
  • Hardware firewall Netgear RP614 router
  • Software firewall WindowsXP firewall
  • Antivirus Norton Antivirus 2004

 

[HackDotSlash]

That's not my system, mine is the one above in the link i provided.

 

[mechBgon]

I know it's not your system, it's not my system either (don't I wish!). I was asking if you would edit it to describe your system

Based on the info given on the eBay page, my first guesses are (1) the Aspire PSU is unstable (a 460W Enermax Whisper II might be a good substitute), and/or (2) the memory needs a voltage boost and a relaxation of its timings (notice I ask in my template about these), and/or (3) the video card or CPU is overheating, most likely video (aim a house fan into the side of the case to provide very strong ventilation and see if that fixes the crashing problem).

 

[HermDogg]

Listen to the scary-looking kitty. It knows what its talking about.

 

[HackDotSlash]

Oh, sorry about the misunderstanding!

• CORE HARDWARE
  
  • Power supply Aspire Turbo Series 500W
  • Motherboard K8N Neo2 Platinum
    • Revision Not sure
    • BIOS W7025NMS V1.3 092204 (Phoenix)
  • CPU Athlon64 3500+
    • Core 90nm, but unsure of other
  • Memory Kingston HyperX Series 184 Pin (512MBx2)DDR PC-3200
    • Voltage 2.7 volts
    • Timings 2-2-2-5-2
• CARDS
  • Primary video card ATI Radeon X800XT AGP 8x (Gigabyte make, with Sapphire Fan)
  • PCI slot #1 (top) empty
  • PCI slot #2 empty
  • PCI slot #3 empty
  • PCI slot #4 Netgear FA331 Fast Ethernet Adapter (some reason the onboard one wouldn't work)
  • PCI slot #5 empty
    
• DRIVES
  • Boot drive SAMSUNG 120GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive(2x)
    • Interface Serial ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive not sure.
    • Jumper setting not applicable (SATA)
  • Additional hard drive None
    • Interface None
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 standard ATA controller, primary channel
    • Jumper setting None
  • Additional hard drive None
    • Interface None
    • Controller hosting this drive None
    • Jumper setting None
  • Optical drive #1Samsung 16X DVD±RW, Model TS-H552B/WRCH Black
    • Interface Parallel ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive Unsure.
    • Jumper setting Master
  • Optical drive #2 None
    • Interface None
    • None
      [*]Jumper setting None
    
    
  
  
  [*]OS AND SECURITY
  
  • Operating System WindowsXP Professional
  • Service Pack SP2
  • Internet connection Cable
  • Hardware firewall Microsoft MN-700 router
  • Software firewall Windows XP firewall
  • Antivirus None

[/quote]

Um, for the stuff im unsure about, you guys could tell me how to check and i'll post it right away. Thanks for the attention and help!

Also before I go, you mentioned a few things earlier, i.e.) PSU problem, heat, etc. But it really does mainly crash during gaming. Anytime I play a game, it will crash in about 15 mins. But I can leave the PC on for hours and it seems just fine. But the whole system has crashed twice already, so i've turned the fans on all the way up hoping it'll help. Anyways I hope this helps on solving the problem, if you need any other info, just post it up and i'll add as much as i can
Thanks!

Edit: Here's something a little extra. I was just playing WoW and seeing if it'd crash again. I hit about 30 mins this time b4 it crashed! But here's what it said in the error screen:

(All in a pop window)

This application has encountered a critical error:

ERROR #132 (0x85100084)
Program: C:\World of Warcraft\WoW.exe
Exception: 0xC0000005 (ACCESS_VIOLATION) at 001B:0071AB46

Instructions at "0x0071AB46" referenced memory at "0x3#D20020".
The memory could not be "read"

Press OK to terminate the application.

(Big OK button)

So could this be a harddrive problem?

 

[ironique]

It sounds like got temperature problems. Do you have a utility installed (e.g. motherboard monitor) that you can use to tell system temperatures in windows? You could run the game and as soon as it crashes to the desktop you can check the temps to see if you have any unusual temps. System temps under load could be running high.

 

[zbalat]

Make sure the memory frequency is set correctly in the BIOS if it is try moving the RAM into different slots. I had this exact problem with my computer and it turned out that I had my memory overclocked by accident. I dropped the frequency to it's correct setting and everything has been fine ever since.

Good luck

 

[HackDotSlash]

I tried going in and messing with the Bios and nothing really happened. The ram timings all seemed to be set on automatic, and the FSB on the cpu was 200 i think. That's normal right?

For the temperature monitor is there any specific one i should use?

 

[stinger25]

I would try setting the FSB to 166 and up the cpu multiplyer just a bit so that the clock speed is slower than what you have it at now. See how long your games after that. And, like Ironique, I would recomend a temperature utility to montior your system heat.

 

[Edward Lee]

Instructions at "0x0071AB46" referenced memory at "0x3#D20020" likely means...
Your computer CPU frequency is lnot right. You'll have to correct this in the system BIOS.

I also don't think the drivers for your motherboard are up to date. For safe measure you should download an updated version from the chipset maker

 

[Edward Lee]

nm

 

[ironique]

You can get motherboard monitor here to monitor your system temperatures.

 

[HackDotSlash]

Cool, Thanks Ironique!

I've taking the temps, at idle with fans maxed it runs at about 20C-25C cpu temp

But when im playing a game it jumps up to 50C

Seems like a lot to jump at once, but then again I don't know if that's normal or not.

 

[ironique]

Hmmm, your temps are not bad. 50C shouldn't cause the CPU to crash, although lower temps would be welcome. Maybe get some good thermal compound. Your problem may be elsewhere. Are you running the latest graphics drivers? Also, try enabling the "VPU recover" feature in the ATI control Panel to determine if the problem is related to your graphics card or your CPU.

 

[mechBgon]

I would get some antivirus on there (regardless of whether it's the cause of this issue or not), and slacken up those memory timings to 2.5-3-3-11 and see what effect that has.

 

[HackDotSlash]

Nice! I changed the memory timings from auto everything to 2.5-3-3-11 and it works just fine now! I'd though that on auto the computer could handle things by itself, but i guess I was wrong. Thanks mechBgon, ironique and the rest of you guys for the time you spent helping me out!

 

[mechBgon]

cool

 

[MadOni0n]

im having a similar problem. i run Samsung pc2700 512mb, it's currently set at 2.5 3 3 6. What should i set my timings too?

 

[MadOni0n]

edward lee, since you knew what his error meant what does mine mean?

ERROR #132 (0x85100084)
Program: C:\Program Files\World of Warc\WoW.exe
Exception: 0xC0000005 (ACCESS_VIOLATION) at 001B:007155A7

The instruction at "0x007155A7" referenced memory at "0xBC122700".
The memory could not be "read".