Dead Space hardlocking computer

[MoMeanMugs]

I bought this game during the Halloween sale on Steam last year. It would hardlock my computer every time before getting to the menu. I tracked it down to my onboard audio's surround sound, which uses a Realtek chip. I had it set to DTS Connet through the optical port. When setting the audio to stereo, the game would play okay. I've since upgraded to a 7.1 receiver and am now using the HDMI out on one of my 5870's. The onboard audio has been disabled and a clean uninstall of the software done. The game is now freezing again. I set the audio back to stereo in the control panel, but the game still locks the computer. I tried playing on my laptop, but it has a 59Hz LCD, which EA games won't run on. Even connecting it to a 60Hz display won't fix it. My hardware specs are:

Q9300@3.2GHz (still freezes with stock clocks)
5870 Crossfire@stock clocks (still freezes with CF disables)
4x1GB DDR2 6400
1080p monitor through Onkyo HT-RC270

It states in the Dead Space FAQ that audio drivers can make the game freeze and to update them. I'm running the Realtek R2.55 for the ATI card and have tried older versions as well. Anyone else had the audio freeze the computer? Any solutions? I'm about ready to give up on this.

 

[BD231]

Usually that game locks due to GPU issue's.

Have you tried disabling catalyst AI? That feature is known to cause a lot of issue with console ports. You might give that a shot.

 

[MoMeanMugs]

That didn't seem to fix it either. I disabled both HDMI outputs in device manger as well, but it still hardlocked. Guess this game will never get played. Oh well.