Game Freezing Issue...Help!!

[Stuggernaut]

Sorry for how long this is, but I wanted to give as much info as possible...

I built myself a new PC in May and it has been running perfectly until the last 2 weeks. I used to be able to play games for hours on end but now, I run into an odd issue that kind of freezes the game for a short time in spurts and seemingly at random. Let me explain...

For example...I'm playing Max Payne 2 and all of a sudden the graphics lock up yet I can still hear the sound (ambient sounds like rain, wind etc) playing in the background. After about 30 seconds the game will unfreeze and "catch up" to where I should be. It will be normal again for a bit and then do the same thing. After a while it ends up being unrecoverable and I have to restart my system.

The same thing happens in Battlefield 1942, and Tiger Woods 2004. All these games have been on my system since I built it, and have been played for hours without this happening. This is totally random too...it doesn't happen in specific spots or under certain situations as far as I can tell It's all very frustrating.

What I have done....

First I tried reinstalling the games - Failed

Then I tried reinstalling my graphics drivers - Failed

Then I tried reinstalling DirectX (9.0a then 9.0b) - Failed

Then I tried using the drivers recommended for my card - Failed

Then I tried reseating my card - Failed

Tried scanning for viruses & spyware/adware - Nothing

Contacted tech support for a few of the games, as well as my vid card manufacturer - Answers pending

Other stuff...

One time when I had to restart, Windows did it's "Send an Error Report" routine and claimed that the display driver had caused the crash. I have used NVCleaner & manually removed all refernce to my drivers and then reinstalled (two different versions) but the problem persists.

What has changed on my system recently...

Only recently installed software is Painkiller, and Unreal Tournament 2004. I also did my first defrag since about the first week of June (yes I know I should do it more)

My System...(Pasted from DXDiag)

Time of this report: 7/7/2004, 19:33:32
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 1
System Manufacturer: INTEL
System Model: D865PERL
BIOS: BIOS Date: 08/28/03 18:50:07 Ver: 08.00.09
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 510MB RAM
Page File: 164MB used, 1083MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found

DISPLAY

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900XT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce FX 5900XT
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.5664 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 3/3/2004 10:29:00, 4256896 bytes

SOUND

Description: SoundMAX Digital Audio
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_24D5&SUBSYS_E0008086&REV_02
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: smwdm.sys
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.3630 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail


What has been suggested to me...

Drivers - Think I have checked that

Power Supply - Has a 350w now, getting a 450w eventually but not a lot of extras in my system sucking power.

Overheating - According to speedfan my system runs around the 35c-40c which I'm told is fine. No idea how hot the card is, but it doesn't feel all that hot.

Help!!

 

[airman86]

seems like a memory issue.

also...a 350w psu seems kind of week.

 

[Stuggernaut]

Originally posted by: airman86
seems like a memory issue.

also...a 350w psu seems kind of week.

Memory issue as in my RAm or my video memory?

And the power has been fine for months, would be odd for it to suddenly cause a problem.

 

[Delorian]

You should have a stronger PS but you are probably ok with that. Problem does sound like a RAM issue, have you tried adjusting your timings?

 

[Stuggernaut]

I'm not much of a "tweaker"...so no idea how to adjust timings...

The odd thing to me is that this would just happen out of the blue. As little as a week ago I could game for hours and hours without so much as a hicup, but now...10-15 minutes, if that.

Starting to think something in my Vid Card died....

 

[MoonSword]

Another idea: You might have too many things running in the backround. Shutdown any unessential processes in the backround and see if it improves. You should also do a spyware check, and while you're at it, update your antivirus software and do a thorough anti-virus scan. I've seen where some backround tasks will interfere with games, even on modern systems.

MoonSword

 

[AtTheGates]

350W is fine for that system and so is 512 ram. Do you have another video card that you could swap in? That could eliminate a few potential problems. Background apps are also a possiblity and not everything is detected by Spybot/Ad-Aware. The fact that it freezes and then catches up suggests a software problem to me. Post a hijackthis log.