Source games freezing my PC

[fustercluck]

The only thing that freezes up my computer is Source games, like Counter Strike Source, Team Fortress 2, etc. No other games/applications lock up my computer.

Been like this for a while. It's usually after 30+ mins of playing the game. But, temps are always fine when I check them out. Also I've tried turning all my fans on full speed and the games still crash. Also tried running my CPU at stock speed/vcore. Ran Memtest for 8 hours with no errors. Hard drive is pretty new. I have tested my Video card as well, did the artifacts test (can't think of what the program is called right now) and have the latest video drivers, and have also had the crashing problems throughout many different video drivers in the past. What I suspect is that source games just don't get along with Vista 64 bit for whatever reason. But something else that is weird is that when restarting from games freezing up my comp, I always have trouble getting connected to the internet. That as opposed to just starting up my computer in the morning where it finds the wireless network right away.


Intel E7200 Wolfdale Dual Core processor @ 3.4 ghz
BFG Tech ES SERIES ES-800 800W Continuous Power supply
GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L
4GB Corsair DOMINATOR (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
22" CHIMEI CMV 221D-NBC Black LCD Monitor
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 video card
Creative Labs X-fi
Denon AH-D2000 Headphones w/Headsave Classic V2 Headphone Amp
Vista 64

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

The only thing that freezes up my computer is Source games, like Counter Strike Source, Team Fortress 2, etc. No other games/applications lock up my computer.

Been like this for a while. It's usually after 30+ mins of playing the game. But, temps are always fine when I check them out. Also I've tried turning all my fans on full speed and the games still crash. Also tried running my CPU at stock speed/vcore. Ran Memtest for 8 hours with no errors. Hard drive is pretty new. I have tested my Video card as well, did the artifacts test (can't think of what the program is called right now) and have the latest video drivers, and have also had the crashing problems throughout many different video drivers in the past. What I suspect is that source games just don't get along with Vista 64 bit for whatever reason. But something else that is weird is that when restarting from games freezing up my comp, I always have trouble getting connected to the internet. That as opposed to just starting up my computer in the morning where it finds the wireless network right away.

Have you tried repairing or reinstalling those games? They all use hl2.exe by the way.

I run these games on 64-bit Vista and they don't crash on me the way you describe. However, when I quit, I do get the "hl2.exe has stopped working" error, which is a well-documented issue. Some people have had success turning off DEP or adding Steam or specific apps as exclusions.

Also, what do you mean by "crash"? I assume you see an error of some kind. You might consider sharing that.

 

[fustercluck]

When I say crash my computer I mean freeze it so the only way out is to restart the computer.

Haven't tried reinstalling but I have a lot of settings put into the games I don't really want to do em all over again. I can probably backup the stuff though. Anyways, I might give that a shot.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

When I say crash my computer I mean freeze it so the only way out is to restart the computer.

Haven't tried reinstalling but I have a lot of settings put into the games I don't really want to do em all over again. I can probably backup the stuff though. Anyways, I might give that a shot.

Just backup your config files. Most Steam games will preserve them anyway.

Does anything show up in the event viewer?

Straight up freezing sounds like a heat, power, or memory issue. "Temps are always fine when I check them out" isn't the same as realtime temp logging. You should be actively monitoring your temps while you play. Also check your power supply's voltages with a multimeter. I guess you already ran memtest, so maybe you can rule out your RAM for now.

 

[darom]

I have the same video card as yours (SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 video card), and Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 motherboard. OS is XP Pro SP3.

What error code are you getting? Have you checked any of the event logs?
If you see problems with wireless reconnection, can't you hard wire your computer to your router and see if the reconnect problem re-surfaces (disable wireless card)?

I don't know what so unique about the Source games, but in my case the only game that gives me "Memory couldn't be read" error with the back-to-desktop glitch is TF2. I went through hours of troubleshooting per steam forums recommendations: memory replacement, testing, defragging, defragging Steam cache files, video drivers, background apps, disabling o/clocking etc etc. HL2 on the other hand runs just fine.

I used to run older ATI drivers (9.3 if I am not mistaken), thought the problem was resolved. The same crashes happened again - switched back to the latest ATI drivers.

Have you tried this?
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=437678&topic=44996713
and most importantly this:
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=1274-UOHK-5653

The game still occasionally crashes. What I noticed (maybe this is a placebo) is that I most likely going to have the game crash on me on the high latency servers (over 100ms). If I am playing within 30-80ms, I don't see these. Weird.

 

[fustercluck]

Eh I think I'll just put up with the freezing until it fixes itself through update sometime - Just too many factors involved.

 

[fustercluck]

Seems this is definitely internet related. I don't understand why but I had to reboot my router instantly and 2 seconds after I hit the reboot router button, my computer totally locks up. I went back to reboot it again later and same exact thing, two seconds after i hit the reboot button from the router's config page, computer locks up. Had to restart both times.

Why would a computer lockup due to internet issues? I can reboot the router from the two other computers in the house without those computers freezing. My computer just hates dropping internet connection for some reason. Weird. So it's not directly related to source games like I originally thought, but source games do bring up this problem while I haven't had anything else freeze.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

I think you should take what darom suggested earlier and go a step further: connect your computer directly to your modem via ethernet, not wireless and not through the router. See if you can reproduce the issue.

It sounds to me like it's having some issue with dropping and trying to reacquire the wireless signal. What kind of router is this?

 

[HybridSquirrel]

run steam as admin.

also, delete your .blob files

search for *.blob there are only 2 on your comp

 

[fustercluck]

I think you should take what darom suggested earlier and go a step further: connect your computer directly to your modem via ethernet, not wireless and not through the router. See if you can reproduce the issue.

It sounds to me like it's having some issue with dropping and trying to reacquire the wireless signal. What kind of router is this?

router is too far away

 

[HybridSquirrel]

90% of steam problems are from the .blob files.

 

[fustercluck]

you're a blob

I mean, thanks I might give that a try.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

router is too far away

So move your computer or the modem? You must not be that irritated with this problem.

 

[borisvodofsky]

you're a blob

I mean, thanks I might give that a try.

You're most likely running into HEAT issues.

Believe it or not, Source games take the C2D and 4870 WAYYYY up there.

It is prob the Graphic Card that is crashing due to heat.

you almost HAVE to get aftermarket cooling for the 4870, UNLESS you're willing to crank the 4870 to 100% fan speed :hmm:

 

[Phynaz]

Revert to stock clocks, bet you don't freeze anymore.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

Revert to stock clocks, bet you don't freeze anymore.

He said in his OP that he did that.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

Did you delete the damn blob files

 

[Phynaz]

He said in his OP that he did that.

Oh, sorry, must have missed it in the wall of text.

 

[fustercluck]

ahah, there's not that much text. But I usually don't read most of people's threads either.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

 

[fustercluck]

Also another thing I have noticed is that if I leave TF2 up while idling, if I'm taking a nap or something, it will almost always freeze. But, if I minimize TF2 and let it idle at my desktop it doesn't freeze. So it seems to me that points toward video card heat.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

Use the CCC to set a fixed fan speed and see if you still crash. Was the Internet thing a red herring?

 

[fustercluck]

I don't know, it sure it weird that it freezes everytime I reboot the router from my PC though. Maybe going to windows 7 would cure all the ills.

Also deleted the blob files a while ago and the game started minimizing for no reason. TF2 is a bitch to minimize and try and get back in it again.

 

[darom]

TF2 minimizing shouldn't be such a pain in the neck. On mine it takes about 15 seconds to get back from the desktop back to the TF2 full screen mode.

Just out of curiosity, kill CCC.exe file and try again. If you suspect the heat, open the side panel of your PC and try again. This time you should see if your video card's fan is revving up or not.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

Restart steam

/thread

 

[digitaldurandal]

I don't know, it sure it weird that it freezes everytime I reboot the router from my PC though. Maybe going to windows 7 would cure all the ills.

Also deleted the blob files a while ago and the game started minimizing for no reason. TF2 is a bitch to minimize and try and get back in it again.

Does the sound begin to loop like a madman on a piano?

Did you enable multithreaded support? Valve's multithreaded support is not enabled by default because it causes some issues in certain configurations. I had a similiar issue on my c2d with it enabled and even sometimes on my q9550. Others generally don't have issues.

If you have it enabled try disabling it. It is currently available on all the games using the source engine i believe and may be the culprit.

Hope that helps. Also, did you delete the damn blob files? Curious minds want to know.