Frustrated Gamer

[glyoung]

Hi all,

I'm having problems with my system freezing when I am playing 3D games. The computer doesn't lock up completely, but slows waaaay down. If I'm patient, I can close the game and get back into Windows. When I hit Ctrl+Alt+Del, I can look at the processes currently running. It says that "System" is using 99% of my processor. The only way I can get out of this is to push the reset button (I've tried shutting down, but it completely locks up there). I don't think it is a heat problem because it is very eratic. Sometimes it will freeze in the first five minutes, then I'll reset it, and can play for 30-40 minutes. It seems too nonlinear to be a heat problem. I have checked the CPU temp when resetting, and it is within it's limits.

Here's what I've tried:
-Updated all drivers including Video, Sound, Mobo, BIOS, and Monitor.
-Tried different sound card.
-Pulled Modem out.
-Tested memory, and even moved it to different slots.
-Tried different BIOS settings with the AGP port (4x & 2x).

Here's my system:
-Asus P4S333 Mobo
-Crucial PC2100 DDR RAM (256 MB)
-IBM Deskstar 40 GB ATA 100 7200 RPM Hard Drive
-GForce 2 MX 400 64MB Video Card
-Sound Blaster Live! Value Sound Card
-USRobotics 56K WinModem
-Creative 52x CD-ROM
-Creative CDR
-Viewsonic EF70 17" Monitor
-Logitech Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
-Windows XP Pro

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm at my wits end!
Thanks
glyoung
:confused:

[steveo]

What games are you playing? Is this problem right across the board or is it one specific game that's giving you woes? If it's one game then do a quick google search (google.com) on that game and see if there's any updates/patches for it.

Have you gone to microsoft's update website and done all the updates including direct-x?

You can the run the direct-x diagnostic program and test the 3-d capabilities of yur video card.

In yur filebase go to program files/directx/setup/ and then click on the icon. From there you can run some tests under the video tab. Not hard stuff at all.

I'm sure some of the more hardcore gamers will happen by and lend their hand as well so keep checking.

good luck

[diurnal]

Make sure you install the full version of the games you are playing so i will not be running from your cdrom.. Also like steveo said go to google, and see if there are any issues about the game or what not..

If everything fails i would start with a clean install , and do not put all drivers and then update them, put all the newly updated drivers. Like download all the drivers and put it on a cdrom and then install them from there.

Did you get the 4 in 1 drivers.

Also with the new system you got the BIOS should not have anything to do with your problem, it sounds like its software. Uninstall the game and reinstall it as well.
Hope this helps you , i been in the situation you are in many times, and most of the time i ended up reformating the drive. Hopefully you want have to do this but it might be your only option.

[glyoung]

Thanks Stevo and diurnal for the reply. Here are my answers to your questions:


What games are you playing? Is this problem right across the board or is it one specific game that's giving you woes?
It is any 3D accellerated game (Wolfenstein, Medal of Honor, and Warcraft 3 are the three that I've played so far).

Have you gone to microsoft's update website and done all the updates including direct-x?
Yes. Since I have WinXP, I have the latest version of Direct-x.

You can the run the direct-x diagnostic program and test the 3-d capabilities of yur video card.
Yes, I've run the direct-x diagnostic program. All my hardware passed.

Did you get the 4 in 1 drivers
I got all of the drivers that Asus offers for the mother board, I didn't see any "4 in 1" drivers. I thought that the 4 in 1 drivers were for Via Chipsets. My motherboard has the SiS 646(?) Chipset. I'll look again though and see if there are any 4 in 1 drivers available.

most of the time i ended up reformating the drive.
I'm probably going to try that next, when I get some time.

Thanks for your help!

[malcore]

When you hit Ctrl+Alt=Del have you shut down any running programs?

Have you tried lowering the graphic settings in the games?

Have you checked the Open GL settings for your graphics card, as Wolfenstein and MOHAA are Open GL games. If you have FSAA enabled, try disabling it. If you have antistropic filtering enabled, try disabling it.

Try setting your desktop to a different resolution and color depth than you play your games. Turn off "active desktop" if enabled.

Run scandisk and defragment your hard drive.

Make sure the only other programs running are "explorer" and "systray"

Play with these and see how it goes before reinstalling everything. Even try reinstalling just the games before reformatting. You should be able to get them running without reformatting.

Edit- forget the 4in1 idea. No go for the P4S333.

Good luck, and post back.

One last thought, you might want to add a bit more RAM. These games like a lot of RAM and so does XP.;)

[diurnal]

Yes i missed the SIS motherboard drivers, no they do not have 4 in1 drivers for that , in fact when i had a sis chipset had nothing but troubles. They did not have updated drivers at there website. Any way glyoung had some good points , I would try what he said as well. Worth a shot, however i think you have enough RAM. Cya

[glyoung]

Malcore-

Thanks for the reply. I've gone into the processes and tried shutting down everything except "Explorer" and "System" (there was no systray). It wouldn't allow me to shut down all of them, and once I shut down one of them (I don't know which), it went into a shutdown routine and robooted my computer. And when I'd shut down a process, some of them came back! This is different than my Win98 machine was. The applications screen is empty.

I have tried different resolutions, and turning off some of the enhanced features, all to no avail.

I have not defragged my drives yet. I will do so tonight or tomorrow.

As for the RAM thing. I'd like to get 512 MB of PC2700, but the pocketbook is a little tight right now.

Thanks :p