Computer locking up.

[Agility]

Test shows 0 errors. So what is wrong then? I'll try to install the latest x64 vista drivers.

 

[n-ster]

yea I told you to try the drivers 1st.. it would've saved you alot of time -_-

 

[Agility]

Cheers. So it seemed that the driver was the root of the problem!

 

[n-ster]

happy you fixed your problem!

 

[Agility]

Ok guys... the problem is still persisting. Even when playing MMORPG, my computer just suddenly blacks out any everything hangs. Only the background music plays... As of right now i'm on windows XP with the latest catalyst drivers installed.

Until now i can't seem to find anything that's "wrong" in my hardware or software. Just what is causing this random lock ups

Also, i could play F.E.A.R 2 yesterday with max settings. Played the whole day and even completed it. And now today, it's starting to lock up again with a simple MMORPG game.

Nothing has been touched with the ATI catalyst but there's one thing i notice, everytime my computer locks up, CCC would automatically restore to its default settings after the restart.

 

[n-ster]

is it the temps? try cleaning your rig and psu... maybe your gpu cooler or case fans or something aren't working properly, try also to cut power usage (only 1 HD , 1 ODD)

 

[Agility]

My PSU has been supplying electricity to these components for 2years already. I don't really see any fault in it. Also GPU cooler is working properly. Case fans are spinning normally.

 

[n-ster]

open your box to see if there is dust... clean that off... also, could you get the temps of your system?
your psu could be failing, don't forget that... just try to cut power usage to see if that works... even though 750W is overkill for your system

 

[Agility]

n-ster. I just played a round of F.E.A.R 2 with maxed settings. No lock ups though. It's strange...

 

[CH@NO]

Ok guys... the problem is still persisting. Even when playing MMORPG, my computer just suddenly blacks out any everything hangs. Only the background music plays... As of right now i'm on windows XP with the latest catalyst drivers installed.

Until now i can't seem to find anything that's "wrong" in my hardware or software. Just what is causing this random lock ups

Also, i could play F.E.A.R 2 yesterday with max settings. Played the whole day and even completed it. And now today, it's starting to lock up again with a simple MMORPG game.

Nothing has been touched with the ATI catalyst but there's one thing i notice, everytime my computer locks up, CCC would automatically restore to its default settings after the restart.

I think your issues are related to a bad vga driver, vga card or the PSU, that black lock ups means your VGA stop for responding, your OS remains active, that's why you can still hear the music but the video is dead. Like I said could it be a bad driver, talking about your VGA I'm not sure 'cause you can play fine sometimes, but talking about your PSU It could be the culprit too delivering you unstable power loads, causing system unstability, remember that all PSUs start to decrease It's performance over the time.

Anyway, your mobo have installed a wireless PCI card???, more precise a wireless card that uses the Realtek RTL8185 chip???. It's known that can cause lags or lock ups using a P35 chipset.

Also are you run an antivirus software in your HDDs??, some today virus/malware can cause system unstability and It copies Itself into every HDD/Partition/USB Key that you have in your PC, meaning, that even you formated your HDD the virus can load again from the extra HDD/Partition.

I'm just guessing here, and seeing that you're clueless about your prob I think any info could help you.

GOOD LUCK!!

 

[Agility]

Thanks for the response. However, i believe that the problem lies with the driver itself. Whenever i play a game before restoring it to factory default settings first, it would just lock up for no apparent reason. After a restoring the settings to factory, every game i run would work. Even Dead Space, Left 4 Dead, CS:S, mirror's edge and many others. Thus i ruled out a bad PSU too.

I'm using an ethernet.

 

[Nitro-Max]

couple of things

check temps of your gpu / cpu

uninstal your graphics driver run driver cleaner rid the pc of all ati related files reinstal your graphics driver see if that helps..

i had problems when running armed assault with my 3870x2 i did the driver cleaner thing and reinstalled the drivers aint had a problem since runs great.

 

[Agility]

I installed the drivers from a fresh windows xp install. It also occurred in Windows 7 after a fresh format too.

 

[Nitro-Max]

try dissabling vpu recovery see if the screen stays on but the game freezes then you know its driver bug or somthing

 

[Agility]

Am trying it now. Another hang up just occurred. Btw consistent alt+tabbing will also hang when i tab it back to a game.

 

[Agility]

Ok. Apparently after i restore factory settings and turn VPU Recovery off, any games i go in will black out after 5seconds. So i assume it's the driver that's the root of the problem?

 

[Nitro-Max]

seems to looks that way

 

[Agility]

So what's the most stable version that you can recommend.

 

[Bundy]

I'm not so sure your symptoms can be isolated to the graphics card. It may be that your OC is not 100% stable. I have had fairly similar problems in the past due to insufficient NB volts and/or vcore.

 

[Agility]

Ok. Right now i'm using Catalyst 8.11. I'm still having lock ups and stuff. Also note that everytime after ever lock up, when i press restart my speaker gives out a BEEEEEEEP sound.

I'm not so sure your symptoms can be isolated to the graphics card. It may be that your OC is not 100% stable. I have had fairly similar problems in the past due to insufficient NB volts and/or vcore.

Even when it's not OC'ed, i still get locks up.

 

[Nitro-Max]

How does it run when you're not gaming ? any bsod or errors? file corruption ?? check your processess look for anything unusual and how much resources its using and reaserch what it does in google i once got a nasty little infection called stonedrive which caused constant hardrive activity slowing everything.

 

[Nitro-Max]

have you tried HD TUNE to check the hard disk for errors?

 

[Agility]

No. Nothing. I run perfectly smooth as long i dont run any 3d games. No unusual process and it's virus clear free. Also i dont have any slow downs but just lock ups.

These lock ups are beginning to piss me off

 

[erocker]

One long beep sounds like a bad video card to me.

 

[Agility]

One long beep sounds like a bad video card to me.

The beep comes from my speakers. So when it's turned off, i wouldn't even know.