Need Suggestions Please

[Solarance]

Built a new system and everything runs great until I try to playing COD 4. When playing COD 4 I can play for 1-2 rounds and then the game just freezes. I am running the latest drivers for all my hardware under Win XP Pro. Hardware is as follows.

Intel E8400 Processor
MSI P7N Diamond Motherboard
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
XFX GeForce 8800GT XXX 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive
SAMSUNG 20X DVD?R DVD Burner with LightScribe SATA Model SH-S203N
Antec TPQ-850 ATX12V / EPS12V 850W Power Supply
Thermaltake CL-P0372 92mm Enter CPU Cooler
Thermaltake Armor Series Full Tower Computer Case

Nothing has been OC'd aside from factory clocks.

[ViTO]

First things first....


Make sure you got the latest PB updates !!
http://dark4se.com/cainslairforums/v...ic.php?t=24258

[drunken_chef]

"Due to the High Performance Memory design, motherboards or system configurations may or may not operate smoothly at the JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) standard settings (BIOS Default on the motherboard) such as DDR2 voltage, memory speeds and memory timing. Please confirm and adjust your memory setting in the BIOS accordingly for better system stability.
Example: Kingston HyperX DDR2-800 PC6400 operates at 2.0V, 4-4-4-12.
For more information about specification of high performance memory modules, please check with your Memory Manufactures for more details."

did you do this? your RAM specs call for 2.1 volts.

[SgtRock]

Maybe something is not set up right in the game itself?

I'm no cpu nerd or anything.......but it's just my two cents.

[Rand{CLR}]

Do you have a sound card? Vista (at least) and X-Fi don't like each other much when it comes to COD4, so I have hard crashes more often than I would like, even on up-to-date drivers.

-Rand

[Solarance]

First things first....


Make sure you got the latest PB updates !!
http://dark4se.com/cainslairforums/v...ic.php?t=24258

Was the first thing I did.

"Due to the High Performance Memory design, motherboards or system configurations may or may not operate smoothly at the JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) standard settings (BIOS Default on the motherboard) such as DDR2 voltage, memory speeds and memory timing. Please confirm and adjust your memory setting in the BIOS accordingly for better system stability.
Example: Kingston HyperX DDR2-800 PC6400 operates at 2.0V, 4-4-4-12.
For more information about specification of high performance memory modules, please check with your Memory Manufactures for more details."

did you do this? your RAM specs call for 2.1 volts.

Yep did this when I first set up the system.

Maybe something is not set up right in the game itself?

I'm no cpu nerd or anything.......but it's just my two cents.

Yep checked all game settings. Even selected the option to run optimal system settings or whatever that option in the game is called.

Do you have a sound card? Vista (at least) and X-Fi don't like each other much when it comes to COD4, so I have hard crashes more often than I would like, even on up-to-date drivers.

-Rand

Got the X-Fi card but running Win XP Pro. I even tried the solution found at https://activision.custhelp.com/cgi-...wers.search_nl under the title Crash/Freeze during gameplay

[drunken_chef]

have you tried any other games?

[Solarance]

have you tried any other games?

Yeah have had no issues with Eve Online and World of Warcraft.

[-IRC-MIKE]

Sounds to me like it is something other than the game, itself. This could be a memory issue, heat issue, or another software conflict such as a Virus Scanner - firewall - or maybe something is trying to give you a popup message.

End task on everything in the device manager that you possibly can without shutting down the machine, even any video or sound related softwares. Run the game and see if you get the same lock-up.

I believe you have a software conflict or a heat issue, but that is just from my experience. The next thing I'd do is try one memory stick at a time or simply swap the sticks in their slots. If you have only one stick, testing the memory will be a little more difficult, but if you plan on upgrading memory soon, you might wanna go ahead and purchase that other 2gb stick and try it out.

If none of the above fixes the issue, then I'd recommend trying a different power supply or video card.

[drunken_chef]

Re: Need Suggestions Please

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)[/url]

[BlackArrow]

Yeah have had no issues with Eve Online and World of Warcraft.

Ahaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

That is it !!!! You infected your perfectly good computer with WoW and Eve. :P

[Solarance]

LOL Black.

Oh and for clarification I have 4 gigs of total ram on this system

[Qicmee]

We could trade PCs? Mine's slow, but it doesn't crash. (almost 4 yrs. old)

Since you've already tried the rational solutions, it looked like a good time for me to jump in with troubleshooting ideas. These aren't "fixes"; just some unoriginal ideas offered with no special insight. I'm guessing you already know the most likely answer in this situation: something related to the video board. With a new system, it might be anything. I'd assume video problems would be similar in single player as in multi.

- I don't know the motherboard requirements, if possible, you could reduce your memory to 2 GB and check for effect.
- Even though you're not OC'd, you could leave the case open and blast a fan into it to check for thermal sensitivity.
- Set your graphics to nearly nothing to minimize stress on the video card. Check for effect.
- Does your system freeze? If it's just the game in multiplayer, your firewall might be wrestling with something. Maybe running game in a safe mode or windowed is possible (for evaluation)?
- Whatever option you have selected for sound, change it.
- If these lead nowhere, swapping components might be your only option. You might be able to work a deal with a local PC repair shop to borrow a lower grade video board for check out. Cutting edge drivers sometimes cut both ways until developers catch up.

Try not to get frustrated. That's a smokin' system even if it is making you earn your fun.

[juneau]

Try a different drive set for your 8800GT. Newest doesn't always mean best. Ask Limey about that one.

[Solarance]

Ran Memtest on each stick of ram 1 by 1. Then ran it in pairs of 2 x 2. Then just to prove that I am thurough with my testing I testing all 4 in at the same time. No errors.

Moved the gfx card to one of the 3 PCI-e slots and bam. Played for a good hour with no issues.

What a headache.