3 Posted July 15, 2005 Posted July 15, 2005 Hello. I have a problem. When I am playing Half Life 2 (or anything that uses the source engine for that matter), it will just freeze about 15-20 minutes into gameplay. It just freezes, and when it does, the audio bocames all scratchy and nasty. Then I have to reset the PC and it works great again, for another 15-20 minutes, and then the same thing happens. I also have the exact same problem with Doom 3. I can however play UT2004 for hours on end without a hitch. If it is the overclocking, is there anything I can do? The computer runs memtest all night with 0 errors. It also does the 32M SuperPI calculation with 0 errors. I watched the temps as I play these games, and the CPU has never gone over 45C. The hottest I ever saw the video card was 71C, but the default slowdown temp for the video card is 135C, and I know other people where it gets up to 80C+, so I really doubt it's the video card. My voltages are always rock solid. My CPU voltage is 1.525, and my DRAM voltage is 3.4V. I am really at a loss at to what is going on here, please help me. Is there any kind of error log HL2 or Doom 3 generates? EDIT-- IMPORTANT UPDATE: Prime95 fails on the first test and says FATAL ERROR and then something about rounding not being what it was expected. What can I do?? SuperPI is 100% stable on the 32M test... but prime fails within the first 5 minutes it is run!! Am I not supplying enough voltage to the CPU? It's at 2.7GHz (2.2 stock), with 246FSB and 11 multiplier. The current voltage is 1.525V. Should I try 1.6? Please help me asap Well, I am unhappy now. I raised the CPU voltage to 1.6V, and here is the prime result: Is there anything else left to be done or did I just get a lemmon? Max load temp at 1.6V was 52C with the room temp at 77F, which is a little high for my taste. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
timpanogos Posted July 15, 2005 Posted July 15, 2005 IMO, there are several levels of "stability" - also remember that heat will lead to instability, so watch your temps as you test these various levels. 1. memtest - ya might boot to os stable 2. superpi 32m - most windows apps will run without too much trouble (mail, browser, word etc.) 3. 3dmark2001, 3dmark03, 3dmark05 - obvious, gpu/cpu/mem stability for gaming. 4. occt/prime95 stable - get here and you have it. I struggled to hit prime95 - and in my case, cranking voltage to it did not help (mem or vcore). I had to get down and dirty (careful noting of values) and hours of tweaking to get my current clock (need/want to push harder now). Get a base (i.e. are you occt/prime95 stable at stock?) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hifi Posted July 15, 2005 Posted July 15, 2005 It sounds heat related to me, and possibly graphics...it would be great if you had another PCI-E card around that you could swap out and test. The reason I point to graphics is that remember UT2k4 is a DX8 game and your HL2 and D3 are both DX9...you are extensively using a lot more shaders and the GPU is making many more calculations on those titles vs the older Unreal 2 engine...just my 2 cents but that is where I would start... hifi Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
3 Posted July 15, 2005 Posted July 15, 2005 IMO, there are several levels of "stability" - also remember that heat will lead to instability, so watch your temps as you test these various levels. 1. memtest - ya might boot to os stable 2. superpi 32m - most windows apps will run without too much trouble (mail, browser, word etc.) 3. 3dmark2001, 3dmark03, 3dmark05 - obvious, gpu/cpu/mem stability for gaming. 4. occt/prime95 stable - get here and you have it. I struggled to hit prime95 - and in my case, cranking voltage to it did not help (mem or vcore). I had to get down and dirty (careful noting of values) and hours of tweaking to get my current clock (need/want to push harder now). Get a base (i.e. are you occt/prime95 stable at stock?) Yes, I am stable at stock speeds. I'am actually not sure if it's the same problem with doom 3, because in the case of doom 3, it always freezes in the exact same spot on the exact same level. Any other level is just fine. Now with HL2 it's very random, it can freeze any map at any time. I really don't see how it could be a heat issue, because at 1.525V the CPU never went over 45C full load. Is there anything else to be done? oh ya and I can complete 3dmark05 no problem. When you say "hours of tweaking", exactly what kind of tweaking do you mean? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoKi Posted July 15, 2005 Posted July 15, 2005 hmm usually when a game freezes for me and i have overclocked my machine. it means i need more cpu vcore. Try a litte touch of vcore and see what happens. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
3 Posted July 15, 2005 Posted July 15, 2005 Ok, sorry for the total noob question, but vcore is the same thing as the CPU/VID voltage, right? Also, I noticed that when I put the CPU voltage up to 1.6, smartguardian showed the "PWMIC" get up to 52C during Prime. I don't know the PWMIC is, but that seems hot. The CPU also got up to 52C, and this is when it was only 77F in the room with A/C. I don't know much about temps, but they seemed hot to me. Could it be heat that is causing the problem? I also heard somewhere that smartguardian's readings are usually a little lower than what they actually are, and if that is true, then that would mean they were even hotter than what it said. Do you think it would help at all if I got an XP-90? What would be a good 92mm fan to go with it other than the vantec tornado, because that one is way to loud. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack73 Posted July 15, 2005 Posted July 15, 2005 What's the voltage to the memory? When I had mine set a 3.1 it would fail prime, I backed it down to 3.0 and it passes with flying colors. Not sure about your memory, but give it a try Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
3 Posted July 15, 2005 Posted July 15, 2005 I don't think I would be able to keep my 1.5-2-2-3-1T timings and 1:1 ratio if I backed off on the voltage... It passes memtest overnight with no errors, the voltage is 3.4V. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack73 Posted July 15, 2005 Posted July 15, 2005 Also its definately not heat related. Mine is stable and I see temps at CPU- 57c, PWMIC- 52c MB- 51c But at those timings it could be unstable at those temps I know you would like to keep those timings, but as AG has mentioned the CPU mhz is more important than mem timings. I suspect if you back off on the timings it will prime without a hitch Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
3 Posted July 15, 2005 Posted July 15, 2005 But I don't get that, memtest does not have any errors at all when run overnight. I will try I guess, but I don't think it will help. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
3 Posted July 15, 2005 Posted July 15, 2005 Ok, just as I thought. It's not the RAM. I relaxed the timings to 2-2-2-5-2T @ 3.2V, and prime still fails within the first 2 minutes it is run. This is really starting to bother me. Please continue to help me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mott13 Posted July 15, 2005 Posted July 15, 2005 Not sure with teh a64 but with my xp rounding errors means more volts to the cpu:) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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