WTF?! $1000, computer wont play BF2?

[bulhonkey6]

So after 2 weeks of trying to build and troubleshoot a working computer, I finally got it up ad running. It runs just fine when surfing the web, playing music or doing anything simple. It even loads up BF2 and Garry's Mod nicely, however, as soon as I try to enter a server in one of those games, or change game settings, my comp will freeze, and I have to manually restart it. Now, idly, the cpu runs at around 38 Celsius, with bf2 or a heavy load it goes to around 45c. I don’t think it is an overheating problem; although, sometimes after manually restarting it will freeze while windows is trying to boot up. I also notice that my computer doesn’t run as fast as I thought it would, my specs are below, but I don’t know if I possibly don’t have everything enabled, or if it just isn’t that fast. I used to run on an amd 2.4 GHz, now running an amd athlon x2 3800+ Windsor, and it runs around the same quickness or less. Anyway, any help will be appreciated. Currently, I can only run minor things like internet and small programs, which I could have gotten a computer to, do that for 300 bucks, not 1000.


thanks for help


Specs:

Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103735
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor 2000MHz HT 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Dual Core Processor - Retail

motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131013
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150141
geforece xfx 7600GT

Hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148142

Power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817182042
RAIDMAX AURORA RX-580F ATX 580Watts Power Supply 115/230 V UL

Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119094

CD/DVD burner:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152059

Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220142

Heatsink/Fan
Mini-typhoon

 

[bulhonkey6]

Just to clarify, this problem is occuring for MULTIPLE games, so it isnt a problem with my BF2 installation or anything. Also, ive noticed that the only things that get really hot in my comp are my graphics card and a heatsink that came attached to the mobo (i think its for the dual graphic card stuff).

 

[CptCpu]

Did you download the lastest drivers for all of your equipment?

 

[crusher]

did you check your drivers??? some asus boards are bugged and wont run well if you dont install the hotfix from the asus website.

 

[Czarles]

Does your freezing problem happen with every game?

Might be a program problem...

 

[Alyarbank]

as soon as I try to enter a server in one of those games, or change game settings, my comp will freeze, and I have to manually restart it.

Check that your IRQ's aren't shared for the ethernet and the Video Adapter, I had this type of problem on a KT7 board a few years back. It could run Quake3 fine in single player but connecting to the web or a LAN would quickly trip it up.

Also make sure your BIOS is the latest as well as the chipset drivers.

 

[o29]

Have you tried any tests on memory or anything? Or you should try starting with one stick of RAM, then try with the other. If you're still having problems, and you have all of the latest drivers for everything, then t's probably your CPU or motherboard. But to make sure it's not a driver problem or a problem with your hard drive then I'd recommend running Knoppix (a Linux LiveCD which is basically just a CD that boots up into Linux like a hard drive would, except it stores the information in your memory). If the problem still persists then you know it's CPU or motherboard. Figuring out which of the two it is might be a little trickier if you don't have any spare parts to be diagnosing this with.

 

[Alyarbank]

I was looking at your board on Newegg when I noticed this review

Good board

Pros: I really enjoy the functionality of this motherboard, it's got everything I could ask for and it's neatly aligned. Hooking up everything to it was pretty intuitive, I didn't have any problems....


Cons: Still waiting for a BIOS update for memory support. I have 2GB dual channel OCZ PC-6400 800mhz ram, which I now have underclocked at 533 in order to get it to run stable. If not, it randomly reboots... More »
.

It seems your memory may not be running at the optimal rate according to this fella's listed Cons.

 

[ninjaquick]

Aiite:
Try updating all ur drivers.

Plug yor 4-6 pin cpu feed into your mobo, wiggle it aroud a little, its happened to me that it been partially unplugged, and that sucks.

Try using a diff video card. (a friends or something)

Check what programs are running in the back ground, you might have a resource hog.

Buy a cat.

Kick the cat you just bought.

Say youre sorry to that poor cat.

loosen yor ram timings. (they might be making ur ram unstable).

not much else i can think of that hasnt been mentioned.

Yeah. Ditch the card.

 

[asdasd123123]

Seems vaguely like a PSU problem, starting a game fires up both much more wattage from the gpu and the cpu..

Although it DOES sound unlikely that a 580w rated psu won't supply 150~ or so watts that your computer actually draws...
But then I've never heard of that maker before. It does seem a little underpriced for a PSU that "size"

 

[baseline]

A dxdiag report on your system would be much more helpful in troubleshooting it than a laundry list of installed components.

 

[buckiller]

also, be sure the nvidia firewall is UNINSTALLED or DISABLED!!!!

 

[o29]

Yeah, check your voltages too.

 

[asdasd123123]

*agrees with previous poster about the firewall*
Not a great piece of software, although the idea is great.

 

[bulhonkey6]

Well, i found out the problem, and it was pretty weird. I started troublehsooting and taking things out and retrying it, and to my surprise, i found that when i removed my soundcard (old sound blaster live), everything worked fine. Put the sound card back in, and it craps up.

NO freaking idea why, but hell, better replacing a 40 dollar sound card than a 150 dollar mobo.

Thanks for the help gents

 

[ninjaquick]

Lol, turn off ur onboard sound...

 

[krazyIvan]

Make sure your Bio's are set for ESCD (AUTO IRQ's), this allows the computer to assign IRQ's to multiple devices.
Also ensure your on-board sound is disabled on the Mo-Board (Jumper) or in Bio's.

 

[vigilante212]

Ive heard of problems with asus boards and sound blaster cards. Also why didnt you pay $15 more for a decent power supply one with dual 12v rails I wouldnt be surprised if your power supply craps out on ya in a few months keep an eye on it.

 

[BigguN]

Lol, turn off ur onboard sound...

This sounds like a winner.. similar happened to me once. Was the onboard sound disabled?