Computer freezing problem

[csflame4432]

Whenever I play Fallout 3 the game will randomly freeze, and it happens quite alot. It also does this weird stutter whenever I look up or when I turn around. My framerates drop when this happens. I have tested 2 different video cards, nothing changes, and I have also tested it with Vista 64 bit and Windows 7 64 bit, it plays the same with both operating systems.

I am not sure if this is the right section for this post, but since its a computer problem I dont know which other section to post it in.

Im thinking it has to be a hardware problem since it reacts the same with both operating systems. It also isnt a heat issue because I am monitering the temps and sometimes the game will play fine for awhile. Here are my specs:

Asus Rampage Formula X48
Intel Q9650 at 4.05 Ghz
Corsair 1066Mhz 8 gigs of ram running at 1:1 with the CPU 900Mhz
Nvidia GTX 295
WD 300 gig raptor running windows, programs and games
Seagate 750 gig with storage on it

Any help will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Freezing/stuttering problems are nearly always RAM related. The fact that you have 8GB of RAM running at 900MHz only validates my suspicion. Do all of your RAM sticks have the exact same specs? Did you manually set the timings and voltage to the recommended specs? Have you run Memtest86+ overnight to test for RAM errors? Running four sticks of RAM is harder on a motherboard and sometimes requires bumping up the voltage on the Northbridge for stability.

 

[csflame4432]

I havnt run memtest yet, but I have the voltage on the ram set to 2.10v and the NB is at 1.49v and is running at 50c, and yes each ram stick has the same specs

 

[shortstuff_mt]

An overnight run of Memtest86+ would be your next step in troubleshooting.

 

[csflame4432]

Are those settings fine for the NB?

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I believe the standard voltage for the X48 chipset is 1.25v. Is there a reason you picked 1.49v? I wouldn't run it that high unless absolutely necessary. 1.3v - 1.35v should be plenty. That all depends on your particular NB chip.

 

[csflame4432]

Well I just set it to auto and it ran at 1.6 which is way to high. So I manually set it to 1.46 just to get the temps below 50c. I dont think it will be stable in the 1.3 range. My set-up has always been weird with OC'ing. I previously had a Q9450 and I could barely get that stable at 3.2Ghz, and the northbridge was running at the same voltage as it is now. I have a feeling my particular NB doesnt like overclocking.

 

[csflame4432]

Well I havnt ran memtest yet because ive been very busy, but I plan on running it this weekend. Are there any other things that may cause this?

EDIT: I switched my memory and CPU and it still freezes during fallout 3. Could it be the motherboard?

 

[Guest]

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[Anna sui]

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