Games stop working after installing new memory

elander

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I have brought 1gb of kignston memory in twi sticks. After i installed it everything worked ok except for games. The games play for a couple of minutes then the computer freezes. I tried different games Doom3, Morrowind, Hitman, Vampire and it happens the same thing to all of them. I also tried reinstaling the drivers fater cleaning the old ones and reinstall older versions of the drives and it keeps doing the same things.

Im sure the memories don't have any problem because its the GPU of my ati radeon 9600pro that freezes. I can't figure out what may be causing the problems. Everything works ok when i put older DDR memories that work with a lower frontside bus. Any well finding out what the problem is would be apreceated.

These are my computer specs:

Processor Model : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz Speed : 3.00GHz

Mainboard : ASUSTeK Computer Inc. P5P800S
Chipset 1 Model : ASUSTeK Computer Inc 82865G/PE/P, 82848P DRAM Controller / Host-Hub Interface
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 200MHz (800MHz data rate)
Total Memory : 512MB DDR-SDRAM
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 200MHz (400MHz data rate)

Windows Device Name : RADEON 9600 SERIES
OEM Device Name : ATI Technologies Inc Radeon 9600 Series (V350)
OEM Hardware ID : FUN_0, VEN_1002, DEV_4150, REV_00
Device Name : PowerColor (C.P. Technology Co Ltd) Radeon 9600 Series (V350)

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Professional (Win32 x86) 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)

I'm using DirectX 9.0c

Edit: I only have one of the memory sticks installed now because i have been trying them separatly.





<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by elander on 06/28/05 12:28 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

BrentUnitedMem

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It could possibly be an issue with your power supply. Watts are not the only important thing about PSUs, but rather you want a stable supply of voltage.

You can use a utility called MBN5 to monitor your voltages. It's pretty easy to find by a simple internet search.

It's fairly easy to setup, just read the readme file for instructions. Actualy voltage levels should be within 5% of their intended value (+-12V, +-5V, +-3V) for a good power supply.

You can post your logs here if they don't make any sence to you.

Did the PSU come with the case?

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elander

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I don't think it's the power supply. It's a new one with 400+ watts. The output is very stable: 11.774 5.145 3.28 1.44

I also tried those games in a second partition with win98se and everything including games work very well. Then i decided to upgrade the mobo bios and reinstall the chipset drivers (its an intel 848p). The problem persists with my winxp instalation. I think it may be something about the radeon drivers for xp, but it does the same thing with different driver versions.

Thanks for the tip. Any more ideas are welcome.
 

BrentUnitedMem

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When upgrading from Win98 to WinXP, many hardware devices require WinXP-specific drivers.

Also, you will need to make sure that the applications you are using are WIN-XP compatible. Some games, for example, are not.

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apesoccer

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Try taking out the second stick. Windows XP uses more memory then 98 does, so there would be more used up when u first start up games, and (if the second stick was bad or party bad) would crash sooner since you wouldn't be using the memory on the second stick until later.

Also 98 isn't capable of using as much RAM as 2000/XP is (if i'm remembering correctly). So you wouldn't even be able to access some of the RAM due to limitations in the OS; i remember specifically that there were issues with anything over 512mb, but i don't remember what exactly.

You might also just try taking both sticks out, and reinsert them, sometimes a bit of dust can cause problems when you first put a stick in. It'd be good to clean out the insertion area really well before reinserting. cough cough.

edit: Ahhh you've updated ur post...With that system, I personally, would still look at your ram. You might try running the ram at 333 speeds instead of 400. Alot of times, when you buy 2 sticks of 512 seperately, you can have problems with Dual Channel. Sometimes, raising the timings will help, sometimes lowering the overall speed will help, sometimes nothing will.

F@H:
AMD: [64 3000+][2500+][2400+][2000+][1.3][366]
Intel: [X 3.0x3][P4 3.0x2][P4 2.4x5 down][P4 1.4]

"...and i'm not gay" RX8 -Greatest Quote of ALL Time<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by apesoccer on 06/29/05 05:10 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

BrentUnitedMem

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Your PSU may be stable under normal operating conditions. What prompted me to suspect your PSU and not the memory is that you only have problems when running games.

Is this still the case? Or are there other issues?

Memory problems in cases like this, even problems with the GPU, may not be memory/GPU-specific, but rather can relate to the PSU. The power requirements for nearly all electronic components is increased while playing games. Especially the games you mentioned which includes DOOM3.

A 400-watt new PSU really doesn't say anything about it's performance under load. You need to look at the brand of the PSU, and log your voltages while running your games.

I've seen too many cases where games are crashing, being an enthusiast gamer myself. Most of the cases relate to the PSU or driver conflicts. Remember, if the GPU or memory do not get the power they need, your application will crash or freeze.

ASUS and Radeon are good products, I'd question them lastly.
Let us know what type of memory you are using, and the PSU brand.

Also, running one memory stick at a time ensures the following:
1. Less power required for the memory.
2. Fewer complication with the mobo chipset.
3. Only one SPD program gets read.

Sometimes running one module will clear certain issues.

What is the status of your system now?

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elander

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I have tried to reinsert the memories and work with one stick at a time. The memories are Kingston ddr400. Somoeone gave me a clue to test the memories with memtest and the result was ok. I have noticed that after a couple of hours working with xp the computer just freezes. With games happens the same thing but a lot faster, both with one stick or with two sticks of memory. I have also noticed that with win98se i don't have any problem at all and all games work fine for any time length. I supsect this is a problem with winxp sp2 or just a bad xp installation.
 

BrentUnitedMem

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Could be a number of problems, including a bad copy of XP, incorrect installation of drivers, overheating, etc. Also keep in mind that many applications and hardware that work on Win98, may not necessarily work with WinXP. You need to check all of your hardware devices and software programs to make sure they are WinXP-compatible.

On another note:
WinXP is a more powerful program, and requires more hardware/software resources. And WinXP can also manage a larger memory size than Win98.

Freezing, contrary to the name, can be caused by overheating (ok, lame joke). Check your CPU fan and make sure your system is properly ventilated. Some fans just don't provide sufficient cooling. It can be either your CPU of GPU overheating. Though, during normal OS operation it is highly uncommon for the GPU to overheat, suspicion here lies on the CPU.

You want to keep only one module inserted until your machine runs stable. Two modules tend to put aditional strain on the system.

Also, during your testing you want to make sure your module is running at standard speeds, CL3 (3-4-4, 3-3-3) for PC-3200 (DDR-400). For ASUS boards you can check these parameters in the system BIOS.

It is best to try and test with different memory or a different PSU, if possible.

PSU brand?

<font color=green>*****
"Memory with lifetime warranty? So, whose lifetime is that?"
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<font color=red>AIM BrentUnitedMem<font color=white>