Random freezing when playing
By
Bruce_Lightning,
Posted on: 2009-05-29 17:49 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
I've experienced the same thing, although I have 6GHZ Dual Core, 512MB 8500 GT Graphics card, 2GB RAM e.t.c e.t.c, there shouldn't be any problem with my system, but there still is. Having low graphics or high graphics doesn't make a different, either way I experience freezing and I have to restart my PC to stop it.
I'll also create a hair pile with you.
Good luck :/
have you changed anything on the PC recently? The symptoms you describe could be insufficient power getting to the graphics card.
Ever wondered how our costumes stay so clean and shiny given everything we put them through?
Then you need to try out Spandex Crisis (Arc ID 32943)
I certainly haven't, not sure about TechnoUnion (Sorry If I'm being a topic hog 
).
Really want to get this sorted out. I installed new Nvidia drivers but it said I had them already, then it installed another Nvidia thing on my PC. I'm sure that some people claimed some of the nvidia drivers caused the game to go mental. :/
One more thing: Funnily enough my Motherboard manufacturer is also MSI.
And I'm usually getting about 8FPS (When it's good) and around 0.80FPS when its bad.
That's terrible performance overall. Are you sure your gfx card has all the power leads attached that it should? Most of the modern ones require additional power leads over and above what the PCI slot can provide.
Ever wondered how our costumes stay so clean and shiny given everything we put them through?
Then you need to try out Spandex Crisis (Arc ID 32943)
Yeah, everythings good. Im installing a hotfix to see if that works but Ive just realised that my PC is running at 16-20 FPS now, pretty good for me 
.
To be honest that still sounds like a really low framerate for a card like that. Online benchmarks reckon that you can get something like 60fps from Far Cry on Max details for that card which means that CoH should run at max framerate on max details.
If you're absolutely sure that the card is installed correctly then in order I'd check the following:
Power supply rating: You may well be over-taxing the power supply (this happened to me on a PC when I upgraded the gfx card. As soon as it started to draw serious power the system became unstable. I upgraded the power supply and all problems went away).
Background processes: Have you got something that is chewing up CPU cycles? Again,this happened to me. One of the utilities that came with the motherboard would periodically start running and hog the CPU.
Overheating: If the system's been upgraded then you may be generating more heat than the case can handle.
Sorry I can't be more definitive. All I can say is that a spec like that should be performing much better than 20fps on a game like CoH.
Ever wondered how our costumes stay so clean and shiny given everything we put them through?
Then you need to try out Spandex Crisis (Arc ID 32943)
I thought it was a low power supply as I'd updated my card from a crappy ATI Radeon to a GeForce 7950 GT. Put in a 600W power supply and it's made no difference. It ran fine before with a 450W supply before the lock ups started which like I said I think started around the time I installed SP3.
Just tried disabling all non-microsoft services using msconfig and still crashed after 50 mins from a cold start. Will try shutting everything unneccesary down using task manager and then playing later on.
Hope you don't mind me intruding, but I guess we have a similar problem.
Here's my CoH Helper thingy
DxDiag gathered at May 30, 2009 22:09 (+01:00)
Operating System: Windows Vista Ultimate (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.090302-1506)
System Manufacturer: MSI
System Model: MS-7255
BIOS: BIOS Date: 05/10/07 09:55:28 Ver: A7255VMS V5.2
Central Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Memory: 2046MB
.Net Memory Report: 1221MB out of 2045MB available
Page File: 3262MB (1079MB currently in use)
C Drive: (MAXTOR STM3250310AS ATA Device) 176181MB out of 238472MB (73%) free
D Drive: (HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GSA-H55N ATA Device) zero-size drive
E Drive: (HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GSA-H55N ATA Device) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\Windows
DirectX: DirectX 10
DirectX Diag version: 6.00.6001.18000 (32-bit version)
Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.
No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
Manufacturer / Chip: NVIDIA / GeForce 8500 GT
Video Memory: 1269 MB
Driver Version: 8.15.0011.8585
Driver Date: 01/01/0001 00:00:00
Driver Language: English
Sound Device Description: Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)
Driver File: HdAudio.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.5840.16387
Driver Date: 11/02/2006 08:36:49
Sound Device Description: Digital Output Device (SPDIF) (High Definition Audio Device)
Driver File: HdAudio.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.5840.16387
Driver Date: 11/02/2006 08:36:49
WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: Micro-Star
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: MS-7255 V2.0
Motherboard Version: 2.0
BIOS Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Name: BIOS Date: 05/10/07 09:55:28 Ver: A7255VMS V5.2
BIOS Version: A M I - 5000710
BIOS Release: 20070510000000.000000+000
Is there anything I can do to free up space here if needed? And how do I find out my PSU power :/?
Thanks
I'm afraid I'm kinda out of ideas here guys. A system which freezes up when you place a high graphical load on it but works the rest of the time is often a symptom of:
- insufficient power getting to the gfx card
- overheating as the gfx card puts our more heat under heavy load
- a faulty gfx card
I can't really go much futher. Maybe a trip to your local geek-shop might help?
Drag
Ever wondered how our costumes stay so clean and shiny given everything we put them through?
Then you need to try out Spandex Crisis (Arc ID 32943)
Well I checked my FPS again and It reached 25-30, so its getting better still there was a point where it went down again, maybe overheating or insufficient power. I dont thinks its a faulty graphics card though, but I could try my spare one . I do have to say, once my computer would turn on and boot up, but nothing would appear on the screen, maybe this was a case of not enough power getting to the graphics card? Anyways it hasnt happened since.
One more thing, how can I check the Watts on my PSU?
Regards,
Bruce
the easiest way is if it's written on the PSU - just open the case and take a look. Alternatively if it's a pre-built PC from a mainstream manufacturer then their web-site should be able to tell you what all the installed components are, including the PSU.
Ever wondered how our costumes stay so clean and shiny given everything we put them through?
Then you need to try out Spandex Crisis (Arc ID 32943)
Looks like I'm going to have to open it up, unless I can find the one I bought .
I think the hotfix helped though. I got that from the US forums.
[ QUOTE ]
I'm afraid I'm kinda out of ideas here guys. A system which freezes up when you place a high graphical load on it but works the rest of the time is often a symptom of:
- insufficient power getting to the gfx card
- overheating as the gfx card puts our more heat under heavy load
- a faulty gfx card
I can't really go much futher. Maybe a trip to your local geek-shop might help?
Drag
[/ QUOTE ]
Put the northbridge fan on and still no difference (apart from things are slightly cooler).
Tried the latest nvidia drivers today, no difference, still locking up.
Speedfan reports my GPU is running at 50 - 58C, my core about the same +/- 2C, hdd0 is 46C and hdd1 is 41C. I've read these are within normal operating temps for an AMD processor and my model of gfx card but they seem hot to me.
Tried swapping the ram out today, no difference.
As I said, the psu is brand new and 600W.
Put my old 128mb ATI Radeon 9200SE back in today and have no issues whatsoever. :/
So I'd say it's either:
a) faulty card
or
b) The 512mb card is generating too much heat for the rest of the system to cope with. Can't really tell cos speedfan doesn't show half the temps with the ATI card in. The temps it is showing are about the same as before.
Personally I think it's A. I might stick the Geforce back in and try flashing the bios and running with basic bios settings and test mode for CoH.
Well, glad to hear you've narrowed the problem down even if it's not completely certain yet. Is it too late to return the gfx card as faulty?
Ever wondered how our costumes stay so clean and shiny given everything we put them through?
Then you need to try out Spandex Crisis (Arc ID 32943)
I wouldn't think the 512Mb card would be making too much heat for the rest of the system to cope with, although perhaps it's causing too much heat for itself.. Does it have plenty of space around it for heat disspiation, nothing blocking the air flow (cables etc..)?
Also, it it's determined that it is simply faulty and even if you're out of date on your warrenty with the Gfx card you can still demand a replacement from the store/site you got it from, statutory rights rights ftw.
[ QUOTE ]
As I said, the psu is brand new and 600W.
[/ QUOTE ]
I'd just like to point out that a brand new 600w PSU doesn't really mean a lot as it depends on what brand it is. A cheapo 600w PSU is quite likely to put out LESS power than a good quality 450w unit is.
It could also be down to not having plugged the right cables into your video card. Most of them these days require two PCIe power cables to be connected.
What brand is your PSU, and what else do you have in your system?
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
[ QUOTE ]
I've experienced the same thing, although I have 6GHZ Dual Core,
[/ QUOTE ]
Just to interject to correct a common misconception. Just because you have a dual core CPU with both running at 3ghz, that does not mean you have a 6ghz CPU; it's still a 3ghz CPU. Some places claim 6ghz, especially on eBay, but it's nothing but a marketing ploy. There are no 6ghz CPU's on the market today, sorry.
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
My computer also freezes currently when playing coh. I got an ati card, most of the the time vpu recover fixes it. According to a driver detective scan my motherboard has some out of date drivers(agp and ethernet) but downloading the driver pack at via doesnt solve it so i dunno what to do.
Quick update, after a bit more playtesting I did have issues with the ATI card after all. Lots of weird polygon shapes, temporary freezing and colour issues. I had this before and was one of the reasons I wanted to upgrade to the 7950. I could get rid of it running all the graphics settings on low with the ATI card but I want my CoH to be shiny!
The PSU is winpower, not the best I know but the best I could afford at the time. My card is AGP btw, not PCI-E and only has one power socket. There's a load of space round it, except near the bottom at the back where it's really close to my ram slots. I have a slot cooler next to the card to keep it cooler but even with this out or off I get the same effect.
I downloaded rivaTuner and set the AGP speed to 4x but that had no effect.
Re-tested my RAM with memtest86+, did 16 passes overnight and no errors.
I tried loading the BIOS defaults and running in test mode and it still crashed.
Only thing left that I can think of to do is flash the BIOS but I don't want to screw up my PC so I'm leaving that till last.
I'd be happy if I could get even a BSOD or something that tells me what's wrong but there's nothing in event viewer, no bsod or memory dumps, nothing. I turned off autoreboot so it would show the bsod if one happened but no joy, it just locks up.
It really does sound like a power issue, though these symptoms could also be the result of faulty cards...
A suggestion. Get hold of DriverCleaner (the older version 1.6 is still free I think), and use it to clear out all drivers. (First do a regular uninstall, then use DriverCleaner to wipe out the remnants). Once everything is completely cleaned out and you're running on the base Windows driver, reinstall the latest drivers. Often installing over old versions can cause driver issues.
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Done that, several times!
Oh thank the Lord, FFM's turned up!
Now I can stop pretending I know what I'm talking about here!
Ever wondered how our costumes stay so clean and shiny given everything we put them through?
Then you need to try out Spandex Crisis (Arc ID 32943)
I've recently been experiencing a lot of random freezes when playing. The screen locks up and the sound stutters for a few seconds before that also stops completely. Only a hard reboot gets the PC running again.
I've tried 3 different graphics drivers, 1 made a lot of difference and meant I could play for 20 - 90 mins without freezing. Before it was about 20 seconds.
I've updated my sound card drivers, added extra fans to my case in case it was overheating issues (which it might be, my northbridge seems to get a bit hot after a lot of playing, sometimes (55C +) but I'm adding a fan to that tomorrow). I ran nTune stability test today for an hour and temps got to 58 / 59C without problems though.
I've turned anti-virus software off, uninstalled andre-installed it (avast! in case it helps).
I've changed my wi-fi drivers, that didn't help either.
I think it started to freeze soon after XP service pack 3 was installed but it might be a coincidence.
I've reinstalled windows and City Of Heroes (from DVD then patched straight to issue 14).
I've set my graphics card settings to match those on the US boards for nvidia cards and turned my particle count all the way down. Again no noticible effect apart from the game looks v shiny (apart from flames which look poop with low particle count).
System is solid as a rock doing anything except gaming.
My CoH Helper info is below:
---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.1.1.7---
DxDiag gathered at May 29, 2009 20:31 (+01:00)
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090206-1234)
System Manufacturer: MSI
System Model: MS-6712
BIOS: Version 07.00T
Central Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2500+, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.8GHz
Memory: 1280MB
.Net Memory Report: 783MB out of 1279MB available
Page File: 3655MB (378MB currently in use)
C Drive: (ST360021A) 18394MB out of 57231MB (32%) free
D Drive: (ST3160212A) 18512MB out of 152625MB (12%) free
E Drive: (LITE-ON COMBO SOHC-5235K) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DirectX Diag version: 5.03.2600.5512 (32-bit version)
Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.
Monitor: BENQ V772
Monitor's Max Resolution: 1280,1024
Video Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT
Manufacturer / Chip: NVIDIA / GeForce 7950 GT
Video Memory: 512.0 MB
Driver Version: 6.14.0011.6375
Driver Date: 10/04/2007 17:14:00
Driver Language: English
Sound Device Description: Realtek AC97 Audio
Driver File: ALCXWDM.SYS
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.6300
Driver Date: 01/01/0001 00:00:00
WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: MSI
Motherboard Model: (empty) (It's a KT4AV)
Motherboard Product: MS-6712
Motherboard Version: 1.0
BIOS Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Name: Version 07.00T
BIOS Version: AMIINT - 10
BIOS Release: 20010402000000.000000+000
It said my City Of Heroes Registry Information could not be found when I ran CoH helper. I've tried running it with the game running but CoH Helper just times out then.
I've had the same issue with Warhammer Online and Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars.
I'm tearing my hair out here, please help.