Random Full-system freezes

[Eyefon]

<p>I haven't found any correlation between area or time spent in the game or graphics settings. This computer is 3 months old and the problem is getting consistently worse. It only happens in EQ2.</p><p>The entire computer will just freeze and I have to reboot.</p><p>It can happen anytime. 5 minutes or 5 hours, in my guild house or in a simple instance. It can happen if I'm on extreme high settings or extreme performance.</p><p>Should I post any kind of log or dxdiag or anything like that?</p>

[Eyefon]

<p>Oh yeah my system specs are:</p><p>i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHzLGA 1366 X58 ATX MotherboardSapphire Radeon HD 4870 1 GB 256bit GDDR5 PCI6GB RAM (currently restricted to 2gb due to vista 32bit, I plan to get 64bit in 2 weeks)WD 1TB SATA with most of it free</p>

[Eyefon]

<p>Also (sorry I can't edit posts and I keep forgetting to mention stuff) my cores run at 50 degrees celsius stable... I don't know what temp my GPU is at though. I have not done a memtest but I guess that is my next stop.</p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p>Greetings,</p><p>What driver versions are you using at the moment?  If you haven't already, I would suggest trying the latest supported drivers referenced in our knowledgebase.  I have included a link to that page here:</p><p><a href="http://help.station.sony.com/cgi-bin/soe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=16163" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://help.station.sony.com/cgi-bi...p?p_faqid=16163</a></p>

[Eyefon]

<p>Hi DanielH,</p><p>You're probably right. I think I built the PC and then installed the drivers on the card, forgetting to update.... I had 8.530.0.0 8/20/2008 drivers. So fingers crossed... <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>I'll post again if it doesn't help. Otherwise, Thanks DanielH!!</p>

[Wzed]

<p>I have the exact same problem, for the past 3 months. I am running the exact same graphics card, other parts are a little different though.</p><p>Intel e8600 cpu</p><p>Asus P5Q deluxe mobo</p><p>Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256 bit ddr5</p><p>4 GB ram (I just uninstalled windows xp x64 and now running xp home 32bit, thinking this was the problem)</p><p>As mentioned above, I did a fresh install of windows xp 32 bit thinking that all my crashing problems were due to running x64. Well that wasn't it, as the crashing was the same. I am running graphics driver 9.3 (as per EQ2 recomended support forum..I believe its Control Centre 9.3 entire package).</p><p>I get 3 types of crashes:</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1) Screen gets little small square dots everywhere on the screen. Frozen system, so I have to pull the power cord to reboot</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2) 1 inch line going East-West across the entire screen, green color (looks like blinds on a window). Again, pull the power cord</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>3) I changed the Mobo board to "turbo", and turned the AA on the graphics down a bit. Now I got a reboot while I was playing.</p><p>I play on balanced mode (even though the system should take more) and I get the crashes. I haven't had a crash while playing on very high performance though. The graphic card setting was set to default and had crashes, so the only thing I have touched was the AA down one notch.</p><p>Any ideas?</p><p>P.S.</p><p>I had the same problem months ago, and tech support could not fix it (posting on this forum). I left the game for 2 months, hoping the problem would correct through patches, but 3 weeks back and I am crashing the same as before (also thinking the OS change would help too).</p>

[Tebos]

<p><cite>Wzed wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I have the exact same problem, for the past 3 months. I am running the exact same graphics card, other parts are a little different though.</p><p>Intel e8600 cpu</p><p>Asus P5Q deluxe mobo</p><p>Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256 bit ddr5</p><p>4 GB ram (I just uninstalled windows xp x64 and now running xp home 32bit, thinking this was the problem)</p><p>As mentioned above, I did a fresh install of windows xp 32 bit thinking that all my crashing problems were due to running x64. Well that wasn't it, as the crashing was the same. I am running graphics driver 9.3 (as per EQ2 recomended support forum..I believe its Control Centre 9.3 entire package).</p><p>I get 3 types of crashes:</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1) Screen gets little small square dots everywhere on the screen. Frozen system, so I have to pull the power cord to reboot</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2) 1 inch line going East-West across the entire screen, green color (looks like blinds on a window). Again, pull the power cord</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>3) I changed the Mobo board to "turbo", and turned the AA on the graphics down a bit. Now I got a reboot while I was playing.</p><p>I play on balanced mode (even though the system should take more) and I get the crashes. I haven't had a crash while playing on very high performance though. The graphic card setting was set to default and had crashes, so the only thing I have touched was the AA down one notch.</p><p>Any ideas?</p><p>P.S.</p><p>I had the same problem months ago, and tech support could not fix it (posting on this forum). I left the game for 2 months, hoping the problem would correct through patches, but 3 weeks back and I am crashing the same as before (also thinking the OS change would help too).</p></blockquote><p>What you are describing is most likely due to graphics card over-heating, particularly when you mention that you don't crash when putting the in-game graphics setting to very high performance.  Having screen pixelation issues is also indictitive of an over-heated graphics card.</p>

[Wzed]

<p>If this is the case, then ATI Catalyst Control is not working the fans correctly.</p><p>Do you suggest I try a 3rd party program to control the fans? if so, which one?</p><p>Thanks for the suggestion. I will take any now, since I've tried everything so far.</p>

[vochore]

<p><cite>Wzed wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>If this is the case, then ATI Catalyst Control is not working the fans correctly.</p><p>Do you suggest I try a 3rd party program to control the fans? if so, which one?</p><p>Thanks for the suggestion. I will take any now, since I've tried everything so far.</p></blockquote><p>do a search for rivatuner......can usualy be found at guru3d.com it wil allow you to set your fan speeds manualy.but i realy doupt overheating is your problem since eq2 so underutilizes your graphics card.</p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p><cite>Wzed wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>If this is the case, then ATI Catalyst Control is not working the fans correctly.</p><p>Do you suggest I try a 3rd party program to control the fans? if so, which one?</p><p>Thanks for the suggestion. I will take any now, since I've tried everything so far.</p></blockquote><p>While controlling the fans with a 3rd party program is an option, have you checked to make sure something isn't blocking them or the air flow?  You might want to open your case and make sure that the fans are clear of dust and debris if you haven't already.</p>

[Wzed]

<p>Fans are pretty clean, system is only 3 months old. I opened the case before, and didn't see anything obstructing it, it also seemed cool.</p><p>When I get home tonight, Im going to monitor the temperature on 2nd highest graphics (try to crash it by casting spells with other around, etc). Hopefully I can see the card heat rising, which would explain the problems. If it crashes, I read that in Control Centre I can manually set the fans to run at a certain speed. I will crank up the speed (rather than letting CC control it), and monitor the temperature. Again, run EQ2 at the 2nd highest setting and see if the heat is controlled and see if I get a crash.</p><p>Either way, I will post to this thread tomorrow morning with my results.</p><p>Thanks.</p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p><cite>Wzed wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Fans are pretty clean, system is only 3 months old. I opened the case before, and didn't see anything obstructing it, it also seemed cool.</p><p>When I get home tonight, Im going to monitor the temperature on 2nd highest graphics (try to crash it by casting spells with other around, etc). Hopefully I can see the card heat rising, which would explain the problems. If it crashes, I read that in Control Centre I can manually set the fans to run at a certain speed. I will crank up the speed (rather than letting CC control it), and monitor the temperature. Again, run EQ2 at the 2nd highest setting and see if the heat is controlled and see if I get a crash.</p><p>Either way, I will post to this thread tomorrow morning with my results.</p><p>Thanks.</p></blockquote><p>That sounds like the way to go.  Let us know what you find.</p>

[Wzed]

<p>Good morning all. </p><p>I don't want to jinx myself, but it *looks* like heat was the problem. I ran in windowed mode, and also had the video card control centre up (from ATI) to see how the temperatures and fans were running. Seems the default fan speed is around 19% when eq2 is running at high grahics (one above balanced) and 72C temperature celsius (not sure what that is farhenheit). WOW, that's without running anywhere or casting spells. I went and solo'd a few things quickly, and the temp went to 73, yet the fans only ran at 29% max. Still not stressing it out, I could only imagine with group play it would still get alot hotter.</p><p>Without being a pain to a group by crashing on them, I could see that heat was an issue. I manually went into the graphic control centre, and manually turned the fans to 35%, to run constantly at this speed. The heat dropped immediately to 50-52, never reaching more than 53 at any time. Thats a 20 degree celsius drop in heat !!</p><p>End result, NO CRASH. I played for about an hour on the one mode higher than balanced (where shadows kick in), and seemed to have no problem.</p><p>So by default, the graphics card does a very poor job of keeping it cool, which alot of people know already. But there are alot of us who don't, we think that we get a graphics card set by default to the best setting for gaming, but in reality they run hot and have poor heat management.</p><p>If I crash again, I will let you know, but so far so good.</p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p><cite>Wzed wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Good morning all. </p><p>I don't want to jinx myself, but it *looks* like heat was the problem. I ran in windowed mode, and also had the video card control centre up (from ATI) to see how the temperatures and fans were running. Seems the default fan speed is around 19% when eq2 is running at high grahics (one above balanced) and 72C temperature celsius (not sure what that is farhenheit). WOW, that's without running anywhere or casting spells. I went and solo'd a few things quickly, and the temp went to 73, yet the fans only ran at 29% max. Still not stressing it out, I could only imagine with group play it would still get alot hotter.</p><p>Without being a pain to a group by crashing on them, I could see that heat was an issue. I manually went into the graphic control centre, and manually turned the fans to 35%, to run constantly at this speed. The heat dropped immediately to 50-52, never reaching more than 53 at any time. Thats a 20 degree celsius drop in heat !!</p><p>End result, NO CRASH. I played for about an hour on the one mode higher than balanced (where shadows kick in), and seemed to have no problem.</p><p>So by default, the graphics card does a very poor job of keeping it cool, which alot of people know already. But there are alot of us who don't, we think that we get a graphics card set by default to the best setting for gaming, but in reality they run hot and have poor heat management.</p><p>If I crash again, I will let you know, but so far so good.</p></blockquote><p>Great, I'm glad to hear it's working for you!  Let us know if you need any further assistance.</p>

[Wzed]

<p><cite>TSR-DanielH wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Wzed wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Good morning all. </p><p>I don't want to jinx myself, but it *looks* like heat was the problem. I ran in windowed mode, and also had the video card control centre up (from ATI) to see how the temperatures and fans were running. Seems the default fan speed is around 19% when eq2 is running at high grahics (one above balanced) and 72C temperature celsius (not sure what that is farhenheit). WOW, that's without running anywhere or casting spells. I went and solo'd a few things quickly, and the temp went to 73, yet the fans only ran at 29% max. Still not stressing it out, I could only imagine with group play it would still get alot hotter.</p><p>Without being a pain to a group by crashing on them, I could see that heat was an issue. I manually went into the graphic control centre, and manually turned the fans to 35%, to run constantly at this speed. The heat dropped immediately to 50-52, never reaching more than 53 at any time. Thats a 20 degree celsius drop in heat !!</p><p>End result, NO CRASH. I played for about an hour on the one mode higher than balanced (where shadows kick in), and seemed to have no problem.</p><p>So by default, the graphics card does a very poor job of keeping it cool, which alot of people know already. But there are alot of us who don't, we think that we get a graphics card set by default to the best setting for gaming, but in reality they run hot and have poor heat management.</p><p>If I crash again, I will let you know, but so far so good.</p></blockquote><p>Great, I'm glad to hear it's working for you!  Let us know if you need any further assistance.</p></blockquote><p>Can we have double xp weekend soon? <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Wzed]

<p>Not to bring a topic back from the dead, but more happened so I need to update (hopefully this can help someone else).</p><p>I kept crashing, geting the system locked up to make me pull the plug and reboot. Happened after 2 minutes of playing, happened after 1 hour of playing. There was no one trigger that I could see that was setting it off. It never happened doing anything else, other than eq2, I was losing my mind (and my hair from fustration).</p><p>I went back to the daeler who built the system with my video card, and asked them to replace it. I told them about the little square boxes I get on my screen that would flicker here and there. Soon as he heard that, he said "bring it back to me, its the video card". I brought it back, and presto, played for about 2 hours last night on high quality. No flickers, no crashes. It all looks good now. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>What he did tell me, that my video card I had gives people ALOT of trouble, as its one of the first cards that came out for this type of card. Sapphire made these cards in haste for early production, not fixing the error before shipping. Hence the newer cards have the bugs removed and are more stable.</p><p>Here are the specs of the old and new card. If your having similar trouble with the same card, you might want to have a look and see what version/color you have:</p><p>Old Card: Sapphire HD 4870, 512MB - The artwork(picture on fan) is RED.</p><p>New Card: Sapphire HD 4870, 512MB - This artwork is BLACK.</p><p>Anyways, hopefully someone else will see this that is having problems. Saving one person's grief is well worth me bringing this dead post alive again.</p><p>Thanks for everyone's suggestions from before.</p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p>That's too bad about the card but it's nice to hear that the dealer replaced it quickly for you.  I liked the sapphire card I was using previously but there will always be issues with the first production run of any electronics.  Just ask anyone who bought a launch Xbox 360. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" /></p><p>I'm glad to hear it's working for you and let us know if you need any further help.</p>

[Detor]

<p><cite>TSR-DanielH wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p> but there will always be issues with the first production run of any electronics.  Just ask anyone who bought a launch Xbox 360. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" /></p><p>I'm glad to hear it's working for you and let us know if you need any further help.</p></blockquote><p>When did the Xbox 360 issues become a 'first production run' only problem? hehe</p><p>My original Xbox was pretty unreliable too, but Microsoft does seem to have a top notch return process.  They overnight a box to you with a paid return shipping label in it, and get you a replacement out pretty soon after they receive yours with express shipping back to you.</p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p><cite>Detor wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>When did the Xbox 360 issues become a 'first production run' only problem? hehe</p><p>My original Xbox was pretty unreliable too, but Microsoft does seem to have a top notch return process.  They overnight a box to you with a paid return shipping label in it, and get you a replacement out pretty soon after they receive yours with express shipping back to you.</p></blockquote><p>The red ring problem definitely wasn't restricted to the first run, but most of the DVD drive issues were worked out pretty fast.  My launch 360 couldn't run some new games without 3 or 4 attempts, while my second 360 was able to emulate scratched Xbox games that had been sitting on my counter (outside the box) for a good 5 years.  I was finally able to pick up my old career mode game for Links 2004(best golf game ever).</p><p>/derail over <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" /></p>