Random system lock in game

[Lt Llama]

Due to a minor accident with my old comp I had to quickly get a new one. Or new, well, a better second hand one. So far I'm pleased with most of it except for some random system locks when I play TFC or HL2 games.

Specs:
AMD 4400 x2 64 bit, 2200 MHz
Motherboard: MSI RS 480M2 (3 PCI and 1 PCI-e x 16)
GPU: Radeon X1300/X1550
GPU drivers: Omega 3.8.442
OS. XP Pro 32 bit
2 GB ram

I know the GPU is ancient but it shouldnt lock the system for no reason.
I uninstalled the ATI catalyst drivers and control center and installed Omega yesterday. Someone told me they had similar problems which they solved with Omega.

The crash is vey random and can come in TFC or FF or HL2.
System locks and the image freeze. I can hear a buzzing sound when it locks but the comp is totally not responding.

After changing to Omega I got it working a long time.
But I tested playing HL2 and after 1,5 hours it locked again.

I'm not a friend of hard booting so if anyone had any similar problems it would be nice if you could share some experience .

[Paft]

With the experiences I have had in the past it has been CPU or GPU heat issue .

Don't know what experience you have but does that sound like a possibility?

If so, see what temps you get after running a game for a while.
http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

[Lt Llama]

Thx! Maybe its in the pro version you can see temp for the GPU or this particular one dont have any sensor.

Anyway. Without playing any games it looks like this:

-----------------------------------------------------

SMSC LP47M192 hardware monitor

Voltage sensor 0 0.00 Volts [0x0] (+2.5V)
Voltage sensor 1 0.00 Volts [0x0] (CPU VCORE)
Voltage sensor 2 0.00 Volts [0x0] (ATX +3.3V)
Voltage sensor 3 0.00 Volts [0x0] (ATX +5V)
Voltage sensor 4 5.46 Volts [0x57] (ATX +12V)
Voltage sensor 5 3.32 Volts [0xC1] (HVCC)
Voltage sensor 6 0.00 Volts [0x0] (+1.5V)
Voltage sensor 7 0.00 Volts [0x0] (+1.8V)
Temperature sensor 0 41°C (105°F) [0x29] (Diode 1)
Temperature sensor 1 36°C (96°F) [0x24] (Ambient)
Temperature sensor 2 115°C (238°F) [0x73] (Diode 2)


-----------------------------------------------------

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 39°C (102°F) [0x58] (Core #0)
Temperature sensor 1 45°C (112°F) [0x5E] (Core #1)

-----------------------------------------------------

SAMSUNG SP1614C hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 43°C (109°F) [0x2B] (HDD)

-----------------------------------------------------

WDC WD2000JB-00GVA0 hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 38°C (100°F) [0x26] (HDD)


Display Adapter
-----------------------------------------------------
Name Radeon X1300/X1550 Series (Omega 3.8.442)
Family 0x20500
Vendor ID 0x1002 (0x1462)
Model ID 0x7146 (0x470)
Revision ID 0x0

This looks kind of worrying:

Temperature sensor 2 115°C (238°F) [0x73] (Diode 2)

But PC Health in Bios says
CPU: 43 C
System: 37 C
Fan high temp: 65 C

So what is this Diode 2?

[Demasu]

Originally Posted by Lt Llama

Thx! Maybe its in the pro version you can see temp for the GPU or this particular one dont have any sensor.

Anyway. Without playing any games it looks like this:



This looks kind of worrying:



But PC Health in Bios says
CPU: 43 C
System: 37 C
Fan high temp: 65 C

So what is this Diode 2?

How's the air flow through your case? Try this program and see if it says what your temps are. It measures my GPU temp but I also have nvidia's control panel that'll tell me that too, but go ahead and see if that works too. Go ahead and try to get a measurement while you're in game too, that'll definitely help see if it's a heat problem or not.

[Lt Llama]

Thx Demasu. Tried it and it shows 2 core temps (which are below 55 degrees C at any point) and for the hard drives. Nothing out of the ordinary. Otherwise very detailed program. A keeper.

[Demasu]

Originally Posted by Lt Llama

Thx Demasu. Tried it and it shows 2 core temps (which are below 55 degrees C at any point) and for the hard drives. Nothing out of the ordinary. Otherwise very detailed program. A keeper.

You're welcome. On that program, if you leave it up when you play a game, and it doesn't freeze, what's the max recorded temperature? Also, when it locks up, have you tried waiting for 10~20 minutes to see if it unfreezes? I've had it before where a game will freeze, get that buzzing, and then it'll be fine in a few minutes. If it does do that, quit the game and see what the temps were. Also make sure you have all your drivers up to date, graphics, sound, everything.

[Agent Buckshot Moose]

You wouldn't have happened to overclocked your CPU would you? That can make your computer overheat pretty easily.

[Phatman]

How big is your power supply? I had that issue when I had grabbed an nvidia 6200. Power supply was a little on the low side and caused all sorts of havok.

[Lt Llama]

Originally Posted by Agent Buckshot Moose

You wouldn't have happened to overclocked your CPU would you? That can make your computer overheat pretty easily.

I havent touched it but I'll check the bios to be sure it's not been tampered with.

Originally Posted by Phatman

How big is your power supply? I had that issue when I had grabbed an nvidia 6200. Power supply was a little on the low side and caused all sorts of havok.

It's a 400 watt power supply so you might be right. Worth a try but it's only a Radeon X1300.

[Shadow00Caster]

Alot of programs get the diode #2 reading all fucked up. also try older gpu drivers, ati is really pissy like that.