Okay, I posted here awhile back with a problem, and I said I would go out and upgrade parts and try everything again. I've done that and I still have the same issue. I'll restate my problem.

Okay, about 6months ago, I began to want to play The Sims 2 again, and my PC then was able to handle the game and originally played it well with no problems, along with other games. But, then it started to only get about 10mins into game play and the game would just hang, with the speakers creating a heavy buzzing noise (which I would guess would just be the in-game sound freezing as well.) then after about a min, the PC restarted itself. So I felt it was time for a few new upgrades. I was on a strict budget of no more than about $200-$250. So I went from:

Windows XP Professional Edition
ATI Radeon 9250 Graphics Card
Intel Pentium 4 3.04GHz Processor
512MB Ram
VIA P4M??? Motherboard
150GB Maxtor Hard Drive
500w Power Supply

to the following:

Windows XP Professional Edition
XFX nVidia GeForce 8400GS 512MB Graphics Card
Intel Pentium D 3.4GHz Processor
1024MB Ram
Intel DG31PR Motherboard
Same 150GB Maxtor Hard Drive
525w Power Supply
And a new casing

Windows XP was freshly installed on the new PC and everything. Installed the games. Loaded up The Sims 2, and shockingly, after about 10mins of game play, once again it hung up and restarted itself like before. So none of the upgrades helped. It does this while playing games like Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 as well. My PC is well above the RECOMMENDED requirements of the game, double-checked this with system requirements lab. So I should be able to play the game no problem. I even tried playing with graphics at the lowest possible settings, still incur the same problem. Any ideas on how to fix this issue. I'm 98% positive all my drivers are up-to-date.

I posted over at some other minor forums for some opinions, where I then discovered that my PC was severely overheating, was running at a LOW:66 HIGHEST:87, which is just too hot for my PC. Found out it was a weak CPU Fan, so now I've got a stronger fan rated more for my processor. Lowered Temps to LOW:53 HIGH:75. Still not incredible, but much better. I'm going to invest in a few stronger case fans over the next 2 weeks to better increase flow and try to get the high to stay in the mid 60's and low in the 40's. But anyways, it's not too hot that overheating should be causing the lockups. So what is? Everything is up to date on my PC. I've been trying to fix this for well over 6months now and it's getting to be extremely angering. I've invested a lot of money in this PC for it to not even run games. Please help. Thank you.

Hey Legend,

Welcome back! Sorry to hear that you are still having these problems. It is possible that the high temps caused some bad sectors in your memory sticks. I would run Memtest, just to be on the safe side.

Also, although you sound really thorough, have you maxed out on memory? That can be a real issue for high graphic games.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

TTFN

LGW

A gig of RAM should run it fine, I know for a fact that it can be run on 512.

Could you grab the minidumps from C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\ please? I will take a look over them.

Hi Chris,

While I appreciate your expertise, the problem may not be with "how much" RAM Legend has but whether or not is is damaged. Let's start with the easy things first, and then go with the more complicated options. Alright?

Legend, please start with the Mem test, if that comes up completely clean, give Chris' mini dump a try next.

TTFN

LGW

Whoops, sorry! Yeah, you should try a memtest first, I misread lady's post.

Will get on running a MemTest right now. If all is good there, I will up the minidump.

Quick Question.

Temperatures for my CPU were originally running at
Lowest: 57 Highest: 87

After some new fans and some out of the ordinary ideas and tweaking, they are now,
Lowest: 43 Highest: 64/65

For a Pent. D 945 3.04 GHz processor. Are these good temps? It isthe best I can get for quite some time as I can not afford anymore fans, coolers, heatsinks, etc. This is it for some time. I know the Max Temp for my processor is somewhere around 68/69. My pc no longer gets to this temp. So is it safe to say my pc is no longer overheating?

Hey Legend,

The short answer is Yes. You are no longer overheating. When you run the memtest, if you get errors showing, the best way to find the errant stick, is to remove all but one, make sure it is in the first slot, and test them with memtest one by one. Sorry, but that's actually the easiest way. If you get no errors, can you please follow Chris's instructions for the minidump, and we'll see if there is any indication of the problem there.


We'll keep an eye out for your results,

TTFN

LGW