Screen Freeze/Game Locks up after 45 to 50 mins playing online

[TequilaChaser]

I have recently experienced my Game freezing up on me 3 seperate times in a row................. 2 were back to back

then a weeks worth of trying to troubleshoot, then uninstalling and doing a complete new fresh install of the game ( I did this because I went through like 7 different updates on said computer just to get it current to be able to log online ) ( also, because I received an excessive films , try removing some  message ingame, so this helped me decide to do ao new fresh install )

bur right at or near 45 minutes to 50 minutes the game has froze on me, I once immediately did a Hard Reboot and got back in intime to remain in flight...... just to have it freeze on me around 45 minutes later for the 2nd time



my PC Specs for the PC giving me the hassle...

PC Gaming Rig #2:
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
Thermaltake Level10-GT Case......................... .........Thermaltake Black Widow TR2 RX 850W Modular PSU
Intel i7-2600K 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) cpu...............Corsair CAFA70 120mm A70 Dual-Fan CPU Cooler
ASUS Intel P8Z68 Deluxe MB........................... ........Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 1600mhz (PC3 12800)
XFX HD-695X-CDDC HD6950 2GB VideoCard.................... ....(2)Crucial CT128M4SSD2 128GB SATA 6.0Gb/s SSD's in "RAID 0"  <--edit: not in "RAID 0" anymore, was overkill I'm back to a single SSD now )
ASUS Xonar DS Soundcard.................... ..................HITACHI Deskstar 7K3000 1.5TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s HD
CHproducts HOTAS (CHFighterStick\CHProThrottle\CHPedals)........Logitech G510 Gaming Keyboard \ GigaByte Lazer Gaming Mouse
Hanns-G HZ281HPB 28'' 1920x1200 3ms Full HD 1080P HDMI WideScreen 16:10 LCD Monitor

I have checked all my temps on all my devices using ADIA64Extreme  program ........  I did have my video OC'ed but after fresh game install,  reset everything back to factory settings

I noticed that during FSO, at launch and while flying that my FPS ingame was down fluctuating from 17 to 40 back and forth....... I mention this, because me and Drano have nearly indentical systems, and I would normally be peged at the 59/60 FPS at all times maybe dipping to 52/51 at launch..... I told Drano during flight and asked what he was getting, he was at his normal 59/60 FPS and told me something wasn't right on my end/system ......

anything else I can provide  info/spec wise, just let me know......  

NOTE: I built this PC back around July/August 2011 and have never had 1 single problem with it ..... until this  

TC ( Johnny )

[Blagard]

I would strongly suspect that your graphics card has been damaged and it won't make any difference by reverting it to defaults once the damage is done.

I note you have some testing software and mention only temperature. Does the same software also stress test the graphics card for hardware errors and if so, can the test be run for a similar period like a hour?

[TequilaChaser]

I would strongly suspect that your graphics card has been damaged and it won't make any difference by reverting it to defaults once the damage is done.

I note you have some testing software and mention only temperature. Does the same software also stress test the graphics card for hardware errors and if so, can the test be run for a similar period like a hour?

Thanks for the suggestion Blagard........... that very well could be it.....

Yes I got some stuff I can throw at it to see if the VC is falling short on me or starting to fail......  even though it was not OC'ed very much at all , maybe 10% to 15% total so I could maintain running everything at max settings in the game in the advance video settings  ( textures I set at 4096,  Hires set to 2048,  etc... )....... it has that Double Lifetime Warranty on it anyways, so heck if it is bad, they might give me a newer model ( wish wish )

I been so busy fixing numerous (other people's ) laptops and desktops that my mind was/has been and still is in pc repair overload........

I just was looking for some of you to throw ideas at me, since my mind is currently stuck in "SONY VAIO land" redoing my oldest Daughter's laptop after her plate type HD  bricked on her........ yet she wants it back to factory settings like the day she got it.....   ( my youngest Daughter has a Toshiba laptop, and I am currently upgrading it all at the same time  kinda sorta.....

any other ideas any of you have, they'll be much appreciated........ sometimes it is the most simplest overlooked item, the ones most would never really consider..... heh

<S>

TC ( Johnny )

[Bizman]

Yepp, it might be the video card. It could also be the PSU. Overheating doesn't sound like an option, since you could immediately play about as long as on the first stint. How about memory, both standard and video? I mean, could it be possible that it would take the game almost an hour to fill the ram until it will reach the faulty chip? Memtest86+, OCCT...

Just out of curiosity, do you have any major problems installing the Vaio? Because I had, last winter IIRC. Solved...

[gyrene81]

well, good thing is if the video card is crapping out on you, you can get it replaced for the price of some postage. unless you have been getting some other graphics anomalies, i wouldn't suspect that as the issue though. if you were getting random bsod's i'd suspect memory. how long has it been since you reseated that cpu cooler with fresh thermal paste?

sounds somewhat like a driver conflict. the last time mine did a freeze after an hour of playing it turned out to be a conflict of audio driver and my video card driver update.

[MADe]

When this happened to me, it was the sound drivers.

Not an expert, but in my experience. Sound cards, drivers, related stuff have caused my in game freezes. Total lock up, reboot situation.
When I had vid cards fail, game only crashed. Its the 3D processing that trips a card, mine would run 2D fine. Bad fan.

Disable the sound card in devices. Load the game, see what happens.

I have to use ms drivers for my sound instead of manufacturers, manufacturers cause what you describe above.
Make sure the fan for vid card is working.

[TequilaChaser]

sounds somewhat like a driver conflict. the last time mine did a freeze after an hour of playing it turned out to be a conflict of audio driver and my video card driver update.

Heya gyrene,
yes sir, it was a driver conflict / bug ....... searched through all my event loggers and software and stumbled upon some event logs showing something similar to the following, each with a time stamp correlating with the times the video kept freezing on me or locking the game up on me

(example  not exact )
ERROR: an error occurred in the ATI.CCC.VIEWER.EXE; an error was experienced at 19:58pm    <--- something similar

I checked and was using that dang ATI CCC  cat version 12.8  drivers..........

not sure why, I usually do not load anything but the video driver itself, guess I clicked full install or something.......... but each noted time of my freeze or lock ups on video in game showed the same error similar to the example I posted above........

anyone know what is the most current reliable cat driver/video driver for my XFX 6950 2 GB GDDR5  VC at the moment?

I been dieing to play but flying for 30 to 40 minutes then video freezing during mid flight & or dogfight just is no fun.......

I need to get online and get my rear back to helping others in certain places......

<S>

TC ( Johnny )

[Skuzzy]

Never install the ATI Catalyst Control Center and your computer will thank you for it.

[gyrene81]

Never install the ATI Catalyst Control Center and your computer will thank you for it.

bah, i've been using the vision control center for a while now and as long as you know what you're doing, it works fine...    (most of the time)

hey TC, i have xfx 6950 2gb double d card running i believe either vision control center 12.8 or 12.10...may grab one of the 13 series, but not the latest.

[Drano]

I never install anything but the Cat drivers, never with CCC. I do use ATI Tray tools tho. I ran into problems with Cat drivers past v12.5 that gave wierd screen twirling as I moved the mouse so I backed up to these. They worky. 

TC and I built PCs at about the same time and my sys is almost identical to his. I have an MSI card vs his XFX but pretty much otherwise the same. I have no problems with mine to date.

[TequilaChaser]

well I guess it isn't fixed.......

I removed all AMD/ATI software/hardware drivers including the catalyst install manager

I then installed only the display driver version 13.4  and nothing else!  now I can run max settings again!!! like I could before this problem popped up... all sliders full  2048 textures in the video settings at login screen and no AA setting

in game textures are on 4096 everything checked in advance etc.....  frame rate is back to a constant 59/60 FPS  but the damn game keeps locking up ( well my PC or SSD keeps locking up ) right at 50 to 56 minutes

I did 2 test runs this morning ...... actually it locked up once before I even did my 2 test runs in game, I was just using the web to catch up on the boards and such.......

I am starting to think I got something going bad, component wise..... but everything has checked out good in all my tests.....

this crap is so frustrating and demoralizing.....  VC temp  38 to 40 celcius ,  MB 32 to 35 celcius, cpu 32 to 36 celcius, case inside temp 32 celcius sometimes lower and that is with the heat on in the room  room temp is around 72 to 75 degrees

Skuzzy, Sir!  Is there anyway to gather information from an AH film about what might be happening? just curious......

TC

[The Fugitive]

Well Skuzzy suggests you don't run the game on an SSD...

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,344610.msg4551261.html#msg4551261

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,348028.msg4596406.html#msg4596406

Maybe this is an issue that Skuzzy anticipated. It should be an easy enough to remove it from the SSD and install it on the disk drive and try it.

[TequilaChaser]

Well Skuzzy suggests you don't run the game on an SSD...

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,344610.msg4551261.html#msg4551261

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,348028.msg4596406.html#msg4596406

Maybe this is an issue that Skuzzy anticipated. It should be an easy enough to remove it from the SSD and install it on the disk drive and try it.

Yes Fugi, I'm aware of Skuzzy's recommendations and his posts on ssd drives...

Although I have 2 other computers with the exactly same type SSD in each, and also 1 of them is several months older and has no issues playing AH or doing anything else... It is nearly identical to my above listed Intel system, except it is an AMD Q975 3.6 ghz quad core... and an XFX HD6870 1gb VC....
every thing else is basically identical....

TC

[Skuzzy]

SSD's can fail randomly, just like an HD.

It is an easy enough exercise to install the game on a hard drive (assuming there is one in the computer) and try it.

[TequilaChaser]

SSD's can fail randomly, just like an HD.

It is an easy enough exercise to install the game on a hard drive (assuming there is one in the computer) and try it.

Hey Skuzzy, Sir,
I found it not to be the game, during my last post... It is locking/freezing up without even accessing AH

I am in the process of swapping my Intel system out for my older AMD Q975 system... Until I can get time to fix my Intel system...

~§~

TC