Having Computer Problems
polycounter lvl 10
Hey Guys,
Wasn't sure if I should post this in the Technical Talk sub-forum or here. Decided to post it here since its a series issue that is getting in the way of me getting work done.
My computer keeps crashing randomly, forcing me to shut it down incorrectly. It's happened numerous times now, most commonly when I have UDK open. It's crashed once while I was enabling high-quality mode on a shader in Max. It's happened once while I was playing Crysis 2. It's happened once while I double-clicked on a photo to view it (the photo was in My Documents). Its happened about 5 times with UDK (well 5 that I remember, sure there was more) twice after I have baked Lightmass and moved the viewport and three times when I am just moving around in the editor.
Before my PC crashes, my mouse icon has that 'loading' state and I cannot use my keyboard. After about 2 seconds, everything just stops working and BAM! Crash. I doubt its a virus since this issue only occurs while I am using something that demands high graphical power. I have been able to use Zbrush and Photoshop with no problem.
I am not sure if the issue pertains to my graphics card or something else. Here are my computer specs:
-Windows 7 64-Bit Home Premium
-2.40GHz Dual Core Processor
-7.00 GB RAM
-NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 Graphics Card
I currently have this driver installed: http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-winvista-64bit-270.61-whql-driver.html
I've had my computer for little over a year now and I've never had this issue until about 3 months ago. I try to avoid using UDK since that seems to be the biggest contributor to the PC crashing, but it's also happened outside of UDK.
Any ideas? I don't want my computer to Blue Screen from all these incorrect shut-down's I've been forced to do. I want to leave any and all crashing to Crash Bandicoot, not my PC.
Thanks guys!
Wasn't sure if I should post this in the Technical Talk sub-forum or here. Decided to post it here since its a series issue that is getting in the way of me getting work done.
My computer keeps crashing randomly, forcing me to shut it down incorrectly. It's happened numerous times now, most commonly when I have UDK open. It's crashed once while I was enabling high-quality mode on a shader in Max. It's happened once while I was playing Crysis 2. It's happened once while I double-clicked on a photo to view it (the photo was in My Documents). Its happened about 5 times with UDK (well 5 that I remember, sure there was more) twice after I have baked Lightmass and moved the viewport and three times when I am just moving around in the editor.
Before my PC crashes, my mouse icon has that 'loading' state and I cannot use my keyboard. After about 2 seconds, everything just stops working and BAM! Crash. I doubt its a virus since this issue only occurs while I am using something that demands high graphical power. I have been able to use Zbrush and Photoshop with no problem.
I am not sure if the issue pertains to my graphics card or something else. Here are my computer specs:
-Windows 7 64-Bit Home Premium
-2.40GHz Dual Core Processor
-7.00 GB RAM
-NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 Graphics Card
I currently have this driver installed: http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-winvista-64bit-270.61-whql-driver.html
I've had my computer for little over a year now and I've never had this issue until about 3 months ago. I try to avoid using UDK since that seems to be the biggest contributor to the PC crashing, but it's also happened outside of UDK.
Any ideas? I don't want my computer to Blue Screen from all these incorrect shut-down's I've been forced to do. I want to leave any and all crashing to Crash Bandicoot, not my PC.
Thanks guys!
Replies
Maybe test your RAM with Memtest86+
I was using 7 gigs of RAM since I had an extra stick lying around. I recently added that seventh-stick too, so that might be the issue. I have switched it back to 6 gigs. I ran a memory check on my computer with the 6 gigs and I logged no errors. There is a command in Win7 to check your ram: Start -> Run -> mdsched
If the issue continues, I will look further into what you posted, Lamont.
Thanks again! Having an odd number of RAM as the instigator cause to the crashing would have never crossed my mind...
How would I fix the GPU from overheating?
**You sneaky guy with your ninja edit lol!!
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html
Also if when restarting your comp the screen appears corrupt then its a vram issue. If itis your gpu, I believe they do sell aftermarket coolors that you could use, but its best to just replace the card outright.
If you still get it after removing that extra gig of ram, then let us know anything else that may have changed since this happened.
Thanks guys! Issue resolved
EDIT: Alright, so UDK caused my computer to crash again right now. I was saving a upk package and it crashed. Guess it wasn't the extra stick of RAM after all. Lamont, you posted a list of things. How do I check some of them and what do I look for?
-Card settings (in the control panel)
-Make sure your task bar isn't set to Auto-Hide
-Log video card data
-Power consumption.
Not sure what I should be looking for in these. I also can't check my GPU temperature since I can't bring it up while its crashing. There isn't a way to have it on screen at all times while having another program open.
Thanks
Not sure what to check next.
Was there anything changed on your PC before this started happening?
Check your CPU heatsink. I'm assuming you've looked at things already, but just make sure it isn't packed with shit, which could cause it to overheat.
Defrag your hard drive.
Start disconnecting non-essential stuff. Like, the optical drive(s). I know it may seem odd to remove some things, but items can cause conflicts with others on the bus.
Do these steps one at a time though. I'm not saying all of these are necessary, but they may start pinpointing your problem
If you are still crashing Windows and other apps as well, then there might still be something wrong.
I doubt its from overheating, as my temperatures never go over 70*C. Last night, withing 10minutes of turning on my PC, I started up UDK and opened a level an as soon as I started moving around, it crashed. I am starting to suspect it is my graphics card =/
I was able to use Zbrush under lots of stress yesterday, so I doubt its a RAM issue. To my understanding, Zbrush doesn't really use your graphics card, just memory.
I error-checked and defraged my hard-drive. After it was done, it gave me no log so I am not sure if it found any errors.
Thanks again for all the support! I appreciate it.
Can you list all specs of the RAM you have please?
If you don't know, get CPUZ and install that bad boy and gets the specs off there.
All the RAM slots had the same specs, except for the memory size and things like serial number, so I only grabbed one.
That s a dual channel board and you are running maybe a matched pair, a separate stick of the same 2Gb of RAM and then the 1Gb.
Mis matched RAM can be a cause of crashes.
What exactly is the RAM you bought?... did you buy the 6gb at the same time or separately?
My thoughts at least
I had 2 sticks of 2gigs and 2 sticks of 1gig each. Thats's what I am currently using now. I think I bought them at the same time, I don't remember. It was a while back.
Are you saying they should all be the same size of RAM? I'am a bit confused lol >.<
Ideally all RAM sticks in your PC should be the same brand, size, speed, model number, and even lot number (so that they all have the exact same specs).
That's why adding new RAM to old RAM is always risky, sometimes it works ok, sometimes it doesn't. Even when buying the exact same type from the manufacturer you can sometimes run into problems if there are large differences between lot numbers.
You could try fiddling with the BIOS settings for your RAM to see if you can get a more stable environment. But I don't know too much about that, and it might just make things worse. Definitely do some googling before you try this.
I recommend you take out the two 1 GB sticks and see if that helps. If you need more RAM it's best to buy a pair that matches the ones you already have, or better yet just buy 4 matched new sticks.
Though in the end it might not be your RAM at all since Zbrush ran well for you and it uses RAM instead of GPU.
Have you tried changing to a different Nvidia driver?
Still, as Ben says, all RAM should ideally be matched - so it could quite possibly be that.
I honestly don't think it's your video card. At least not directly. Maybe an errand video card driver, but considering it's working for ZBrush, I don't think it would be the hardware.
I do have to say up front here, that I'm not familiar with UDK though. I know what it is, but haven't messed with it much, to know what parts of the system it really utilizes most.
then there should be no issues
my guess is a faulty video card,
i had that issue oncy and my computer froze each core until it was completely frozen
in beween 2 secs or something, then eiter hung or crashed
my gpu was defect , i replaced it and everything was finde again (until the psu died, but thats another story^^)
I unfortunately do not have another video card to test the issue out with =/ I did however downgrade my video driver to one from December of 2010. I will see if a combination of these things gets rid of the problem.
Arrangemonk's issue sounds much like mine, with the lag before a crash. Perhaps it IS the video card or gpu.
I will test out the changes and report back with the results. If it doesn't crash within a couple of days, I will assume it was the driver and/or the RAM mismatch. If it crashes, well I guess we could call it on the card.
Thanks again for all the responses! I've learned a lot from everyone's replies :]
Time to test...
That board takes dual channel memory, so any RAM you put in, you should buy in pairs.
Either
Remove the two 1Gb sticks and stay with 4Gb
Buy another matched pair of the RAM you already have - this would probably work
Sell the other 2 sticks of RAM and buy 4 sticks of the same RAM at the same time, preferably in a set of 4 matched sticks.
The second option should work, but its not 100%
Best option is the last one unfortunately
Thanks for looking out!
The thing is, to limit possible conflicts as much as possible, even if removing an item doesn't make sense. The thing is, nothing else is causing your computer to crash. Only the UDK. Have you checked UDK forums to see if others are having similar issues? Maybe the UDK is trying to activate something in your video card that it doesn't support... and the video card may be crashing the system, because it doesn't know how to handle the command.
For instance: http://forums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=765859
Thanks to everyone who spent time trying to fix this with me!