Problems with my new rig

[Akazukin Cha Cha]

Hi guys, perhaps ye of holier computer cloth, can help me out with a problem I am having.

 

I built a new rig for my wife, specifically for her games (Sims, Spore, Starcraft, Crysis)

 

Here is it's specs:

 

cpu- Intel Core 2 Duo e8400 Wolfdale

gpu- EVGA Geforce 9800 GT

ram- 4GB corsair ddr2

mobo- GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R

psu- 535w (forgot manufacturer, im at work >_<)

hdds- 70gb ide for OS, 750gb Seagate sata barracuda as data drive

optical- SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner

(2 case fans going, no overclocking or non-factory direct settings for power usage on mobo, gpu or cpu)

OS- Windows Vista Ultimate (i know, i know, i got it for her because it auto updates drivers and hotfixes, and is easier to use, she isn't tech savy and the computer can handle the resource usage)

 

 

Nothing fancy.

 

Anyways, the problem is stemming from Sims 2: Seasons. It's the latest Sims 2, and she plays it often, and the game is freezing, crashing andlocking up the whole computer constantly. It also crashed 2 times during Crysis.

 

My immediate thoughts to troubleshoot was:

 

-internal temp - that checked out, it ok around 54-58 degrees running games

-vid card 12v rail not getting exactly 12v- i heard this can cause instability, but my friends say this is false, the rail currently recieves 11.397v from the PSU.

-driver issues- I DL'd all drivers that I could find on EVGA and Nvidia's site for the 9800, none seemd to do the trick, rolled back as well, no avail.

-checked Sims websites to see if there is any known issues with Seasons and the geforce 9800 series or Vista, nothing I can find jumped out at me

-I did a ram check, all that came out fine

-Uninstalled EVERY expansion of sims and reinstalled them several times, but both times primarily on the 80gb OS drive, would tryign to install it on the 750gb sata data drive do any good? Each installation we took the time to get the patch for EVERY sims expansion as we loaded it, this is a very long and painful process, I hope reinstalling is not in the solutions again

 

I am stumped. I know a bit about computers, but I'm no expert. This is the first computer I built without any aid, and it stinks that my wife cannot play the ONE GAME she really loves, due to it crashing often.

 

Any and all suggestions would be VERY appreciated!

 

thanks!

 

-Brian

Edited October 5, 2008 by Akazukin Cha Cha

[Buckett]

Main thing I would look at is the voltage for your 12v+ (idle and under load). Is there a way you can get them from inside Windows (like Giga's mobo tool)? You can get the idle voltage from BIOS.

 

Your system can get all flaky if the 12v rail is out of range (i.e. +12.6 or -11.4). Ran into that problem myself quite recently...750W PSU, AMD CPU, 2GB RAM, x850XT, single 80GB HDD, no optical...thing had NOTHING in the box other than what was absolutely necessary for the system to run, and crashed every time I ran Warhammer. PSU was putting +12.75v over the 12v rail. Changed PSU to 350W El Cheapo, and *voila!* it works now...

[ParoxysM]

This is the first computer I built without any aid

 

-Brian

Bring it to the LAN...we love to troubleshoot stuff there.

[DaPoets]

Install the free Windows XP64 bit trial edition on it (dual boot), update it fully w/ all your drivers, and then install the games again. Yeah it's a couple hours of work but it will help everyone determine if it's a software problem or a hardware problem.

 

The xp64 trial edition lasts for like 120 days and can be downloaded from microsoft.

 

Games freezing could also be a videocard heating up too much but your system isn't that heat intensive it seems to me, unless you just have poor airflow.