Game randomly crashing...PLEASE HELP!

[se7eng]

System specs: 1.9 ghz, 1 Gig PC800 Ram, Geforce 6800 GT 256 mb (i believe i have all the latest drivers installed)

Symptoms: At random points during gameplay, the game will lock up, the video signal seems to shut off and i hear this high pitch studdering/grinding noise from my speakers.

I initially thought it was a system brownout because i didn't have a strong enough power supply but after buying a true blue 480W supply, it still continues to happen. I also notice the documented "stuttering problem" when i click on menu items at the beginning of the game but never during gameplay. Otherwise, the game runs extremely smoothly and i have not noticed any other issues during gameplay.

Please help me diagnose this annoying problem because I absolutely love this game and would like to play in peace!

 

[giant384]

isnt pc800 ram old

 

[se7eng]

isnt pc800 ram old

PC800 is older but i'm not sure if that would cause this type of bug to manifest.

 

[giant384]

well i have pc2100 and i dont even have an agp slot it could be that u have a 1.9ghz proccesor isnt that kind of a huge bottleneck on the cpu with a 6800 GT

 

[Sovek]

PC800 is older but i'm not sure if that would cause this type of bug to manifest.

I have PC3500, and I have the same problem. The game will play fine for 10-15 minutes, then it will lock up at a random point, and crash to desktop without any error message. Since the initial loading time is so long, and since I’ve had to quick-save every two minutes just so that some progress can be made between crashes, it’s really made the game unplayable. I also experience the high-pitched tone right before the crash (as the windows cursor appears and as the screen blackens and disappears to the desktop).

Here are my specs:
AMD AthlonXP 2700+
512MB PC3500 DDR
Creative Audigy 2
GeForce 3 Ti200

The drivers are updated, and I've tried various Nvidia releases for the GC. Nothing has changed. I'd really appreciate any help.

 

[Cyan Leader]

Do this happens when it tries to save the game?

 

[Sovek]

Do this happens when it tries to save the game?

No. It happens at any point during the game. Sometimes I'm firing my weapon; sometimes I'm climbing steps; sometimes I'm just standing around with no activity about me. I've actually left the game on the initial menu for 10-15 minutes, and it has crashed to desktop, just as I described before.

 

[clarky003]

i have the same problem, it just started today... im thinking its something to do with steam.

2.8 ghz

9600 xt 256

1.5 gig of ram

loadsa free space. like 120 gig

machine works fine outside of the game,, 'starts pointing finger at the game and steam again'

 

[Sovek]

Mine has been doing this for two weeks (since I first installed it). So, if the problem is Steam, it probably isn't the result of any recent update.

 

[clarky003]

ah poo, i was basing my theory on that, weird then.... maybe its GPU related , and its conking the motherboard out... might explain why the crash is so harsh, and why it only happens when you play HL2, its best to test it on other games , see if it does it then, if not then you know its steam/ HL2 related.

 

[giant384]

could be virus or spyware of some sort i havent had any problems with the game yet except accidently changing it to the wrong resolution that screwed my game up

 

[Troika]

Check for viruses, check for spyware, check Event Viewer if it says anything,check if you disabled any Windows services recently to "gain" performance, check if your GPU is overheating, check if your RAM is OK under stress, check if your computer has irq conflict, post the results and we'll discuss it again.