System halting while playing Crysis

[Unfocused]

I get a weird issue while playing Crysis. At some points of the map (the first one, but I guess I'll experience this on the other ones), usually while looking in the direction of the sea, my system comes to a halt. First, the game freezes with the music still playing (but everything else stops, inculding AI etc.), then after a few seconds a split second part of the music repeats itself several times (stutters) and then the music stops as well. After a few seconds the game is again playable, only for the issue to occur again in a moment.

I checked the Event Log and at the times of the halt, I had an event logged -

IdeChnDr - The device, \Device\Ide\IdeDeviceP0T1L0, did not respond within the timeout period.

I googled this and found out it's got something to do with Intel Application Accelerator, so I removed it. Now, that didn't remove the problem, the only difference is that I don't get an event logged as I had before.

The GPU is not overheating. I checked the HDD with SeaTools from the Ultimate Boot CD, by performing a Long Test and everything seems to be fine here.

Specs:

Intel D845PESV mobo
Pentium IV 2,8Ghz (533FSB version)
1536MB RAM
GF6800GS
Seagate 160GB ATA HDD

Of course I'm playing on low.

I had the same problem in the demo, but only in-game, not in Sandbox, that was fine. I haven't checked if the problem occurs in Sandbox in the full version, but given what I said, it probably won't.

Any ideas?

 

[Asus]

Well it is a IDE device error. A few things come to mind.
Cable could be going bad. Or the HDD controller on the motherboard.

Do you know how to switch IDE settings? Master/slave
Could switch were the drive is plugged into the board. Or try a different IDE cable.

Another thing you could try is re-installing Intel chipset drivers.

 

[Unfocused]

Thanks, I'll try switching those, but if it was a general IDE error, wouldn't it occur not only in Crysis?

 

[Saturos]

Playing on low settings doesn't bother you? I personally would not even bother with Crysis until I have the funds to purchase the more powerful 88xx series of GeForce cards. Or Bioshock for that matter. I can't stand playing a technically high-end game with butchered quality setting. I couldn't even stand playing Oblivion on medium texture settings. 25-30FPS is just fine for me with the textures turned up to Large. To me that would be like giving a '89 Toyota Corolla a fresh coat of gloss, adding spoilers, and calling it a Ferrari. (Ok, I know that's a lousy analogy, but you get the drift.) But seriously, I don't know some of you guys can do it. It wouldn't feel next-gen enough for me as a game like Crysis should and hence, it wouldn't be worth purchasing imo.