All games freeze my just built PC

[CrowsofFritz]

I'm using this PC to type, actually. Only games freeze the computer and it happens immediately.

I can get to the main screen just fine, and I can configure video settings all I want without a problem. Once the actual graphics starts, however, it's an immediate freeze (with an audio loop), which leads to BSOD.

L4D2: Loading screen completes. Not even one frame plays. Freeze (with audio loop). BSOD. Computer restarts.

Skyrim: Loading screen completes. A couple seconds in the prisoner carriage. Freeze (audio loop, too). BSOD. Computer restarts.

Starforge Alpha: Can't even get into a game. Freezes at loading screen (music still plays, strangely). BSOD. Computer restarts.

What are all the possible explanations for this?

Specs:

GT 640
Core 2 Duo e6750
Gigabyte G41MT-S2PT
300w Rosewill (I was told this would be more than enough for the GPU. Would this definitely be the problem?)

Best

 

[Bean007]

The hard drive is a WD250ABYS, and I've already re-installed Windows. This is my own build.

Ok try this. If you've done the video drivers like I said in the previous post and still have the same problem then lets try the ram. How much ram do you have and how many sticks? HD itself won't cause a BSOD.

 

[CrowsofFritz]

Did the drivers so let's to RAM.

I have 2 GB. 2 1Gb sticks of G Skill DDR3 1333. Not a lot, I know

 

[Bean007]

Did the drivers so let's to RAM.

I have 2 GB. 2 1Gb sticks of G Skill DDR3 1333. Not a lot, I know

Well you are wayyyy under for a min. for your OS and games. Usually when windows loads it's close to 2 gigs of ram being used. Then it goes to Virtual Memory which converts part of your HD to Virtual Memory but it's much slower. This happens when you run out of memory. I don't suppose you have any other ram you can use? If not what you need to do is test your ram for errors. You can use MemTest or MemTest 86 to test your ram. To find out which one is bad you'll need to test each one by itself. You can test both but when you come up with a error you won't need which stick is bad.

You're not even running a playable gaming system. 2 Gigs of ram and a PS that was 300w.

 

[CrowsofFritz]

Could very well be a RAM problem with 0x7A, right?

But L4D2 recommended requirements has 2GB of RAM. 1GB is minimum. Still not enough? I'll run MemTest.

 

[Bean007]

Could very well be a RAM problem with 0x7A, right?

But L4D2 recommended requirements has 2GB of RAM. 1GB is minimum. Still not enough? I'll run MemTest.

Doesn't matter. If some of the chips are bad it could cause that. You're think as a whole and ram isn't as a whole.

 

[CrowsofFritz]

I narrowed down the problem, guys!

I got L4D2 to run. There are two things that I did differently. I turned Paged Pool Memory from High to Low and there's an X over the speaker on the bottom right, and because I have a speaker plugged in, that means the audio driver is missing, right?

I think that audio driver sucked or gobbled up whatever the hell the Paged Pool Memory is (what is it? lol). Anyway, I think I need to look for a better driver.

 

[CrowsofFritz]

Definitely the audio driver that's messing everything up. I might have to buy a soundcard. But I'm now able to play games! Just with no audio.

 

[Bean007]

Definitely the audio driver that's messing everything up. I might have to buy a soundcard. But I'm now able to play games! Just with no audio.

No, just go to Gigabytes web site and find your motherboard and get the drivers from there. You can also look in the control panel and then system and then in device manager and see if you have any X's there as well.

I looked up your mobo and here's the link. http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4084#dl
Now this is for Revision 2.1. They had other Revisions and you'll need to look on the mobo itself to find the correct one. They had a total of 4 Revisions, 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, and 2.1. At the top right you'll see the different Revisions and you can click on the correct one. Double check to make sure this is the right one from the info you gave me.

 

[CrowsofFritz]

Yeah, on the top right corner of the MOBO you can see the rev. number. It's 2.1. No matter what audio driver I use, though, the system locks! Only when onboard audio is disabled do the games run at all. I think the Realtek drivers are just very funky for my system, but it seems weird that my problem arises from the audio, as over 41% of Steam users use Realtek.

 

[Bean007]

Yeah, on the top right corner of the MOBO you can see the rev. number. It's 2.1. No matter what audio driver I use, though, the system locks! Only when onboard audio is disabled do the games run at all. I think the Realtek drivers are just very funky for my system, but it seems weird that my problem arises from the audio, as over 41% of Steam users use Realtek.

Could be more then just audio. Don't forget it's part of the mobo. I had a issue with my on board audio and getting like white nose screeching sound while I would play some games. Never got a BSOD but it did happen alot, so I went out and bought a Asus Xonar which was a good sound card but didn't spend alot of money on it. Did you check you device manager to see if there was a X or a ? in the list? Did you also uninstall the old sound drivers? Make sure when you uninstall em you restart the computer cause sometimes there's stuff still left behind.

If the mobo is still under warrenty you probably should RMA it and get a replacement.

 

[CrowsofFritz]

Gotchya. I'll also up to 4GB of RAM.