Something is different

[SithLordDahlia]

Since Tues June 16th I haven't been able to play two games - Star Wars: The Old Republic and Borderlands 2. It's very odd because I was playing both of them all day on Sat June 13th. I went through at least half of my games to make sure it was only those two - it is. They both fail the exact same way too - after launcher loads, press play, entire computer freezes (no ALT+TAB or CTRL+ALT+DEL, have to do a hard reset). After the hard reset, I'd hear a strange noise similar to the Emergency Broadcasting System coming from my computer. Ever since I dusted out my computer, I no longer get that noise.

So, I want to know if anyone could give some light as to what could possibly be an issue here. If they both worked fine on Sat, why are they different as of Tues?

Here are the things that happened from Sat-Tues:
- Sat I used a projector as a monitor
- Sun I went out and bought a Vizio 40in 720p HDTV (both games worked fine; noticed the BIOS said "System memory has changed" on startup)
- Mon I returned the tv because of input lag. Note: I set the number of processors in Advanced Boot options in Msconfig.exe to 8 (Thought it would help fix the input lag from the Vizio)
- Tues I got a Samsung 1080p 32in (better than the 40in, but something is off)

Here are my specs for reference:
- EVGA 970
- Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
- 50gb DDR-2 Ram
- x2 Xeon X5355 Quad Core @ 2.66Ghz
- 1000W Power Supply
- Dell Precision 690 Motherboard

Now, I also use an old Dell 16-20in as a second monitor. Things still shouldn't be different because I used an Emerson 720p 32in HDTV and two of the Dell monitors for about a year (no issues). Things I have tried:
- Using only one monitor
- Making both monitors the same resolution
- V-sync off
- No scaling in Nvidia settings for HDTV
- Dusting out the computer
- Resolution 800x600
- Starting in Windowed mode

Right now I am Validating Borderlands 2, then I am going to do a System Restore back in April. If anyone has any ideas, please tell me. I'm running out of ideas. It seems no one else has had this issue before (can't find a forum with a similar issue).

Note: When I started the computer up after dusting it with the case open (incase the noise appeared again). Bios stated two things - "System memory changed" "Thermal solution in danger. Close case and reboot".

 

[James Mason]

you got a bad windows update most likely.
Windows updates come out every tuesday, you can go into Add&Remove Programs/Programs and Features and in the upper right will be a "view installed updates" uninstall the ones you got around tuesday/monday.

It's possible some ram may have gone bad, it's odd that your computer even said anything, and really it shouldn't if you didn't change the ram.

Also stop trying to use TVs as computer monitors. TVs always have bad quality for actual high definition graphics.

 

[SithLordDahlia]

you got a bad windows update most likely.
Windows updates come out every tuesday, you can go into Add&Remove Programs/Programs and Features and in the upper right will be a "view installed updates" uninstall the ones you got around tuesday/monday.

It's possible some ram may have gone bad, it's odd that your computer even said anything, and really it shouldn't if you didn't change the ram.

Also stop trying to use TVs as computer monitors. TVs always have bad quality for actual high definition graphics.

The last time I did a Windows Update was March 26th, 2015.

I have speculated some Ram stick has gotten corrupted. I don't know of any other way to test it other than placing each stick in one at a time.

I've had no complaints with TVs. They are bigger for less - plus don't want to go out buy monitor AND Tv for my other gaming systems. But, if this could be the issue at hand, I'll return it and buy a monitor.

 

[James Mason]

You definitely have a faulty piece of hardware, could be one of your CPUs, your GPU or a stick of ram that doesn't get accessed until you try and start the game.

50Gbs of ram is pretty insane, it looks like you have a server, but you're trying to play games on it, and you don't really have a workstation grade GPU.

 

[SithLordDahlia]

System Restore didn't work.

Thing is, if it wasn't suppose to work from the start, why did it work until now? A little note: I took my computer to a lan party, so I had the case in my trunk. Maybe all the turning and whatnot caused a Ram stick to fall out. But, it still wouldn't explain why the games worked on Mon.

I'll check to see if a Ram stick is corrupted. The two methods are Memtest86 or Memory Diagnostics Tool, correct?

 

[James Mason]

yeah, traveling with a computer with a GPU as big as gtx 970 could also damage the motherboard/gpu, try reseating it, and all your ram.

 

[SithLordDahlia]

I reseated the Ram when I dusted the computer. I'll check the GPU and give results.

 

[James Mason]

I reseated the Ram when I dusted the computer. I'll check the GPU and give results.

Well you said you had issues after you dusted the computer right? that means you probably didn't reseat the ram right.

 

[SithLordDahlia]

I had issues before I dusted my computer
Reseated the GPU - nothing

The two things I have left are Memtest86 and reformatting my computer. I'll let you know if I find anything with Memtest86

 

[SithLordDahlia]

I ran Memtest86 for 7 hours last night. 1 Pass - If there were major problems, wouldn't the program find them immediately?
I also did Windows Memory Diagnostic Test - also showed nothing.

I'm at a loss of other ideas to try to fix the games.

EDIT: Just tried a clean install of the video drivers - still nothing

 

[James Mason]

I don't suppose Event Viewer has anything to say does it?

 

[SithLordDahlia]

Just took a look. the only thing that could be associated with the games is Kernel-Power since I have to do a hard reset.

"Critical - The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly."

 

[SithLordDahlia]

I don't suppose Event Viewer has anything to say does it?

Just a heads up, re-installing Windows did the trick. Both games work now. It's funny too - Steam download speed went from an Avg of 7mb/s to 33mb/s. Something I had installed wasn't very nice.

Thanks for the help.