Why do my games keep crashing?

[jamppamaattori]

Couple of months ago I built a computer with my friend and at first it didn't seem to have any problems except for the constanly appearing "dqs training failed on previous boot" message, but then pretty much all my games started crashing and freezing during gameplay. My friend thinks the problem is in the software (for example the video card's driver)

 

[alexbruce]

Well without a list of specs for your PC etc It's impossible to tell..

Update your graphics drivers to the latest ones available and try that..

 

[aevm]

The video card drivers are most often the cause of such behavior indeed. Go to ATI's or nVidia's site and get the latest drivers.

You may also have a problem with overheating. What kind of video card and case do you have?

Maybe your power supply is flaky. What kind is it?

It could also be a RAM problem. Download and run memtest86 to check.

 

[aevm]

Actually, start with the memtest86, before messing with video drivers. That DQS message makes me think you need to adjust voltages or timings for the RAM.

 

[jamppamaattori]

Well here's some specs for my PC if it's any help

Processor:
AMD Processor model unknown (4 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Memory:
2046MB RAM
Hard Drive:
1 TB
Video Card:
ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
Operating System:
Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.longhorn_rtm.080118-1840)

 

[jamppamaattori]

Sorry, I noticed that my information was inaccurate because I copied it from a website where I had not updated it

Processor:
AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition (4 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Memory:
2046MB RAM
Video Card:
ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
Operating System:
Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.longhorn_rtm.080118-1840)
Motherboard:
MSI K9A2 CF-F AMD 790X ATX

 

[aevm]

Your CPU is called Phenom II 940 (4 cores).

Your machine is very nice, but bottlenecked by the RAM. You should have 4 GB for Vista.
I'd get a 2x2GB kit of this RAM:

G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

That will fix the bottleneck. It will probably fix the crashes too, if they are caused by your current RAM like I suspect.

Edit: I hadn't seen your last post. It's just that AMD has a single quad running stock at 3.0 GHz and I thought you'd like to know its name.

What kind of case and PSU do you have?

 

[jamppamaattori]

I have a Corsair TX750W TX-series 750w ATX-power supply and I have a pretty standard case. I don't think that my computer is overheating because my computer has a light outside it's casing that implicates it's temperature and it shows that everything's fine. Unless it's malfunctioning ofcourse.

 

[kubes]

Well the heat outside your case isn't of much concern. Its the heat inside your case.

I would recommend downloading riviaTuner to check your gpu tempatures and cpu-z for cpu tempatures.

There does seem to be something fishy with your Ram. Double check your manufactures timing and voltages are properly set in your bios. Also something to note is that since you have a 4870x2 card it very well could be the software/driver handshake going on. I know i'm having a lot of problems with games and my gtx295 because the gpu cores are sli. Could be a simlar problem with your card?

 

[aevm]

I'm guessing there's a sensor inside the case and only the light is outside the case. But you never know...

The GPU temperatures can also be seen in Catalyst (part of ATI's drivers). There's a GPU-Z free download too.

That PSU is powerful enough for this setup, so we can rule that out. It's also a high-quality PSU, so it's less likely to be the cause of all this.

 

[kubes]

@aevm,
lol duh, I wasn't thinking there. Even looking back i'm not sure what made me think the sensor would have been on the outside of the case. Who knows though maybe's its a thermasat that controls the heat for the entire house lol?

 

[jamppamaattori]

So you think that these problems might go away by just buying a new set of RAM?
More and better quality?

 

[kubes]

Well I would first start with trying memtest86.
memtest86 free download

Just follow the instructions and let it run for a few hours.

 

[aevm]

Yeah, your RAM might be bad. Or maybe it's fine but set to the wrong parameters in the BIOS. Let's rule those out first.

 

[co30cl]

ATIs use system RAM and probably can't get enough from Vista with 2gigs. If the crashes are only happening during games that could be it. As previously stated you should have 4gb regardless.

 

[jamppamaattori]

What does the memtest86 exactly do?

 

[kubes]

It does a series of tests for your ram. Durning bootup of your computer it will enter into a little program. It then does some stress testing on your ram by doing a series of reads and writes to it. If your ram can handle this then it's properly functioning. If not then either the ram is faulty or your bios settings need to be adjusted.

 

[jamppamaattori]

Well does anybody know why I get the "dqs training failed on previous boot, reverting to slower dram speed" message?

 

[kubes]

running memtest will help us determine that.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

That's what everyone's getting at. The problem may be faulty RAM/wrong RAM BIOS settings. That's why we're suggesting running memtest86+ to test for RAM errors.

 

[jamppamaattori]

I'm not sure about how to use the program. Am I supposed to just unzip the program burn it in to a cd and use it?

 

[jsc]

Google "dqs training failed on previous boot". Seems to be a not uncommon problem with AMD CPU's.

 

[jamppamaattori]

I just bought yesterday some more RAM to my computer. At least I think it's the right kind of RAM but now every time I start my computer it displays a new error message. Something about me overcklocking my computer and I haven't even concideret doing that.
I'm not sure if the problem with my games crashing all the time has disappeared but my PC still tells me that "dqs training failed on previous boot, revertingt to slower dram speed" every time i start my PC.

 

[kubes]

You might want to take your computer into a shop and have it proffesionaly looked at. If your unable to figure out some of the simple troubleshooting tools we have asked you to use (so that we can help you) then it might be best to get a little proffesional help on this one.

 

[ralph1977]

Hello guys,

I would like to 'take over' this thread, because I have almost the same problem and did do a Memtest 86+ test on my RAM.

First my spec.
Motherboard: Foxconn A7DA-S 790GX
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 940 BE
RAM: OCZ Platinum Dual Channel OCZ2P10664GK (2 banks each 2Gb / PC2-8500 (DDR2-1066))
Video: Sapphire HD 4870 X2
Sound: Creative X-Fi Titanium
HDD: 2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB
OS: Windows XP Dutch professional SP3

All latest drivers are installed, confirmed on manufacturers website. There is only one BIOS update for compatibility with AM3+ CPU's, but since my CPU is not AM3+ I don't think this update would fix my problem.

Slight but important difference between my problem and the one the original poster has/had is I don't have any crashes (yet!), but I do have the annoying boot message "dqs training failed on previous boot".

What I did so far:
- Read very many websites on this problems including forums, but still haven't found the right solution for my problem.
- Used the tool 'CPU-Z' for viewing my current memory speed, and it appears to run at 400Mhz. This is far too low, comparing this to the speed the memory is designed for. (1066 MHz)
- I ran Memtest 86+ just a while ago this eve and found out no single error on my RAM.

I guess my motherboard doesn't seem to 'recognize' my RAM's possible speed, and I think it could be fixed this by adjusting the RAM clocksettings or voltagesettings. Since I don't want to break stuff and don't know which settings are allowed for my RAM I wanted to ask some experts like you guys!

Maybe you guys could help me out, give me some advice. I would greatly appreciate it, because the constant pressing of the F1 button every single boot is not making me happy on this brand new computer.

Greetings and thanks in advance,

Ralph
Holland