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Ram Crashing CoD4

sicu

Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2008
Messages
11
setup:
os: Vista ultimate 64bit service pack 1
mobo: Asus P5K, P35, Socket-775, DDR2 (latest bios installed)
cpu: Intel core 2 quad Q6600 2.4GHz LGA775
c-fan: Noctua NH-U12F 120mm
ram: (8GB) 4 x 2GB PC2-6400 800MHz 5-5-5-15 (Brand: 2 x DDR2 Dual Channel Kit from GEIL)
hdd: Samsung spinpoint T166 500GB SATA2
gfx: Geforce 8800GT (latest driver installed)
sound: Creative SB Audigy SE PCI (latest driver installed)
psu: Chill CP-520A4 520W, 140mm

other: TSSTcorp DVDRW drive + Some generic CDRW drive

Stock setup, no OC



problem:

When only 1 RAM stick (2GB) is present, the game (call of Duty 4) will run fine for hours, never had any freeze issues. There is, however, unpredictable system hang or freeze when all 4 sticks are installed during gameplay. Most of the time the system will hang at startup of the game, but will never let me play more than a few minutes before it freezes. The same happens with 3 sticks (6GB) and 2 sticks (4GB) installed. I've checked the EventViewer and occasionally it will display "Event ID 4101 - Display Driver Timeout Detection and Recovery"), but most of the time there will be nothing there at the time where an issue occured. This does seem to indicate that this is a gfx driver issue, I just think it weird that everything runs just fine with just one RAM stick installed.

On the other hand, this only happens when playing CoD4. The rest of the time my system runs very smoothly and stable. Never had any problems running programs like Photoshop, After Effects, 3dsmax, zbrush etc. So to me it looks like CoD4 has a problem when there is "too much" RAM installed? (Problem has been persistent through all CoD4 patches 1.0 - 1.6)

Ideas anyone?

Does anyone know if there is a way to set a limit for the amount of RAM available to a particular program? Or for that matter, set a limit for the whole OS. Any programs og registry tweaks for this? That way I could just set the limit to 2GB whenever I want to play CoD4, and unlimited for when I use heavy programs like photoshop and 3dsmax etc.

Please suggest anything. Let me know if you need more info.
 
Last edited:

enaberif

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Dec 9, 2006
Messages
11,412
Location
Calgahree, AB
i'm not gonna even bother with this because 4gb of memory and vista is a well known issue and a simple google search will yield you results.
 

sicu

Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2008
Messages
11
Thanks, but I always google and this time I'm coming up short. Did you actually read my post?
My bios is finding 8GBs RAM and I am running 64bit Vista and it recognizes all my 8GB's of RAM and I have no problem utilizing the RAM when running programs like Photoshop and 3dsmax. My issue occurs only when I'm playing CoD4. If I'm being stupid here, then please provide me with a helpful link, so I can get this sorted and then bury my head in the sand to cover my embaressment.

I have also run a few benchmarks/stresstests just to be on the safe side:
-memtest86 (4hrs: no probs)
-occt (8hrs: no probs)
-ati tool (3Dview - 10mins, Artifacts - 2hrs: no probs)
-everest (system stability test - 8hrs: no probs)
-rivatuner (no probs)
-3dmark06 (no probs)
-unigine (no probs)
 

Cheator

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Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
1,075
Location
Ottawa, Canada
i'm not gonna even bother with this because 4gb of memory and vista is a well known issue and a simple google search will yield you results.
Can you enlighten us? My vista loves my 4 gigs. and my friend with 8 gigs is running great. My laptop comes with 3 gigs of ram and vista as well.
 

Cheator

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
1,075
Location
Ottawa, Canada
Thanks, but I always google and this time I'm coming up short. Did you actually read my post?
My bios is finding 8GBs RAM and I am running 64bit Vista and it recognizes all my 8GB's of RAM and I have no problem utilizing the RAM when running programs like Photoshop and 3dsmax. My issue occurs only when I'm playing CoD4. If I'm being stupid here, then please provide me with a helpful link, so I can get this sorted and then bury my head in the sand to cover my embaressment.

I have also run a few benchmarks/stresstests just to be on the safe side:
-memtest86 (4hrs: no probs)
-occt (8hrs: no probs)
-ati tool (3Dview - 10mins, Artifacts - 2hrs: no probs)
-everest (system stability test - 8hrs: no probs)
-rivatuner (no probs)
-3dmark06 (no probs)
-unigine (no probs)
You're saying you got artifacts in ATI Tool? I don't like the look of that PSU... never heard of the brand, perhaps it isn't getting enough power?
 

CMetaphor

Quadfather
Joined
May 5, 2007
Messages
6,459
Location
Montreal, Canada
Does it do the same thing with your RAM timings set more flexibly? Sometimes having many sticks of RAM makes it more difficult to keep their fastest timings all together. So I would suggest trying to go into your BIOS and just set your ram timings something "easier" than 5-5-5-15, try 6-6-6-18 or even just put it on "Auto" and see what happens, post back then and let us know!
 

sicu

Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2008
Messages
11
Does it do the same thing with your RAM timings set more flexibly? Sometimes having many sticks of RAM makes it more difficult to keep their fastest timings all together. So I would suggest trying to go into your BIOS and just set your ram timings something "easier" than 5-5-5-15, try 6-6-6-18 or even just put it on "Auto" and see what happens, post back then and let us know!
It was set to auto, getting these values: 5-5-5-18-3-52-6-3-3
I changed it to manual, and put in the values you specified: 6-6-6-18, leaving the remaining 5 values at auto. This seemed to make a difference. The game still freezes on startup, but will occasionally unfreeze and let me play for a few minutes before it freezes again...and so it continues. Do you have any other values I can try? I've always had my ram timings set to auto.
Thanks for your help so far :thumb:

You're saying you got artifacts in ATI Tool? I don't like the look of that PSU... never heard of the brand, perhaps it isn't getting enough power?
Just meant that I ran the "Artifacts" setup in the ati-tool. No artifacts here =)
The PSU should be okay. Everything runs smoothly appart from when playing CoD4. Other games like ut2007 and Quake3 run fine, and heavy duty apps too. But I will try to borrow a proper PSU just to rule it out. thx.
 

CanadaRox

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 14, 2008
Messages
613
Location
Scarborough (Toronto)
I would suggest running memtest86+ to make sure all 4 DIMMs are fine. If they don't pass, try increasing the northbridge voltage, as 8GB of RAM puts a lot of stress on it, so it might just need a little bit extra juice. If that makes the memtest errors take longer or stops them, problem solved. If not, your RAM may be the culprit. Also, make sure you have enough voltage for the RAM (as in, if its rated to 2.1V, you don't have it running at 1.8V or 1.9V).
 

Jack Rabbit

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 9, 2007
Messages
782
Location
Toronto, ON
When you run with just 2G (1 stick) have you tried that stick in all 4 slots? And have you tried all 4 sticks? I know that is 16 permutations and a zillion more if you start putting in more than one stick but it might shed some more light on the subject.

However, these results:

I have also run a few benchmarks/stresstests just to be on the safe side:
-memtest86 (4hrs: no probs)
-occt (8hrs: no probs)
-ati tool (3Dview - 10mins, Artifacts - 2hrs: no probs)
-everest (system stability test - 8hrs: no probs)
-rivatuner (no probs)
-3dmark06 (no probs)
-unigine (no probs)

make me suspect it has nothing to do with the RAM. If you can pound and pound on the system without fail I doubt it is the hardware is a problem. My guess is that there is some stupid little conflict with some other app, util, or driver that you are running or have installed. Is there any way you can strip this machine down to a fresh OS install with drivers and load only the game?

How about adding a few hours of Prime95 to the test litany?
 

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