freezing and annoying beeeep when playing games

hi, i'm running XP, all my drivers etc are up-to date and stuff, i'm using a 1.8Ghz amd processor and 512mb RAM, so i run the OS fine, but when i run any games e.g. NOLF2 it will run for about 10minutes and then it will all freeze up and let out a highpitched beeeeeep and all i can do is hit the reset button as it won't even respond to 'ctrl+alt+del' commands - does anybody know why is keeps beeping at me and how i can fix it at all please? i've spent loads of money on games that worked fine on '98, but on XP they don't work because of this problem. thanks in advance - Roboticexile :)

You don't say which video card you have but my guess is it's overheating. When was the last time you removed the side panel on your computer and blew out the dust?

And I have moved your question to hardware because this is a hardware issue not software related.

Hi Robo and welcome to VirtualDR.

It sounds like your machine may be overheating due to the stress that high end games can cause. Do you have a heatsink fan or just a heatsink on your processor?
Are you using any overclocking software?

If you would, please go to www.oldversion.com and download Everest home edition. When installed, open it and click on Computer and then Sensor icons. This will bring up a list of current temps and fan speeds, if your mobo supports this. Note the temp. Dont close everest.
Then you may try starting the game and after a minute, use ALT-TAB buttons together to go back to everest. See the temperature now and fanspeeds. Note this. Now close the game before you get locked up :)

Your fan speeds may be low or you may not have good ventilation. Try getting a can of compressed air and blowing your case out really well. Do you have case fans?

If your fan speeds are low, you may need to consider buying a new heatsink and fan for your processor. You can take your machine to a local computer shop and they can fit you up with one that fits and is better.

Edit: Didnt see your post, Sorry PL

thanks, i'll try blowing out all the dust as both of you suggested, and yes i'm full of case-fans ^^ too many probably, and i'm runnong an ATI Saphire 9200SE videocard on PCI, i put a fan on it recently though

If your mobo doesn't have a monitoring utility, download and install Everest. Heck, for that matter do so anyway, it's worth having. Run a scan (it takes about 15 seconds) and look in the Computer | Sensor section; you'll see any temps, fan speeds and voltages your mobo can monitor. Try and isolate the beeping to the mobo (CPU overheating) or the vidcard (card itself overheating). I have a funny feeling it's your CPU if the whole machine freezes. Do as the others suggest, clean out the dust. The next time you get the chance, play the game for 5-6 minutes, then shut it down quick and run Everest again, and see what the temps are. If you're not sure about the temps, post them here and we'll help you out.

Regarding that vidcard fan--did you use any thermal paste between the fan and the chipset? It won't do much good without it.

okay, blown all the dust out as mentioned, all tempetatures are showing roughly 37'c and stay the same(ish) when running games, the graphics card heatsink has thermal grease on it. BUT IT'S STILL BEEPING!!! aaah! and more ideas? and thanks so far :)

Double check the temps in another program, or in the BIOS, and also check what temperature the alarm will beep at whilst in the BIOS, as it could be set low, and that is why you're hearing it continually.


Liam

okay, where would i find these alarm settings in the bios? i'm using an AMI BIOS, but i lost the manual - sorry to be a pain over these things

It should be under the "PC Health" section, and "Warning Beep", you could set the temperature to something higher, and see if it still beeps.


Liam

Could be RAM related. You could try to clock down the FSB one notch in the BIOS and I bet this would solve any unstable RAM or proc problems, as well as reduce heat.

(I'm not suggesting you keep it like this, but at least you'll narrow the problem)

It may be a no brainer, but be sure that you have a planned airflow pattern in your case. If all the fans are pointing in, they don't do much good!