I just had a new PC built and it is freezing and skipping in two games so far cod4 and counter-strike 1.6. Those are the only games i really play and have tested so far. Anyways cs will freeze to were i have to manually reset my PC and in cod4 the sound and game skips for about a second and returns to normal. It happens randomly after 20 minutes or so of game play. The guy that built it didn't do a very good job he didn't have my 8800gt plugged in directly from the power supply he had it bridged and split off of another connector and the ram wasn't seated all the way in. I don't think it is over heating and i have all the latest drivers and updates installed. This is really bothering me sense i spent alot of money on this pc for the purpose of gaming. I can't memory test it because i dont have a floppy drive. Where should i start what should i do? I would take it back to the guy that built it but i think he will just say its the hardware.... my specs below

Mobo: gigabyte GA x48 DQ6
GPU: XFX 8800gt 512
RAM: 4gigs of kingston hyper x
CPU: Intel Q6600 core 2
PSU: Antec Quattro 850 watt power supply
HD: 500gb

wtf if i had spent cach on a computer and someone f**ked with it like that i wood do something nasty to him lol.

i was gonna say mem test
you could always make a bootabel CD.

the problem could lie any where:
PSU - inconistant power output.
RAM - again you need to memtest
HS/f - not seat right. or not enough/to much thermal compound.

here is what i would do as soon as it crashes, restart instantly go into bio and have a look at the CPU temps if less then 50c then your fine there.

if it more touch the cooler and if its not to hot(ie not > 50) thn its not seated right.

your PSU should be fine.

run a Prime 95 stress test see if anything happens all failing, just run the mem test from CD/USB drive.


hope some of this helps

What's the temperature like inside the case? What case is it? The CPU HSF can't cool effectively if the air inside the case is hot too.

memtest86+ is freely available as a bootable CD image. Create a CD using the image file, then boot from that CD directly into memetest86+. Run a couple of complete passes.

sounds like your being heat throttled..

have you made sure the processor is in properly , press down on each of the processors heatsink retention clips - make sure they click.

Download and install this:

http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

You can monitor your temps while it is running and it will tell you the high/low and current temps. Of course if you wait til it crashes you wont know what the temps were so watch it as you use it. Run a game for a few mins and then shrink down the game and see what the temps read as you play.

It could be a PSU problem too. Id check the temps first then go from there.

How long ago did you buy this system?
Its already out of warranty?
Was this from and individual or a pc shop?

If all of this seems ok, then I would check for new updates for all devices on your system. If you know what motherboard you have you can go to the mfgrs website and find the latest and greatest updates. Look for new drivers for your video card too. Maybe check for the latest BIOS version and see if you have it installed, if not that could help. If your not comfortable doing this then post here and someone will give you tips once you tell us what board you have.

Theres several things that can cause this so you will have to start with one thing, rule it out and go to the next and so forth. If these things dont work let us know...