Specs are as follows:

MSI K7N2-Delta motherboard
AMD Barton 3200 CPU
1gb PC3200 Patriot memory
ATI All In Wonder X800XT
2x WD SATA 80gb 7200 RPM HDD in RAID-0
Creative Soundblaster 2 Value
Antec 350 watt power supply

What happens at the end of a round of BF2 that would cause my system to crash virtually every time? I had thought "it could be heat" but I dont *THINK* that's it... besides, if it were heat, I would think it would be crashing mid-game at a graphically intensive moment when the system is being pushed to some limit... that, and when I open up the system nothing feels warm beyond the ordinary.

Here's how it goes.

Round Ends (win or lose) and the score is shown on the screen , that fades out and the "Next round is about to start" screen starts fading into the picture and I get a screeching beep in my headset and the PC is hard-locked. I press reset and hard boot and viola! I am back in the game a few minutes later.

Does anybody have any suggestions I can try without laying down money I dont have on new parts?

I've got my suspicions but nothing that could be replaced/tested for less than $80 and I dont have any extra money.

blah.

Quote: Originally Posted by BZA Specs are as follows: MSI K7N2-Delta motherboard AMD Barton 3200 CPU 1gb PC3200 Patriot memory ATI All In Wonder X800XT 2x WD SATA 80gb 7200 RPM HDD in RAID-0 Creative Soundblaster 2 Value Antec 350 watt power supply Here's how it goes.......and I get a screeching beep in my headset and the PC is hard-locked.....

im gonna go out on a limb and say that your power supply is underpowered, why it would cause the problem in BF2 and only at that point, i dont know, but it is underpowered, regardless...

if you arent ready to buy a new psu, then thats fine, go into your bios and disable your Firewire adapter, any unused IO ports, any unused controllers (sata or pata), and maybe prune your systems overall hardware down a bit (removing unused USB powered devices)...and most important of all, never, EVER put your video cards power on the same rail as a hard drive or optical drive!, i can totally see how doing that would cause problems similar to what you are experiencing...

if you are then confident that power is not the issue (the problem repeats itself at your systems bare minimum)...
some things you can try...

in the bios, disable anything and everything with the words "shadowing", "fastwrites", "spread spectrum",
and, in order of operation, run Memtest, update your drivers, update your game, update your bios, update chipset drivers, reinstall game, and if all else fails, reinstall windows

The PSU certainly shouldn't affect your game, but Fu3lman is definately right, the X800XT AIW doesn't like anything less than like 450W.

Try turning down the graphics a little in game and see what happens, unfortunately, BF2 is rather finicky.

If you had to get a 400-450 watt power supply at the most reasonable price, what would it be?

I cant have my PC getting any worse, which from what I read, can certainly happen as a PSU is pushed beyond its designed limit... so it looks like I need to replace it...

Any recommendations on a good value?

One of the guys I play BF2 with had his system crashing alot. Turned out to be Microsoft Defender. If you're running that disable or delete it, and see if that helps.

Is that the XP Service Pack 2 security thing?

Sorry for the hint of ignorance...

It's a download from MS tha you'd need to install manually, you should know if you've got it.

Regarding the PSU, don't go cheap. A PDU is the heart of your system and needs to be healthy. I'd recommend no lower grade than Antec.

I was thinking an Antec Smartpower 2.0 500 watt...

$70.

That should work well. Fu3lMan, your opinion?

When I was playing the demo version, it'd crash if I was running Folding At Home
Don't know if you have any other apps running in the background, but maybe give that a go

Quote: Originally Posted by BZA If you had to get a 400-450 watt power supply at the most reasonable price, what would it be? I cant have my PC getting any worse, which from what I read, can certainly happen as a PSU is pushed beyond its designed limit... so it looks like I need to replace it... Any recommendations on a good value?

BAM!!!!!


Sunbeam Nuuo 550 Watt Modular Power Supply - Black Bezel

damn thrash yu beat me too it, its modular, sli approved, and runs quiet. very nice

mines running two wter cooling loops 3 hdds a 6600gt a bartn 2500 oced to 2.3ghz raid cards, 2 optical drives and 9 fans.

it doesnt even shrug.

yeh id say they pretty much nailed the whole psu recommendation there....

keep in mind that i am in no way saying that your problem is "for sure" your power supply, just that you need a beefier psu anyway...