Doom 3 Crashing...

[JediOfDarkness]

Hey all.
Every time I play Doom 3, I get these random crashes. They happen a lot, mainly when saving or getting into a firefight. They get REALLY annoying as I do real good in an area and then boom, game goes bye-bye. Any idea what causes it and if there are any fixes?

System specs:
Athlon XP 2400@ 2220MHz
120gb Seagate 7200 RPM hdd
GeForce 6800 GT@ 400/1050
512mb DDR400@ 208MHz
DirectX 9.0c (the culprit?)

Game Settings:
1024x768
High Quality
All Settings Maxed
V-Sync On

Thanks,
--Johnny

[MJCfromCT]

Put everything back to stock speeds and try again...doom 3 is known to be an overclocker kiler.

[NDD]

You got your CPU and video both o/ced. Wait - your memory is o/ced too !
Tried on stock speeds ?

[JediOfDarkness]

I tried taking my graphics card down to stock speeds, no luck. Haven't tried my CPU yet, but I'll do that. Really reluctant to have to do that though, as the extra 220MHz is a nice boost.

[MJCfromCT]

dont forget the memory too

[JediOfDarkness]

OK, tried that but didn't do a thing, still crashes.

This is what I got from Activisions site:

Make sure your system meets the minimum system requirements of the game.


Make sure you have the latest video and sound card drivers from the manufacturers' websites.


Set your desktop to a resolution of 800x600, 32 bit True Color.
1) Right-click on your desktop and select Properties.
2) Click the Settings tab.
3) Set your screen area to 800x600.
4) Set the colors to 32 Bit (True Color). Under Windows NT this will be listed as 65554 colors.
5) Click Apply and OK.


All background applications must be shutdown prior to running the game.


Set the AGP aperture size in the motherboard BIOS to 64MB. Please contact your system manufacturer regarding this.

First off, my system easily meets the minimal requirments of the game.
Secondly, I will never set my desktop resolution to 800x600... for one thing all the icons on my desktop wouldn't even fit on my screen, lol.
But not about the AGP Aperture size... I've got a 256mb card, so should that be at 256mb?

Edit: I've got the Forceware 66.77 drivers.

[PacNW CE]

How hot is your system running?

How well ventilated is the space around your case?

Also, what is your power supply rated at?



Your parts are all well within specs for D3. I suspect you may have a heat problem, or your power supply is starting to putter out due to excessive load.

[JediOfDarkness]

CPU runs at 52c FULL load, 36-42c idle, depending on ambient temps.
GPU runs at 62c idle, 76c full load. Runs the same temps at default speeds as it does OC'd.
350W Allied PSU. As soon as I deside to update to an AMD64 system I'm gonna get something like a 430W Thermaltake or the like, but as my system is now, I don't really see a reason to have more than 350W.

As for ventalation, I keep the case cover off at all times, as its under my desk and you don't see it. I've got two Thermaltake SMART CASE FAN II's and a Cooler Master Blue LED fan that I don't know the specs on. I've also got a Thermaltake Volcano 11+ Xaser Edition on my CPU. The Thermaltake case fans stay on half speed at all times, otherwise they have a high pitched winding noise, and I turn my CPU fan to max while gaming.

[PacNW CE]

Hmmm....You have plenty of cooling....

Like everyone else said, set your CPU, MEM and GFX to stock speeds and see if it changes. If it's stable, OC each component one at a time to figure out where your issue is.

Do you have a dog or cat? Maybe excess hair is shorting out your open system? Total shot in the dark.


AH! you could always put a house fan blowing directly into your box too. That would eliminate any possiblity of it being heat related.

[JediOfDarkness]

Have two dogs, but both shot hair, no shedding. Plus if they came near my computer anyway it would be off to the pound for them :p
And I did declock everything, no change. I've also put a case fan next to my computer before, but as it is I don't get any real high temps, so I ditched it to help with the noise. From what I've heard, most everyone gets around 72-78c on their GeForce 6800s. Which is defiantly HOT, but apparently they can take it. Just to ask, though, does anyone know of a good VGA cooler that'll fit a GeForce 6800? I'd gladly pay $20-$40 for a good cooler, just for peace of mind and a little boost for OCing. One thing I was thinking about was trying to get my hands on one of the waterblocks that BFG uses on their 6800U OC and then just water cool my whole PC. I suspect the waterblock would cost about $100 though.

[tasty danish]

i'm assuming you use windows xp?
did you install service pack 2?
nothing but compatibility problems with that so far.

[JediOfDarkness]

Yes, I do have Windows XP, and no, not SP2. Just SP1a. I downloaded SP2, but haven't installed it yet. I'm actually thinking about doing a clean wipe of my hard drive and reinstalling Windows because I'm starting to have a lot of slowdown issues. So maybe that'll do the trick.

[JediOfDarkness]

OK, just downloaded the 1.05 beta patch from FileShack, seems to have fixed the random crashes. Anyone else that's getting this problem should try the patch first and see if it helps.

Link to 1.05 beta patch:
http://www.fileshack.com/file.x?fid=5392

[tasty danish]

umm... i dont know if you really understood what i was saying.
don't install sp2, at this point it's probably good you havent.
good luck otherwise.

[Kandar]

Originally posted by JediOfDarkness
As for ventalation, I keep the case cover off at all times, as its under my desk and you don't see it.

Why do people think that removing the case covers brings down the system temperature?
The case is designed to channel air through the system by creating a directed positive preasure environment within the case. ie, cool air in, warm air out. Its effectively a small wind tunnel.
If you remove the case cover then you remove the cases ability to effectively channel the air though it.

Instead warm air just gets wafted about by your fans. Imagine a wind tunnel without the tunnel. Nowhere near as effective.

Put your case back on, make sure its inlets and outlets are well ventilated and you may just notice an improvement.

[cusimar9]

Keeping the case cover on will only help if you have a good ventilation setup. A standard case would probably benefit from removing the cover.

Besides this will only help convection cooling. The heat radiated from the components will heat up the case/bounce straight back in. Removing the cover will half the radiated heat.

Try it, you'll find your temps probably go down.

[kevrob1]

Some people have noticed slow down issues with SP2 and some say that it has relieved them! I agree with your earlier point of wiping the hard drive and then installing SP2 if you indeed do install it...

Seems like your system has benefitted from the install of the patch so for now all's well that ends well as they say...:t

[Kandar]

Aye, if by “a standard case” you mean a cheap and nasty one then I whole-heartedly agree.
Anyone doing anything more processor intensive than Solitaire needs a good processor cooling fan and rear outlet fan (not the PSU fan, that’s a whole different ballgame) I use Antec & Viper cases cos they have excellent ventilation properties, the build quality is superb and you don’t risk slicing your fingers off on sharp edges that you get on many cheap cases.

The airflow through a system is designed to provide a constant flow of cool fresh air from outside of the box whilst expelling the hot air inside the box, thus regulating system temperature. The radiated heat from components being reflected back by the case is actually a design feature not a flaw to be overcome. The enclosed tunnel created by the closed case gives the system in and out fans the suction they need to maintain air throughput.

I did the case off thing a while back with a 18" desk fan blowing in the side cos i thought I had a teperature issue.
My temperature was very very low:D
But my temps are low on my system now without the case off.

[JediOfDarkness]

Yes, I understand the idea of the case creating a vacuum of air from front to back perfectly, and my CPU was a little cooler with it on (about 4c cooler), but my graphics card wasn't. It would get about 4-6c hotter with the case on, even though I started keeping my rear/exaust fan on high at all times (75cfm). And that extra 4-6c is a lot considering it was already hitting 74-78c at times. But, I just grabbed a floor fan and put it next to my case just for the heck of it, and WOW... my video card is now 52c idle and 66c full load... I think I'll keep the floor fan there for a while :t Only strange thing is that my CPU will spike up to 60c every now and then... I don't know if it's just MBM5 messing up or if it's somehow actually gettings a ton hotter with the floor fan, considering that it's idling at about 34c right now.

[Kandar]

Stuff the physics of it,
Case on or off, if it works for you then it's cool. (no pun intended) :cool: :t

[JediOfDarkness]

lol, I'll take the pun anyway. And yeah, it does work. I'd love to go with a water cooled solution though, but I'm saving up to buy a new CPU/Mobo. But for now, playing Doom 3 on 1600x1200 resolution with about 54fps on average is pretty dang good :t