Curse

Darkfoxx · Jan 20, 2007, 02:59 AM // 02:59

Well this is a long story...grab a bucket of popcorn.

About 4-5 months ago I had this same problem. I would get on GW...play for 3-5 minutes...and then the game would freeze up and I couldn't do anything. My screen basically freezes up, along with the rest of my PC. The only thing I can do is hit the reset button on my PC.

So I wrote GW support...they didn't help much. A friend told me to check my memory for errors, and it turns out one of my 512 mb sticks had a few errors. OK, so I take it out and run GW on one 512 mb stick. 3-5 minutes later...frozen!

Then my friend told me to run my 512 stick @ PC 2700, which is slower than what it is made to run at: PC 3200.

And by golly, that fixed it! I did get an occasional freeze up, but it would be random...sometimes at 1 hour and sometimes at 5 hrs, and sometimes not at all. And this went on for a few months...I was happy for the most part, except for the long load times with only 512mb RAM.

Now we're caught up. I was getting annoyed with the long load times so I figured I'd replace that 512 stick I took out. So a couple days ago I order a new stick from Newegg and it arrives today.

I add it to my mobo and everything is peachy...except when I run GW. 3-5 minutes into the game, FROZEN!!!

So...this is obviously a memory issue. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. I can play any other game for as long as I want without it freezing, but why GW?

I don't know what to do really. I'm pretty proficient with computers and I can't see any problem with my PC that would cause GW to crash/freeze up so easily.

Ideas?

UPDATE:
I underclocked my RAM to DDR 333 (PC 2700) speed, and GW doesn't crash anymore.

So, the problem is this: GW doesn't support DDR 400 (PC 3200) speed.

System specs:
Win XP Pro SP2
3.2 GHz P4 Prescott HT, socket 478 (running @ stock)
ASUS P4S800D-X mobo
1 GB (2x512) Kingston PC3200 DDR400 RAM
Western Digital 80 GB 7200 RPM SATA HD
256 MB XFX Geforce 6800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 8x

Jan 20, 2007, 10:35 PM // 22:35

Sorry, no ideas, but I've had an almost identical problem myself. In the last 24 hours while playing GW my computer will totally lock up, requiring a hard reset to get it back. Everything was fine until the latest update, and ever since this problem occurs. Nothing else, no other program or game, causes my system to hard lock like that. Just in case I updated my video drivers, defragged, cleaned up temp files, the usual stuff one does when one has a problem like this, but it still occurs. My system specs are similar to yours in several areas, so I thought I'd post them in the hopes it'll help figure out what's going on.

System specs:
Win XP Pro SP2
2.8 GHz P4 Northwood HT, socket 478 (running @ stock)
ASUS P4P800 Deluxe
2 GB (4x512) RAM
Western Digital 80 GB 7200 RPM SATA HD
256 MB Geforce 6800GS AGP 8x

myst1k · Jan 20, 2007, 11:06 PM // 23:06

Got same problem, this is too much, everyone got this problem, but anet is only thinking about nerfing builds, 3-4 months for me too. Lags every 2-5 minutes.

Specs:
WIn XP Pro Sp2
AMD X2 3800+ S939
DFI Ultra-D Lanparty
1GB OCZ Ddr400
WD 160GB Sata-2 7200RPM
7900GT PCI-e

Darkfoxx · Jan 21, 2007, 12:39 AM // 00:39

Well the similarity is that we all have DDR 400 RAM (I'm assuming bleshoo has it).

Could it be that GW doesn't support DDR 400?

Try underclocking your ram by going into your BIOS, and look for something along the lines of RAM Frequency or RAM Clock. It will be set to 400 MHz. Turn it down to 333 MHz and see if that helps.

As I said in my post, this is what I did before when I only had 512 mb's, and it worked pretty good.

I just did this and I'm going to try GW and see if I have fixed it again. I'll report my findings to you guys...

Darkfoxx · Jan 21, 2007, 03:40 AM // 03:40

Alright...here's the scoop...
I underclock to DDR 333 (PC 2700) speed, and GW doesn't crash anymore.

So, the problem is this: GW doesn't support DDR 400 (PC 3200) speed.

Darkfoxx · Jan 28, 2007, 11:15 PM // 23:15

*Bumping* so that this problem is recognized and others who are having this problem will know what to do.

I wrote GW support and told them what I discovered, but they didn't care much.

Maybe more of us have to report this. :\

Markaedw · Jan 29, 2007, 12:17 AM // 00:17

AH!!! so that may be my problem also, does underclocking reduce the game quality for other games, like TES Oblivion?

Darkfoxx · Jan 29, 2007, 03:38 AM // 03:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markaedw

does underclocking reduce the game quality for other games, like TES Oblivion?

Possibly...depending on the specs of the rest of your PC.

stormrunner · Feb 05, 2007, 09:51 PM // 21:51

I have a similar problem where GW freezes, only it seems to happen randomly. The odd thing is it only happens on my new computer (athlon 64 3000/1gig ram/x800gto) and not on my older dell(pentium 4/512mb ram/5300gt). The thing is, I'm pretty sure both of them run ddr 400 ram so I don't think thats the problem.

Darkfoxx · Feb 26, 2007, 03:11 AM // 03:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by stormrunner

The thing is, I'm pretty sure both of them run ddr 400 ram so I don't think thats the problem.

But if they both run DDR 400 ram, then that is the problem!

I would like more people to tell Anet about this issue. We need to get the word out.

Tachyon · Feb 26, 2007, 03:30 AM // 03:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkfoxx

So, the problem is this: GW doesn't support DDR 400 (PC 3200) speed.

That's got to be the most ridiculous statement I've ever heard! Of course Guild Wars supports DDR400 memory, if it didn't then I'd be up the provebial creek without the proverbial paddle. I have 2GB of DDR400 in this machine and Guild Wars runs just fine without a single problem. To make such a sweeping statement as you did above is sheer lunacy!

Fragorders · Feb 26, 2007, 05:48 AM // 05:48

just wondering, how do you find out what speed your ram is? Im new to the PC world and I have no clue on how to find out! Thanks

Lonesamurai · Feb 26, 2007, 10:01 AM // 10:01

*BANGS HEAD ON DESK*

of course its not the RAM unless your RAM is buggered!

Dex · Feb 26, 2007, 11:31 PM // 23:31

GW doesn't support computer that have problems...then again, neither do most games.

You're all having stability issues with your memory. It has nothing to do with GW not liking your memory running at a certain speed. Software works when your OS, drivers, and hardware do what they're supposed to do. Have any of you considered the possibility that you're having issues with:

1. Memory sticks that don't play nice together. This isn't uncommon. Solution: buy matching sticks. This is especially a problem with the Athlon64's memory controller.

2. Memory sticks that your memory controller doesn't like. This is a motherboard northbridge issue in the case of most chipsets, but it's a CPU issue for Athlon64 (on-die memory controller). Check compatibility on the memory manufacturer's web site to see which motherboards/computers the memory is compatible with.

3. Cheap n' Flakey™ memory. Self-explanatory.

Running your memory at a slower speed tends to hide these types of issues. Most components become more stable when running at a lower frequency. It's no surprise that lowering the clockspeed of your RAM is salving the problem.

I'm sorry to say that this isn't ANet's problem....it's yours. Troubleshoot your memory problems.