PC freezing with repeating sound

kitasmum

Hi all.

I'm hoping someone can help me out.

I have a zoostorm 45cmx pc running vista home premium with an intel core 2 duo cpu E6750 2.66ghz, 2gb ram (max), nVidia GeForce 8400 GS graphics card and realtek high def audio onboard.

My problem is when we try to play games the pc has started freezing with a repeating sound. The only way to unfreeze the pc is by shutting it down. This is happening with the sims 2 and also with the windows chess game.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the sims with and without any expansion packs, running as administrator, running in compatibility mode, disabling the onboard sound card and I even reset the pc to factory standards. No matter what I do it keeps crashing.

The most frustrating thing is that my eldest's football manager 2008 works without a problem! LOL

Does anyone have any other suggestions? I'm not sure if I need to upgrade my sound and/or graphics card. I don't know what else to do.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Gail.

DatabaseError

download the latest video driver from nvidia's site (and install)

kitasmum

Sorry, forgot to say all drivers are up to date, including bios.

DatabaseError

just had a quick read of the 8400gs, crikey, that's bad! See if you can beg/borrow/buy or steal a better card, also try lowering the resolution in the games to 800x600, and quality settings to low.

kitasmum

Thank you tonyhague. Can you recommend a better (but not too expensive) graphics card? The 8400gs came with the pc. Also do you think its ok to leave the sound as is or should I update that as well?

DatabaseError

sorry to not get back to you soone, things to do, and I assumed (wrongly) that others would input. The onboard sound should be OK, modern processors have more than enough power to run them as well as the other thask at hand. Video card suggestions? I spent £220 or so on mine, so I may not be the best person to ask. Gaming (at a decent resolution and framerate) requires a good card, the £25 8400 isn't, and never was, a good card. this 8800GTS is a cracking card for the price, but your budget may be lower. of course, the 'moneysaving' solution is still to lower the resolution and quality settings

turbobob

Depends on what resolution you want to run at and how new the games are etc. My personal pick of the low-mid range cards would be the Radeon HD4650 or HD4670. The HD4670 has much faster memory and higher core speed which will make a difference. I think they are very good value for money - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=56&subid=1274

DatabaseError

good call, Bob. i seem to always overlook ATI cards, I think it's a bit like the PC vs Mac brigade, Nvidia vs ATI, whichever you have your 1st good experience of is the one you return to, for no good reason, sometimes. The 4670 is a great card for the money, and at a fraction of the cost of the equivalent nvidia (rubbish for folding, though I suspect most won't know or care )

evilgoose

The repeating sound - like a CD or record skipping - is more likely a result of the crash rather than causing the problem. As others have said it's likely to be graphics related - personnally I feel, (even though youve got the latest drivers) its a driver problem. Here's an extract from SIMS2.COM

KNOWN ISSUES WITH VISTA DRIVERS:

nVidia Geforce Series

Problem: Stuttering sound during gameplay and lower frame rate and problems showing rain
Cards: Most Geforce cards
Please check for the latest drivers. NVidia is actively working on this issue.

kitasmum

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, I'll look into a new graphics card.

I'm just really frustrated as the pc is only 6 months or so old, I keep all drivers up to date and there were no probs until a couple of weeks ago. Now I can't even play for 20 mins without it freezing!

The most annoying thing is I'm a sims 2 addict, can't play and my eldest keeps rubbing it in cause his football manager still works no problem. LOL.

Thanks again for all you help,

Gail.

DatabaseError

if you were playing these games fine recently, then check the anti malware threads