Vista 32bit + WoW = Freeze?

[MacBlimp]

Hi!

Just replaced my old computer with a new one looking like this:

Motherboard: MSI K9AGM3-FIH, AMD 690G+SB600, HDMI,
Socket-AM2,m-ATX,DDR2,Firewire,PCI-Ex16
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.3GHz Socket AM2
Video: XFX GeForce 8400GS 450M 256MB DDR2,
PCI-Express, DVI/HDCP/Tv-Out, 450/800Mhz
Ram: 2GB
HD: 500 GM
OS: Vista Home Premium 32bit

Connected to the interned with an ADSL2 line running at 14.4 MBit

Should be sufficient to run WoW as far as I can see.

However, once in-game, I get from 0 to 30 seconds to look around before everything freezes completely. The sound goes "Tk-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k" (or something like it) for about 3 seconds and then bang, full stop. Nothing short of a power off can break the freeze it seems. This is somewhat annoying.

So far I've tried:
- Updated drivers for motherboard/videocard (latest from manufacturer)
- un- and reinstalled WoW
- Ran MemTest86+ and also tried the memory sticks separately (found no errors, but the problem persists)
- Ran Hot CPU Tester - No errors
- Defragged HD
- Ran sfc /scannow (found some errors, but it was unable to fix them - reinstall windows maybe?)
- Turned off Aero, indexing, usercontrol
- Scanned for virus/spyware with Nod32/Spybot/Adaware
- Ran wow as admin with support for winXpSp2
- Ran in both direct3D and OpenGl (open GL just gave an #132 error at login screen)
- Reinstalled videocard
- Running MSi's DualCoreCenter - showing all voltages and temperatures ok
- Deaktivated onboard soundcard in BIOS - same problem, just without the "tk-k-k-k-k-k"
- Slammed my head into the wall
- Tried running WoW from different locations (Program Files/C`:\ and such)

I'm kind of running out of good ideas, so any help/tips would be much appreciated. Read somewhere (but can't seem to find it :sad:) that this might be caused my the networkcard/ethernet somehow, but can't really remember the details...

Any ideas anyone?

[Rushster]

I had this problem and could not resolve it. I am afraid to say it is likely you will have to go back to XP like I did. This happens on some Vista machines but not all and it is likely related to an Nvidia graphics card. There is no solution for this as far as I can tell and I have also tried everything. My advice is save time and go back to XP, you could bte there for a year and not get it resolved unless Nvidia fix their Vista graphics card support.

[MacBlimp]

Guess I'll try XP to see if it changes anything. Thanks for the reply :smiley:

[Kalos]

Vista is very much not a fun basis to work with in my experience. I keep anything that is important or I rely upon on XP. More stable, and it isn't losing support for many years to come. Games are going to be made with DirectX9 support for a very long time.

[MacBlimp]

Small update:

Installed RIVA Tuner yesterday in the faint hope of the cause of the problem, and it showed my GPU temp to be 65C when running idle in windows (no other apps running).

I'm not really sure what would be the expected temp of a 8400 card, but in my ears 65C running idle seems a bit high. Or is this a perfectly normal temp for a nVidia GPU?

[Herald of Doom]

I don't know specifically for the 8400, but my 8800gt is idle at ~60° and the max I've seen is ~80° and a quick googlesearch seemed to confirm this is regular temp.

HoD

[Kalos]

65C on idle is a little worry, what's the on load temp rise to at it's highest?

[MacBlimp]

Haven't seen it go much higher than 75 when running stress-tests on it, also a number of tech forums mention that Nvidia chips idling at 65 aren't that uncommon. Lower would be better, but consensus seems to agree on that it's not dangerously or unusually high.

BTW, updated bios + tried running xp instead of Vista. Problem remains, so I guess I'll dig out my old comp while the new one goes to the doctor.... :cry:

[Herald of Doom]

8400 doesnt have an actual fan on it, the temperature doesnt surprise me :)

HoD