Game completely freezes my computer after 30-60 minutes of playing

Sins of a

from Sins Forums
My computer is the following:

Microsoft Windows XP home, Intel Core2 Quad Q6600, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX, ASUS nForce mobo

I am using patch 1.02 of the game.

Every game I play, after about an hour of playing, the game will completely freeze and the entire computer becomes unresponsive. Occassionally the computer will crash to a blue-screen.

This happens without any warning. The game runs perfectly smoothly at the highest resolution and video effects (full model detail, bump, and shading, for planets, buildings and ships. I don't run bloom and I don't use anti-aliasing)

However, after 30 or 45 minutes, at random, the game will freeze. The music keeps running however. Cntrl-alt-delete doesn't work, nor does alt-f4. After shutting down the computer manually (by turning off the computer), the computer won't boot up afterwards.

Can anyone help? I'm currently not playing the game to avoid causing permanent damage to my computer. I'm considering returning the game as defective. Is there anything that I could be doing that's causing this?

technical
4,408 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
I can't imagine it being the games problem. Especially with bluescreens involved- It would also be helpful to know what the bluescreen said exactly.

There's a few things that could be wrong-
What I suspect most:
- Overheating. Make sure that's alright. This seems especially likely because it's after a certain amount of time, and not random. It's probably a good idea you're not playing the game right now. Check that definitely, then maybe get a new fan.
However, maybe this isn't true if other newer games run no problem.

Other possibilities:
- Your drivers aren't up to date, or there are driver problems.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
The problem the bluescreen gives is a "memory dump", which seems to occur when playing Sins of a Solar Empire.

I've never had problems with overheating before. I don't overclock, and my core temperature is about 30-40 degrees celsius with a Thermaltake cooler and a spacious Antec 900 case.

My drivers are the most recent available, ForceWare Release 169 (version 169.21)for GeForce 8 series.

Any other thoughts on what can be causing this?
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
I have the same issue. I have been playing many other games with no issues at all...and its been almost a month with no solution.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
USE NVIDIA DRIVER 97.46 - it is only driver working properly w/ certain machines right now. Nvidia will be releasing a Sins patch (new driver) later this month that should fix the issue (or @ least help w/ issue)
here is a link to Nvidia driver (32bit) =
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x86_97.46.html
and 64bit =
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x64_97.46.html

HOPE THIS HELPS

PoorMan Out!!
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
couldn't hurt to check the vid card fan, make sure it's working, and clean the dust from it. my wife loves to play TF2 and one day it started freezing up on her. i did some investigating and found that the fan on the card died but by that point it was too late. the card was damaged. her core temp never got very high either.

i've also heard about an nvidia fix. however, i have an 8800gt and have had no issues with freezing, even after a 6 hour stint.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
Hi there,

While waiting for the new driver to appear you could try setting your effects to High rather than Highest. I had the same issue as you, about 60 minutes in and the game would crash. Setting them to High fixed it for me.

HTH