Getting bsod's while playing arma 2.

[liam 1]

I have posted about this before but didnt get any replies back then so i will just ask for help again. I recently had a couple of bsod's while playing arma 2. The strange thing is, i can play a couple of days without any problems and sometimes i play a couple of days where i get BSOD's, freezes and ctd's. I had 2 different BSOD's with the error codes 0x00000008e and 0x000000050. I have looked it up on the internet too, and alot of times it turned out to be memory problems. I want to be sure its not the game or anything else before i do something.

My specs: Nvidia geforce 9800

8gig RAM

intel core 2 dual cpu 3ghz.

The game runs good for me on around 55 fps when its not crashing, but when it crashes the game freezes and everything gets a very strange colour and after that i get the BSOD.

I hope anyone here can help me with it.

[Deadfast 43]

BSOD always suggests there is something wrong with either the operating system (or anything interacting with it on a low level such as drivers) or the hardware, Arma isn't at fault. I suggest you use memcheck to verify your RAM works correctly.

[liam 1]

Thanks for the reply, i have done the test and there didn't seem to be any problems with my RAM. I forgot to mention something which might be important, before i get a BSOD, my screen starts to get strange colours everywhere like I'm having a graphics error. Which makes me believe the problem might be something with my gpu.

[Ezcoo 47]

Thanks for the reply, i have done the test and there didn't seem to be any problems with my RAM. I forgot to mention something which might be important, before i get a BSOD, my screen starts to get strange colours everywhere like I'm having a graphics error. Which makes me believe the problem might be something with my gpu.

Are the "strange colours" flashing polygons or maybe coloured rectangles? At least in case of the latter the problem was failing VRAM (the memory of the GPU) for me on my old build. I decreased the clocks of my VRAM and it was fine after that.

If you can accept the risk of cooking your GPU, you might try this old, but often working trick (really!): Bake your GPU in the oven (not microwave oven!) http://www.addictivetips.com/hardware/fix-your-graphics-card-by-baking-in-oven/, YT vid:

It really works mostly (for about 80-90% of the people who try it), I've seen tens and tens of people who have got their card working with that trick.

[orcinus 121]

If you try the baking method do read the instructions carefully. If you put the card in the wrong way up some (e.g. GPU) or most components may fall off.

Before that check that you are not cooking it inadvertently. Dust build up can severely reduce cooling. I've seen a friend's system behaving as if the card was dying - it was heating to ~90 degrees because of dust clogging the heatsink.

Download Furmark & run a burn test, watching the temperature curve. Google for acceptable temperature limits for your card first.

If it's getting too hot, remove the card and use a low-pressure blower to remove any dust. Reinstall. Try Furmark again.

You can also use a program like TRIXX to monitor temperature and set a fan profile to see if keeping card cooler alleviates the problem.

[liam 1]

Are the "strange colours" flashing polygons or maybe coloured rectangles? At least in case of the latter the problem was failing VRAM (the memory of the GPU) for me on my old build. I decreased the clocks of my VRAM and it was fine after that.

If you can accept the risk of cooking your GPU, you might try this old, but often working trick (really!): Bake your GPU in the oven (not microwave oven!) http://www.addictivetips.com/hardware/fix-your-graphics-card-by-baking-in-oven/, YT vid:

It really works mostly (for about 80-90% of the people who try it), I've seen tens and tens of people who have got their card working with that trick.

I have looked up both types of strange colours you said, it looks more like coloured rectangles, but ill try to see if i can get a pic of it. I will look at the options of decreasing the VRAM clocks. As for cooking, I am not sure if I want to do that but I will do it if I got no other options. I will also run the furmark burn test which orcinus mentioned.

Edit: By the way, is there anything like TRIXX for nvidia graphics cards? I found something called the geforce experience but it doesn't work for me.

Edited July 9, 2013 by liam

[ProfTournesol 956]

I have to add that memtest is known as a very reliable test, BUT it never detected my RAM problem, i solved my BSOD by changing all my RAM sticks.

[orcinus 121]

I have looked up both types of strange colours you said, it looks more like coloured rectangles, but ill try to see if i can get a pic of it. I will look at the options of decreasing the VRAM clocks. As for cooking, I am not sure if I want to do that but I will do it if I got no other options. I will also run the furmark burn test which orcinus mentioned.

Edit: By the way, is there anything like TRIXX for nvidia graphics cards? I found something called the geforce experience but it doesn't work for me.

IIRC MSI Afterburner works with NVIDA at least for o'cing, not sure whether the auto fan control does (I have an AMD card) but likely you can just set the fan to full speed & put up with the noise for a minute or ten. There's a new 3rd party free app called NVIDIA Inspector - no experience of it. Ah wait - the trusty old Speedfan should work fine - just set the fan to maximum.

Is there no option at all in the newer NVIDIA drivers to crank the fan speed up? - I read that they'ld removed the overclocking section. PITA!