Computer freezes during 3D gameplay

Hello! I will try to explain my problem as well as I can.

[SPECS]
Windows 7 ultimate 64-bit
MOBO: Asus Maximus II Formula
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 8500 3.166Ghz
GPU: nVidia 260GTX (newest driver)
RAM: 2x 1024GB DDR2-800 OCZ Platinum // 2x 2GB DDR2-800 OCZ total 6gb
1 SATA HDD [WESTERN DIGITAL GREEN CAVIAR] // 1 IDE HDD
Power Supply: OCZ GameXstream 700W
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I have been running with the setup and overclock that is causing this problem for about 4-5 months.
When ever I play certain 3D games this problem occurs.

When I play Battlefield2 / Battlefield 2142 my computer freezes within 5-15 minutes of gaming. This freeze includes all visuals to freeze completely and the sound will skip extremely fast sounding just like a hair trimmer (a buzz). The ONLY way to get out of this is to restart or turn off the computer. <-- My computer being a stock of 3.166Ghz is overclocked (with the FSB only) to 3.6ghz. (333FSB x 9.5) Playing games such as Call of Duty MW2 do not cause this freeze.

I got the new Battlefield Bad Company 2 game which also causes this freeze. Until downloading the newest nvidia driver (april2010) my computer would freeze within 15 seconds of setting the graphics to MAX. Once I turned anti-aliasing down to 2x and effects to medium it would only freeze periodically (maybe once every second day, or so RANDOM). Now with the new driver it freezes totally randomly on high settings but not instantly. Im not sure if the driver had any impact though...

Ive looked around online and found people having similar problems while running a WESTERN DIGITAL GREEN CAVIAR sata hard drive. I hear these arent meant for high end gaming? My old computer also ran this drive, and its the only thing common on this computer form that one. After having lots of problems with that computer after getting this hard drive, the sata controller began to not work at all (I couldnt use SATA drives, only IDE were recognized). Now this computer freezes... Since reading up posts of people reporting problems with the green caviar drive im beginning to think its the drive, and it may even break my sata controller again!

My temperatures :
CPU seems to run at about 21deg celcius idle and under 55deg in a game.
GPU under 70deg at 85%fan power in Riva Tuner in a game.

Extra notes:
--> Sometimes my computer seems like its about to undergo this unique freeze for a split second, the sound skips than goes back to normal right away (very rare).

THINGS I HAVE TRIED (that dont fix it):
- Memtest / OCCT / IntelBurnTest (30sec) All without no errors
- Defragmenting drive
- Stock clock settings for CPU and RAM
- Overclocking the CPU to many different FSB aswell as voltages
- Tried different RAM timings, freq, and voltages
- Different video card drivers right up to the newest
-

WHAT I HAVEN'T YET TRIED (hope to soon if possible):
- Running windows 7 off of a different SATA HDD thats not Caviar Green
- Updating my BIOS
- Reformatting
- Stress tests (full periods of time on recommended programs)
- Testing my video card on a different computer with Bad Company 2
- Disabling my sound device (SoundMax) in device manager


THESE THREADS ARE SIMILAR PROBLEMS BY OTHER PEOPLE!
https://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-d...tml#post712463

My new EVGA 750i rig freezes during games!!! i'm soo worried..plz HELP. - AnandTech Forums

old thread of mine: [Solved] during 3D gameplay, help! [Computer freezing] - General-Motherboard - Motherboards-Memory

WD Caviar Green drives aren't typically the gaming hard drive of choice. At least a Blue, even a Black would be better.

It may also be your graphics card as well. When you play MW2, do you have it on MAX as well?

Genuine said:

jelyman said:

WD Caviar Green drives aren't typically the gaming hard drive of choice. At least a Blue, even a Black would be better.

It may also be your graphics card as well. When you play MW2, do you have it on MAX as well?

Yes, on MW2 it is all max and it hasnt been freezing there. Just on all of the battlefield games, even the older one Battlefield 2. However when I play Battlefield 2 on my Windows XP boot (I have a copy of winxp on my IDE thats connected) there is no freezing. Thats what makes me wonder if its because its not running off the SATA drive at that moment, or simply because its windows xp...

Your XP install runs off what type of drive?

Genuine said:

It runs off of a Western Digital 250GB IDE drive with the SATA drive as storage in that boot.

I sense funky drivers. The IDE drives have a lower throughput per capita than the SATA drives do, even the Cav. Greens. But that's not to say there aren't performance issues with that particular series of WD drives that are beyond normal.

Have you tried slowing your overclock back down to normal? [maybe you have and I didn't notice]

Genuine said:

I just realized that I had my CPU voltage set to auto in BIOS. Maybe when I overclock I need to set it manually higher? Ill try like 1.39V

When you overclock, a higher voltage is needed for stability but be VERY VERY careful. Step too high and the processor will flash fry.