Random BSOD

[niadly]

i installed GOTY edition, patched to 1.7

i can play the game, but only for about 10mins to an hour tops, then i randomly get a crash (fallout3.exe encounters problem and my video card shuts off). i have Riva Tuner installed, and my GPU temp is nominal 36°

my system specs-

 

Win XP Media Center Edition SP3

Pentium D 2.8Ghz CPU

2.5G RAM

BFG Nvidia GTS250 1GB (ver 196.21 driver)

Realtek HD audio (newest ver of driver installed)

 

 

attached DXDiag

 

I can play any other game for extended periods of time with no problems, The Witcher, Dragon Age, Oblivion GOTY, and STALKER COP all play great on highest settings with no issues.

 

this is my favorite game ever and i cant really get into it without restarting the comp. I'd take Crash to Desktop anyday over these BSOD's.

[niadly]

well, after dealing with Bethesda Support, all they could tell me was to update my drivers, and close all other programs while fallout is running...

....good advice for someone who has never used a PC before, but all my drivers are up to date, no other programs are running while fallout 3 is, I have no mods, and i can only play for a few minutes until Blue screening

 

i have tried the ffdshow fix, but it didnt do anything, so i uninstalled the codecs, I have tried running it with window maximizer, i have tried patching to 1.7 and even the Unofficial Patch....only thing that seems to help a little is setting the affinity to use only the 0 core, after selecting affinity, i can play for a few minutes and it CTD 50% of the time, BSOD the other 50%....i say this is better because id rather it CTD then BSOD anyday.

 

if anyone knows of a fix , or even a workaround to get more game time in before it crashes, please let me know...

 

...does anyone here play fallout 3 WITHOUT crashes? - Id like to know what your specs are

[Rabbit1251]

Mr. Niadly, I have played Fallout quite extensively and I've been troubled by no crashes. I appear to be amoung a chosen minority in this and I couldn't begin to tell you why. If you are curious about my specifications Please click on my profile. Please excuse any typoing errors in this missive as I have a cat catching a much needed nap in my arms.

 

 

Rabbit

[nosisab]

what says the events log -> system?

 

You can access it from Administrative tools at the control panel.

[niadly]

what says the events log -> system?

 

You can access it from Administrative tools at the control panel.

 

 

Type: error Event:1000

 

Faulting application fallout3.exe, version 1.7.0.3, faulting module fallout3.exe, version 1.7.0.3, fault address 0x00227180.

 

0000: 6c707041 74616369 206e6f69 6c696146

0010: 20657275 6c616620 74756f6c 78652e33

0020: 2e312065 2e302e37 6e692033 6c616620

0030: 74756f6c 78652e33 2e312065 2e302e37

0040: 74612033 66666f20 20746573 32323030

0050: 30383137 0a0d

 

 

 

Is this what you mean?

[niadly]

here is a better list

i put most of the instances i could find on this list starting from the first crash after i installed it.

its a lot of jibberish to me, so i dont know if this is what you mean by events log

[niadly]

well, if i use only the "0" core it only CTD's and BSOD's maybe 5% of the time...

still completely unacceptable...

...I am NOT buying New Vegas on PC, - i hope Bethesda gets gangraped in the shower

[CommanderCrazy]

Roll back your drivers. 196.21 is faulty.

PM me & we can have a big talk about this.

[bben46]

BSOD can also be caused by a hardware problem. Such as a weal power supply 12volt line dropping too low. Bad Ram - a stuck bit, a faulty Video card.

 

If you have an off the shelf brand name computer (Dell, HP etc) and you have upgraded your video card, I would say your power supply is suspect as they tend to use the cheapest power supply they can get away with.

 

RAM - mismatched ram sticks. If you have enough ram (3G or more) try removing them one at a time and playing for a while.

 

Video card. all problems are not necessarily heat related - although most are. Try removing and reseating the card. (do all cards and RAM chips while you are at it)

 

You say your GPU is not overheating, what about the CPU?

And of course, any other faulty component could possibly cause a BSOD also.

Try a system testing program

HeavyLoad - free stress test program http://majorgeeks.com/HeavyLoad_d2786.html

Other diagnostics - some free some not. http://majorgeeks.com/downloads7.html

[niadly]

Roll back your drivers. 196.21 is faulty.

PM me & we can have a big talk about this.

 

 

ive tried rolling back to 180 something (it was recommended for fallout 3) and it didnt work, also i have Mass Effect 2 and the 196.21 fixes problems with that...

 

and since when is 196.21 faulty????

 

 

the problem is not my CPU getting hot, it is not my drivers, its not my Pwr Sup, its the Game. I waited and got the GOTY version too, hoping they would have time to smooth out any bugs...wrong!

 

Im not bottlenecking, my temperatures all around are perfect, I play Dragon Age for hours on end, The Witcher for hours on end, and Oblivion has NEVER crashed on me. ever.

 

As far as Im concerned its gotten so bad that I can only play it for a few minutes and it crashes, so Im going to shelve it, which pisses me off, because i love the graphics on PC, and i do own it on Xbox but i just think the graphics stink (even on HDTV, depth of field and POV are too short and the textures suck)