Game crashes after few minutes.

[Reaper37]

Hello all,

 

First off, my apologies if this subject has been brought up on multiple occasions, im sure with how this game is, it most certainly has been. Anyhow, I purchased a digital copy of GTA IV from Gamestop online so i could play around with modding. I downloaded the game and installed the latest patch, but have been having issues since. Every time i get the game up and running, i can play in it for a few minutes, no more then 10 max, and then the game crashes my computer entirely, forcing me to manually shut it down and start it back up. When it crashes, it goes to a black screen, does not allow me to do anything, nor does it give me any type of code.

 

I have attempted to fix it in many possible ways posted on line from updating video card drivers, adding updates to every program imaginable including Adobe Flash, and even have attempted to play at lower quality/resolution, nothing will work. I was hoping i might be able to get help from some good people like yourselves before i get a hold of Gamestop and tell them to shove the game up their rear ends. I also have attempted to play this game with and without mods, same result every time. I would appreciate any help anyone might be able to give me, i will have my comp specs listed below and allow you all to ponder from their, thanks in advance.

 

Thomas

 

Computer Info:

 

Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

8 gigs of Ram

NVidia Geforce GT 430 Video Card

AMD Athlon II X2 250 Dual Core 1gb 3.0 Processor

500 gb Disk Drive

Everything is DDR3

Edited March 12, 2012 by Reaper37

[mkey82]

Well Thomas, the problem here is no piece of software should hang a normally working PC (excluding drivers). When I say "normally working" that means: stable hardware in conjunction with a stable OS installation. For example, I run Windows 7 since the beta came out ('twas the holy quest for better GTAIV performance that got me on that train) and it has never hanged for me due to some software, including benchmarks, games and buggy software I made and tested myself; I was always able to press ctr+alt+del and get to the task manager, allowing me to end the offending process or to complete some other task.

 

All in all, you have some testing to do. You'll firstly have to check the condition of your OS

a) perform cleanup and av scans (CCleaner and MBAM should get you far enough in this regard)

b) perform defragmentation of your drives (extreme fragmentation can do wonders for system stability)

c) check your drivers. You may have some additional stuff installed, showing in the programs list in control panel; removed anything that seem out of it's place and update everything else. Visit the mobo manufacturer website and install every driver they offer, install a fresh GPU driver

 

As the last step, you'll have to strain your PC while measuring temperatures. For this goal, you may use program called "Hardware monitor" to, well monitor temperatures, while running benchmarks, programs like furmark to stress the GPU and "CPU damage" or (if the previous program name is unsettling) Prime95 to test the processor.

 

All this being said, allow me warn you that your PC is not the most competent machine to run GTAIV. That dual core CPU is going to have problems with it no matter what you do while GT430 is on the lower end of the gaming spectrum Nvidia offers in the 400 series.

[Reaper37]

Ya, its actually weird because i have played most everything else you can think of on it with no problem. The most graphically demanding one recently would probably be Battlefield 3. I understand the GT 430 is definitely not the best on the market, i actually plan to upgrade here as soon as i have a little extra cash available, but i would imagine that it should be able to at least run the game, whether or not on higher texture settings is to be seen. I have done a few things you have mentioned already, (De-fragment, CCleaner, windows updates, driver checks, etc.), however i will run through your suggestions again when i have some time tomorrow and see if maybe i am missing a step or two. I also plan to open my tower and make sure she is all cleaned out with any heavy dust build up, to ensure she isn't overheating.

 

Anyhow, thanks for the suggestions and info, i will reply again once i get a chance to perform these actions.

 

Thomas

[Reaper37]

Alright, so i went through and made sure all drivers and updates were installed. I performed a memory leak test, all good, and finished out with a bench test. It turned out that with anti aliasing on, my card/gpu were running at over 100C in temp. Once i turned them off, they ran steady at about 72c, and the game hasn't crashed since. So everything is now working. Thanks for your help mkey82, and i will post again if and when something else comes up.

 

Thomas

 

 

Problem: Computer crashes after a couple minutes of GTA IV play time, and hangs, forcing manual shut down.

 

Solution: Anti-Aliasing was causing overheat, turned it off, no further issues with crashing.

 

Update: So my comp is still crashing, but it takes a lot longer now. It is definitely an overheating issue with my card/GPU, obviously this has to do with my end and my solution will be upgrading the parts, and probably buying a better coolant system for my computer. Thanks again for the help provided, hopefully this helps others if they happen to be having something of the same issue.

Edited March 14, 2012 by Reaper37

[mkey82]

This game doesn't feature antialiasing.

 

About the card, there is probably something wrong if it goes past 100°C.

- you should check the vent visually

- make sure the card is not clogged up

- make sure there is enough space behind the case, if that's the direction the hot air is released in

- check at which percentage is the GPU fan rotating at, maybe it's working on too low RPM so not enough heat is being drained away

[Reaper37]

Are you sure it don't, cuz when i went into my graphics settings, it showed it was set at 4X Anti-Aliasing, i switched it down to Tri-Linear, and turned Anti-Aliasing off entirely in the Nvidia control panel. As for the card, i opened up and cleaned my tower out today, some dust build up, but not enough that it should have effected it. I did notice there isn't a lot of room around the card, and possibly not much heat extraction, so i am planning on installing a couple more fans, and placing the tower itself in a more open area to try that out. Will try those couple things and update...

[mkey82]

There is no AA, that setting is probably AF, in game called render quality or something of the sorts.