Overheating processor or memory chip error?

Anyone else getting this? I get it after sitting at the login screen for a bit. Never had any problems in beta. I am using dual channel Corsair Memory but I am within specs. My CPU is liquid cooled so I'm running at 88f playing games and 82f idle temp. I'm sure it's the memory timings but I can't see why I would get the error now and not beta.

Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
1gig PC 3200 Dual Channel Corsair
Athlon 3200+
BFG GeForce 6800 Ultra OC
160 gig SATA Seagate Partioned 80gig/40gig/40gig

Perhaps things have gotten a bit warmer in your area over the last few weeks? I know that used to make a noticible difference where I used to live (of course I didn't have air conditioning...).

What's happening? If you had a pic, it's gone now.
Are your drivers up-to-date? That's probably the first thing I'd check.

We don't have an image. But check your timings and see if it fixes it then. If not, try rolling back or going forward with your video drivers. Keep us updated.

Lansing Kai Don

Yes on the drivers Lunar. Although I often try to use beta graphics and chipset where I can find them nothing has changed since the last BWE drivers wise. As far as the temp here it's actually been close to 20 degrees cooler than the last BWE temp. This really isn't a factor as my pc normally runs around 10 degrees above room temp. I'll slow the memory down a bit and see how that goes.

Overheating processor, Did you re-install/position your heatsink?
memory chip error.. I have no clue, maybe it's your drivers.

And, what PSU are you using? Also, is your wall sockets grounded properly?

Heatsink I can't see being an issue as the 3200+ I have is running at 87f currently.

I adjusted the memory timings and we'll see.

PSU is 530w and yes.

*Edit*
I can get a pic if the timing change doesn't fix it. I was able to duplicate the error three times. If I don't see the error again I'll set the timings back to look for it. Then if it returns maybe we've helped someone before they see this error.

*Update*
OK it looks like it was the timings. While I was still in specs I still had my settings faster than default. It's been close to 40 minutes and the error hasn't returned yet. I'll speed things back up tomorrow and see if the error returns then report back.

You and I have almost the same rig.

I would back the memory timings back to Optimal rather than Performance and see if it crashes for you. Also, if you are running High rezolution, try turning off the AntiAliasing first and see if it crashes again. AA at anything over 1152*864 isnt that great of an effect and totally will bog your card. Hope that helps.

There is no way your processor is overheating at 88F.

-Virt

I have the same processor and the same problem How do I change the timings?

Depends on your motherboard. You have to go into the BIOS settings and adjust your timings.

I have a Gigabyte K8ns Ultra-939. I know how to get to the bios settings but I am lost from there. My computer has been randomly restarting as well hopefully this will fix the problem once I figure out how to do it.

I didn't change anything with the processor. It was my memory timings. While the message indicates that there is an heat issue the support page it launches you to gives several reasons that you can get the message. One of which were memory timings.

This wasn't an issue with restarting. While a memory problem can cause that there are several other things that can also. If you push your cpu to hard it will cause the same result. Like I said several things can cause a random reboot. If it only happening when running a specific program then I'd start looking there. But if you suspect memory I'd be sure the memory you have is listed as compatible with your board and then use memtest. The sticks I had before these from Corsair had one bad in the twin pack. www.memtest.org

Word! 88F is chillin'

Thanks for the help. I have pretty old memory and it probably isn't compatable with my new motherboard. Thanks again

Yea, you might wanna be careful with your memory. The NForce2 motherboards are notoriously picky about their memory... ESPECIALLY the Asus ones. I have a A7N8X-Deluxe myself.

-Virt

Thanks for your help guys, I bought new ram and it works fine now

Glad to hear it!!! See you in game.

Colbin,

My computer is nearly identical to your setup and I've experieinced random instances of the same error. I do not overclock or adjust memory timings -- everything should be at default. Could you please post the details of your adjustments. I'd like to give them a try and see if this fixes things.

Thanks for your help,

What memory are you using?
The Corsair RAM I am using has a default timing of 3-3-3-8 but is rated much faster. I lowered the timings to 2-2-2-6 and everything until now was stable. You can use CPUZ to check the memory timings and other specs without entering BIOS. You can get it at www.cpuid.com . Post back with your memory type, amount, current timings, and brand. Also if possible post your system specifics which would also help. I'll help you in anyway I can.

Forgot to add that when I set it back to the default timings of 3-3-3-8 the problem was resolved. I didn't buy the stuff I bought to run at default speeds and I ^&%$ sure didn't liquid cool to do this so I'll start pushing things back up until GW gives me errors again.

Colbin,

First, thanks for the quick reply.

My system:
AMD AthlonXP 3200+ on Asus A7N8X Deluxe v2.0
XFX GeForce 6600GT
Audigy 2ZS
120GB Western Digital WD1200BB

and the RAM:

1GB Dual channel PC3200
Corsair VS512MB400 (2 sticks)
2.5-3-3-8 (auto-set on the MoBo)

Funny thing is, I get these errors if I spend too much time at the login screen. However, once I get into the game I have not had a single issue.

i dont think memory timeings would cuase problems in only one game that seems odd to me. i know people that have run insane timings but still had progs work.

what error by the way?

as far as i know the servers arent open yet

The servers don't have to be open for me to get this error. Sometimes, if I stay on the login screen for an extended period, GW will just shut down. It happened last night while I was entering my retail CD key. I restarted the game, re-entered the key and was off.

I wish I had a screenshot of the popup message, but it's something along the lines of:

"GuildWars has detected a hardware issue and is shutting down."

Then it throws me to a webpage where it provides possible causes for the error. I believe it suggests overclocking, overheating, insufficient power supply and memory timings. As I don't overclock, my CPU/GPU are running at 37/43 C and I have a 480W Antec PSU; I don't suspect the first three causes. Which leaves memory timings.

I can run the game just fine for hours without error -- it just occurs at the login.

To be honest, I am very hesitant to make any adjustments to default memory timings.

It can cause issue in specific programs. FarCry is a prime example. I couldn't get it to even launch into the game but every 1 out 10 attempts until I read several threads about memory and adjusted my timings. Also I can play WoW, PoE, Battlefield Vietnam, America's Army, and several other games without error. Not to mention Benchmarks and burn-ins in SiSoft Sandra and other benchmarks.

Terik you may want to try adjusting your CAS to 3 vs. 2.5. I haven't had a chance to look at the mem specs for your model/partnumber but that would put you at the same timings I have. Mine went away when I did and I also have no issue in game.

Same error I received Terik. If you adjust your CAS to 3.0 vs. 2.5 you are actually slowing it down a bit. No danger there but do what your are most comfortable with.

Colbin,

Thanks again for your suggestions. Unfortunately, I'll be at work for the next 10 hours or so... I'll give it a try tonight when I get home.

i have same problem..

also a7n8x-e dlx and a 3200+
corsair xms 2-3-2-6 and checked..
board reads out memory timing fine..
allready tried on 2.5 -3-3-8 still crashes at client..

to test i just start the client and doesn't login yet

just stayed there for about a few minutes..

mostly crashes under 1 minute.

i know athlon doesn't like to run at 200 mhz.. but no problems with other games.

will try at 166 mhz later today and see if that will help.

I just got the same error when logging out of the game sitting at the login screen. I am testing it right now and it hasnt done it again yet. It has only happened once so I wont adjust timings yet. Here are my system specs.

Asus A8V Deluxe rev 2
Athlon64 3200+ Winchester core
His IceQ X800XT with Cats5.4
1gig Corsair XMS3200LL pro 2-3-2-6-1t timings Dual Channel
Audigy 2zs
Antec True Power 550W

Like I said it only has happened once so I think it might be an error with the way the GW program is checking the hardware but we will see.

I also have this error message from GW:
"Guild Wars detected a possible hardware malfunction. This may be due to a faulty or overheating processor or memory chip. The application will now terminate."
But 3 of 4 times I start GW it crashes without any error message. Then the display just shows nice artefacts and hangs.
This can occurr afer a minute or after several hours - there seems to be no plan behind it.
OK, so far I supposed that this error was caused by overheating of my processor because I changed my MB and processor - I have now: Asus A7V600-X with AMD Athlon-Thoroughbred 2600+
But I did not change the cooler because specs did allow to be used with this processor. I also optimized the internal cooling of my PC by adding another fan. However, the game crashes
I did not change other stuff like memory, HD, DVD, graphics card (AGP ATI X800.)
After checking with the wonderful CPUZ tool (posted earlier in this thread) I checked now the CAS latencies and tried some variations but this did not help.

Default setting on the MB was 2-3-2-6
CPU-Z sais that I have 3 different memory chips:
1. Kensigton
512 MB
PC2300 (142MHz)
at 133MHz: 2.0-3-3-6
at 142MHz: 2.5-3-3-7

2. MSC
256 MB
PC2100 (133MHz)
at 100MHz: 2.0-2-2-5
at 133MHz: 2.5-3-3-6

3. 000000000000000000000
256 MB
PC2700 (166MHz)
at 133MHz: 2.0-3-3-6
at 166MHz: 2.5-3-3-7

Any suggestions?
I have no idea but I also don't want to damage things.
Should I use other memory or just keep one of the memory chips?

You said you changed mobo, did you clean out the processor heat sink of dust, and it was reseated with new thermal paste? Also check that all the chip fans, ( the little ones ) are spinning ok, as from experience i have had to have 2 Asus chip fans replaced from my Asus mobo.

First, thank you for the fast reply.
Everything is clean and I used also thermal paste. I think this should be ok.
I checked again all fans - they all seem to work fine.
But I want also to add that other progs work fine - unfortunately I have no other games installed, which demand as many processing power than GW does.
I still have no idea what to do now?

You could try to run it on the 512MB stick, that would eliminate any problems with using different sticks.
Try underclocking, specifically your mainboard ('frontend' bus). Processor may be cool, but there might be overheating or timing problems in there.

I took out two memory chips and left only the Kensington with the 500MB. This should be suficient for testing GW. Another reason is that Kensington supports ECC - the other two chips do not.
I tested with the default settings for the Kensington chip:
2-3-3-6 at 133MHz
and I tried
2-2-2-6 at 133MHz
becuase someone in this thread said this setting was failsave in his case.
But on my PC GW still crashes?!
Now I am running out of ideas what to check?
Any ideas are highly apreciated!

I underclocked now with 1666MHz (before: 2083 MHz ).
CPU-Z said bus speed is 133MHz (before: 166MHz) and FSB 266MHz (before 333MHz)
But the problem continues...
Is it woth trying othe memory chips?

Maybe not, if you can borrow one, you could try. But keep in mind that all the focus on memory is because of a message grom GW. You don't know why that foucesses on memory and temperature, for all we know, they found those to be the problem in 9/10 cases ... and yours could be the 10th...