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5850 BFBC2 Hard Lock

Talonz

2[H]4U
Joined
Apr 8, 2002
Messages
3,453
Hey guys,

Need your opinion on this problem I'm having. Just upgraded to a new 5850 from a 4870 with system in sig. Been getting a few hard locks when playing BFBC2, maybe about 10 seconds after I enter the game. Has not happened in a less demanding game like Heroes of Newerth (have not tried any other games). Sound makes a buzzing sound and the reset button doesn't work. I have to hold the power button to shut it off.

This problem doesn't always happen, so far it's happened the first 2 times I've tried to play each day (for 2 days). Once it works though, I can game for a couple of hours without incident. The reset button not working suggests a power supply issue, I have an old Antec Truepower (1.0) 550. I've tried 2 PCIE connectors as well as 1 PCIE connector + 1 molex -> PCIE connector.

CPU is at stock volts, but has a raised BCLK (enough so that turbo 1 core = 3.6ghz). Idle power draw is around 105 watts, I can't remember load but I believe it's well under 300W.

Any suggestions? PSU is my first guess, but I'd rather not spend $$ for a new PSU when it could make absolutely no impact. The only other PSU I have is a Seasonic S12 330w which is in my HTPC.
 
Sounds like a video card problem to me. Do you have GPU recover enabled?
 
It'll be a pain in the ass, but I recommend loading it up with the Seasonic S12 (it can more than handle the load) and see if it persists. BC2 freezes every now and then for me, and it looks like a hardlock (image freezes on screen) but Ctrl-Alt-Del still works and I can just kill the game and relaunch. However, I take it this is not what you're experiencing.
 
Sounds like a video card problem to me. Do you have GPU recover enabled?

I believe it's enabled if it's on by default. It's really a hard lock because the reset button doesn't work.

It'll be a pain in the ass, but I recommend loading it up with the Seasonic S12 (it can more than handle the load) and see if it persists. BC2 freezes every now and then for me, and it looks like a hardlock (image freezes on screen) but Ctrl-Alt-Del still works and I can just kill the game and relaunch. However, I take it this is not what you're experiencing.

I was leaning towards this too, I'll give it a shot, thanks.
 
Video can definitely cause hard locks, reset means nothing. Check case airflow and drivers (did you completely remove all drivers before installing the card?)

How high do the temps go on the auto OC in the CCC? What are your CPU temps under load?
 
Video can definitely cause hard locks, reset means nothing. Check case airflow and drivers (did you completely remove all drivers before installing the card?)

How high do the temps go on the auto OC in the CCC? What are your CPU temps under load?

CPU temperatures are fine, system was stable with my 4870 when running my heatsink fan @ 7v. I've tried running that fan at full speed as well. Right now the case is open. I did not reinstall drivers, as I was running the latest 10.3 version with my 4870. I don't think GPU temps are an issue since the lockup occurs about 10 seconds after entering a game, but I will check on that later.
 
Well, 4870 and 5850...differences in loaded modules are probably there since one is DX10 and the other DX11, I'd say wipe the drivers and reload before spending money. Besides, the 4870 and 5850 don't have much difference in power consumption. The 4870 actually draws more power than the 5850.
 
Well, 4870 and 5850...differences in loaded modules are probably there since one is DX10 and the other DX11, I'd say wipe the drivers and reload before spending money. Besides, the 4870 and 5850 don't have much difference in power consumption. The 4870 actually draws more power than the 5850.

Thanks, I will do that tonight. What's the go-to program to wipe the drivers? Driver Cleaner still do the trick?
 
My 5850 is OCed to 930/1200 and I get an occasional hardlock in BC2 but while Ctrl-alt-del doesn't work, a psu reset does. I always assumed I was pushing the card. Maybe it's another BC2 fix to add to the list. It only happens once in a while for me. The server browser, however, dumps me to the desktop frequently.
 
It's the game. I had the same hard lock problem, and it made my system no longer stable at 400 FSB (grr). It happened every couple of hours during launch.

I don't get them anymore, though the game still crashes to desktop every once in awhile. There's a thread somewhere on steam forums that claim dialing back your sound card settings results in more stable gaming experience since it uses a crapload of cpu for sound. Also, setting the render ahead limit to 0 or 1 in the .ini seems to work.
 
I ran driver sweeper with a hard lock the 2nd time I loaded the game. Looks like I will be swapping power supplies.. Load wattage is only 250W but it's an old truepower 550 (almost 6 years now).

I don't think it's just the game because it was flawless on my 4870 as well as my 4850.
 
I'm getting a similar problem too. I'll have to try the sound card settings tip.
 
Adding Renderahead limit = 0 to settings.ini seemed to help so far for me.
 
Try another demanding game before you switch power supplies. BC2 is still kinda buggy, and it could be the culprit. After I installed Logitech Setpoint for my new G500 BC2 would crash to desktop every time I loaded a multiplayer map. If the other game doesn't lock, I'd try rolling back the 5850 driver to see if there is a conflict there. If none of the above, psu is also my first guess.

I'm running 9.12 with no problems.
 
Cleaned and reinstalled drivers - had one hard lock

Set renderaheadlimit to 1, disabled push to talk, disconnected bluetooth adapter, so far so good..

I think the PSU can be ruled out, though I really wanted a reason to buy a Seasonic x650!

Played a few solid hours of NFS Shift and HoN and no issues. This Truepower 550 is almost 7 years old now..
 
That's why comparing two cards is difficult...one uses a different directx path than the other, maybe the game is buggy with DX11 cards...but by all means, now that you know you won't be pissed when a new PSU does not fix the problem, go ahead and splurge on the PSU, sounds like you want it anyway.
 
those antec truepowers are fucking time bombs. they are notorious for eating shit.

i had one that should have handled shit with ease, but instead it decided to fuck as much shit over as it could. i'd get looping sound locks and my monitor would lose signal. happened a couple of times more and the end result was a video card meeting its maker (which i thankfully RMA'd no problem)

i wouldn't trust those things.
 
Just wanted to provide an update:

When I switched my 4870 out for the 5850, I also took out my Audigy2 and started using onboard sound (I was using the feedback cancellation feature of the onboard for mic + speakers).

Apparently, the onboard sound doesn't play well with BC2. No problems for about half a week now.
 
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