I've been beating this computer up for about a week now, and while I've amassed enormous reference material about solving various problems and inconsistencies within Vista, none have yet actually solved my problem.
The problem is thus:
Moments after starting or loading a game, WoW/Spore/BF2/Etc, the entire system just freezes, and can only be restarted after a hard boot. If I don't load a game, it is basically 100% stable.
My first thought was a video issue, but I purchased a new GeForce 8500GT and installed the guru3d drivers (the problem persisted with stock nvidia drivers) so I've ruled out video drivers, having used 4 sets of video drivers with 2 video cards. I upgraded to a 450W power supply, since for some reason Gateway still uses 300W PSU, but the problem persists. I've updated all drivers from manufacturer's website, and reinstalled the OS. I've run full integrity checks on the HDD and RAM, and I can't find a BIOS update for the foxconn RS780 motherboard.
I've tweaked BIOS settings and reset them to optimal defaults. I've swapped out the RAM and tried using different channels. I've scoured over the event viewer, but since it 'freezes' I don't get a crash report, only the usual error after reboot that 'recovered from an unexpected shutdown'
I guess my question is, does anyone know of a BIOS update/solution for this motherboard, or how can i 'record' the activities of my PC so that I can see exactly what causes the freeze to occur.
Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.
Computer Model: GT5676
Computer Manufacturer: Gateway
OS Name: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate |C:\Windows|\Device\Harddisk0\Partition1
OS Version: 6.0.6001
System Type: x64-based PC
Total Physical Memory: 4094 MB
Windows Directory: C:\Windows
BIOS Version: Default System BIOS
CPU: AMD Phenom(tm) 9600 Quad-Core Processor
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
Resolution: 1152 x 864 x 4294967296 colors
The problem is thus:
Moments after starting or loading a game, WoW/Spore/BF2/Etc, the entire system just freezes, and can only be restarted after a hard boot. If I don't load a game, it is basically 100% stable.
My first thought was a video issue, but I purchased a new GeForce 8500GT and installed the guru3d drivers (the problem persisted with stock nvidia drivers) so I've ruled out video drivers, having used 4 sets of video drivers with 2 video cards. I upgraded to a 450W power supply, since for some reason Gateway still uses 300W PSU, but the problem persists. I've updated all drivers from manufacturer's website, and reinstalled the OS. I've run full integrity checks on the HDD and RAM, and I can't find a BIOS update for the foxconn RS780 motherboard.
I've tweaked BIOS settings and reset them to optimal defaults. I've swapped out the RAM and tried using different channels. I've scoured over the event viewer, but since it 'freezes' I don't get a crash report, only the usual error after reboot that 'recovered from an unexpected shutdown'
I guess my question is, does anyone know of a BIOS update/solution for this motherboard, or how can i 'record' the activities of my PC so that I can see exactly what causes the freeze to occur.
Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.
Computer Model: GT5676
Computer Manufacturer: Gateway
OS Name: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate |C:\Windows|\Device\Harddisk0\Partition1
OS Version: 6.0.6001
System Type: x64-based PC
Total Physical Memory: 4094 MB
Windows Directory: C:\Windows
BIOS Version: Default System BIOS
CPU: AMD Phenom(tm) 9600 Quad-Core Processor
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
Resolution: 1152 x 864 x 4294967296 colors