m11x R2 - system freezes when playing BFBC2

Can anyone of you guys playing BFBC2 tell me which drivers you use?

I've tried: 266.44v1, 266.44v2 and 265.90. All of these drivers cause the whole system to freeze after about 10-20 minutes of playing.
Only way out is a hard reset.

This is really, really annoying since I cannot seem to finish one single round without having to reboot at least once.
I even tried disabling any form of overclocking of the CPU and the GPU, everything runs on stock clock - doesn't change anything.

Every driver was installed after using driver sweeper.

(i7 model, if that makes any difference)

Edit: Also tried the ones from the Dell Homepage, but (as I forgot) they still have this punkbuster issue which gets you kicked from the server.

 

Are you experiencing these symptoms?

* Playing a game.
* The game locks, audio often still playing.
* The rest of the system is still accessible and functioning.
* The game executable is not able to be killed by any means.
* Any applications that utilize the 335 cannot be run.
* Nvidia control panel isn't accessible.
* 335 driver pukes.
* The only option at this point is a forced a shutdown of the system.

If so then see/post in the stickied thread about game crashing in this forum. It's been reported that underclocking the 335 helps.

If you're seeing different symptoms then please provide as much additional info as you can.

 

Had this error once. I am aware of the stickied thread, but my problem is different:

After the game locks, audio freezes as well. I am unable to do anything (e.g.: minimizing the game, launch taskmgr etc.). Audio that was playing at that moment (also skype) gets repeated in a 'loop'.

Video Settings:

Details: High
Texture: High
Shadows: Low
Effects: Low
AA: 2x MSAA
Anisotrophic: 1x
Vsync: OFF
HBAO: ON

The game runs smoothly with these settings, unfortunately that doesn't help me with this freezing issue.

 

Are you overclocking the CPU or GPU?

 

Nope, neither of them...

 

do you experience lockups with anything else?

 

BFBC2 is the only "modern" game I own..
Any suggestions on demo versions of graphic intensive games I could download? Maybe Crysis?

Edit: Downloading Mafia II demo right now.. will edit this post when I tested it

 

I used to have the problem with a lot of games... Fifa 11, halo 1, Far Cry 2. I ended up reinstalling windows and that seemed to fix it.... though I am sure you don't want to do that :/

 

Just completed the demo without any lockups.. Tried to make it crash by setting everything to high, AF to 16x. Weird.. Maybe I'll try and reinstall windows..

I was thinking and as far as I know this problem didn't exist until I installed my SSD, thus reinstalling windows.
I also used this guide to improve the ssd's performance: http://thessdreview.com/optimization-guides/the-ssd-optimization-guide-2/

Maybe one of those tweaks is the issue.. I don't know..

 

Try turning HBAO to OFF. You dont need this. For a comparison (desktop, not laptop but you'll get the idea), see: http://www.yougamers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124384

If still an issue, dont do 'advanced' - set it to medium, change resolution only to match native and then test game play. if smooth, bump up settings one at a time and re-test.

 

YouTube - Battlefield Bad Company 2 on the Alienware m11x R2

The game runs perfect with the latest official drivers, even with HBAO and even in advanced mode, so the problem is other thing, it could the game...

 

Rather than reinstalling your os, have you reseated or switched your ram? It sounds weird but sometimes it helps.

Good Luck,

StevenX

 

My desktop also freezes, only fix was to disable all sound cards. I get freezes in all PunkBuster games (BF2, BC2). Seems to be a conflict with sound drivers.

 

Switched RAM bars: still lockups
Reinstalled Audio drivers: lockups

Trying medium settings now, if that doesn't help I guess I'll have to reinstall Windows..

 

Reinstalling audio drivers didn't help, only disabling sound in Device Manager helped. I tried many different graphics cards from ATi and nVidia and they both freeze- this is a problem with something else on the system, most likely sound.

 

So the solution would be to play without sound?

I was also wondering if it might be an hardware issue since I seem to be one of very few m11x users who are experiencing this issue..

Btw, setting graphics down to medium didn't help. Still locks up after about 20 minutes.

 

That was my fix, so yes. Try playing on an unranked server without PunkBuster and see if it freezes.

 

Hmm playing without sound doesn't really seem like a perfect solution, does it?
Reinstalled Windows today and will try it nevertheless

Edit: Just played for 35 minutes straight. I guess reinstalling Windows finally solved my issue. Thanks for everyone's help!