HD Content on my PC causes BSOD's

[jumpyg1258]

If I attempt to play any sort of HD content on my PC regardless if its a Blu-Ray disc or HD-DVD, it will eventually give me a BSOD. Whats odd is that it isnt an immediate thing or one that I can time when it will occur, its very random. It could be 5 seconds into play to 10 minutes but it always hard crashes my PC and forces me to restart. Ive tried just about everything in the book to attempt to get movies to play on my computer and all of it has failed. At first I thought it was video card drivers so I updated those, then I thought it was firmware, so I updated that. Then I thought it could be codecs so I tried new ones, then I thought maybe I should update my BIOS, then I tried updating my OS, then I tried formatting and reinstalling my OS and so on and so on. Today I thought if I would install the latest AnyDVD HD 6.4.0.0 and PowerDVD 7430a that it might work and I am still getting the same result.

I have come to the conclusion that either 1. PowerDVD just sucks and is a very crappy piece of software or 2. ATI needs to fire all of their developers who write the code behind their drivers.

Heres my PC specs in case any of you have any ideas...

C2D 6750
2GB DDR2 RAM @ 1066
Asus G33 Mobo
ATI Radeon HD3870
WD 250GB SATA II Hard Drive
WD 750GB SATA II Hard Drive
Lite-on 401S BD-Rom
Microsoft HD-DVD Rom
Lite-on 20x DVD Litescribe burner
Razer AC-1 Barracuda Sound Card
HP w2207 22" Monitor

[jumpyg1258]

The method of testing I tried today, was using AnyDVD I ripped a Blu-Ray disc directly to my hard drive and tried playing it thru WMP 11. It played fine for a while but as usual, it eventually hard crashed my PC. It was using the codec from PowerDVD so thats not totally eliminated from the causes but it did eliminate the disk drives from being at fault.

[glogrono]

Originally Posted by jumpyg1258

The method of testing I tried today, was using AnyDVD I ripped a Blu-Ray disc directly to my hard drive and tried playing it thru WMP 11. It played fine for a while but as usual, it eventually hard crashed my PC. It was using the codec from PowerDVD so thats not totally eliminated from the causes but it did eliminate the disk drives from being at fault.

I have a quad core computer with 3gb ram, nvidia 8800GTS. When playing a ripped movie from my main hard drive, most of the time the video stutters pretty badly. It doesn't crash, but it's unwatchable. If I play it from my external hard drive, it plays perfect. I think you're asking too much of your hard drive. It's running windows, it's running all the programs including powerdvd, it might be what's heppening to your system. Not sure, but it's something to look at.

[jumpyg1258]

The only reason why I tried watching from the HD was cause just playing the disc from the disc drive itself wasnt working so I wanted to see if it was the drive at fault.

[maxmcleod]

do you have another video card you can test with this setup? something not from ati?
if not I suggest buying a nvidia 8500gt from newegg or tigerdirect
its only like 40-60 bucks, throw it in, load the newest drivers and try it then...
if it works, then you know its your card, if not then use rma and get your 40-60 bucks back...

[Obiit]

Actually both are correct jumpyg1258! It took about 6 revisions of the catalyst drivers before my ATI HD2600 was stable and worked correctly and PowerDVD is know for it's lack of playability.

Are you using Vista or XP? XP for me has been more stable than Vista and the 32 bit ones at that.

Daft question - any reports on the Razer Sound card causing problems? perhaps worth running on the motherboards sound card as a test?

[supersix4]

please dont discuss that here the site could get in trouble, thanks

[maxmcleod]

what are you talking about? you have 30 days to return a product, its not like its illegal, I'm just trying to help him figure out what he can do. Its a cheap card, that is proven to work, so if it bombs out you know its not your card.

[jumpyg1258]

Nope, I do not have another video card to use or I would have tried that already. Since I am using a G33, I believe I may be able to test it using the onboard video *SHREEK!!!*

I havent heard anything bad about the Razer card in relation to HD content. I havent had any sound problems with it and really its just a rebranded CMedia 8788 card.

I am currently using Windows XP and have no plans to ever switch to Vista. I will probably wait it out till Microsoft releases an OS that actually has benefits of making a switch rather than just eye candy and unneeded copy protection that lags your system.

Last night I tried updating the BIOS of the video card itself which it was playing ok for a while though the video was getting choppy and Ive never had that happen before but eventually it still crashed.

To test for heating problems, I was running the fan on the vid card full blast which didnt do anything except making it hard for me to hear the movie over the fan noise.

PowerDVD isnt the issue, its their codec that is at fault cause if I play the video thru WMP using the PowerDVD HD Codec, it still crashes.

[jumpyg1258]

BTW maxmcleod, where can I get a machine that has 2048 gigs of ram! That thing must be a beast!!!

[brett_day]

2GB DDR2 RAM @ 1066

You need more ram in your computer to start with, 2gb is barely enough to run the os and other needed programs.

BSOD are usualy caused by conflicting hardware or drivers. one other quick question. what size power supply do you have? one of the main causes of BSOD is an inadequate power supply! Playing HD content will push your comp or any comp really to the max and will need to use all components at their max. If you do not have at least a 600w power supply that could be your problem right there

[Locklain]

Have you checked to see what error is popping up on the BSoD? Is the computer you are using a new computer or have you had it for a while? Have you added any new hardware recently? The first thing I like to run when I build a new computer is Memtest. A computer can work perfectly fine with one bad stick of ram until it comes under heavy stress.

You can download Memtest at this address http://www.memtest86.com/
I recommend using the bootable iso it seems to be a little more accurate.

[maxmcleod]

Originally Posted by jumpyg1258

BTW maxmcleod, where can I get a machine that has 2048 gigs of ram! That thing must be a beast!!!

Haha that's my bad, I didn't realize that when I was typing it up.. damn that would be sweet... all fixed

[WickyWoo]

You need more ram in your computer to start with, 2gb is barely enough to run the os and other needed programs.

2GB is more than enough for any modern PC

[jumpyg1258]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

2GB is more than enough for any modern PC

I was about to say the same thing. It may be true if youre running Vista or programs that are memory hogs like IE, but 2 has been just fine for me and I am usually playing pc games on it that use a lot of ram.

[jumpyg1258]

Originally Posted by brett_day

BSOD are usualy caused by conflicting hardware or drivers. one other quick question. what size power supply do you have? one of the main causes of BSOD is an inadequate power supply! Playing HD content will push your comp or any comp really to the max and will need to use all components at their max. If you do not have at least a 600w power supply that could be your problem right there

600 watts are you nuts? People these days seem to be going crazy with power supplies. Maybe if I was running a server with like 4 raided hard disc drives and all of my drives were internal and I had two video cards, then I could see using that much power. But my board is a micro-atx with 1 video card which has never had ANY problems until I tried playing HD content video. If it was a power issue, I would have had issues long ago with the numerous games and other programs I have used on my PC.

[jumpyg1258]

Originally Posted by Locklain

Have you checked to see what error is popping up on the BSoD? Is the computer you are using a new computer or have you had it for a while? Have you added any new hardware recently? The first thing I like to run when I build a new computer is Memtest. A computer can work perfectly fine with one bad stick of ram until it comes under heavy stress.

You can download Memtest at this address http://www.memtest86.com/
I recommend using the bootable iso it seems to be a little more accurate.

I will post the error on here tonight when I get home, im at work right now. I have tried googling the .sys file that the BSOD referenced but came up with nada. Ive been using my PC that I built for at least a year now with no problems and I only have issues with playing HD content. Only hardware I have bought recently was the BD-ROM and HD-DVD drives but those are external and have their own power supplies. I havent ran a memtest on my machine yet but I guess I should.

[jumpyg1258]

Just for curiousity, I checked into seeing if I was going to upgrade my PSU, how much juice could I get for my case. The largest PSU I could find is 400W which is only 50 more than what I currently got.

If you can find a micro-ATX PSU that can handle more than 500W, Id give ya a pat on the back.

[Obiit]

What case do you have ? I'm hunting for PSU's for server cases at the moment so i may spot one while I'm looking? Besides it's the stabilisation of the voltage rails and efficiency you require not just the watts.

which .sys file is it?

[jumpyg1258]

My case uses a SFX12V, good luck trying to find something that puts out a lot of juice in that format. =P