Crysis 2 Freezing Issue

Hey guys, I tried searching but couldn't really find anything that matched my situation. I hope this hasn't been addressed before.

When playing Crysis 2, there are certain points where the game will freeze up on me and I'll have to ctrl+alt+del to end the game. Sometimes it's random, but other times it happens at a certain point in the game. In the opening scene, the game freezes up while opening the hatch to escape the sinking sub every single time. I've been able to get past this point twice by alt+tabbing out of the game and coming back, but that doesn't work every time. Most other times are random, though I can go a long a time without the game freezing but then it will freeze up several times in a row. I've tried verifying the game's files on Steam and downloaded it multiple times on both my 750gb hdd and my 128gb ssd. Has anyone else been having this problem with Crysis 2 and the 7970m? I'm on the 12.11P driver right now, but freezes on the 12.11 beta8 also. Any ideas on a fix would really be appreciated.

Specs are in sig. Forgot to mention, I usually run the game with the MaldoHD mod. It freezes with and without it, so probably not related.

 

Mate,
I am starting to think that something maybe wrong with your system as you did say you had poor fps with Assassin Creed 3 in Boston and now Crysis 2.
I suggest a fresh install of Windows 7 and then benchmark/test it to see if there are memory issues, hdd issues or even GPU issues.(**see below)

Looks like something inside maybe wrong. I sure hope I am wrong but you are gonna have to test it. Hopefully it's a software issue and that can be fixed with reinstalling windows and using cd given with the drivers. I would go with the reinstall and factory CD drivers first and see if the issue continues with crysis 2 and other games. I would also recommend crysis 1 as this is a known killer for poorly cooled systems. It certainly told me I had to do a re-paste and since then no issues whatsoever so I always use this game to push system for thermal stability. 30min in that game without any issue is a good test for thermals.

**Could also be a repaste issue on GPU/CPU mind posting your temperatures with HWmonitor during gaming?

Good luck

 

lol I just did a clean install on my ssd yesterday. AC3 is notorious for underutilization once you reach Boston; there are several threads here on NBR made by people with both the 7970 and 680 who are experiencing the same problems. I have over 50 games; and AC3 and Crysis 2 are the only ones I'm having issues with. Temps are good (I've repasted) and everything seems to be running well. When it's not freezing, Crysis 2 runs exceptionally well, especially for being modded with a massive texture update and maxed out settings. And yes, I have both HWiNFO64 and Afterburner running at all times to monitor temps. 3DMark11 is in my sig, so things seem to be running well there. The highest temperature I've gotten in Crysis 2 is 85C after an hour or two of playing.

I appreciate the suggestion, but I don't think there's anything wrong with my hardware. It might be an installation issue, but not sure. I've never experienced this kind of problem before. The fact that it feezes at the same point in the game every single time leads me to think it's an issue with the game, not my system.

 

What mods did you do to Crysis2?

 

MaldoHD version 4.0. Here's an article about it with screenshots Crysis 2 gets better HD textures with MaLDoHD - Video Game News, Videos and File Downloads for PC and Console Games at Shacknews.com. You can download it here MaLDoHD for Crysis 2

It looks incredible. Definitely the best graphics mod for Crysis 2. It runs at 40-60 fps on my laptop at stock clocks. Normally around 45 in large areas and 60 indoors.


Edit: Just froze again lol. It's really annoying, because Crysis 2 doesn't have a quicksave option and it always seems to freeze when it's close to the next checkpoint. I have to restart it and do the same 5 or 10 minutes of gameplay again.

 

If you don't already try using Driver Sweeper from Guru 3D, I had exactly the same issue up until a couple of days ago, the game game crashed alot since I got the laptop and I noticed it got worse with every new driver I installed but since I installed Driver Sweeper and verified the game files on steam the crashing has gone, also check your event logs when the freezing happens if it says something like atidxx32.dll under faulting module it's almost certainly your graphics driver

 

Do you mean BSOD crashing, or just the game crashing? I used to get BSODs with similar error logs with earlier 12.11 drivers before I did a clean install on my ssd. I'm kind of hesitant about using driver sweeper because I've heard some people say messing with the registry can actually cause BSODs. I used to do a "clean install" method where I deleted ati/amd registry files, but my BSODs have stopped since I stopped doing that.

I do appreciate the feedback and I welcome suggestions, I'd just wanted to clarify. It's hard to get a straight answer when it comes to registry cleaners. Some recommend them, some don't, but I haven't heard much evidence as to why.

Edit: I checked the Event Viewer, and lo and behold it's the same error message you were getting. I guess it is driver-related then. Here's the full info:

Crysis2.exe
1.9.0.0
00000000
Faulting module name: atidxx32.dll
8.17.10.472
50998057
c0000005
000242b4
1450
01cdcd04a3004f0a
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Crysis 2 Game of the Year\Bin32\Crysis2.exe
Faulting Module Path: C:\Windows\system32\atidxx32.dll
Report ID: 7ee20385-38f9-11e2-ac35-74e543ee109b

Anyone else have experience with this error? I'll go the driver sweeper route if not. Thanks guys!

 

Dude,

I am gonna install the Maldo mod on my crysis2 and I will update how it all goes for me....crashes/bugs/etc
Stay tuned..

 

try turning everything to high and not ultra and see if it runs.
ive used driver sweeper,driver cleaner and cc cleaner and they all find loads of nvidia junk in the reg and its never affected me.
only game that seems to crash back to desktop for me is battlefield 3.

time to stress your cpu/gpu and temps. download intel extreme tuning utility in my sig below and see if you get any throttling.

 

Ok..

Just ran the MaldoHd pack on my crysis2(v1.9 with dx11 texture pack) with 6990m and AMD catalyst 12.8.
I ran it for a good 30min and no sweat no crash no reboot the opening hatch scene no crash nothing just very smooth experience.
Makes Crysis 2 look amazing..

I will conclude that either
1. Your hardware is faulty somewhere possibly GPU/ram/SDD/HDD..do you have latest firmware for your samsung sdd?
2. Your CPU/GPU may need re-pasting but you say this is not an issue as temps are all ok and you have re-pasted these processors..but crashing is often symptomatic of heat issues.
3. You have some software conflicts which to me seems unlikely as the symptoms you are describing are definitely hardware related. Perhaps the beta drivers for your system is buggy? Try catalyst 12.8 and tell me if you get crashes/etc continuing..I uninstall using control panel and then when I reboot I use driver sweeper and click AMD and it will reboot again. Then I am ready for clean install of AMD drivers.


I will be curious to see what the outcome of this one is. Have you contacted your seller to ask for an opinion/advice? What have they said?

 

I used to get BF3 crashes on my old latptop with a 650m, but I don't think I've had it crash on me since getting the 7970m.

I tried your suggestion and turned down graphics settings to high, and sure enough it ran through the first level with no freezing twice. After that I loaded it on ultra, and again didn't get any freezing. Then I loaded MaldoHD on ultra and the game froze in the exact same spot it always on does, right where you hit "f" to open the hatch on the sub. It's odd because the game would freeze on my hdd regardless of whether or not I had MaldoHD installed or not. Now it seems less frequent, but still happens in those same spots. I'm going to try using a pre-12.11 driver after this to see if that affects it.

Isn't MaldoHD amazing? Crysis looks so freaking incredible with it installed

I will check the firmware on my ssd, but I don't think it's the ssd that's faulty. The game freezes whether or not I play it on the ssd or hdd. The gpu seems fine; temps are low while framerates and benchmarks are high. I may try repasting the cpu though. Temperatures can get high on cpu-demanding games (they're fine in Crysis 2) and I think I'm getting a little bit of throttling when I overclock the gpu because my physics score drops from around 7800 to 7500 when I oc. I'm going to try an earlier driver so I'll let you guys know how that turns out.

Thanks so much for the feedback. +rep to you all.

 

Yup very amazing... I am very sure it even beats Far cry 3 for texture quality alone.
Yup try the re-paste and see how you go I am sure it's probably that..
If that fails to do anything then try the older driver

Good luck.

 

Thanks man. I just tried driver sweeper and installed 12.11 beta8, but it still freezes lol. CPU temperature had a core max of 60C, that's not really hot enough to cause any issues right? It definitely gets a lot hotter than that during benchmarks and it doesn't freeze up then. I'll get around to trying 12.10 eventually. I'm going back to 12.11P for the time being though.

Also, I'm getting BSODs on startup now after using Driver Sweeper lol. I'm just making things worse for myself

 

Wow 60 on idle? Do the fans turn off whilst idling for the cpu?
That's high my 2820 idles at 35C and reaches peak in games max 55C

If it's getting a lot hotter than that during benchmarks it's the CPU paste...
Hmmm BSOD on startup after driver sweeper that's weird...
Can you boot up into safe mode and try in there to clear it out?

Go with the repaste on CPU as a matter of urgency and make sure temps lower on idle for CPU...

 

as tron said, its best to use driver sweeper/cleaner pro in safe mode. remove driver and reboot > keep pressing F8 on start up and load into safe mode > run cleaner > reboot > load new driver.

 

No, it's much cooler than that on idle, high 30s to low 40s. 60C was the maximum temperature while playing Crysis 2. It averages around 50 while playing. My gpu idles at 33.

I ran driver sweeper in safe mode and just selected the ATI files to delete. I'm assuming I should leave the nvidia physx stuff alone. I'm not sure why the BSODs started happening afterward; I got two of them but now things seem fine. I'm going to do another clean install eventually lol.

 

Great to hear...yup those are normal temps.
Could be a software issue for those BSOD... yes leave nvidia physx alone

 

Good to see you got some improvement at least, you're right it's always best to use driver sweeper in safe mode. Let us know how crysis 2
plays now, if you're still getting freezes try verifying the files on steam as crashes and freezes can often cause the files to corrupt

 

if you get any more bsod download who crashed from the link in my signature below and then post the dump file on here.

 

Hey mate did you sorted out your atidxx32.dll problem ?
Cuz I also have it for far cry 3 and assassin's creed 3 /:

 

Yeah, these drivers can be pretty buggy lol.

Thanks man, I'll do that if they start happening again. My system has been stable since doing a resinstall of 12.11P.

Thanks for the tips, it is definitely an improvement. I've tried verifying the cache a bunch of times, but it always says they're fine.

Sorry to say, it still happens when I'm on 12.11 . I did a clean 12.11P install with driver sweeper and now the BSODs are much less common though, like every 20-30 minutes maybe. Before, they would happen every couple minutes. I tried out the stock driver, and the game didn't crash at all. Unfortunately though, framerates were awful due to underutilization. I contacted Sager tech support about the issue and I've been talking with their lead technician to see if I can get this thing sorted out once and for all. It seems like it just another beta driver issue that hopefully will be worked out eventually.

Thanks so much for all your feedback guys! I'll keep you posted and let you know what's going on.