What's wrong with my PC?

2007-11-30 20:53:46

#1

sexecuti0ner: What kinda guy are you are?; +148|6709

Hey guys, I've been having some trouble with my computer lately and I'm not quite sure why, so I turn to you. Sometimes, when playing games, my PC will freeze unexpectedly and has to be turned off manually. I don't think that it is a problem with internal temperatures because SpeedFan says they are usually under 40 C under load. I don't have any unnecessary applications running that I'm aware of, so I'm kind of confused why my computer is acting like this. I might be overreacting, but I'm just trying to be careful since I just built this PC four or so months ago and it was a pretty big investment. Any help will be appreciated.

Edit: I also remembered that right before it happened last time, my frame rates were dropping pretty dramatically (120-150-->50-75), if that makes any difference.

Last edited by sexecuti0ner (2007-11-30 20:54:57)

2007-11-30 20:56:25

#2

SpIk3y: Minister of Silly Walks; +67|6616|New Jersey

Does it freeze when playing any game, or is there one game in specific that causes the crashing?

2007-11-30 20:59:19

#3

Ender2309: has joined the GOP; +470|7048|USA

sounds like a video card issue. system specs?

2007-11-30 21:38:55

#4

Catbox: forgiveness; +505|7193

graphics card or maybe power supply is going bad... or maybe even a virus?

Love is the answer

2007-11-30 22:08:44

#5

sexecuti0ner: What kinda guy are you are?; +148|6709

@ spikey, it has freezed when playing both BF2 and CS:S, which are the only two games that I play right now.

@ender, my system specs are as follows:

C2D E6600
ASUS P5N32-E SLi
2 GB Corsair DDR2 800
eVGA 8800 GTS (320 MB)
OCZ 650W PSU

None of my stuff has been OC'ed btw.

Let me know if this helps or if you need more info, thanks.

2007-11-30 22:30:50

#6

SpIk3y: Minister of Silly Walks; +67|6616|New Jersey

Hmm, that's odd. BF2 and CSS are not graphically intense by today's standards. You shouldn't have any trouble playing them with your setup.

The dropping frame rates could be the video card...

If you have a spare video card, you should try swapping it for your current one and see what happens.

Do you get any errors like a BSOD when it crashes?

2007-11-30 23:18:09

#7

Gawwad: My way or Haddaway!; +212|7162|Espoo, Finland

Which operating system?
If you're on Vista, my bet is the 'display driver stopped responding' error that many have had.
It doesn't necessarily crash you to desktop so you can't see the error, though.

2007-11-30 23:20:15

#8

geNius: ..!.,; +144|6919|SoCal

Soundblaster X-Fi OpelAL driver issues? Are you running PowerStrip?

https://srejects.com/genius/srejects.png

2007-12-01 00:58:36

#9

xGj: Official lame Crysis fanboy.; +84|6849|Netherlands tbh

geNius wrote:
Soundblaster X-Fi OpenAL driver issues? Are you running PowerStrip?

Fixed4u
It may indeed be your graphics card, as that OCZ supply will handle everything just fine. I'd say swap it if you have a spare one just like spikey suggested. Else reformat and reinstall windows (last resort)

2007-12-01 09:05:09

#10

cian1500ww: Member; +8|6476|Ireland

Speedfan is the best temperature monitor out there. I use a free program called "Core Temp". It gives more accurate readings.

2007-12-01 09:07:40

#11

Mekstizzle: WALKER; +3,611|7098|London, England

It could be the PSU, even though it's quite a high quality one and more than enough power. You sure you've connected all power connectors to the GPU. Also make sure nothing is overheating.

2007-12-01 12:27:52

#12

sexecuti0ner: What kinda guy are you are?; +148|6709

First, I don't have a spare GPU that I could pop in to see if that was the issue (this is my first build so I don't have any extra components). Is there some program like memtest that I can use to check my GPU's health?

Second, I'm running XP SP2, not Vista.

I just ran a S.M.A.R.T. test so I'll post the results in a minute here.

I haven't gotten a BSOD when freezing, it just freezes the image on the screen and the sound loops. I can't move the mouse and nothing on the keyboard seems to work either (I've tried Alt+F4, Ctrl+Alt+Del, and Alt+Tab, none work).

Finally, I have a question about all of this: How dangerous are these errors to the lifetime of my PC?

And thanks!

Edit: Heres a SS of my S.M.A.R.T. results, don't know if this provides anything useful, but it can't hurt I suppose.

https://img100.imageshack.us/img100/6570/smartle1.png

Last edited by sexecuti0ner (2007-12-01 12:29:22)

2007-12-01 12:36:34

#13

OneSixty: Member; +14|6970|Melbourne

not an ati video card by any chance?

I have a problem where my pc freezes in 3d based games like bf2. I kept dealing with it untill i had destroyed an x800xl, i had a spare x800pro which i tried and seemed good the first few days, but then it started again.

I havent compleatly solved the problem, but i use ati tool, and have it running from startup, I also have had the fans speed in the atitool turned to 100% as i noticed my gpu skyrocketing in bf2 etc.
Basically if i dont have atitool running at all it doent happen. With it it does. Even on stock settings. Hope it may be some help..

Last edited by OneSixty (2007-12-01 12:37:13)

2007-12-01 13:27:53

#14

Ender2309: has joined the GOP; +470|7048|USA

check the power dongle to the video card to make sure its all the way in.

2007-12-01 13:43:44

#15

SpIk3y: Minister of Silly Walks; +67|6616|New Jersey

You could try underclocking your video card or reducing/disabling hardware acceleration. It's not a permanent fix, but it will tell you that the video card is the culprit if doing so stops the crashes.

To adjust the clock, use nTune or nVidia control panel. To disable hardware acceleration, right click on desktop, go to properties, troubleshoot tab, and adjust the slider accordingly.

That's all I can think of.

2007-12-01 15:59:12

#16

cospengle: Member; +140|6964|Armidale, NSW, Australia

OneSixty wrote:
not an ati video card by any chance?

I have a problem where my pc freezes in 3d based games like bf2. I kept dealing with it untill i had destroyed an x800xl, i had a spare x800pro which i tried and seemed good the first few days, but then it started again.

I havent compleatly solved the problem, but i use ati tool, and have it running from startup, I also have had the fans speed in the atitool turned to 100% as i noticed my gpu skyrocketing in bf2 etc.
Basically if i dont have atitool running at all it doent happen. With it it does. Even on stock settings. Hope it may be some help..

I had that problem too. I just stopped using ATI tool.

sexecuti0ner, do you have any programs running that monitor your GPU temp? If so, try playing without the temp monitor running.

2007-12-01 16:51:25

#17

sexecuti0ner: What kinda guy are you are?; +148|6709

cospengle wrote:
OneSixty wrote:
not an ati video card by any chance?

I have a problem where my pc freezes in 3d based games like bf2. I kept dealing with it untill i had destroyed an x800xl, i had a spare x800pro which i tried and seemed good the first few days, but then it started again.

I havent compleatly solved the problem, but i use ati tool, and have it running from startup, I also have had the fans speed in the atitool turned to 100% as i noticed my gpu skyrocketing in bf2 etc.
Basically if i dont have atitool running at all it doent happen. With it it does. Even on stock settings. Hope it may be some help..
I had that problem too. I just stopped using ATI tool.

sexecuti0ner, do you have any programs running that monitor your GPU temp? If so, try playing without the temp monitor running.

Okay, Ill give this a try the next time I play. If this doesn't work, I'll try underclocking the GPU.

I'll give more updates later, but it's my 21st today, so I'm going to go make some bad decisions! Thanks for all the help so far!

2007-12-01 18:31:57

#18

OneSixty: Member; +14|6970|Melbourne

Happy bday champ.

BF2S Forums What's wrong with my PC?

geNius wrote:

OneSixty wrote:

cospengle wrote:

OneSixty wrote:

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