[MickeyMouse]

First off, I 'think' this is hardware related so:

About 2 or 3 weeks ago my air conditioner broke down and my PC starting locking up while playing games. I saw my CPU temp was around 57C, so I figured it was just overheating (it was 85F room temp). But when my AC was fixed my PC kept locking up even though it hardly ever went above 47C. I've tried absolutely everything I can think of. Even a complete reinstall, but it still locks up in games. It's usually a hard lock that requires the reset switch, it happens anywhere from 30mins to 8seconds, and the sound DOES NOT keep looping, it just goes quiet. I've tried everything, driver changes, programs running in the background, re-format, patches, new GPU heatsink... I'm stumped, the only thing I can think of is that it must be a fried video card.

I built this system about 4 months ago, it's run perfectly until now:
CPU= AMD Athlon XP 2700+
Motherboard= Gigabyte GA-7VT600-L with the newest 4in1's(non-beta)
Memory= slot 1 & 2, Kingston 333MHz 256MB DDR NonECC CL2.5 DIMM MFN KVR333X64C25/256 (recommended by Gigabyte)
PSU= Antec P4 SL400 400W
Video card= eVGA Nvidia Geforce 4 Ti4200, about 2.5 years old, with 56.72 drivers
Sound Card= Guillemot Maxi Sound Muse, crap i know
Hard Drive 1= 20GB Compaq, about 3.5 years old
Hard Drive 2= 40GB Western Digital, about 2 years old
OS= Windows XP Pro
Case Fans= 4x 80mm case fans (2in/2out)
CPU Fan= Dynatron DC1206BM-L/610-P-CU
GPU Fan= Thermaltake GF4 cooler

Temps:
Load: CPU: 47C-49C Case: 27C-28C
Idle: CPU: 44C-46C Case 26C-27C

Volts:
Core: 1.71V RAM: 1.33V +3.3: 3.2V +5.00: 4.88V +12.00: 12.46V -12.00: ~-7.25V
*All temps and volt from MBM5, (and checked in the BIOS)

Thank you for reading this!

[pcimagefx]

Definately Sounds Like you Fried Something.... You should try replacing the CPU, memory and Video Card to see if you get a different result.

[admin]

Hi MickeyMouse, welcome to Geeks to Go!

When your computer restarts, does it say your system has recovered from a serious error, and display a driver name or any other info? Are you overclocking anything?

I'd recommend testing your memory, http://www.memtest86.com follow the instructions:

Quote

Installation
===============
Memtest86 is a stand alone program that cannot be executed under windows and must
be loaded from a floppy disk.

To install Memtest86:
- Extract the files from the zip archive
- Open the directory where the files were extracted and click on "install.bat".
- The install program will prompt you for the floppy drive and also prompt you to
insert a blank floppy.
- To run Memtest86 leave the floppy in the drive and reboot.

NOTE: After the boot floppy has been created you will not be able to read the floppy
from windows. This is normal.

Hard lockups like you describe can cause operating system corruption, might want to try a Windows repair installation:
http://www.geekstogo...p?showtopic=138

[MickeyMouse]

admin, on Jun 3 2004, 08:53 AM, said:

When your computer restarts, does it say your system has recovered from a serious error, and display a driver name or any other info?

No, just stops.

Quote

Are you overclocking anything?

No.

Quote

I'd recommend testing your memory

I ran 5 full tests, no problems.

Quote

Hard lockups like you describe can cause operating system corruption, might want to try a Windows repair installation:

Tried that too, no difference.

Thanks!

[admin]

Use the Driver Cleaner to remove all traces of video drivers from your system. Next, download and install the latest nVidia driver.

Driver Cleaner: http://www.driverheaven.net/cleaner/

[MickeyMouse]

Tried that, no difference.

[admin]

I'd try a new power supply. 85F room temp isn't that warm, nor is 57C for CPU (AMD's XP is rated to 70C). The Ti4200 doesn't run that warm. I know someone that operates the same card, in a garage with no A/C, often at temps over 90F--no problem.

[MickeyMouse]

admin, on Jun 3 2004, 09:05 PM, said:

I'd try a new power supply. 85F room temp isn't that warm, nor is 57C for CPU (AMD's XP is rated to 70C).

I've seen several benchmarks that say it starts locking around 57C. Just because it doesn't start to fry until 70C, it doesn't mean it's stable.

The rail voltages look pretty good to me, and it's very stable in CPU benchmarks, and the PSU is brand new, do you think it could be bad?

Quote

The Ti4200 doesn't run that warm.

I'm not too sure about that, I felt the back of the GPU after I turned it off and it was quite a bit hotter than the CPU.

Quote

I know someone that operates the same card, in a garage with no A/C, often at temps over 90F--no problem.

I knew a guy that went on vacation for 3 weeks and his AC broke and it was ~90F, his Ti4200 was burned to a crisp.

Thanks

[admin]

Usually, if your video card is bad you'll get an error message on restart identifying the video driver as being responsible for the crash.

Maybe you should try an overclocking utility like coolbits, and underclock your GPU core. See if that makes a difference.

[esse10]

One of my computers was doing the same thing and I finallly troubleshoot it down to being the video board memory.The actual video board itself was still functioning except when I would run any graphics at all it would luck up and I would have to push the reset the boot up again.

[MickeyMouse]

I think I have the same problem as you had esse, it runs fine on very simple graphics like screen savers, but lock's very quickly in texture-intense games. I'm going to go ahead and buy a new card, can't decide between another Ti 4200 or a 9600 Pro....

[admin]

9600Pro is DX9 compatible, Ti4200 is only DX8. Performance pretty similar, but it depends on the games your playing. You may be able to find a nice price on a 9700Pro--if you can find one.