[muffins]

Right now I'm playing 4 major games. CoD4, WoW, Crysis and some UT3.

In UT3, Crysis, and WoW my PC will randomly lockup after a while. When I disable my sound card this stops happening.

For some reason CoD4 never tends to lockup and this is what leads me to believe that nothing is overheating.

I have tried resetting the BIOS to the default settings.

I'm getting really frustrated with this because i've been trying to fix this for a week now. I'm on the verge of GeekSquad.

The system is brand new.

Here are the system specs:

NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT Superclocked (http://www.newegg.co....82E16814130303)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q600 2.40ghz
Corsair 520w PSU
Creative Soundblaster Audigy SE
4GB G-Skill RAM (tested w/ memtest86 v 1.70)
Intel motherboard http://www.newegg.co....82E16813121060
ATX Mid Tower case 2 fans

Edited by muffins, 19 December 2007 - 04:40 PM.

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According to SpeedFan my video card is running at high temperatures (60c)

Is that the problem? If so how do I get this thing properly cooled?

[muffins]

According to SpeedFan my video card is running at high temperatures (60c)

Is that the problem? If so how do I get this thing properly cooled?

[fenzodahl512]

hi, may I know what motherboard are you using I get 404-error when I hit the link provided.

you may want to download CPUZ to check your motherboard

are you using Windows XP or Vista? if you are using windows XP, can you try to play the game with just 2gb of ram?

and I'm not sure wether your Corsair 520watt is enuff for your system (it should be enough) but i've tried before with Silverstone 560watt PSU and my quad is overclocked at 3.6GHz at 1.400vcore and using X2900XT, my PSU cant handle it I have to change to Silverstone OP650watt to make it fully stable

[muffins]

Yeah someone on another forum sent me a link to a PSU calculator and it said I need at least 800w

[fenzodahl512]

erm.. I dont think you need 800watt if you not overclock your system.. but on the safe side, 600-650watt truepower psu will be enough to handle your system..

tips on choosing PSU, look at combined +12v rail. the more current (A) the better.. if the PSU has multiple +12v rail, dont simply add-up the number. look at "combined +12v" power rating..

[fenzodahl512]

Ah... have you try to re-seat your sound card at another pci slot?

[muffins]

Here is the latest report on whats going on.

THE PROBLEM

When I am playing the following games for any amount of time the games will eventually lock up my entire PC: Unreal Tournament 3, World of Warcraft, Bioshock, and Crysis.

These games will NOT lockup my PC: Warcraft 3, HL1 Engine games, Call of Duty 4.



THE SPECS
NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT Superclocked
Intel Core 2 Quad Q600 2.40ghz
Corsair 520w PSU
Creative Soundblaster Audigy SE
4GB G-Skill RAM (tested w/ memtest86 v 1.70)
Intel BLKD975XBX2KR LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard
ATX Mid Tower case 2 fans
Windows XP Pro SP2



WHAT I'VE DONE SO FAR

• I have run memtest86 on the RAM and it comes out clean.
• Installed the latest sound and video drivers from the respective companies.
• Reset my BIOS to its default settings
• Set my video cards fan speed to manual and set to 100% (NOTE: This makes games lockup the PC faster!)
• Checked how much power I am suppose to have from here: http://www.extreme.o...culatorlite.jsp It said 472w. My PSU is 520w and the video card is overclocked (not sure if that adds much)
• Cried
• Cried again

Please feel free to contact me via email or AIM if you wish. I will provide any other needed information.

[fenzodahl512]

if you posted here then it just fine..

about your problems, UT3, Bioshock, and Crysis, all are both GPU and CPU demanding games. I think you have to wait for the experts here. But here's the catch: try to change (i mean borrow someone else's first) you PSU with 600watt real-power PSU (not cheap ones), but personally I think your PSU should be able to handle your system as your PSU has 480watt on +12v rails (as long as you not OC it)..

again, what is your cpu cooler?

[muffins]

Its a cooler that came with the Quad core.

[fenzodahl512]

erm.. you might want to change your cpu cooler while stock cooler is enough to do the job, but for a quad I much prefer a decent third-party cpu cooler.. you can refer here and here for great cpu aircooling

as for your problem, to me it looks like either your underpowered-psu or vga/cpu temperature problem, but lets wait for the experts views

[james_8970]

Your PSU is enough to power this build, infact it's a very good PSU (fenzodahl512, thats no cheap PSU).
Your cooler is adequate to cool this CPU, there is no need to change it.
I believe the removal of the sound card is pure considence. Though have you disabled the onboard sound on your motherboard?

Is everything at stock settings? Can I have a link to your GPU.
Your GPU is known to over heat and I believe this is your issue. What I want you to do is the following:

• Download rthdribl
• Unzip the program
• Open the program
• Press 8
• Click file
• Click Configure
• Click the tab beside wide screen
• Next set your resolution to your monitors native resolution
• Press OK
• Let this program run for 15-30 minutes, the longer the better.
  
• To exit the program press Atl+Enter
• Immediatly check the temperature afterwards and post that imnormation here

This program will stress your GPU and raise it's temps to it's max. It'll show inform us if the GPU is the culprit.

If your card is indeed overheating you have a number of options

• If it's the card I'm thinking of, you can downclock the memory from 950MHz to 900MHz (if you don't know how to do this, just let me know)
• Improve your cases airflow by adding more fans
• Buy a after market GPU cooler. Be cautioned, this does void your warrenty and if done wrong you could kill you card. I don't right, you will have outstanding results with the right cooler.

James

[muffins]

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130303

There is a link to the card. It is factory OC'd.

On a few other forums (and according to PSU calculators) I need at least 600w+ (aka generally more than I have)

I should mention that there are 2 hard drives and 2 dvdrw drives. So altogether this PC is powering an overclocked 8800GT, 2 hds, 2 dvdrw drives, a soundcard, 1 x 80mm Front Fan
120mm Fan, 1 x 120mm Rear Fan, and a quad core processor. Is 520 really enough?

The weirdest part is that whenever I manually turn up the fans speed to 100% the games tend to crash much faster even though the temperature is much lower.

I'm downloading the program right now.

Edited by muffins, 20 December 2007 - 12:05 AM.

[james_8970]

Yup that's the card. Follow the instructions above to see if it'll heat up the card.
Bring the memory clock down from 950MHz to 900MHz seems to be enough to fix the issue for many other users. This single slot cooler is simply not enough to cool this card, which is why I shy away from recommending it to others if it uses the reference cooler.
If you do not know how to lower your memory's clock rate just let me know.

Trust me, that PSU is enough.
James

Edited by james_8970, 20 December 2007 - 01:25 AM.

[muffins]

The NVIDIA control panel has an option to lower it. I just put it from 950 to 900. I'm gonna go test it now.

[muffins]

I just played World of Warcraft for about 20-25 minutes without a crash. I think that fixed it. You have no clue how much I love you.

Is there a donate button on this site?

Or should I not be excited just yet? Still possibility of a crash.

Edited by muffins, 20 December 2007 - 12:44 AM.