[felinne]

Is there a solution for this?

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Also, can anyone give me a crash course on what exactly does a graphics accelerator do? What happens if I turn off acceleration completely?

[felinne]

Also, can anyone give me a crash course on what exactly does a graphics accelerator do? What happens if I turn off acceleration completely?

[fructose]

Can you provide more details? What games were you playing? And what, if any, error messages were displayed? Have you tried updating the graphics card driver?

Here's the Wikipedia entry on graphics cards: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_accelerator

It's got a quick read on what a graphics card/accelerator does.

[felinne]

Hi,

The latest game that is making my computer crash is Heroes of Might and Magic V. It's crashed when I played Civ IV and Diablo II as well. I don't get any error msgs and the screen doesn't even really freeze. Basically, the action on the screen pauses for a second and before I know it the computer is rebooting. I don't get any error msgs.

I suspect that it is a video card problem. But, I just redownloaded the drivers for my card. I also get a driver's cleaner and removed all old drivers on my system.

Someone the forum suggested that I lower my graphics acceleration some. I lowered it a notch and I'm still getting the same problem.

My system specs meets the game's requirement. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[fructose]

Those games are pretty demanding for both the graphics and the CPU. You may be having a problem with over heating.

Download Everest Home

Unzip it, install it, and then save a report and ATTACH it to your next post.

I want to see your system temps.

EDIT: You shouldn't turn down your graphics acceleration. Turing it down will only cause more problems for you.

Edited by fructose, 18 June 2006 - 03:49 PM.

[felinne]

Hi,

I've downloaded Everest Home and used the Report Wizard function to generate a comprehensive report. It's pretty long with all my system specs. Is there a specific section that you want me to post or should I attach the whole report?

Thanks!

[felinne]

I thought this might be of interest from the report, my sensor readings. From what I can tell, temps are in there. Is there anything else that you wanted to see?

Sensor

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sensor Properties:
Sensor Type Asus ASB100 Bach, Winbond W83L785TS-S (SMBus 2Dh, SMBus 2Eh)
GPU Sensor Type National LM63 (ATI-I2C 4Ch)
Motherboard Name Asus A7N8X

Temperatures:
Motherboard 64 °C (147 °F)
CPU 26 °C (79 °F)
CPU Diode 76 °C (169 °F)
GPU 69 °C (156 °F)
GPU Ambient 62 °C (144 °F)
MAXTOR 6L080J4 41 °C (106 °F)

Cooling Fans:
CPU 3750 RPM

Voltage Values:
CPU Core 1.70 V
Aux 1.68 V
+3.3 V 3.36 V
+5 V 4.92 V
+12 V 12.29 V
-12 V -12.21 V
-5 V -4.62 V
Debug Info F 5A FF FF
Debug Info T 26 64 29
Debug Info V 6A 6A D2 B7 C1 C0 C0 (01)

[fructose]

That's what I wanted. You could have saved the report and posted the whole thing, but you found what I was looking for.

Those temps are pretty warm. You may be overheating the CPU and as a result, the computer reboots. What type of processor do you have? Some run hot, but 76°C is pretty warm for almost all processors. And when you are playing games, it just raises the temps more.

Open up your computer case and see if it is full of dust. Make sure that you don't break any stickers or seals while you do, because opening your case could void a warranty on your computer. If you can open it and you see lost of dust, you should blow it out with a compressed air can. Don't spin the fans with the air though. Use a pen or pencil to hold them still if you need to blow air over them. Spinning the fans too fast can damage the bearings and ruin the fans.

And let me know what type of processor you have too.

[felinne]

Hi,

Here are the specs on my processor. My computer is actually custom built. I clean it on a decently regular basis. I don't think dust is the problem. I will clean it again. Is there anything else I can do to cool down my computer?

I'm not sure if this is related. But, this rebooting problem has sometimes happen when I'm on desktop. As a result, I've been trying to disable the restart option in Safe Mode. But, whenever I try to boot in Safe Mode, I first get a list of what looks like driver loads in dos, then it says it's loading something called vax347b.sys, after which a window that says Input Signal Out of Range appears with a Power Management Countdown. When the countdown ends, my screen goes dark. I think my computer is still on, but I can't see anything. That makes me suspect I have some kind of graphics card problem. I have no clue what is going on

[ Processors / AMD Athlon™ XP ]

Processor Properties:
Manufacturer AMD
Version AMD Athlon™ XP
External Clock 166 MHz
Maximum Clock 3000 MHz
Current Clock 2083 MHz
Type Central Processor
Voltage 1.6 V
Status Enabled
Upgrade ZIF
Socket Designation Socket A

[fructose]

Do you have Alcolhol 120% installed? It seems that sometimes it can cause system restarts, and will give you that error when you try to boot into safe mode. If you have it installed, you may want to uninstall it to see if you keep getting the reboots.

Also, how many fans do you have in your system? Do you have both a CPU fan and a case fan? I still think that you may have an over heating problem.

[felinne]

Hi,

I most definitely have Alcohol 120 installed. Do you think it's what's causing the restart problem when I'm playing my games as well? I haven't been using it at all.

As for fans, I think I have a front and back case fan and one for my CPU. I think you are right about overheating. Is there anything I can do that you recommend?

Thanks!

[fructose]

I've read some stuff online that says that after uninstalling Alcohol 120 the crashes stop. It's worth a try, especially if you aren't using it.

To help the heat problem, you can replace the fans you have with some new ones. You can even get some that are low noise to prevent your computer from sounding like a wind tunnel. And make sure that the air flow goes from the front of the computer to the back. The front case fan should blow in and the back case fan should blow out of the case. Also, check to make sure that the cables aren't causing a block to the air flow.

[felinne]

Thanks for the advice. I put my hand in the front and back of the computer and the wind is definitely blowing in the right direction. Should I consider getting a set of more powerful fans?

I keep my computer on for long stretches of time, could that contribute to overheating? I've heard different opinions on whether leaving your computer on all the time is good or bad.

I think alcohol might be the culprit. Makes sense since CD rom is tied to the video card right?

[fructose]

If you can feel the air, you should be getting good flow. I would still open the case and check for dust problems. In a dusty area, you can build up dust pretty fast.

There are pros and cons of leaving your computer on all the time. If you are concerned about power consumption and still want to have your computer ready to go in less time that it takes to boot up, you can set the computer to auto hibernate or standby after a certain amount time. I actually leave my computer on all day, and it doesn't overheat.

The CD-ROM isn't tied to the video card, but something about the system files for Alcohol 120 seem to cause some conflicts in certain computers.

[felinne]

I actually just dusted my computer. I'll remove Alcohol and see if it helps any. Pity, cuz, although I haven't been using it recently, that virtual drive does come in might handy. I'll let you know if I'm able to boot in Safe Mode.

Btw, what temperature range specs should I ideally want my computer to be, just so I can be on the look out?