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evilmonkeyzz
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I have made no changes to my system that I know of but recently if I try and play any game using my PC the screen just freezes, it only ever does it when I load a game, and as that was the main reason for purchasing my PC it is a bit of a pain!!
I have a Amd 4000+ at 2.64 GHz, 2GB Ram and a Sapphire Radeon x1600 512mb pro graphics card. As it only crashes out when playing games I figured it was probably a problem with my graphics card, I did a fresh install of the latest drivers from ATI, this didn't work so I even uninstalled the drivers again and installed the original drivers and it still didn't work.
I have done all of the obvious things that I can think of like scanning for viruses/spyware and nothing has been found. Everything else works fine and I have no other problems with my system just this.
Does anybody have any ideas as to what could be causing the crashes as soon as I load any game. Thanks.
(Games crashed on have been: Quake 4, UT 2004, Oblivion, FEAR)
Thanks
Josh
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maxping__
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Ive had this problem and it will probably be your graphics card overheating.
Try taking the side off the case and point a fan or hairdryer (cold air) under the vid card close to its heatsink/fan. (also make sure the heatsink/fan is not clogged with dust e.t.c.)
Run the game and see if it crashes.
If it doesn't you can either get a fan card - http://www.pcabusers.com/reviews/vantec/fancard/p1.html
To keep it cool or change the fan/hetsink on the card (not advisable if its still under warranty).
Adding more case fans may help but i would go for the fan card.
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evilmonkeyzz
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Thanks for the reply, I will try it when I have a bit of time, its strange if it is overheating though, the PC is made with nothing but fans, I have 8 fans in (including the one on the graphics card.)
I guess I will have to stick with my Xbox 360 until I sort it, thanks for the advice and I will post back when I have tried it!!!
(Any more advice in the meantime would be great.   )
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maxping__
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Where are the 8 fans positioned you could actually be making it worse having that many by creating dead spots inside the case.
I only have a 80cm fan at the back a 120 in the psu pulling air out of the case and it works fine my case temp is always 30 degrees gaming or not. (see diag below)
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/imageview.php?image=1558
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evilmonkeyzz
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3 in power supply, one above the processor, one above the graphics card, one at the top of the case, one at the back of the case and one the the right hand side of the case, I haven't actually added anymore them the ones that either came with the case or the separate components.
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maxping__
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Jeez i bet it sounds like a jump jets taking off in your back garden when you fire it up
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evilmonkeyzz
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Yep and that to the 7 bright blue LEDs and it becomes even worse!!!
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Mouse
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What settings are you running your games at, I notice in an earlier thread you say you play Quake 4 "maxed out"
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evilmonkeyzz
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Thanks for the reply mouse, I was hoping you would get involved, you seem to know what your talking about!!!
I have been playing everything completely maxed (Quake 4 for example on ultra quality, 1280*1024, 8xAA.) I have tried lowering it, no joy.
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Mouse
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To be honest I think your pushing your card too far on those settings. At least lower the quality and anti aliasing, I can't see the res being an issue. When did you last go inside your PC, when did you complete the build, do you know what temp your CPU's at when playing a game?
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evilmonkeyzz
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Graphic card runs at about 55 degrees C, CPU is at about 60 degrees C, system as a whole is about 30 degrees C.
These are the specs that Quake 4 choose for me, but it also crashes out if I play less demanding games like the original half life. I last went in my PC yesterday to check everything was in order, everything seemed to be fine. It also crashes out if I lower the specs and sometimes before the game has got past the loading screen. This is what made me think it was more likely to be a driver or other software issue.
Thanks for the help as this is a really annoying problem as I love playing games, nothing better to relax to then a load of mindless violence.....
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Mouse
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Dust? When you opened up did you check for dust could that be having an adverse effect? I assume you've defragged cleared junk etc?
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evilmonkeyzz
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There wasn't much dust. Although I am starting to think that the problem is more serious, I keep getting the blue screen 'dumping physical memory' message for no apparent reason and things just lock up all of a sudden!! I can't figure a way to stop it.
If I were to do a repair install of xp, what would I lose, you keep most of the settings don't you?!?!?
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Jonny555
Reg'd: Fri
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Loc: Cheshire, England
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Could it be a DirectX problem?
Go to Run and type in DXDIAG and run it. Go through the Direct Draw tests. In fact it won't hurt to do all the test for peace of mind.
A repair of XP will mean all Windows updates will have to be downloaded and installed again, but with a fast connection that won't take long. But, that is drastic action at this point.
Edited by Jonny555 (Tue May 23 2006 09:39 AM)
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evilmonkeyzz
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All the tests came up fine.
Would a problem with the power supply cause a problem like this? I moved the computer and didnt even touch the power plug at the back of the PC and it sparked twice? It is in a surge protector but it still sparked, is this a sign of a faulty power supply? How can I know for sure?
Thanks
Josh
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maxping__
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Did you try the fan suggestion i made?
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Edited by Mouse (Wed May 24 2006 08:37 AM)
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Jonny555
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Well I suggest that before doing anything you get the faulty wiring put right before you haven't got a house to keep the computer in!
Get it sorted NOW, you're playing with fire.
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evilmonkeyzz
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Sorry for the delayed reply.
I spent all afternoon today doing a complete format and reinstall of my computer to try and fix the problem because I ran out of ideas and it was the advice given from my computing teacher. And guess what? It didn't work. 
This has however shown that there is a hardware problem rather then a software problem. Is this a problem with the graphics card itself or could it be anything else??
I fixed the sparking, the surge protector was not plugged in fully, therefore creating a spark.
Thanks for all your patience with this.
Josh
P.s I tried the fan suggestion as best I could with the fans that I had and it didn't work, the graphics card only runs at about 50C so I don't think that it is overheating. Thanks for the suggestion anyway!
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Mouse
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I'd definatley go with the Video card issue. Swap it for a new one, and see if that offers a solution.
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evilmonkeyzz
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That was what I was thinking I should do, only problem is getting hold of a new graphics card.
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Mouse
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Isn't the card still under warranty?
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evilmonkeyzz
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Yes, I can send it back, bought from ebuyer.com, its just that if it isn't the faulty part I am a bit stuck, I will have to try and send it back though. Although I can't think of any other hardware fault that would cause this.
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Mouse
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neither can I...
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evilmonkeyzz
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Anyway thanks for the help , I will report back when I have swapped it. 
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maxping__
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Quote:
P.s I tried the fan suggestion as best I could with the fans that I had and it didn't work, the graphics card only runs at about 50C so I don't think that it is overheating. Thanks for the suggestion anyway!
Small PC fans wont do it mate you need something like a hair dryer that has a cold setting or a fan heater with a cold setting.
I am convinced its the graphics card overheating , ignore the temp reading mine was the same and it used to crash only when gaming.
Get your hands on a big fan and try it before you spend any money on a new card.
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evilmonkeyzz
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I just went downstairs and nicked the 14 inch high powered desktop fan and placed it less the 3 inches away from the graphics card. Then I turned it to full power and tried to run FEAR, it then promptly crashed out forcing me to have to reset the computer. This was the most powerful fan I could get, it kept an entire room cool during last summers heat wave.
Again, I really appreciate your suggestions and help but I think it is a problem with the graphics card itself. I touched the surface of the graphics card right after the crash, before I started up my computer again and it was cool, I really don't think that it is overheating. Thanks anyway.
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maxping__
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I guess its something else , good luck 
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evilmonkeyzz
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Thanks for all your help/concern.
I will need all the luck I can get, returning things to ebuyer.com is a nightmare!!
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evilmonkeyzz
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OK, the problem is still not sorted and I contacted ebuyer (where the card was bought from) and they said I need to send it directly to Sapphire, but they direct me to ATI!!! Anyway once I found the correct place, the ATI help pages say that I have to pay to get it to them and they will test it. The thing is I am not sure if it is the graphics card that is wrong.
I recently loaded The Elder Scrolls 4 - Oblivion to see it would work and it didn't. But it crashed out at a menu so, this won't be using much more graphical power then say browsing the internet.
Also, I noticed that, there is no warning that it is about to crash and when it does it just freezes, once it has frozen the only thing that unfreezes it is a quick press of the reset button. However, up until the point where it crashes, the computer is accessing the hard disk drive constantly and the HDD light is flashing like mad, but a second or so before it crashes, the light stops flickering and it stops reading from the hard drive. Could this mean that it is not the graphics card and it is something else or what?
Another thing is that the ATI warranty information pages read as though it is not covered under the warranty, here, it says that random system hangs are not covered under the warranty and products made my sapphire aren't either.
Please can someone advise me on what best to do now I have uncovered this obstacle.
I would be forever grateful as I want to play on my PC.
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evilmonkeyzz
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 !!I HAVE FIXED IT!!
I just want to say a great big  to everybody that has helped with this frustrating problem.
What was wrong was entirely my fault. About 6 weeks ago I started experimenting one evening with overclocking my system through the BIOS. I overclocked by 10% to see what would happen while having every intention of reversing it that evening. However I must have got distracted and forgot.
Then the following week I got my xbox 360 so didn't try and play any games on my PC for over a month so when I came back to play a game on my PC it didn't work and I had totally forgotten about my overclocking experiment. The increased processor speed wasn't the problem, it was the increased voltage that had been applied to the system because of the overclocking, it was providing to much and to avoid damage to the system it was stopping everything and locking up. Because I had overclocked through the BIOS, when I did a clean install of Windows it didn't change it and made me think it was a hardware fault. Well at least I have a nice clean computer now!!
 for wasting all your time trying to fix a problem that I had created and you had no chance of knowing about. I am also sorry for the overuse of animations in this post, it's just that I am so happy to have it working again!!
 everyone and sorry!
Josh
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maxping__
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Good job you remembered mate it could have turned out quite expensive
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Mouse
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Why you little....
Well, now I know what to get you for Christmas
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evilmonkeyzz
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