Author Topic: Problem Need Help (read for details) (Read 793 times)

The_Marine · « **on:** November 05, 2006, 07:42:28 PM »

Problem With Lock Ups
Ok, so since I got my Joystick Ive been trying to find good flight sims (This one is my fav thus far) and one that I found was LO:MAC (Lock On: Modern Air Combat) but its graphics are REALLY high end, but I said oh well, my graphics card was released after the game so itll definetly handle it. But when I play ANY games with good graphics after like 10 mins the animations stop, then about a min later the sound goes out, then 4 mins after the sound goes itll all come back, with me usually dead, not registering ANY buttons I press. Ive asked around before and heard it could be a memory problem. But im not sure, Ill post my specs under here.

Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3500+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.2GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT
Display Mem. :256.0 MB
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Thanks in advance and If you need more info just tell me, Ill be glad to post it

I forgot a key detail, it only locks up on gmaes with high end graphics like Lock On, BF2, and Half life 2 OH! and another key thing is that it seems to not wanna render textures, like little black boxes will flash instead of a texture every now & then.

GunnerCAF · « **Reply #1 on:** November 05, 2006, 08:08:35 PM »

I sounds like it could be overheating. When you are running games with high end graphics, your PC and graphics card will generate a lot of heat.

Do you have any utilities that monitor temperatures on your motherboard?

First thing you could do is check if all your cooling fans are running, and if your heat sinks are full of dust. You can buy a can of compressed air to blow them clean.

Gunner

The_Marine · « **Reply #2 on:** November 05, 2006, 09:08:43 PM »

k, ill try that, um how would i check if my fans are on?

OOZ662 · « **Reply #3 on:** November 06, 2006, 12:35:56 AM »

Open the side, turn it on, and watch the fans spin.

StarOfAfrica2 · « **Reply #4 on:** November 06, 2006, 03:15:00 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by OOZ662
Open the side, turn it on, and watch the fans spin.

That works but wont tell him if they are spinning too slow. There are utilities you can download from the internet that will monitor your CPU fan, and Nvidia's control panel should be able to monitor the speed of the fan on your 7800. At the very least it will tell you the temps of your video card (which is probably what is overheating). Newer video cards generate ALOT of heat, and I've noticed a sharp increase in the number of complaints from people buying new ones recently who complain of bad fans. These new cards have more memory and faster processors than ever, yet the companies that build them are under alot of pressure to keep the price points at about the same place as the last generation cards were when they were new. Somebody has to cut corners somewhere. Guess where its likely to be. You could also have bad thermal paste between the GPU and its heatsink, which would overheat the card too. If it only does it under heavy load though (high end graphics gaming), my guess would be a sub-par fan on the heatsink.

OOZ662 · « **Reply #5 on:** November 06, 2006, 10:51:25 AM »

You can usually enter "Setup" during boot, go to PC Health or something related to that and it'll tell you your fan speeds.

WhiteHawk · « **Reply #6 on:** November 06, 2006, 04:51:33 PM »

yea, and while yer in there, get the air can out and blast the dust off your heatsinks and ram and vid card. That makes a big difference if it gets in the right place.

The_Marine · « **Reply #7 on:** November 06, 2006, 10:13:09 PM »

OK. I downloaded a program called "Speedfan" to moniter the heats on my computer. When I had it check them (with nothing BUT speedfan running) my graphics card Overheat on both sensors (WAY overheated) and my core was slightly above average, but in check. ALSO 1 of my 3 fans isn't working. IDK what I should do, whether I should try fixin it myself (never fixed a computer before tho) or take it to like a repair shop. Suggestions please?

GunnerCAF · « **Reply #8 on:** November 07, 2006, 03:07:52 PM »

Fans are not hard to install. Just 4 screws and a power connection. You can buy them at a computer store, or on line. If your not confortable doing this, I am sure anyone who repairs PCs can do this work rather quickly.

It may be a good idea to add a fan or two to help keep things cool. And don't forget to clean the dust from all the heat sinks, to include the video card.

The_Marine · « **Reply #9 on:** November 07, 2006, 09:51:02 PM »

Hm, for a temporary fix could I take off the side cover and just blow a fan into the side of it? Or would that get dust in it everywhere

Schatzi · « **Reply #10 on:** November 08, 2006, 03:58:12 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by The_Marine
Hm, for a temporary fix could I take off the side cover and just blow a fan into the side of it? Or would that get dust in it everywhere

LoL, i guess that would work as a make-do

. I think the problem is less getting dust IN...... more like youll blow the dust OUT of it ....

Eagler · « **Reply #11 on:** November 08, 2006, 06:11:55 AM »

yes, taking the side off and blowing a fan in there should lower your temps and temporarily solve your problem. What are your voltages? my 7800 required me to get a power supply that had a better 12volt rail as the old ps did not have enough amps on the 12v line.

The_Marine · « **Reply #12 on:** November 08, 2006, 06:46:16 AM »

I dunno. Ill have to check those. But I put some stress on my card (played some lock on til it locked up) then checked it, EVERYTHING was over heated. Im glad I atleast know what the problem is

and that its an easy fix. and I just got off the phone with my mom and she said that we can go get the fans friday. (Im 15, just so u know, im not 30 yrs old livin with my parents)

EDIT: How can I check my voltages? It shows them in speedfan but they are kinda weird, and difficult to read (understand).

Eagler · « **Reply #13 on:** November 08, 2006, 03:53:07 PM »

what does it show? can you get a screen shot? the 12 volt should be at least 11.5

The_Marine · « **Reply #14 on:** November 08, 2006, 06:45:26 PM »

Umm Ok, Ill get a screenshot of every spot I can find about my voltage. Ill run a game, then Ill go thru everyscreen and take a screenshot, that way you guys all see what it says, and what each thing relates to

EDIT: OK, I got some screenies now. First I flew a MiG-29A around a lil bit (Fun plane BTW

) and then I smashed into the ground (Hey, you trying flying a Mig at Mach 1.3 Inverted under some powerlines, its hard lol) So here ya go

The Temps

Shows you what the temps are related to.

Voltages.