Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: 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.
-
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
-
k, ill try that, um how would i check if my fans are on?
-
Open the side, turn it on, and watch the fans spin.
-
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.
-
You can usually enter "Setup" during boot, go to PC Health or something related to that and it'll tell you your fan speeds.
-
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.
-
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?
-
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.
-
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
-
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 ....
-
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.
-
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).
-
what does it show? can you get a screen shot? the 12 volt should be at least 11.5
-
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 :D) 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
(http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/1548/untitled2bi7.png)
The Temps
(http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/9252/untitledai1.png)
Shows you what the temps are related to.
(http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/9861/untitled3ta7.png)
Voltages.
-
Originally posted by The_Marine
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)
My son built his PC from scratch about a year ago when he was 12 :)
Unplug the PC first. Always touch the frame of the PC to discharge any static before you touch anything inside. Take your time and put the new fan on the same way the old one came off. Good luck, and let us know how it works.
Gunner
-
Ok, well, more fans, better fans, gettin them this weekend, problly gonna upgrade to an 8800 next summer, then Ill need more fans. Are fans expensive tho?
EDIT: OK thy arent, thats good, ne fans you would recommend?I was thinkin Id buy a $20.00 Antec-Super Cyclone Blower CPU Coling fan from Bestbuy --> Linky (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7441529&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01072&id=1124432441259)
And also a $25.00 TriCool 4.7" Blue LED fan (itll fit cuz my Comp is already decked out in blu LED :) ) --> Linky (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7441486&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01072&id=1124432441201)
-
you need to figure out whats at 127c ... or is it a missread ? either that or start using ur pc to cook chili ...
also i doubt your power supply would have enough for a 8800 gtx /gts remember this card is like sticking a 1.3ghz pc into ur box and expecting it to run off your powersupply .....
also buyer beware ..some of the 8800's are getting recalled over a transistor problem (i wouldnt go shell out 600.00 for one yet )
recall info here (http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/display/20061106114241.html)
-
Ithink its a misread, But, butting it at the average temp then doing the math while your putting stress on the video card itd still be overheating.
-
Just curious, is there a warranty on the video card you have? If so might be better off to replace it rather than try to fix it. First off, its been overheating quite a bit, and may already be damaged. If you make repairs you void the warranty. Even with a new card there's a chance of a bad fan, but if you can send this one for warranty replacement, and do, then you can test the new one when it comes and make sure everything works right first thing. If the new one needs new fans, but everything else tests fine, I'd make the investment at this point, confident you arent dumping money into a damaged card.
Of course there may be no warranty and this is a moot point. Just thought I'd bring it up before you start gutting stuff.
-
Another thing you can do too, make sure you have PLENTY of space around the video card for airflow. Dont have any other cards in slots nearby. I might even invest in one of those exhaust fans that fits over a expansion slot to suck the hot air from around the card out and blow it out the back of the case.
-
Originally posted by Roscoroo
you need to figure out whats at 127c ... or is it a missread ? either that or start using ur pc to cook chili ...
also i doubt your power supply would have enough for a 8800 gtx /gts remember this card is like sticking a 1.3ghz pc into ur box and expecting it to run off your powersupply .....
also buyer beware ..some of the 8800's are getting recalled over a transistor problem (i wouldnt go shell out 600.00 for one yet )
recall info here (http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/display/20061106114241.html)
That has gotta be a false temp. What is that like 300 degrees :lol . If your NB fan is dead, you gotta replace it. The CPU fan is the big one, there is probably a smaller fan on your MB somewhere that HAS to be working. Putting an wal-mart fan on it isnt gonna do the trick. my NB (NorthBridge) Fan would stick occasionally and it would shut me down after 10 mins or so. I finally replaced it.
What kind of MB (motherboard) You got?
Oh yeah, and make sure your monitor refresh rate is set to one that is compatable with your monitor.
-
Ok, Ill check for warranty (But its been almost a year so IDK. And my motherboard is an ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe. Thnx for the suggestins people :)
-
is it just me but did anyone see the -12v and -5v on the screenshot?? it said the -12 was -1.25 and the -5 was 8.78.. that not good
-
if its an asus mainboard you should be able to run "asus probe" this will give ya the correct temps and voltages.