Looking for some guidence

[jest7377]

I recently built a new pc and everytime i try to play a game the computer will freeze and shut down shortly after the game begins. i am looking for some help. here is what i have tried by looking through the forums. I opened the case and pointed a small fan into it and tried to play(trying to see if its a heating issue) it didnt work. I also put new thermal compound on. It was artic silver. im still getting the problem. And i tried a differnt graphics card. still didnt help. please help if you can!!!
my system
MSI K8N Neo 4 Platinum mother board
AMD 3700+ skt 939
512x2 crosiar xms dual channel ram
western digital wd1600js sata2
ATI X800GT XTREME 256MB GDD3 PCI-E
Thermaltake TR2 W0070 ATX 430W Power Supply 115/230 V

[Cricket]

You may need a better power supply than that Thermaltake...it might not be providing enough clean power to keep that video card happy.

:) Cricket

[jest7377]

are you thinking i need a 500w PSU?

[Cricket]

It not so much the wattage but the overall quality of the power being sent to your system. Thermaltake power supplies are decent but I'm cautious about using them in a really high powered system that demands lots of clean power to run on. You might want to look at power supplies from Antec, Enermax, Fortron Source, PC Power & Cooling, Seasonic, Sparkle Power and Zippy to replace that Thermaltake.

You might also want to read this power supply comparison review. (http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/02/28/strong_showing/index.html)

:) Cricket

[jest7377]

i'll check that out thanks.. i also wanted to add a little more insight to the problem... it has happened 3-4 times now but ill be just browsing the web and my mouse will freeze and my whole system freezes...

[Cricket]

Strange problems like that are sometimes caused by a faulty power supply so I would look into trying a different compatible power supply in there first.

Problem could also be related to the motherboard. But try swapping out the power supply with another first.

:) Cricket

[jest7377]

ill give it a try and let you know how i fare... i want to thank you for your help :)

[THEoBZ]

Go with xclio 450 watt PSU 50 bucks for a hella good psu

[jest7377]

i purchased a new PSU its an Antec 500W Neo HE... i put it in but im still getting the problem... and my screen was freezing even if i wasnt playing a game. I went into my display settings and turned my hardware acceleration off and that helped i can go a lot longer without it freezing but it still occasionly will.. any thoughts??

[FireByyrd]

If its not a pain, reformat and reinstall WINDOWS XP, and see if anything freezes there, and slowly install drivers one by one and see if it freezes.. It might be a program or driver thats making it freeze, BUT if it isn't.. then it might be some hardware problem?? Good luck.

[jest7377]

i can do that ill just back my stuff up and then try reinstalling each driver and see what happenes

[jest7377]

i tried reformating windows but it still didnt solve the problem... could it be possible that i have a bad motherboard??

[Gizmo]

Could be, but I'd check your RAM out now we've ruled out the PSU. Memtest (http://www.memtest.org).

[jest7377]

I ran a memory test a few days ago and it said there were no problems, I'll run it again tho and see what it says.

[jest7377]

memtest reported no problems...

[jest7377]

i wanted to add a little more to this... since the PSU didnt seem to be the problem I put my old one back in... however my computer is freezing much more often now.. should i try to find a PSU with an even higher 12V amp?

[nicolaus corelius]

well, u should get a PSU with dual 12V. the 450 watt xclio is the best cheapest one.

[jest7377]

the Antec PSU i did have had dual 12V each at 17A... but my system would still freeze up... should i look for something with even more?

[nicolaus corelius]

no, that much power is very sufficient. it seems that the PSU is not the source of problem

[Cricket]

i tried reformating windows but it still didnt solve the problem... could it be possible that i have a bad motherboard??At this point the problem is definitely hardware related...now you gotta narrow it down to find out exactly which device is causing the problem.

You've ruled out the power supply, RAM and video card. That leaves the hard drive, optical drive, motherboard and CPU.

You can test the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic utility.

You can test the optical in another computer.

You can change the data cables to the drives.

Testing the motherboard and CPU is a little harder unless you have another computer you can swap the parts out with.

Given the problem, you might have a faulty motherboard. I've seen computers that looked like they had a video card problem but it turned out to be the motherboard instead.

:) Cricket

[jayb1234]

One other thing that might be causing the problem is if your CPU fan/heatsink assembly isn't on securely.

[jest7377]

i ran the diagnostic test for the HDD and it passed, i checked to ensure the heatsink was on securely it was, i checked the optical drives they worked on other computers, i unfortunetly could not test the CPU because i had to compatible computers but i contacted zipzoomfly for a new motherboard when i recieve it i will let you guys know how i have faired

[jest7377]

i found out after coming home 3 hrs away that my graphics card was in fact bad. that was two in a row what are the odds, i still my motherboard in but that will probably be coming back so thats what i found out... thanks for your help everyone i really appreciate it

[Mr.Ferrari]

Thats good to hear. But if i might put in my 2 cents. I had the EXACT same problem u are specifying. In the end turns out the voltage cappacitors on my mobo were bad. I replaced it and it worked great.