Problems with ASUS CG1330-07

[AngryBird]

Hello, I am new to these forums and was wondering if anyone can shed some light on the issues I'm having with my puter. It is an ASUS essentio CG1330

This pc has been giving me quite a headache, it regularly crashes when I try to play games on it. Many times I can play for a few minutes without problems but inevitably it will crash and go to a blue error screen and restart. I've been researching this problem and can't come up with any solutions. I've tried cleaning out the drivers and reinstalling the latest ones but this has failed.

Some sites have suggested changing out the power supply and/or graphics card, but I don't want to spend the money on it if it isn't a sure thing. Other people have said this is just a junk computer period. Does anyone have experience with this machine's problems? Is it worth trying to upgrade or is this truly a subpar computer?

some system specs: processor - AMD Phenom II X6 2.8 GHz
ram - 8 gb
graphics card - ATi Radeon HD 5450
power supply is 400w

Help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[jdeb]

First off download this free program (WhoCrashed) install and see what it comes up with. It will decipher your dump files from the blue screen and may tell you the issue if it is software related. Then get back with us. That looks like a nice PC, so lets see what WhoCrashed tells us.

Resplendence Software - WhoCrashed, automatic crash dump analyzer

[AngryBird]

Ok I ran the crash analyzer and it came up with 2 reasons for my many many crashes

crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\072811-14742-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: atikmpag.sys (atikmpag+0x79C8)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFFA80086C4120, 0xFFFFF88006E869C8, 0x0, 0x2)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\atikmpag.sys
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: atikmpag.sys (AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.).

crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\072811-14055-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x4B18CC)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA80084843E8, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

So its driver issues (odd since I uninstalled old drivers and updated) or a fatal hardware error. Based on these error reports what would be a good course of action to prevent future crashes?

[jdeb]

uninstall the video drivers from device manager. Install the video drivers from the Asus web site and not the windows version. To simplify use the automatic detection in the link below
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download

I would try this first, it could be one of the same issue.

The video card could be getting hot or the cpu. Lets try this first

[AngryBird]

I'm out of town atm, but will definitely give that a try when I'm back. Thanks

[AngryBird]

Ok I can't even download the driver from the asus site. The p2p download does not work nor do any of the other methods. Their site is garbage. Also when you said don't download the windows version what do you mean? i'm using windows shouldn't I select the windows version? AND of course the actual ATI site doesn't have the driver for the card I have either. ***...

[Khalil]

I have no issues downloading drivers from Asus. What kind of games are you trying to play on it? Not Crysis 2 I hope.
This computer is by no means junk, Asus uses Delta power supplies and they are good quality.

You need to go to here http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloa...n_win7-64.aspx and download the drivers for you video card!

That video card will not play intense games.

[AngryBird]

Thats just it, it crashes on any game really. I'm running Starcraft 2 at lowest possible settings and it will still crash. I also crash on a free game called league of legends, whose minimum requirements I far surpass. I'm also not running that game at full detail. I'm starting to think its defective (ie junk) because I've never had a computer crap out on me so consistently as this ASUS. Its definitely not inspiring confidence in the brand...

edit: After uninstalling the drivers and reinstalling with the download Khalil listed I crashed ~15 minutes after starting a game up. (League of Legends) So is it possible its not the drivers?

[Khalil]

That video card is not suitable to play any games really. What size is your screen? The computer itself is not junk, it is high quality but its like asking a Honda Civic to race against a Corvette ZR1.

Does the computer ever crash when you are not playing games? Can you for example watch a movie on it without crashing?

[AngryBird]

I don't watch movies on this computer so I wouldn't know. I use it for games and photoshop, so far it has only ever crashed when playing games. My monitor is 21.5 inch LCD. I was browsing videocards and noticed this one is quite outdated by now. Could an underpowered video card cause a complete system shutdown?

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by AngryBird I don't watch movies on this computer so I wouldn't know. I use it for games and photoshop, so far it has only ever crashed when playing games. My monitor is 21.5 inch LCD. I was browsing videocards and noticed this one is quite outdated by now. Could an underpowered video card cause a complete system shutdown?

bad drivers, power supply, or bad video card can do that. I suspect you have a driver issue and/ or the card just is not powerful enough. Tru uninstalling the ATI Catalyst and drivers. Then follow Khalil's link to re-install.

[Khalil]

Could an underpowered video card cause a complete system shutdown?

Yes if you are asking it to do something it cannot handle.

[AngryBird]

Originally Posted by jdeb bad drivers, power supply, or bad video card can do that. I suspect you have a driver issue and/ or the card just is not powerful enough. Tru uninstalling the ATI Catalyst and drivers. Then follow Khalil's link to re-install.

When I uninstalled the drivers I also uninstalled catalyst. So it was a clean slate when I downloaded and installed catalyst from khalil's link. System still crashed not long afterward. I think I'm going to buy a beefier card and by necessity a new power supply and hopefully it will take care of any game related crashes.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by AngryBird When I uninstalled the drivers I also uninstalled catalyst. So it was a clean slate when I downloaded and installed catalyst from khalil's link. System still crashed not long afterward. I think I'm going to buy a beefier card and by necessity a new power supply and hopefully it will take care of any game related crashes.

It should, the card is probably over heating

[Khalil]

I think I'm going to buy a beefier card and by necessity a new power supply and hopefully it will take care of any game related crashes.

Check out these links for brand recomendations:
What Power Supply should I get? How many Watts? Who made it? Guide Inside.

Video Card Rating

[AngryBird]

Bought a thermaltake 600w power supply.

edit: The motherboard seems to be receiving power but the computer will not power on

So the computer turns on but i get no picture to the monitor. I'm using a radeon hd 6770 with a dvi to vga cable

[Khalil]

is the processor 4/8 pin power plugged in?




That is a common mistake.

[AngryBird]

Yea thats plugged in. The computer can turn on now and everything is working, but I'm getting no picture on the monitor. I'm pretty sure the card is getting power because its fan is working. Idk where to go from here

[Khalil]

Did you plug in the 6 pin PCI-Express power cable into the video card?

[AngryBird]

OMFG I feel dumb. I did not have it plugged in. I'm getting picture now. Thanks a million khalil and jdeb. Hopefully with this upgraded hardware I can play games in peace.

[AngryBird]

Ok I crashed again... Crash analyzer says it was a driver error. Brand new drivers from a clean slate on a brand new card thats pretty good and I still crashed... I'm at loss here.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by AngryBird Ok I crashed again... Crash analyzer says it was a driver error. Brand new drivers from a clean slate on a brand new card thats pretty good and I still crashed... I'm at loss here.

same error as before? Kernel error?

[AngryBird]

These 2 crashes occurred when I was playing play League of Legends. I'm not sure but it may be just this game, so far I haven't crashed on my others.

crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\080211-13821-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x4B18CC)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA8008375038, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.


On Tue 8/2/2011 5:19:17 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\080211-14866-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: atikmpag.sys (atikmpag+0x745C)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFFA800A0C04E0, 0xFFFFF88006D2145C, 0x0, 0x2)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\atikmpag.sys
product: AMD driver
company: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
description: AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: atikmpag.sys (AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.).
Google query: atikmpag.sys Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. VIDEO_TDR_ERROR

[Khalil]

Please download this and install it then tell us what the temps of your CPU are running at.

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/CoreTemp64.zip

[AngryBird]

28-29 degrees celcius

[Khalil]

Do you have other games on your computer? Does the system crash when you play them? If the system does not crash then have you contacted their support?
Do you know if this game requires DX9-10-11 installed on your system?

[AngryBird]

I have direct x 11 installed. I've searched their support forums and noticed people reporting similiar issues, however none of the suggested fixes have worked for me. Thus far no other games have crashed since I replaced my card/psu. This includes Starcraft 2 running at maximum possible graphics settings which is fairly new game. I doubt its possible that LoL is over working my pc, its graphics are far less demanding than SC2 at max settings. I was checking the ASUS site and there is a BIOS update that says it "improves system stability" I might give that a go

At this point its more of a game specific issue so I won't bother you guys with it. Thanks for the help

edit: I've never updated BIOS before and I'm a little afraid of killing my pc. Are there any important tips to make sure it doesn't go wrong?

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by AngryBird I have direct x 11 installed. I've searched their support forums and noticed people reporting similiar issues, however none of the suggested fixes have worked for me. Thus far no other games have crashed since I replaced my card/psu. This includes Starcraft 2 running at maximum possible graphics settings which is fairly new game. I doubt its possible that LoL is over working my pc, its graphics are far less demanding than SC2 at max settings. I was checking the ASUS site and there is a BIOS update that says it "improves system stability" I might give that a go At this point its more of a game specific issue so I won't bother you guys with it. Thanks for the help edit: I've never updated BIOS before and I'm a little afraid of killing my pc. Are there any important tips to make sure it doesn't go wrong?

Please follow the documented instructions from Asus. I would contact Asus at this point. You have enough documentation to support a claim.

[Khalil]

I personally think it is the game! I don't think there is anything wrong with his system at this point.

[AngryBird]

Scratch that just crashed on a different game... I'm ready to throw this thing in the garbage :/ Is it possible the new BIOS update could fix this? I downloaded it and its a rom file, so does that mean I have to put it on a cd or something?