Computer crashes when gaming. :(

[timhiggins]

Whenever i try to play a game it crashes/freezes, but i cant alt-tab or ctrl-alt-delete out of it, i have to turn my computer off. Somebody suggested it could be a dust problem leading to a heat build-up but i cleaned out all my fans and it hasnt helped much. Does anoyone else know what it could be?

[Gameforce]

Depending on how graphics demanding the game you are playing is, you're problem still could be heat related. I'm not familiar with ATI cards (I'm an Nvidia guy), but I had the same problem with my Geforce 4 TI 4200 which is an older card, and opening the case and setting a common floor fan there to blow air into my system solved my problem. $20 on the fan saved me $400 on a new graphics card. I hope this solves your problem the same way it solved mine.

Brandon

[timhiggins]

Thats a FANtastic suggestion.

Right, ok, i have investigated a little further, my heatsink on my processor is blowing down onto my graphics card, im guessing this isnt helping? I turned one of my case fans around so its blowing cool air in as opposed to sucking hot air out. I dont think the fan is powerful enough, it certainly doesnt feel like it. Is it worth getting a more powerful one? How certain are you that heat is my problem?

p.s. do you like he pun?

[timhiggins]

So i dont understand, is it a graphics card heat problem, or my processor's heat problem? Should i re-apply some fresh thermal paste? its about two years old, surely not though?

[RazorDX]

Sounds more like a graphics card heat problem if it's only games. Is it as soon as you run the game, or after playing for a few minutes?

If it's instant, it's probly just a driver/directx issue. If it'll run for a few minutes then die, it's more than likely heat. Your fans should be set so that all fans in the front/side are intake, and the fans on the back/top are exhaust. This could help a bit, as airflow is crucial. Expecially on a card that re-circulates air within the case. You could get a 20 dollar Arctic Silencer, which works great.

As for the thermal paste... what kind is it? Just the cheap stuff that costs less than a dollar? Check your CPU temps using Speedfan or another program. If that's a prescott core processor, the air from it will probly be really warm compared to other processors. It could very well be causing some problems with your card if it's blowing directly on it, but the fan should be on the opposite side of the card than the processor.

If re-configuring your fans doesn't work, I'd say go for a good cooling solution for your video card only.

[Gameforce]

Razor is right about your fans, frontside should intake air and back should exhaust air out, and yes, if it is indeed heat, it is your graphics card, not your cpu.

What I meant when I was talking about a fan is a floor fan, kinda like something that oscillates to keep the air moving in a room in the summer time. Take off the side of your pc case opposite your board and place the fan their to blow air on your board and graphics card.

I play a lot of Everquest 2 and my graphics card is for lack of a better term, inadequate to play this game. The only way I can get more than 10 to 20 quality minutes of playing time ie. no crashes, is to put a floor fan blowing on my card. I know it sucks, but for me, I'm really not in a position to be buying another GPU just yet, so it's this or nothing, at least for me.

Again, this is just something to try and since it seemed similar to my problem, I thought I'd share this makeshift tactic. I hope it ends up working for you!

Brandon

P.S. I liked the pun