Freezing On Games

[NeilyH]

Hi There

When i play games like Half Life 2 or Prey after about 20 mins my pc comes to a halt with what can only be described as it's stuck in a loop before total freezing and the only remedy is a total reboot. The pc needs to stay off for 5 minutes before it can go back on. Any attempt to switch it on before that time meets with nothing. Machine powers up but doesnt even make it to the bios screen. This only occurs when i am playing games like these and does not happen at any other time or when i am using any other applications.

Anyone any ideas ??

Pentium4 3.1 ghz
1 gig ram
2 x 300gb Hard drive
Soundblaster Sfx Card
ATI Radeon X550 gfx Card

Regards

Neil

 

[Softus]

My hunch is an overheated GPU.

Is your graphics card:

1. Equipped with a working cooling fan?
2. Installed with as much free space around it as possible?
3. Still under warranty?
4. In a case with enough cool air being drawn into it, i.e. in a position in a room where air can reach it easily?

 

[Igorian]

Possibly due to heat, games like this tend to put additional load on the CPU and GPU, compared to word processors and the like. Try taking the lid off temporarily or change the CPU temperature warning censor to a lower setting.

Edit. Beat me to it ya bugger.

 

[NeilyH]

Hi There

gfx card has no fan but is in a fairly roomy pci-e slot.

Pc is on its own in a nice roomy desk where air can get to it

It's not under warranty anymore as warranties can cost a fortune for nothing.

And how do i turn down the cpu temp ??

This all worked fine until i had to reinstall windows after some dll issues.

Neil

 

[breezer]

how aboiut an exhaust fan clicky

other suppliers of fans are available

 

[Softus]

Does the GPU have a heat sink on it? If so then you could screw a 40mm fan onto it.

I've done this more than once to systems with your problem, with very satisfying results.

 

[breezer]

40 mm fan

 

[NeilyH]

No Idea about the heat sink. Will open the system tomorrow when i come back from work and let you know. Thanks for all the help so far guys

Neil

 

[Deluks]

Not a very good graphics card for gaming to be honest. If you are into games then get a geforce 7600 as minimum, or radeon 1650. A fan is a must unless you have a custom passive cooler like zalman. aria.co.uk have good deals on vid cards at the moment.

 

[tim west]

This all worked fine until i had to reinstall windows after some dll issues.

Neil

Then it could be a software issue also rather than just a hardware one, what if the games software was re-installed?

 

[gcol]

My first though is a power supply problem.

Second is a faulty graphics card.

Third is the CPU overheating - as suggested, you can adjust the shut down temperature in the bios settings.

You need to make sure that everything is properly seated - graphics card, memory, sound card etc.. Might be an idea to re-seat each component.

Make sure you have the correct graphics driver. If you changed to a newer driver then it might be an idea to try a slightly older one.

 

[Deluks]

This all worked fine until i had to reinstall windows after some dll issues.

Neil

Then it could be a software issue also rather than just a hardware one, what if the games software was re-installed?

Could be DirectX prob. Need to get the latest for best performance.

 

[Igorian]

Sorry to be a pain guys, but driver/directx/software issues, wouldn't prevent the machine from restarting for 5 minutes after it shuts down, as stated in the OP. It has to be a hardware issue of some kind.

 

[gcol]

Yep quite correct - momentary brain fade.

 

[Deluks]

Well I've been drinking far too much coffee recently (we ran out of tea)


I'll bet $6,000,000 it's the heat issue. 'specially with that P4 in the mix.