Constant games crashing please help!

[greygoose]

Hi there.

I have been having a few problems with my computer, some stuff i just cant figure out on my own. Hoping some of you guys may be able to help me out.

One of my main problems is that whenever I try to play a game, I'm getting lots of errors. I used to be able to play crazy games like half life 2 for instance, now i cant really play anything.

I will basically start up a game, and during the first minute or so it will either: freeze, restart my computer, and the program itself will just have an error(program must be closed) and close.

I'm curious if it is my video card or my software...
My video card is: ATI Radeon 9800 pro.. looks like the drivers are updated
i have directx 9 installed.. and my computer is pretty cleaned of spyware and viruses.

any ideas?
any info you need i can repost.. thanks!

[Wandrille]

maybe ur cpu is heatin up

[greygoose]

hmm how would i check that?

[odannyboy000]

you could download everest home edition. if u have any sensors in your computer it will tell you the temp. you may be surprised of some of the sensors you didnt know you had. it sounds like overheating to me too. you should clean out your case...have you made any recent hardware changes?

[greygoose]

i had a couple of recent problems, a piece of 512 ram stopped working.

and i also had my power supply replaced, but i was having these same problems before that..

im installing everest now.

i also want to mention when i said "and the program itself will just have an error(program must be closed) and close"

it give me a window error and asks to be closed back into windows.

[greygoose]

Sensor Properties:
Sensor Type Winbond W83627THF (ISA 290h)
Motherboard Name Asus P4C800 / P4P800 / P4P8X

Temperatures:
Motherboard 31 °C (88 °F)
CPU 59 °C (138 °F)
WDC WD740GD-00FLA1 45 °C (113 °F)
WDC WD2000JD-22HBB0 41 °C (106 °F)

Cooling Fans:
CPU 2679 RPM

this is what i got..
okay and yeah, that sounds scary

[LadyGrey]

Hi greygoose, I'm just a novice but that temp for your CPU is way out of sight. That thing is gonna burn up if you're not careful! I'd open up the side and put a very gentle fan on it till you can figure out what is going on.
I play Morrowind on my computer, I'm by no means a "gamer" but I have alot of CTDs and most times it's because I've forgotten to adjust my sound card. Yes, sound card. I know, sounds nuts but my CTDs stop when I knock my card down a notch in it's properties. You might give that a try. Just a thought.
LG ;)

[ski]

Agree that the CPU's temp is high. Clean any dust built up on the CPU's fan and heatsink, and make sure the heatsink is securely mounted.
Also, if there's any thermal compound is oozing out from between the bottom of the heatsink and the CPU die, then remove the old compound, and replace it with Arctic Silver.

If that does not help, then reseat the video card making sure it's firmly seated. Sometimes it needs a healthy push to properly seat.
And clean any dust built up on its heatsink and fan, making sure to thoroughly clean the spaces between the heatsink's fins is the air passages are enclosed.

[greygoose]

thanks for the help guys, i appreciate it.

[ski]

You're welcome.
What is the current status of the problem?

[greygoose]

well i just went and got a bigger fan and heatsink for the cpu, got new arctic silver applied and a new tower fan, and seems like the problem is solved!

thank you for all your help everyone !!!

[ski]

That's great news!
Glad that you were able to fix things, and thanks for posting back with the solution.

[greygoose]

well perhaps i spoke too soon, sometimes games still crash. but at least i have my cpu temperatures regulated.

[madad2005]

What games are you playing that crash on you? What CPU do you have? I assume an Intel Pentium of some sort. I have the P4P800S-X mobo with an Intel Pentium 4 3Ghz 800FSB 512k Cache and it sits at 36^oC idle and 44-46^oC under full load. What is your current CPU temperature idle?

If you have the ASUS mobo then you should of had some software called ASUSProbe bundled with it. This lets you track the temperature and RPM's of almost everything plugged onto the mobo. However, it also lets you record the temperature of the mobo and cpu over a period of time. I'd suggest installing this program (check your driver cd) and start recording the temperature of the CPU. Then play one of these games that causes your pc to crash. Do so for as long as possible (say an hour - you will more than likely forget about the purpose of this experiment anyway :-) ). You may find that, even with the super-duper new grease and fan installed, the airflow in your case is too poor and your devices are heating up past the maximum allowed cpu temperature. You may then need to be a case fan for either the front, back, or both of your case. They are fairly cheap and will do your system as a whole a lot of good. It could also be your GFX card overheating, in which case the fans will help tons too.

I had the same problem with a case with no fans in it, a Penitum 4 (with stock heatsink) and a GeForce 6600. When the case was enclosed, the 6600's fan made an unbearable high-pitched whirring noise because it couldn't keep the card cool enough. My only remedy was to remove the side of the case hence improving fresh airflow. For a year now I've had a pc with 2x120mm case fans installed and I have no problems at all with airflow - HDD is at 31^oC, mobo at 28^oC, CPU at 36-45^oC, and god knows what my GPU is at. But that would be my solution... get yourself some case fans!

[ski]

Did you clean any dust off the video card's fan and heatsink, and also make sure that the card is firmly seated and its heatsink is securely mounted?

If so, then remove the computer's cover, and run an external fan. If that works, then follow up on madad's suggestion for improving the case cooling.

[greygoose]

Im playin newer games,
like age of empires 3..

Intel Pentium 4, 3200 MHz
Asus P4P800-E Deluxe
RADEON 9800 PRO (128 MB)


i installed everest..
my cpu temp is usually at 40°C up and down.

The games usually crash in the first couple minutes...
and i got a big fan pointing inside with the case open...
cleaned my video card, cpu fan & heatsink is new...
beginning to wonder if its a software thing..?

[ski]

Check the MB's capacitors for any signs of leaking, bulging, or rupturing.

[greygoose]

i think it may be a software thing.
maybe ill reformat my computer.
i dont see any capacitors in bad shape...
thanks for all the help once again. :)

[greygoose]

i think it may be a software thing.
maybe ill reformat my computer.
i dont see any capacitors in bad shape...
thanks for all the help once again. :)


One last thing i noticed. before i reformat.

In my device manager its showing 2 of the same cards. ATI RADEON PRO and ATI RADEON PRO SECONDARY.

now i remove one, everytime i boot back into windows it comes back up..
tried to reinstall the newest ATI drivers and it seems to crash when the console comes up.. like a faulty install.

[jlreich]

One last thing i noticed. before i reformat.

In my device manager its showing 2 of the same cards. ATI RADEON PRO and ATI RADEON PRO SECONDARY.
That's normal. I forget why exactly. I think it is for when you have two monitors. Someone can confirm why, but it is normal. :)

[greygoose]

That's normal. I forget why exactly. I think it is for when you have two monitors. Someone can confirm why, but it is normal. :)


hmm okay.. well for some reason the drivers wont install properly, that may be it.

[jlreich]

Did you uninstall the old drivers before installing? The best way to do it is have the latest drivers ready, go into add/remove programs, remove anything to do with ATI or display drivers, reboot into safe mode(tap F8 right before windows starts to boot), cancel the add hardware wizard and install the latest drivers. Reboot.

Also make sure you have the latest patches for your games. Is windows up to date? Latest Direct X, version 9.0c?

[greygoose]

Did you uninstall the old drivers before installing? The best way to do it is have the latest drivers ready, go into add/remove programs, remove anything to do with ATI or display drivers, reboot into safe mode(tap F8 right before windows starts to boot), cancel the add hardware wizard and install the latest drivers. Reboot.

Also make sure you have the latest patches for your games. Is windows up to date? Latest Direct X, version 9.0c?

cool, ill try installing in safe mode thanks, ill keep u posted.

[greygoose]

cool, ill try installing in safe mode thanks, ill keep u posted.

well got the drivers installed properly...

it has to be the video card. maybe ill see if i can borrow a friends and swap it to see if that is the problem...

thanks guys. :)