crashing problems

[IasubtledaggerI]

i wasnt sure where to post this but im thinking this problem has to do with my motherboard. for starters
AMD64 3000+ @ 1.8 ghz
MSI K8t Neo2 (designed for AMD64 socket 939)
512mb kingston value ram.
nvidia Geforce FX 5700 ultra
Windows XP 32bit w/SP2

im having problems with pretty much all of my video games on this computer. they run fine for about 5 mins or so and then they crash or freeze. i got a screenshot for a reason why one of them crashes right here

http://img313.imageshack.us/img313/5766/crashpic3xd.jpg

i can run some of them on lowest settings possible without any problems but then that would have defeated the purpose of upgrading my pc. can anyone help me with this problem?

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by IasubtledaggerI on 07/23/05 10:31 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Rugger]

If that's an error message from your game, then it's interesting that the only thing open on your taskbar is an untitled paint document.

My first suspects the video card or heat. What games are you playing and at what resolution. Try playing with the side of your case open and a house fan blowing directly into the case. Let us know if it still crashes.

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<font color=red>You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!</font color=red>

 

[IasubtledaggerI]

that error pops up after the game already crashes and closes itself. ive tried playing Call of Duty lowest res middle and high, Call of Duty: United Offensive lowest res middle and high, Guild wars low mid high (which is what that screenshot is of) and Battlefield Vietnam low mid high. even though i doubt that it is heat problems(bout 50C under load), ill try the case thing and reply later

 

[IasubtledaggerI]

i tried that thing with the fan and it didnt help much. i think you were right though about the video card because i put my brothers radeon 9600 in and everything ran without crashing. i did get a couple lockups for a few seconds though. he suggested that if i do decide to replace my current card i should get an ati. any objections/concerns toward an ati?

 

[Rugger]

I base all of my purchases on price/perf. Both nVidia and ATI make good/stable cards - some gens are better for one mfr than for the other. What's your price range?

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<font color=red>You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!</font color=red>

 

[Rugger]

What PSU is in your system and what is the amperage on the 12V rail? The 9600 draws less power than the 5700 Ultra and this could be that your vid card is drawing more power than your PSU can handle.

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<font color=red>You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!</font color=red>

 

[IasubtledaggerI]

sorry for the long wait, i was busy for a while.

i had a 250 watt power supply before and my computer would turn off on itself so i knew i had to get a new one. i bought a SOYO SY-PS400 so i dont think it has much to do with power. also, after a while the radeon 9600 did crash so i have no clue now what is wrong. what do you mean about 12v rail? theres an 5.0v and a 3.3v output display that came with the power supply. im not as smart with computers as you guys are

 

[IasubtledaggerI]

it says on the box +12v 20A im guessing thats what you wanted to know.

 

[IasubtledaggerI]

could it be because of a bad windows install? i was thinking of trying windows 2000 out and see if i get the same issues

 

[IasubtledaggerI]

i figured i would move this topic up since it still hasnt gotten a reply

 

[Unolocogringo]

I would try using a driver cleaner since you have had both Nvidia and ATI cards installed. Both leave behind small reminants of their drivers when uninstalled.

I aint signing nothing!!!

 

[IasubtledaggerI]

i dont think that it has to do with drivers being mixed up like that because it crashes the same way when i had my nvidia card in before even trying out the radeon. since i only had one driver installed there wouldnt be any mixups like that.

 

[IasubtledaggerI]

we think we found the problem. i let my brothers friend borrow my pc to see what he thinks was wrong with it. he tried taking everything apart just to double check. when he tried to take the heatsink off of the processor he found it to be FUSED on to the damn thing. apparently the arctic silver we were sold didnt do its job. i guess good old Microcenter owes me a new processor.

 

[jammydodger]

They probably gave you thermal adhesive rather than thermal compound. But this does not explain why your system kept crashing, as you said your CPU wasnt hot under load?

 

[IasubtledaggerI]

yeah it wasnt very hot. this morning, there was another problem found. on the box of my power supply, it shows 20A on the 12v rail. but if you look at the sticker on the power supply itself, it shows only 16. from what i was told, i need 20A

 

[jammydodger]

16Amps for the 12v rail is very low, it could be that it cant cope with the extra draw from the graphics card at load. If you have a spare power supply lying around try connectining your hard disks, CD drives and graphics card to that. Start it up by shorting pins 13-14 on the 20pin motherboard connector (I normally use a paper clip to do this). Then start up the computer as normal as see if the problem persists.

My only other idea is that it is the graphics card over heating not the CPU, the fx5700's were well known for producing a lot of heat.