Freeze when playing some games

[Viper6]

system specs
i5 2400
asus p8p67-mpro
4gb 1600mhz ram
gtx460
500w psu

when I am playing most games (eg dirt 3, call of duty 4) after a random period of time it freezes up and i have to restart
attached is the dmp file from the error message that pops up after i hard reset the computer.....
ok, im not sure how to attach it?
thanks in advance

 

[venjhammet]

What is your power supply brand you're using? Does your PC case have good airflow inside? Could be heat issue. Also try checking if 2 4pin connectors are connected and supplied on your videocard

 

[Viper6]

The psu is a cooler master, not sure what type as it came with the case which is a cooler master centuriun 5 II. both connectors seem to be in place

 

[Gman450]

Is the freezing up, a type of blue screen ? Have you experienced this problem any other time or is this your first time ?

 

[Viper6]

it does not show the literal bsod. it just locks up and when i restart it tells me it is and saves minidumps as well. I have had this problem everytime i play a game that requires the system to undergo a bit of effort (dirt 3, call of duty 4 & blackops) call of duty 2 seems to run fine most of the time

 

[Gman450]

Did you check the temperatures on that GPU. Locking up may mean an overheating GPU. You can check the temps by downloading HWMonitor.
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

 

[Viper6]

Ok here are screenshots of the program running with nothing, the menu of dirt 3 and playing the game.
Is that gpu temp abit high?

 

[Gman450]

Yep, it's overheating. Your GPU is overheating. Check if it's heat sink is lose in some way, or whether it's got any sorts of dust piled up. If still the problem persists, then I'd suggest you apply thermal paste on that GPU's heatsink or other wise increase the fan speed by using MSI Afterburner.

 

[Viper6]

would MSI afterburner work on a EVGA card?

 

[Gman450]

Of course ! Just because it's MSI's product, doesn't mean that it won't work with non-MSI ones.

 

[Viper6]

Tried afterburner turns out the fan was at 100% which was not surprising as it sounded like my computer was about to take flight.
could it be due to a faulty card or something?

 

[Viper6]

the drop off at the end was when i switched from dirt3 to afterburner

 

[ash256]

heating issue bro.i think its in the garphics card

 

[ash256]

try to use the onboard graphics just to see if it freez

 

[Gman450]

Tried afterburner turns out the fan was at 100% which was not surprising as it sounded like my computer was about to take flight.
could it be due to a faulty card or something?
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/8225/afterburner.png

It's not probable a faulty card, but a faulty heatsink. You should either apply thermal paste or get some new fans for that cabinet. Hopefully that can solve your issue. 100*C on full load is really hot. Best you get it fixed quick so that you won't risk permanent damage on that card.