my computer freezes and i do not know why

smurfik

Distinguished
Jan 24, 2008
73
0
18,630
hello, i have core 2 duo 8400, asus p5kc, gf 8800 gts (gigabyte), a-data 2gb ram.i bought pc just few days ago and played games like WoW or neverwinternights 2.however, today my computer started to freeze when i am in game (but in windows do not freeze, or when i am playing counter-strike,...).it seems it started to freeze only when i am running some new games, which need a lot of performance.i havent done any overclocking or any new updates, anything.just started pc today and the games started to freeze.i can not do alt+tab, nothing...simply reset, go back to game, play 5 minutes and all over again.do you have any idea?

i have new forceware 169, installed chipeset p35 etc. please, help me:(
 

ZozZoz

Distinguished
Dec 7, 2006
487
0
18,780
what kinda power supply do you have? Did you buy it separately, or did it come with the case? Post the power supply name (and everything you can find on it for that matter) and we'll go from there.
 

koss64

Distinguished
Dec 27, 2007
221
0
18,680
I had a similar problem some weeks ago and i changed my power supply and got a new fan for my cpu, its been almost 2 and a half weeks and no freezing and i play crysis and cod4. Another thing you can try is to geta program like drivercleaner pro and uninstall your chipset and video card drivers and reinstall them.
 

Kamrooz

Distinguished
Feb 8, 2007
1,002
1
19,280
It could be either power supply or your ram. I've had many hard lock freezes in my past experiences. It sounds like it's either of these two.

What's your PSU? Brand/model? Then we can help you get this problem fixed.

Once we find out what your PSU Make/Model is, we can advise you on what to do.
 

Evilonigiri

Splendid
Jun 8, 2007
4,381
0
22,780

That could be why. I'd recommend getting at least a 500W PSU, but to be safe, get a 550W+ quality PSU from companies like Corsair.
 

smurfik

Distinguished
Jan 24, 2008
73
0
18,630
but i bought it on monday and everything was ok, i played nwn2 like 5 hours and it worked well.the freezes started today...or it doesnt matter?Oo
 

Kamrooz

Distinguished
Feb 8, 2007
1,002
1
19,280
I've never heard of it...The Eurocase 5410 is a case right? and the PSU came with it? If that's the case it's going to be a cheap **** psu.

Personally, I'd replace that PSU asap with something on the tiered CPU list.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088

If cash is an issue, you can nab something like this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104037

great amperages on the 12 rail, and a tier 3 psu to boot. If you can nab something even better on the tier 2/1 list. Go for it...Just base it off where you live and what prices you can get. I found it very difficult to get any info on that eurocase 5410, all the sites were foreign, so you're probably not in the states?

Also head over to http://www.memtest.org/ . Download a prebuilt iso or the floppy version and run it, just change your boot priority to your cd rom drive via the bios. Let it run..

chances are, it's your PSU..You have some power hardware in your rig, and you NEVER want to couple that with a cheap **** PSU...If that PSU blows (from the cheap components), it can take your entire rig with it, not a worthy investment. Try to nab a new psu, it should fix your problems, but if it is your memory, run the memtest app I spoke of, and let it run for a few passes to see if your memory is reporting errors.
 

Evilonigiri

Splendid
Jun 8, 2007
4,381
0
22,780

First, run memtest to see if your ram is good. Then run Prime95 blend test for at least 8hours to check if your ram is stable.

If it passes all of the above, then grab a copy of Rivatuner. Then underclock your vidcard like crazy. If the problem goes away, it's your PSU.
 

smurfik

Distinguished
Jan 24, 2008
73
0
18,630
i was told it could be something with fan, value set to 29% (kind of a "bug" with 8800).and that i need to set it to 50-60%.is this right?
 

Evilonigiri

Splendid
Jun 8, 2007
4,381
0
22,780

Heat could also be the issue. Grab Rivatuner and increase the fan speeds.
 

Kamrooz

Distinguished
Feb 8, 2007
1,002
1
19,280
It doesn't matter really if you are told. Considering that you stated it was a eurocase psu, it came with your case. Almost all PSU's that come with cases are crap...They are very low quality and not worth the money. Your best bet, would be to nab a new psu. But first, run memtest, and follow what everyone has advised. If it's not your PSU...that's great..But that still doesn't change the fact it's not a quality PSU. When it comes to a powersupply, watts aren't the most important thing, It's a combination of watts, amperages, and quality. You could go about and buy a 200 dollar PSU that has 1000 watts and 90 amps on the 12 rail, but if it doesn't use quality parts, it's still a crappy psu.

Please don't take any offense to this, just trying to inform you the differences in the PSU world. If you follow that Tiered list I posted in my previous post, it will guide you to a quality unit. But first run memtest, and see if your memory is reporting errors, and bump up the fanspped via rivatuner as evilonigiri stated. If the memory reports no errors, and the increase in fan speed doesn't help, then it's 100% your PSU.
 


He is right. Most case supplied PSU's are crap. The best ones I have come across are the ones that come with Thermaltakes cases which are their own PSU's. They are pretty nice or at least my old 420w PSU that came with my XaserIII lasted me 5 years. I just replaced it for the hell of it with a 550w Rosewill PSU.
 

smurfik

Distinguished
Jan 24, 2008
73
0
18,630
and how to check that fan speed through rivatuner?and how to increase?i went to "power user" and do not know what next.i can go nvidia fan with binaryfanspeedcontrol and minfanspeedlimit, or current device with fan speed0-2, or just nvidia fan etc. Oo
 

Evilonigiri

Splendid
Jun 8, 2007
4,381
0
22,780

No, that means it's off the charts. Just change the upper limit around.

As for your 8800GTS 512MB, did you enable support by adding "600h" to "G92=" in the config?
 

Kamrooz

Distinguished
Feb 8, 2007
1,002
1
19,280
GPU temperatures can be a LOT higher than CPU's depending on the architecture of the gpu. So don't worry about it too much. I don't have an 8800 GT, so not sure, but i do know that people have had overheating issues with the single slot 8800 GT design..So I'd guess those suckers can get pretty hot....

Did you run memtest yet? You really should run memtest to see if it errors. Also, just slap the fan speed up to 100%...leave it as is for about 20-30 minutes to cool, than game on it and see if the pc freezes.

Make sure you do both! Memtest and this fan issue...But honestly, I'd bet my money on it being the PSU.

Jimmy: You just replaced it with a rosewill?...You do know that rosewill is one of these psu's I'm also talking about, tier 5 psu that should NOT be purchased.
 

roadrunner197069

Splendid
Sep 3, 2007
4,416
0
22,780
If it worked fine and acted up it could be PSU or RAM. I would try a system restore back to a day you know it was working. Maybe a driver or software install is causing problems. Anyhow I would check that 1st, then memtest96 for 6 hours, then try a new PSU.
 

smurfik

Distinguished
Jan 24, 2008
73
0
18,630

Kamrooz

Distinguished
Feb 8, 2007
1,002
1
19,280
Very difficult to make a choice basing on the language barrier. But here..

http://www.datacomp.sk/default.asp?cls=stoitem&stiid=12400

IF you can spend the extra cash, get this instead.

http://www.datacomp.sk/default.asp?cls=stoitem&stiid=15644

This one is modular, great tier 2 power supply, I actually have it in a rig next to me that I've built for a family friend. The modular aspect is also great for improving airflow.

Hope this helps. BUT, run memtest first!

Download this..

http://www.memtest.org/download/2.00/memtest86+-2.00.iso.zip

Unzip it, inside should be an iso. Use burning software to burn the iso...Make sure you burn the IMAGE...don't just burn it to a data compilation, you need to burn it as a Iso/Image. Once done, restart your pc, get into your bios (pay attention to the screen as it boots, most boards are "del" for bios entry). Once in, go to your boot priority section, and change the boot order to have your cd rom drive first. Than save and exit your bios...Once the pc restarts and goes past post, it will boot into the cd (if the cd is in the drive), memtest will run, let it run for 4-6 hours, pay attention to the "passes" and "errors" section. If it errors, you know you have faulty memory which needs to be replaced.

Hope this helps...
 

smurfik

Distinguished
Jan 24, 2008
73
0
18,630
really thanks:) ok, but do you think my new a-data could be errorous after 5 days of use?Oo

and, do you think is worthy to spend some more money on that second PSU?