New system up and running, but i "think" i've got overheating issues.

hey guys, back again for another round =)

Got my new system up and running, was working like a dream until i installed COD4 and started playing... thats where the drama starts, but first off, system specs.

E8400 + TR 120 extreme (120mm fan also)
P5E deluxe
Antec 300 (also includes front fan and side)
Corsair 620 HX modular PSU.
4gb Ballistix memory (ddr2 800)
Asus 4870.

So neways, playing cod4, looks amazing. runs smooth as hell, until the game freezes, sound is on repeat (this is about after 45 mins of gameplay) can't do anything, had to hold the power button to kill it.

after that, boots up again normal. I notice that the gfx temp was pushing about 70 degrees celcius, so i increase the speed on the fan, so its idles at about 36 degree's under load about 40 - 50 degrees celcius.

But now the freezing has turned into a common thing. Can happen from 5 mins in a game to 30 mins in a game. Doesn't freeze with anything else.

So are there any specific steps i should take to try and find this problem? i've tried a couple of different gfx card drivers, no luck.

Any help would be greatly appriciated =)

When you say the system doesn't lock with anything else, have you tried other intensive 3D games?

Have you confirmed that your memory is running at the correct timings and voltage?

Make sure you have all the latest drivers and updates for windows.

The card will run stable into the 90s with ease(the autofan should keep it under that anyway)

Also give this driver a shot
http://support.ati.com/ics/support [...] onID=35298

If that does not work. You may want to install ATItool and run an artifact scan to see if the card is defective.

http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/

I'm guessing that either the CPU or GPU is overheating. Could be bad RAM, but you'd be more likely to bluescreen instead.

may be a bad card. It doesn't seem to be overheating. My old card an 7600gt ran at 95C during crysis and it was still fine. Your card at 40-50 is perfectly fine i have an 8800gts 512mb running at about 58at full load and 48 at idle which is condidered very cool for standard air cooling.Good luck.

Yeah, i was also questioning a faulty card. I'll do the Ati tool test tonight and see if i get any artifacts.

Could the card still be faulty even without artifacts showing? I'm guessing yes, but can't be 100% certain.

In most cases a faulty card will artifact, however poor drivers causing it(meaning the card is good, so make sure you also try that hotfix driver set from amd) will not.

I tried those drivers on the weekend nuke. Still had that same problem coming up, so now im really starting to lean towards a faulty card.

8.7 is out.

http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html