Performance problems

[cololi91]

Hello I'm new to this website and this is my first thread .
I'm having a problem with my latest PC. You see, I built it and now I regret it because it is not performing well.
Ok here is the problem: Only when I play demanding games such as call of duty 4 or Oblivion or Prototype... my computer turns of and turns on back again by itself. It usually is like 45 minutes before it shuts down.
Ok as I've seen everywhere people post their system information or hardware. Ok im new to this stuff and ill do my best:

Processor: Intel 2 core Quad Q9550
Ram 4 GB
OS: Vista 32
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 4800 series. 1 GB
Motherboard: Asus P5Q-E
Chipset: P45
Hard Disk: 1500GB

I don't know what else to mention, please give me some tips, and here are some temperatures:

Processor: 36C
Mainborard:43C
Power:25C
Core 1 :46C
Core 2:43C
Core 3:42C
Core 4:42C
Hard Disk: 38C

All these are idle temperatures, which i guess counts like right now? browsing the internet?
When i play demanding games Cpu temperatures rise a lot, some to high 50s other to like 65. The other temperatures do not rise much. And I wish I could know the video card temperature but I don't.

Some friends tell me its a virus but I think it is a temperature problem. My doubt is if it is the cpu or the video card. I mean i think i have pretty decent gear, or at least was expensive .
The CPU has its fan on top, and well placed. Moreover i have a huge fan (like 10 cm radius) on top of all, that came with chassis. Also i have another 1, this one normal sized.
I've tried opening the chassis and playing like that but it did not matter. Tried putting a huge fan outside PC aiming at video card...etc, i have tried many things because it is very frustrating.
I hope this is the right place to ask
Thank you a lot for those of you who take your time to read this and I'll appreciate any help or comments. Thanks

 

[overshocked]

The temps arnt terrible, because you are using the stock cooler.

But temps dont change your performance at all, unless its 100c.

I would however get a new cooler, something like the Core contact freezer.

 

[outlw6669]

Welcome to the forums!

I agree that your CPU temps are fine.
As long as they do not pass the low 70's, you will have no issues.

Try using GPUz to check your GPU's temps.
You can get the readings under the 'Sensors' tab.
Checking the 'Continue refreshing...' box will allow you to track the max temp while in game.
Please post back your iddle and load GPU temps.
As long as they are under 105°c, however, you should be just fine here.

What PSU are you using?
Please post the brand, model, wattage and +12v amperage.
Do you have anything overclocked?

 

[techguy911]

Sounds like one of five things:

1) your psu is under rated and can't handle load/overheating
2) your cpu fan is not mounted correctly when you push the machine enough it trips you need to do a cpuz + prime95 test for a few hours keeping an eye on temp.
3) your video card has a faulty fan or heatsink is not correctly seated.
4) you have some bad ram test the ram with memtest
5) you have a bad driver which blue screens but having the reset on error turned on sometimes you will not see it because it resets the machine.

I would go with thermal problems first and eliminate those.

 

[cololi91]

Hello and thanks to you 3.
For outlw6669 and overshocked, Im installing gpuz already and i guess psu means the power right?
Ok it is 630 watt power supply and the brand looks like ZION, it also says model No: XON 630P12N.
the 12v amperage : it says 12v1:21A, 12v2:22A, -12v:0.6A. i hope that's it .
I cant post the gpuz gaming results now, i can give you the idle: its GPu temp :78C, then there is GPU temp(DISPIO):79C, GPU temp(MEMIO):82C, GPU temp(shadercore):84C and all others are under 65C.

So it might be a video card problem then, or 85 C idle is normal? or it wont rise much ingame? Ill give you the gaming results tonight when i have time ok.

And for techguy911 and your 5 points:
1) you might be right, we'll see after i check video card
2) i mounted the fan perfeclty because when i mounted it wrong the first time, pc would turn off after 5 min.
3)Could you explain that a bit more? and what can i do about it?
4)I dont understand those either sorry, please explain further
5)Hmm i have the latest drivers for all, downloaded all there were and "but having the reset on error turned on sometimes you will not see it because it resets the machine. " what can i dot about that?
Thanks you 3

 

[x-nitrous-x]

85C idle is not a normal temp.. I would try to turn up the fan speed in the ATI Overdrive section of the Catalyst Control Center..

 

[outlw6669]

No, 78°c idle is not normal.
I am guessing you have a single slot 4850?
If so, it should be idling around 55-65°c.
Check your case's airflow and make sure there is unobstructed access to the GPU's fan.
+1 to jacking the fan speed up in the CCC.

 

[techguy911]

H
2) i mounted the fan perfeclty because when i mounted it wrong the first time, pc would turn off after 5 min.

Did you re- apply thermal paste cleaning off the old stuff that was there? pilling it off and putting it back on again would mess up the the bond between cpu and heatsink ALWAYS clean off paste after you remove heatsink from cpu and re-apply new i use arctic silver.

 

[cololi91]

Did you re- apply thermal paste cleaning off the old stuff that was there? pilling it off and putting it back on again would mess up the the bond between cpu and heatsink ALWAYS clean off paste after you remove heatsink from cpu and re-apply new i use arctic silver.

DID that... i dont think its a cpu temp anymore, or voltage, must be the video card.

Ok i just played prototype for like 20 minutes and the video card temp barely rose, only like 2C...so can it still be video card?

 

[cololi91]

I checked the video card settings...it was at 20 %, and i had 74-80C idle. I changed to 40 % and now idle is 50C. Wow i hope this is it, it is a big change in temperature. should i leave like that or rise it more? if i do it gets kinda loud.
Ok next time ill game with it at 40 % and ill tell you guys if I still get the shut down

Thanks

 

[cololi91]

ok this is dissappointing...with the new fan speed and the new lower temp for video card, after 5 minutes of gaming it shuts down. Before it was like 1 hour and now it seems like it cant take it...so i guess my power supply is not holding up good then...
please tell me what you think

 

[x-nitrous-x]

you should load up core temp while your playing your game and flip back to the desktop after 5 or 10 minutes and look at the max temp that the cores got up to.
secondly the psu is a pretty large issue its quality over quantity of wattage.. i think 630 antec would hold up to the task but a no name sub name xion will most likely not hold up to alot of gaming..
personal story of my video card and power supply--
I have a 4870x2 in an overclocked c2q system. I had a few 850watt apower psu's, "notice i said a few". I went through 3 of them before i realized that 850watt of cheap pos psu just wasnt going to cut the mustard. Then i got my tuniq 1000 watt and havent experienced a problem since. The ATI HD 4800 series cards draw alot of power under full load.
My card was just barely underpowered but it was enough to blow them up after a good amount of usage.
I saw my psu shoot a spark out the back of my box.
I noticed that my fist gpu would draw more amperage under load than the second gpu during my gaming as i would monitor the card with gpu-z.
Now with the new 1000w they draw the same continuous load.
The system seems sooo much more stable!! I couldn't be happier.. I just thought that i would share my experience with you.

 

[x-nitrous-x]

simply put get a better name brand psu if you dont want it to die in only a few months of usage..

 

[cololi91]

thanks nitrous ...so my 630 power doesn't really give 630 or you mean it broke some time ago and now is handicapped? If its broken wouldn't it just not work? Im a noob at this sry, there are too many questions.
And this, please think about it, if with a slower fan speed runs on games longer than with a faster speed, does that mean that it is a psu issue?
This stuff is in my speed fan readings, i dont know what this means, hopefully it will mean something to you guys:
vcore:1.1V
+12V:11.3V
AVcc:3.3V

and in pc wizzard 09:

voltage cpu: 1.09V

+3.3V:3.26V
+5V:6.12V
+12V: 11.30V

And there is one thing i mentioned but i should expand.
I said that when i first mounted this pc, i placed the cpu fan but not correctly, i mean with 3 attachments instead of 4 because i was stupid. I turned it on and it said cpu temperature is too high and it turned itself off after 5 idle minutes. So i mounted it correctly and it never mentioned the high temp at start up and never turned itself off again.
Might that mean that cpu temp is good now? and that it is either psu or video card?
I have no clue, hopefully you guys do

 

[x-nitrous-x]

all i am saying is you may not be able to use that power supply at its max load. A better name brand psu will likely have better throughput with the ability to run them at the peak rated wattage with no problem..

load up all your monitor software cpu-z / pc wizzard 09 / gpu-z and open the sensors tab, go into your game and make some heavy explosions happen alt- tab back out and view your voltages monitors for cpu and gpu and overall voltage check the aperage pull in gpu-z.. take a screen shot if you have to right away so you can analyze your realtime results.. thats how i found out i was choking my 4870x2 with gpu-z. so were looking for peak usage in amperage, and the lowest dips in voltage available to the system..

 

[x-nitrous-x]

The importance of a quality power supply..

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Importance-of-Your-Computer-Power-Supply&id=366371

think of the power supply like a heart.. it supplies all the blood to the main components.. if the heart gets overloaded it may fail or stroke out..

 

[cololi91]

lol good metaphor or simile or watever...ok ill do that ..what are the good results and bad results? what could hint at bad psu?
thanks sir

 

[cololi91]

ok sir did as you said, in the middle of game i exited and alt tabbed and took a fast screenshot. ok here it goes:
temperatures(Celcius):

video card:51
processor: 35
mainboard:38

cpu:54
Aux/Power:26
HDO:34
Core 1:67
C 2:59
C 3:64
C 4:65

Voltages (Volts):
Voltage CPU:1.06
+3.3 Voltage:3.28
+5 Voltage:6.12
+12 Voltage:11.30


Ok thats it. i hope it tells you something. The only thing my unexperienced eyes detect is the 67C for the core 1...that is high to the usual 40 in idle. OK tell me what you think
Thanks

 

[x-nitrous-x]

well none of your temps look really high but.. i would be looking into changing from the stock cooler... the 5v rail seems kinda off a little.. 6.12? What is the VID on your chip you can find this by using CPU-Z. Also 11.30 on the 12v rail is single that the card is needing more amps..

 

[x-nitrous-x]

also another thing if you could do the in game thing again with gpu-z running on the sensors tab and record the numbers there..

 

[cololi91]

ok i downloaded cpuz... where is the vid thing? and does this mean:

Also 11.30 on the 12v rail is single that the card is needing more amps..

And when you say change the stock cooler...you mean the cpu fan or the big fan on top?
Thanks

 

[x-nitrous-x]

My mistake the vid (voltage identifier) is found in the program called core temp..

Yes, the stock cooler is directly atop the CPU it probably has an intel sticker on the center of it..
looks like this.. http://www.tcmagazine.com/images/news/Hardware/Intel_E8000_stock_cooler_01.jpg

 

[cololi91]

yes that is exactly the one i have, i have another one too, but i think is worse. You said that the temperatures do not look high so is it still an issue?

And for the power thing, 11.30 for the 12 V one means it doesnt give 12 at all right?
Same with the 6.12 for 5?
OK ill get core temp program and ill see.
I also downloaded the 1 you told me cpuz..should i do something with it?
Thanks sir

 

[x-nitrous-x]

yes that is exactly the one i have, i have another one too, but i think is worse. You said that the temperatures do not look high so is it still an issue?

And for the power thing, 11.30 for the 12 V one means it doesnt give 12 at all right?
Same with the 6.12 for 5?
OK ill get core temp program and ill see.
I also downloaded the 1 you told me cpuz..should i do something with it?
Thanks sir

yeh, they arent big programs and they are great for troubleshooting i would just leave them on your computer.. but next time you do the game test have gpu-z running on the sensors tab. and alt-tab out of the game and look how many amps the card is using.. mine usually uses anywhere from 27 ~ 30 amps.. if your 12v rail isnt up to that i would be getting a new psu!

 

[cololi91]

ok ill do that tonight or tomorrow and the core temp program also ingame or idle?
now the VID thing says 1.2375v
thanks and ill report results soon