All graphics heavy games crash.

dirtypants

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Jan 10, 2010
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I just put together a new system,

win7

Phenom II 965 black

4gb Ddr2

radeaon 4550 w/1gb

When running GTA 4, crysis, or mass effect, all 3 run good-excellent on high graphics settings, for 10 - 30 min. then crash to Win. everything is new/updated. No OC, but attempted some minor tweeks and got no positive result. They actually seem to run better with no OC.'

Any ideas? Is my Vid card just S**tty? It was only $60 at frys.
 

a4mula

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Feb 3, 2009
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Well.. the gpu is subpar, but that wouldn't explain it running for 10-30 mins then crashing.

It could be driver issues, it could be heat issues, it could be memory issues. There's a thousand different things it could be. Any more details?

If every game crashes after playing for awhile it's more than likely heat. Does your version of the 4550 have a fan, or is it passive (just heatsink)?
 

dirtypants

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no fan on the GPU. just a giant heat sink. My Cpu temps are maxing at 48deg. Not sure about the GPU temp. Can anyone suggest a temp monitor? Im using core temp for CPU temp monitor. I'm running catylyst 8.14. thats the latest v right?

I have a feeling all this is being caused by cheep ass FRYS hardware :( Can anyone suggest a suitable GPU? I want HDMI out and 1gb vram. Preferably under $100
 

popaholic

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Jun 13, 2008
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Its not the cheap ass hardware thats the problem. Your GPU is probably overheating like hell, does your screen start screwing up when the games crash?

Do you have enough case fans? Poor case airflow never works well for fanless gpus.

You can also try rivatuner at http://www.guru3d.com you need to familiarize yourself with it, but you can watch your temps and change fan speeds, plus overclock.
 

dirtypants

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My case has a 10" pusher fan on the side. Thinking about addig a 120mm puller to aid it. You guys think the 10" is enough?

I ran riva. OC'd from 600mhz to 700 mhz for the core and 7-8mhz on the mem. Ran GTA and it crashed within minutes of starting to play. Loads the game fine but as soon as I start playin it *** the bed. Temps maxed out at 43deg during that run. WHen it crashes there is no warning. just black screen, then desktop and error message. a couple time it froze for 5-10 sec then resumed fine.

My PSU is 450w the card says it needs 300 min.. think maybe this could be the issue?
 

dirtypants

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In RIVA i set the GPU core and mem speed to the minimum, and all the settings in gta to low. It ran good for about 45 min. then I set sll the internal GTA settings back up to the auto config and it crashed into a BSOD after 10 min. It always happens during a driving stage. I didnt have time to get the error message #.

Gonna try Crysis now, with the GPU scaled down.

Any other ideas?
 

dirtypants

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OK, I got a different vid card, radeon 4650 hd, and I got a better psu. It is still crashing intermittently! I can get 30 min of play MAX!

I'm going to downgrade to xp, see if that changes anything.

Please help!!! Im almost out of ideas!
 

Slickzor

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Jan 20, 2010
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Would all of you people stop saying it's a heat issue, IT'S NOT! I've tried everything to cool down everything to max out till 40 degrees celcius, and still the games crash. It's a windows 7 or a driver problem which has to be fixed by nvidia/ati or microsoft. There's no other explanation.

I appreciate the help, but don't repeat each other over and over again while there's already been said that the solution of cooling down your pc doesn't work.

Mass effect 2 runs perfect
Modern warfare 2 crashes
GTA IV crashes
Warcraft III works like a charm
etc.

It's a compatability issue which i haven't found yet. Anyone that knows, please answer. But stop saying it's a heat issue, thank you. ;)

There's another thread regarding this issue:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/290-63-games-crash-windows-7100
 

Slickzor

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A quick update (for some reason i can't edit my post) it's almost certain that it's a Windows 7 issue. Try to continue the thread that i provided in the link so we can find a joint solution. :)