Games crashing - 9800 GTX+ - help please

[Swooshticles]

Hello,

I've just recently gotten a second hand 9800 GTX+ card and it runs games nicely for a little while, then the games crash (anywhere between 5 and 30 minutes of play is when it can crash).

The games are: Mass Effect 1, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and FIFA 11.

Now I just need help to troubleshoot why this is happening.

First off - PSU - is it good enough?

Sharkoon 450w SHA450-8P PSU (with dual 12v 18A working off 360w).

I have read the 9800 GTX+ needs 26A on the 12v rail.

My calculations, based on info from the net, give me 30A available on the 12v rail (360w/12v = 30A ? ). So I figure my PSU is ok? Or could this be the cause for the games to crash after some time playing, maybe the system starts needing more power than it can get from the PSU?

2 - CPU

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5200+. It's a bit of a weak CPU for current games, I know. But it's above the recommended cpu requirement for Mass Effect 1, yet ME crashes also...so I'm not sure this is to blame for the crashes?

I plan on upgrading the CPU soon anyway as FIFA 11 plays very stuttered and this CPU is below the minimum required. But is this a red herring? Will a slower than recommended CPU allow you to play games for a short while, before causing a crash?

3 - drivers

I have the latest nVidia drivers installed for the card. But a couple of the crashes gave me a blue screen. One of the blue screens said the problem came from the file nv4_disp and the driver device got stuck in an infinite loop. I checked on the net about this, and it is got to do with the graphics cards drivers. Could this be the sole reason for all the crashes, even though majority of crashes haven't displayed a blue screen?

Really hope somebody can help me out!

Thanks in advance.

 

[HMRkingpin]

Check your temps when playing. Sometimes the cards will just throttle back when they get too hot, but if it is hot for too long, it could crash and shutdown. I don't think 450W is enough and it may be crashing due to excessive power draw after it is warmed up. Check the temps on CPU, MB, and GPU, while playing games. Use some type of software that will let you monitor your temperatures in-game.

 

[Swooshticles]

Check your temps when playing. Sometimes the cards will just throttle back when they get too hot, but if it is hot for too long, it could crash and shutdown. I don't think 450W is enough and it may be crashing due to excessive power draw after it is warmed up. Check the temps on CPU, MB, and GPU, while playing games. Use some type of software that will let you monitor your temperatures in-game.

Thanks for that advice. I wasn't sure if I could monitor temps of hardware during play with software. I'll google that and troubleshoot that first. I was hoping it was just the cpu as I'm upgrading that anyway. But you reckon that's a red herring? Dreading having to now add a better PSU to my shopping cart on amazon with the CPU :S

Anyway, I'll try get the temps checked while gaming and report back.

Cheers.

 

[nforce4max]

I got one my self and the same as mine that being the 55nm version and it doesn't need 26amps to run. Only 80w at stock and barely over 100w when overclocked. Your psu however is junk never buy such units regardless of budget and power needs due to quality concerns. I suggest that you go ahead and purchase a new unit but look at it not as an upgrade but insurance. As for the card clean it and replace the stock thermal compound then things should at the very least improve but if not any better then I suggest a new card.

 

[Swooshticles]

I got one my self and the same as mine that being the 55nm version and it doesn't need 26amps to run. Only 80w at stock and barely over 100w when overclocked. Your psu however is junk never buy such units regardless of budget and power needs due to quality concerns. I suggest that you go ahead and purchase a new unit but look at it not as an upgrade but insurance. As for the card clean it and replace the stock thermal compound then things should at the very least improve but if not any better then I suggest a new card.

I got the card second hand at a retail chain and they've given me 1 year repair/replace warranty so I should be ok if it's the card.

I think you're right about the PSU. I'll just have to bite the bullet and take the hit to the pocket for an upgrade to a top end PSU from a respected producer.

I just went ahead and got temp monitoring software. SpeedFan 4.4. Here are the temps:

Idle:
CPU 46c
GPU 49c

Playing FIFA 11:
CPU max 64c - average 61c
GPU max 61c - average 60c

Playing Deus Ex Human Revolution:
CPU max 61c - average 60c
GPU max 64c - average 63c

Are these normal?

Funny thing is the games didn't crash. I played them both for around 30 mins. Maybe my fan speeds needed adjusting to help keep the system cool, and this SpeedFan software has done that?

I noticed in SpeedFan it has all my fan speeds set to 100%. It says they're rotating at 3025RPM. Is this a good RPM?

I'll do longer tests and see if the games crash. But here's hoping it was just a cooling issue.

 

[nforce4max]

I see nothing wrong here, maybe blast what dust they left behind out but either than that you got in my opinion a good card. The psu is the area of concern.

 

[Swooshticles]

I haven't had any crashes since installing that SpeedFan software. Strange.

Anyways, I've ordered a Cooler Master GX-Series 550w PSU and a AMD Athlon II X4 640 3ghz CPU.

So hopefully once I get those it'll be smooth, crash free gaming.