I think my video card is dying.

coldbrook

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Sep 16, 2011
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Hey guys, I'm pretty new when it comes to diagnosing my pc. Last night I was playing Leauge of Legends. Randomly my Pc just shut off. Now I turned it back on and checked out event viewer. The only events I saw was there was an unexpected shutdown. I was sort of baffled by this. I was expecting to see something more exact. Now I'm able to go on the web and do other things.

So I wrote it off as a fluke. Then I decided to place LoL again and the same thing happened about 20 min in. It just shut off as if someone pulled the plug. Everything else that was plugged into my power strip was still on and running. So I know its not that.
I've replaced my power supply within the last year. I don't think its that since im able to do other things on the pc besides play that game.

Now I disabled the auto restart in errors in windows. Now if I crash again will I get a blue screen?
Also I checked the drivers on my card and I was able to check the temp. The card was running at 61.
That doesn't seem too high to me but im not 100% on how hot it should run.

If anyone has any ideas on things I should try please let me know! Thank you for any help.
 

COLGeek

Cybernaut
Moderator

And what make/model of video card (GPU) are you using? We need your basic specs for your rig. You are describing the typical symptoms of a heat/power issue. Be sure to include the make/model of your power supply (PSU) and motherboard, at a minimum, with the other requested information.
 

coldbrook

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Motherboard ID 02/15/2007-MCP61PM-AM-6A61KE11C-00 After running everest it says the name is unknown. So I hope the ID helps.

GPU: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series

PSU: BFGr450WGSPSU




 

arson94

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61C is not too hot for a video card, especially a 4800 series card. I wouldn't worry until you break 100C. And a 450W PSU should be enough for any 4800 series card below a 4870X2. If you're OC'ing your video card and a highend CPU, then maybe you could be nearing the max output of you PSU. It would be more helpful to get the exact model of your video card along with the specs of your whole computer.
 

coldbrook

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OS Name Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Version 6.0.6002 Service Pack 2 Build 6002
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name ZACH-PC
System Manufacturer Gateway
System Model GT5422E
System Type X86-based PC
Processor AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+, 2600 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG, 2/15/2007
SMBIOS Version 2.4
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.0.6002.18005"
User Name Zach-PC\Zach
Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 3.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 3.00 GB
Available Physical Memory 1.49 GB
Total Virtual Memory 6.24 GB
Available Virtual Memory 4.56 GB
Page File Space 3.29 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys


Not to sound like a total noob but where do I find the exact number for the series?
I open CCC and it says 4800 series. Device ID 9442
 

Kohlhagen

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Your 4800 might need more than 18 A on the +12V rail. It could cause premature failure for the power supply.
(I didn't find the amps needed to run the 4800 series.)

Are you blue screening or just restarting?
 

coldbrook

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The only thing it says on my card is sapphire. No model number or anything like that. What type of Psu would you recommend? @Kohlhagen It just shuts off as if I pulled the power and I need to press the power to get it to restart.
 

I would recommend around 600-700w just so when you upgrade you wont have to get another psu. Corsair, seasonic, and antech make the best psu's just make sure you are getting an 80+ cert on the one you buy.
The issue you are describing sounds like your psu is failing. If you were getting random restarts with blue screen it would depend on what the screen said on shutdown. Basically if it is a failing component you will get an error message then a restart. Sometimes this is a driver issue, but yours sounds like the psu needs to be replaced