All my games are crashing to desktop

[gordonboy15]

Recently all of my games are crashing to desktop with on the "this program as stop working" message. I have a evga Gtx 550ti phenom II x4 940 4 gigs of ram and a corsair 430watt. i dont know what to do ive tried different video drivers as well as cleaning the registry with ccleaner. I can only play for about 15 minutes before the crash and cpu never gets above 43c and cpu never gets above 60c. Any ideas on whats going on?

 

[WR2]

Hello gordonboy15;

And the PC doesn't crash when you're not playing games?
How is it with a video or movie?

 

[gordonboy15]

no and the pc itself doesn't crash only games stop responding

 

[WR2]

And of course you have the PCI-e 6pin power lead connected to the video card?

First guess was that it's either the PSU having an issue or video card acting up.
However, if it was the PSU - it should happen almost right away while gaming. Same for the video card. Why does it happen after 15min and not right away?

What games are you running?

 

[gordonboy15]

yea the power cable is connected and it always happens like 15 mins into a game like bf3, crysis 2 and it was even happening in tf2 and hlf 2

 

[WR2]

Just for testing, run BF3 on low graphics settings and see what happens.

 

[gordonboy15]

yea i tried that it worked for a little longer but still just froze and minimized to desktop

 

[gordonboy15]

also another weird note, MW3 and Borderlands would play really sluggishly and id restart my computer and then like magic there running at the max fps limit again

 

[totalknowledge]

It sounds more of a graphics card issue than a psu issue. If some of the capacitors are bad on the card, it won't necessarily act up until you are into the game and some of the more advanced features are used.

 

[WR2]

Im starting to think your graphics card is the problem.
Presumably "Recently all of my games are crashing to desktop" means that prior to that all your games would be running nicely?

 

[Onus]

Update your SOUND drivers as well.
Test your RAM with Memtest+.
If you restart a game, does it run for about the same length of time, or does it crash much more quickly? If the latter, heat may be involved, just not of the CPU or GPU. Your Northbridge may be heating up, or the PSU. Are your case fans balanced, with close to as many intakes as exhaust? If you have too many exhaust, your PSU may be struggling to cool itself. Does the PSU fan get loud before a crash, or is it hot to the touch?

 

[gordonboy15]

no the psu is really quiet but if i do a fresh system restart all the games run fine for a bit longer and yes all my games just recently started to act up when about hte time battle field came out

 

[triny]

If those don't work remove the vcard re seat it sometimes that helps I'd use a 500 watt psu as well

 

[Onus]

Any chance of testing with another video card, from a friend perhaps?

 

[gordonboy15]

i can use my on board maby

 

[gordonboy15]

i just played bf3 for about 20 mins then it crashed but gpu usage was at 99% only dipping a percent or 2 but temps nver got above 58c

 

[WR2]

Besides loading BF3 - what else was been changed right about the time the games started crashing?

 

[gordonboy15]

nothing i can think of it really just started happening when i first installed a beta driver for battlefield because battlefield was the only game it was happening to

 

[WR2]

And loading the beta driver was when all the other games started crashing? including BF3 still crashing?

 

[gordonboy15]

i think but im back to the newest regular drivers

 

[13thmonkey]

430W psu seems a little light, could be struggling as its getting warm, hence why it doesn't start causing a problem immediately.

 

[Onus]

^That's why I asked if it was hot, or if the crashes happen more quickly if a game is restarted. He has a Corsair, which should be enough for a GTX550Ti.

 

[gordonboy15]

I see, but would my whole pc crash from not enough power?

 

[we_san]

Always do the simplest thing first -> memory
run memtest or prime95 can be used also (Pass / Not ) ???

 

[13thmonkey]

I see, but would my whole pc crash from not enough power?

Yes it can, how many amps can your PSU deliver on your 12V rail?