Computer freezes during game play

[Donnellbob]

Hello,
I have been experiencing a problem for quite some time now that limits of the games i can play. For some reason when I play game likes minecraft, team fortress 2, skyrim and fallout new vegas my computer decides to freeze with different coloured lines and dots appearing on the screen. This error has also happened a few time when i was watching videos on the internet.

My specs are:
Intel core 2 quad processor Q9300
500gb 3G hardrives
NVIDIA Gefore 9600 GS
4096MB DDR2

I would like to state as well that my GPU sits on an idle temperate of 86 degrees and my Cores are at 58 degrees and whilst in game play FPS sits at around 30 if not more.

In attempt to fix this problem i have clean installed my graphics card drivers several times in few of these i have gone to older version of driver though nothing has fixed my problem. I have also reinstalled my Realtex sound drivers in attempt to fix.

I am unsure if this is related or not but i have been having random errors of where i get this error message that my "nvlddmkm driver has stopped responding and has now recovered" once i see this the game simply will close though not freeze my computer.

If you need anymore information please ask and i will try to help I would like to mention that i am not brilliant with computers but i can find my way around various things so please try keep it simple where you can much appreciated if you could help.

 

[amuffin]

your gpu is overheating, clean it out with some compressed air.

 

[Donnellbob]

I cleaned it out roughly a week ago it changed my GPU temp down 10 degrees as well as my CPU though this seemed to only last about an hour before it went back to normal temps

 

[amuffin]

I cleaned it out roughly a week ago it changed my GPU temp down 10 degrees as well as my CPU though this seemed to only last about an hour before it went back to normal temps

what case? Also did you reapply thermal paste?

 

[Donnellbob]

what case? Also did you reapply thermal paste?

Unfortunately the computer is an old store bought company comp so the cases cooling and air filtering is very minimal and i also did not reapply thermal paste would this make a great difference?

 

[netops07]

Your idle temp for your gpu is 86c? yeah, you are overheating. I can't begin to imagine how hot the memory is on your gpu while trying to play. As aksed, what case? How many fans and how is your cable management?

 

[skullbusta]

run as admin

 

[netops07]

Take off your side panel and place a small desktop fan blowing into your case. If this fixes the issue you will know for sure you need to address the heat issue.

 

[amuffin]

Unfortunately the computer is an old store bought company comp so the cases cooling and air filtering is very minimal and i also did not reapply thermal paste would this make a great difference?

every time you remove a heatsink from gpu or cpu, you need to reapply thermal paste.

 

[netops07]

Unfortunately the computer is an old store bought company comp so the cases cooling and air filtering is very minimal and i also did not reapply thermal paste would this make a great difference?

And don't mess with your computer again until you get new thermal paste applied. You are asking to fataly damage your hardware right now.

 

[Donnellbob]

I will try your idea now Youngster and see how it goes

 

[netops07]

I still strongly urge you not to do any gaming until you get new thermal paste applied. I initially missed that piece of info while I was typing a message.

 

[amuffin]

run as admin

how does this even relate to the question?

 

[Donnellbob]

well when i did clean my computer out a few weeks ago it was not to a standarded where i removed heat sinks etc so thermal paste is not much an an issue. Though netops07 i tried your idea with the fan i reach an idea temp of 62 degrees then played skyrim for 20 odd mins when my computer froze at 78 degrees (which is less then the old idle temp

 

[amuffin]

well when i did clean my computer out a few weeks ago it was not to a standarded where i removed heat sinks etc so thermal paste is not much an an issue. Though netops07 i tried your idea with the fan i reach an idea temp of 62 degrees then played skyrim for 20 odd mins when my computer froze at 78 degrees (which is less then the old idle temp

regardless, you need to replace thermal place.

 

[netops07]

Okay, so we're all clear...you never unbolted the shroud from your gpu that contains the heatsink and fan?

 

[Donnellbob]

regardless, you need to replace thermal place.

Is this really necessary considering the clean was only a quick run over with a vacuum. Though my problem began to occur far before i cleaning my computer.

 

[netops07]

You also stated initially that your "cores" were 58 degrees, are you referring to your cpu and if so was that at idle? If your cpu is running idle at 58 degrees that is also high. Honestly, and to agree with muffin, this sounds like a complete breakdown, cleanup of all components and new thermal paste all around.

 

[skullbusta]

if running as an admin dose not work maybe restarting it mite help that works alot

 

[netops07]

Is this really necessary considering the clean was only a quick run over with a vacuum. Though my problem began to occur far before i cleaning my computer.

Over time thermal paste can break down. Since you are running a 9 series card it has probably been running the same compound. if it's in a small case that isn't very well ventilated the issue would be compounded.

 

[amuffin]

if running as an admin dose not work maybe restarting it mite help that works alot

run what as admin?

 

[Donnellbob]

So basically to fix my problem i will need a full clean of all the parts?

 

[skullbusta]

run what as admin?

well run the game as an admin it always works for my games

 

[netops07]

That is the best place to start. You may very well have some other issues but we can't really test anything right now due to the heat. Any stress testing done to try and isolate a hardware issue would fail and cause a lock up/shutdown if the system overheats on load.

 

[netops07]

Donnell, out of curiosity, are you running the most update drivers for that 9600?