Sound card problems or...?

[Sanadan]

Hi, for the past while I've been having some problems with my computer locking up. It seems like it only locks up while playing sound of some sort (ie. Winamp, or a game). Lately it's been really bad while playing Tiger Woods Golf (locks up 3-5 times per night usually).

This isn't a static problem. By that I mean that it's not everytime I start a program or play a certain file. Tiger Woods will run for a few hours without locking up and then next time it might lock up after 10 mins of play, same with Winamp.

Description of problem: System completely locks up and sound seems to be playing in a continuous short loop (1 sec or less looping back on itself).

System Info (not fully complete but ask away if I'm missing anything relevant):
Gateway System
AMD Athalon 800Mhz
Sounblaster PCI 128D
GeForce2 TI 64MB
200W PS
Windows 98SE
640MB Ram
DirectX 9.0 currently running but had the same problems in DX8 as well.
Not sure on motherboard atm I will have to look for the information on the board itself later, and try to figure out how to determine the make and model of it from there.
Please feel free to ask more about my system if needed.

Now... I've noticed that my Vid Card has a fan for the processor that doesn't seem to function. I have my case open and have checked it periodically and it doesn't seem to ever be spinning. I don't know how to get a temperature reading on my vid card, or cpu or any other device on my system. I've checked my bios and it doesn't seem to have anything related to temperature. I've loaded MotherBoard Monitor and it doesn't give me any temperature results either.

I'm at a loss about what I need to do to fix my problem so any help you might have will be terrific.

 

[lwj81]

since you have the case open,try putting a fan blowing on the graphics card and see if that helps.i know the earlier via chipsets(you probally have either kx133 or kt133)had problems with soundblaster cards. hope this helps.

 

[grrryphon]

If you need to get a quick temperature reading of some PC component, I suppose you could try just touching it. If it's too hot to touch, then it's running way too hot. Just be very careful of static electricity and electrical shocks!
If you don't touch any bits when testing temperature that you wouldn't touch when installing parts, you should be OK for static. And if you wanna be safe from electric shocks, just run the PC with the case off and pull the plug out of the wall immediately before testing - no electricity, no shock.
Or try getting some of that cooling spray, the sort in the aerosol can. Try squirting some around the GFX and sound chips before playing whatever file it is that makes the problem happen - if the problem doesn't happen, then it's almost certainly overheating and it's time to get the GFX fan replaced.

--
Grrryphon