faulty graphics card or pc set up wrong?

omg no way!!! i just finish writing out my message then my finger stroked the esc key and i got to start all over again!

anyway ive recently finished building my first pc with big thanks to you guys here on afterdawn. these are the parts i went for in the end

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+
OCZ 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 CL 4-4-4-15 PLATINUM XTC
Asrock AM2NF3-VSTA, NF3 250, S AM2 motherboard
Hitachi 320gb sata hdd
Inno3D Nvidia® Geforce 6200 256MB AGP Graphics Card
500w psu

the problem is when i try playing games. first off i got fifa 07 which was a bit sluggish but playable now ive got need for speed carbon and i cnt even finish a lap before the graghics card seems to die, first the game starts to judder a bit then it cuts out altogether as if the monitor has been unpluged and i have to press the reset button and wait 4 my pc to reboot! im new to pc gaming but i tried fiddling with the nvidia control panel but still the same thing happens. one time it gave me the blue screen of death when it crashed too! i no the graghics card aint all that but surely it should be able to play these games without the computer crashing on me? next games on my xmas wish list are some fps's like halo 2 and bioshock. ive blown all my money on this new pc so im hoping its just something to do with the settings rather then the graghics card its self. i brought the card a couple of months before i got the new pc to put in my old one, and i new nothing at all about graghics cards, i brought it from maplins for £60 (before i new about ebuyer!) and 256mb sounded good and the guy in the shop said it would be good enough to play the new games out.
so what do u guys think, faulty card or could it be the settings?
also my hard drie is only recognised as 298gig rather then 320gig?
thanks in advance

p.s. i only got that mobo to accomadate my agp graphics card! doh!! i had such bg hopes for pc gaming, im starting to regret selling my 360 to to build this comp! please restore my faith?!

 

do you know what brand is your psu? because if it's a cheapo, then that's the problem. never get a cheap psu after you build a new system.

also, the temps inside the tower might be hot, causing it to crash, so you need to cool the inside.

 

thanks cee43ja1 the psu is casecom and the case i have has got a 120mm fan in the front and a 80mm fan at the back

 

not sure about casecom psu, as i have never heard of them. as for the cooling, make sure the fan in the front pulls air into the case, and the back one pushes the inside air out. try running the system without the side panel and see if the problem still exists.

the graphics card should be using the latest drivers to prevent any crashes. from the way you describe it, it sounds like there's not enough power going to the system. the psu should provide stable power when being under load. have you ever crashed or BSOD when using the computer normally?

 

Casecom PSUs are absolute crap. The graphics card you've chosen is also terrible, so that's why you get poor performance. The 6200 can't even play a lot of the new games that are coming out, let alone play them well. Here's my advice:
ebay the parts (but keep the CPU and RAM, they're not bad), get a proper power supply, a PCI express motherboard, and a decent graphics card. Until you do that the OC you've got is absolute junk.

 

thanks guys ok so it the psu thats causing all the problems then, should that be the first thing i replace? then look into changing the mobo and graghics card. with xmas coming up im stuck with what ive got for the moment so is there any thing in can do to improve the stability for now?
also has anyone got any ideas on my hard drive problem?

 

Getting rid of the Casecom PSU will probably stop your games crashing. However, the sluggish performance and the fact that modern games won't work is only solvable if you get a better graphics card.
As for the hard drive, that's all you'll ever see from it. When a hard disk says its 320GB, it's telling the truth, 320,000,000,000 bytes. However, a gigabyte as read by windows isn't your normal million bytes (1000 x 1000 x 1000), it's actually (1024 x 1024 x 1024) because 1024 is a binary multiple (ever wonder why you buy RAM in 128,256,512 size rather than normal numbers).
The result of this is that to get 320GB in windows you'd need 320x1024x1024x1024 byte drive, which works out at 343.6GB.
A 320GB drive will always appear as 298.0GB due to the space loss resulting from this numerical anomaly.

 

thanks sam, understood. can u recomend an affordable psu that will do the job? i will look for a new mobo and graghics card in the new year.
why does nothing do what it says on the tin?! my "320gig" hdd, my "500w" psu and my "256mb" graghics card!! i feel conned! oh well live and learn....

 

Well, your hard drive is 320GB as advertised, just not 320 "Gibibytes" which is the gigabyte you're thinking of. Your 6200 is indeed 256MB, but the architecture of it is poor because it's a low end cheap graphics card (Just think, you get what you pay for, a bottom-dollar graphics card is never going to be great), so I agree with your sentiment only for the power supply. My advice there is to search for reviews on a power supply before you buy one, or better yet ask here.
Odds are if it's cheap it's no good.
As for the PSU, If you're not going to go with a high powered graphics card, go with a Thermaltake Purepower 500W. If you are, get a Corsair HX 520W.

 

noways...such a good computer...with a 6200?...well if you're on a budget at least get a 7-series or even a HD3850

 

Yep, a 6000+ is a nice CPU, at least you got something right. You also have decent RAM too. The motherboard's a bit on the cheap side though I have to admit.

 

yeah that was the only agp motherboard i could find, man i went about this all wrong! the on board sound is faulty anyway so im gonna send it back and ask them if i can replace it with this one

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(17380)Asus-M2AVM-AM2-Motherboard-AMD690G-Onboard.aspx

look a bit better? ill use the onboard graghics (no gaming) until i can get a proper graphics card (mid range). as for the psu, would this do the job?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127861

 

That looks fine.

 

sweet. thanks again, no doubt i will be back...

 

right im back! the asus mobo linked above is now on order. and ive got a £50 budget to get a graghics card, i have found a few on ebuyer to choose from, which one do u guys think i should go for?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132541

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/125111

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130589

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133277

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132027

next on the list is the psu, but that will have to wait for now.
thanks for your time.

MERRY XMAS AFTERDAWN!!!

 

No, the graphics card will have to wait. You will buy the PSU now, or destroy the lot and have to start over. It certainly won't be a merry xmas then, eh?

 

no im not going to be using it yet, im using another pc at the mo. im getting a new psu next, i just want to order the graghics card first

 

When people do that, they are always tempted to try the graphics card first. Do yourself a favour and buy the PSU first.

 

trust me i wont be testing with that psu! the money for the graphics card is an xmas gift and they want to see that ive brought a graphics card with there money, psu will be ordered within the next couple of weeks

 

That's fair enough.