Hey guys, I havent been here for a long time. Nice to be back. Anyways, I recently purchased yet another video card for myself ( XFX GeForce 6600 GT ) and added 512MB to my existing 256 =P. My problem is when I run games like Counter-Strike, and Day of Defeat ( only ones I have tried so far ), at least 10 minutes into the game, my computer will either; Restart automatically, or it will go to a Black Screen and my computer pretty much freezes on me. [Can't push CRTL+ALT+DEL, can't push ALT+F4, can't even push [NumLock]. At this point, the only option I have is to manually push the power button. I have a few ideas what the problem could be, and these may very well BE the problems, but I just wanted your guys' advise. 1. I have only 300W Power Supply ( Video Card states 350W is Min. ) Although people have said they have gotten by with 300W... 2. Video Driver not up to-date??? Any ideas guys as to what my problem may be? This gets really annoying when in the middle of a decent game, and when my downloads are minimized. Thanks!
another possible problem is your pc or video card may be overheating.some of the newer video cards have fans on them.make sure your fan is working if you have one on the card.when your pc freezes like that it can sometimes be attributed to overheating.you could take the cover or side panel off and get a household fan and turn it on and point it at the pc.then play the game and see if you can play it longer.just to check if overheating is the problem.
Thanks for the reply. Yeah I thought about doing that, I'll give it a try and let you know how things go.
Also, I as I said, I got new RAM. I was reading other posts about freezing and they say it was becuase of RAM possibly. The sticks are 256MB= Unknown Brand...[Came With Computer] + 512MB=KByte. Could it be that two different brand names, and different size Megabytes could be the problem? I can't remember if this "freezing" started to happen after I inserted the new RAM or not... Should I try removing the old stick of RAM? [So I only have 512=KyByte]
check to see how much ram registers in the bios setup and in windows. if all the ram registers then there shouldnt be a problem with the ram. unless they are different speeds of ram. then your overall ram speed should be that of the lower speed ram.
Well, it does register as 768MB so I geuss its fine. However, I removed the 256MB stick, then hosted a Counter-Strike Dedicated Server, then joined it, and the crash didn't occur until about 40 minutes into the game. [Lot longer than usual] This may have just been a coincedence... But today I will leave the 512MB in, and try the "Fan Technique". PS- This is the CPU temperature that shows when the computer reboots: 61°C/144°F Note: That is without the sidepanel (88mm Fan)
61 C is too high.that is around shutdown temp.normal temp should be around 38 C.check your fans to see if they are working.both the pc and the video card if it has one.
I had a feeling 61 was too high, lol. Yes both fans are running. I tried putting the fan on the open side, and it seemed to of helped. ( Didn't check the temperature with the fan on it, but it seemed to of lasted longer. ) Although, when it rebooted after about 1 hour, I was only able to keep it up for about 10 minutes. Geussing it was still too hot, if heat is the problem. Which I don't doubt.
you said that you needed a 350 watt power supply minimum and had a 300 watt. im guessing that might have something to do with the overheating.if that 300 watt power supply is working overtime to produce the wattage necessary then the power supply could be heating up the inside of the pc.
ok well, im getting a new Case which happens to come with an Ultra-500W Power Supply. So ill let you know when i have it.
