Hello all! I'm not sure if this is posted in the right forum, moderators please feel free to move it. I wasn't sure whether to post under Hardware, Video Cards or PC gaming. To the point: my PC keeps crashing when I'm playing Guild Wars. What happens is, first there are a few 'minor' crashes, where the screen freezes but I can still move the cursor. These can usually be solved by Alt-Tabbing to another program, such as Task Manager, and resuming the game. However, after a few of these crashes, the PC will freeze comptetly, the cursor won't budge and I have to restart the computer. I thought the problem might have been coming from a high CPU load as I had Folding@Home running, but closing F@H didn't change anything. I think the problem is coming from a high CPU temperature(58°C after restart, it's a 3.2Ghz Pentium 4), or from the graphics card(a GeForce FX 5900XT, an error message is diplayed after restart to say that it's not recieving sufficient power). I've checked that the graphics card has the necessary extra power connection plugged in so the problem might be caused by the power supply. I've installed the latest drivers but not tested them yet. In short, I think it's either an insufficient supply of power to GPU cause by a dodgy power supply or a lack of airflow in the case causing the CPU to overheat. What do you think?
While those CPU temperatures aren't ideal, they aren't going to cause crashes - it should be good even higher than that and it'll throttle itself rather than crash anyway. My suspect is either the RAM or power supply, depending on the brands of each. Is the PSU a quality 330W+ unit? Also, have you noticed any other crashes in games and in Windows? This would suggest RAM problems, while just crashing in games would lean it towards supply issues. I would advise would be to running HCI memtest for a good few hours until it hits ~500-600%, as this is easier and doesn't involve swaps. If it comes up with nothing, I'd replace the supply if it's a generic cheapie.
Temps arent too bad for a P4, they could be a little better with a better airflow or a better cooler. If it's saying it doesnt have enough power consider buying a better PSU. More airflow & more oompf.
Thanks chaps. The ram is Corsair or Kingston, I forget which, so I don't think there are any problems there. I'll run MemTest just to check. The PSU is a 400W no-name, so I was thinking of changing it anyways. Any suggestions for what I might get, considering I want to keep it even if(when) I upgrade to SLI cards and so on and that I want it to be as silent as possible? I'll also try to find another fan for the case, there's a free place to put it. In fact , I might even get another two fans to replace the rather loud ones I have now. Do you have any reccomendations(blue LEDs in them would be nice )?
If you're upgrading to anything 6800-7 series for the SLI system then I'd recommend either a Tagan EasyCon 580W or a Seasonic 600W. Both are very quiet, efficient and stable... the Seasonic more so, but you pay extra for that. You'll have plenty of headroom and could get away with a 500W, but it's nice to know that there's the capacity for future upgrades.
A little update: I ran MemTest until 1123.1% coverage and no errors were reported. Somehow, I don't think the problem's coming from there . So, it seems that I need to change the PSU. It's one that came with the PC's case, so that was to be expected eventually. I think the Seasonic 600W looks interesting, thanks hitman012. Has anyone else got any reccomendations for PSUs? Edit: How noisy is that PSU? I would like one as *silent* as possible.
PSU: You'll find you won't even know its on. Tagans, Seasonics etc, are such high quality compared to unbranded.
Seasonic and Tagan both pride themselves on the low noise levels of their power supplies. Never used a Seasonic myself, but I own a 480W Tagan and it's inaudible in anything but a silent room.
