Restarts during games

I don't know what's causing this, but I can only guess it's the video card. Whenever I play a game, good or bad, big or small, complex, or 5 year old tonka truck-like simple games, my computer restarts whilst playing the games. I don't understand this at all. I had the VCore set really low to lower temperatures (26C with setup in sig) so I thought maybe it wasn't getting enough juice. I juiced it up plenty high to make sure that that wasn't the problem. It wasn't, and the game crashed. I lowered the game from 32bit to 16 bit color, never even tried 1024X768, always at 800X600 because the computer has never played a game at high resolutions, not even 3dMark. Anywho, reducing color depth helped and now I can play games. My question is, assuming it is the card's fault, what the heck is wrong with this? While the 8500 is certainly not the BEST card out there, it's certainly no slouch and should carry me many a month into the future, even at stock. I don't want to OC and I really don't want to replace teh heat sink fan on it because I like warranties (I'm poor). What do you think is wrong and does it happen to you? Is it something besides my card?

Thanks for any help given

Z

hmm...what drivers are you using, i havent had any such problems....i can play any game at at least 1280x1024 32bit color except for UT2003

Using newest drivers. Monitor is made by Daewoo. Any company that makes cars and then makes computer hardware probably doesn't make very good cars or computer products. Anywho, maximum resolution is 1024X768 and I can't run any game that high for extended periods of time (hour or more).

Z

I doubt the monitor has anything to do with your restarting problem. Try this, the next time your computer restarts, shut it down immediately and put your hand on the Video card. Is the card hot to the touch? If it is, maybe you need more cooling in your case. Do you have any other PCI cards near your video? If so, try moving them away.

Do you overclock the system?

Maybe the FSB is too high for the card and create instability when playing games. I have this problem before, and I am running 135FSB now instead of 145FSB.

Try running the games at slower FSB and see what happens....

im guessing 1 of 2 things. Either is a driver problem (if that gigabyte board uses a via chipset, install newer 4-in-1s) and also try installing new catalyst drivers.


if neither of those do anything, then my next guess would be PSU and the fact that your computer is getting enough juice...did you add any other hardware to it recently?

~jeff~

1. The computer is not overclocked in any way, so high fsb and such are not of concern.
2. The board has the 761 Northbridge and Via Southbridge. I never was sure if I needed the 4 in 1 drivers if I only had the southbridge. Do I need them still?
3. I wasn't suggresting the monitor was the problem, just saying that the maximum resolution was pretty low so the card should easily handle games at any resolution the screen can display, shouldn't it?
4. I'm pretty sure voltages are really fu**ed up. 12V, 5V, and 3.3V are all high, especially 12V, at around 12.8 or so. Power supply is a no name 350 if I'm not mistaken. The GA 7DXR+ doesn't regulate processor voltage well at all, either, so i guess AGP and Mem voltages could be messed up too.

And as for the heat issue, I had my case open with a small personal fan thingy blowing into it to have core temps of 26C and case temps of 21C, so even if I have bad case flow, temperatuyres were PLENTY fine. If the card is running too hot, is that a voltage thing or is that a crappy heat sink thing? Either way, I really have no desire to do anything to the card, as I said above. I need and love warranties, even though they make things cost more. I will check the temps when I get home from school, though. Any risk of electric shock when I touch the back of the card? That wouldn't be fun, considering the bad day I've had so far.

Z

zachj said:

2. The board has the 761 Northbridge and Via Southbridge. I never was sure if I needed the 4 in 1 drivers if I only had the southbridge. Do I need them still?
3. I wasn't suggresting the monitor was the problem, just saying that the maximum resolution was pretty low so the card should easily handle games at any resolution the screen can display, shouldn't it?

Click to expand...

2. I'm not sure if you can use the 4in1 Drivers if you just have the Via Southbridge. What kind of drivers are on the MB's Install CD? That might tell you what you can use.

3. Sorry I thought that you suggested that, it was late at night, and I read it too quick from work

S'alright, just letting you know. The drivers on the CD are not the 4 in 1s and I can download the drivers from the site and it doesn't give me the 4 in 1. There is a link to it, but I don't know if that's for Via only boards or not.

Z

Update:

Felt the card. Cooler than my hand, so I'd so no problems there. Happened just now. The graphics were jumpy as hell and it was taking really big pauses and then it just quit (no restart, just quit to the desktop). What's teh deal? I know this card can handle it. The game is BF1942 if you're interested. The box says teh chipset's supported and the entire computer goes well beyond the minimum requirements.

Z

Update:

It happened again. I was monitoring the game with MBM5 running so I know usages of the processor and the temps. I assure you that there is nothing amiss and I am in a great area for overclocking if I can get this ironed out.

Z

Not that people aren't posting often enough, but the other posts seem to be so popular that my thread is very quickly being moved down the list, so, ummmm Bump . . .

Sorry

Z

zachj said:

Not that people aren't posting often enough, but the other posts seem to be so popular that my thread is very quickly being moved down the list, so, ummmm Bump . . .

Sorry

Z

Click to expand...

Don't worry about bumping the thread, as long as you don't do it too much. Do you have a friend with a really good power supply that you could borrow for about and hour to test? That could be a possible problem. Another could be that you have some bad memory. You can get the latest VIA 4-in-1's by clicking HERE.

Few questions:

Do I actually need teh 4 in 1 or will that mess things up for me?

I've got Micron PC2100 DDR 128 MB DIMMS (X2). That isn't bad RAM is it? Isn't that the same as Crucial, or am I really stupid?

I don't have a friend with one or one I could sub in. If my voltages are that high, is it the board or the PS? I would think it's the PS being unable to regulate the voltages correctly.

Z

Sounds like your power supply.
New Egg has 300watt Enermax for 32 and a 350 for47.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...=58&manufactory=1400&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1

zachj said:

Few questions:

Do I actually need teh 4 in 1 or will that mess things up for me?

I've got Micron PC2100 DDR 128 MB DIMMS (X2). That isn't bad RAM is it? Isn't that the same as Crucial, or am I really stupid?

I don't have a friend with one or one I could sub in. If my voltages are that high, is it the board or the PS? I would think it's the PS being unable to regulate the voltages correctly.

Z

Click to expand...

Two things:

1. BUMP!! It seems my thread isn't so polular.
2. Because of its lack of popularity, I'll spice this sucker up. Who knows how to make some good 3DMark scores with my rig (in my sig). I'm currently getting between 6000 and 8000. That seems low to me, so I was just wondering what people thought about that.

Z

Really not trying to be obnoxious, but this thread moves really fast and my thread just gets moved down every few hours.

Bump

Z

One last BUMP. If that doesn't get my thread to stay, I guess it isn't worth the effort. Thanks for all the replys so far. I'm really not trying to be obnoxious, it's just that the thread keeps falling. I'm not begging for answers, just keeping it visable.

Z

It really sounds like bad psu to me but I would also try updating your bios if you feel safe doing it.O and Micron is excellent ram.