PC crash in games

[MrSnaffles]

Ok, I think I have a problem somewhere with my PC

<---- You can see my specs here, but I'll write them out just in case (you never know )

• AMD Phenom II X3 720 @ 2.8
• Asus M3A76-CM, AMD 760G
• Crucial Ballistix 4GB DDR2 800MHz 4-4-4-12
• 512MB XFX HD 4850 XXX
• 600W OCZ Stealth PSU

I'm running this all on a Windows 7 Release Candidate.

Ok, on to my problem

I started up Supreme Commander Forged Alliance and after about 5 or 10 minutes it would always crash, whether on lan play or a skirmish. The same happens on GTA IV, and after that I didnt want to keep trying different stuff...

There is no error message or BSOD; the sound just cuts out and the screen just goes a kinda fuzzy off-white..not really sure how to describe it ... Another wierd thing is they all play absolutely fine up until they crash, no slowing down or anything.

But it just crashes my whole PC.. I have run memory and cpu stress tests and am running a third virus check as I type this. I had no problem playing any games until I played Supreme Commander...

Does anyone have any idea what the problem is???

[Blitzen]

Does sound like a heat issue.
I would be gunning for that 4850 for starters

[kalniel]

Agree with the above. Make sure you've got good airflow to the card, and consider underclocking it by a good chunk to see if it takes longer to crash.

[MrSnaffles]

Does sound like a heat issue.
I would be gunning for that 4850 for starters

I did think it could be that...

This is my PC runing idle:

• TMPIN0 57 degrees
• TMPIN1 43
• Core#0 52
• Core#1 52
• Core#2 52
• GPU Core 55

these are all the max temps

I don't think thats too bad..

I can't get a shot of it running when a game is on - due to the crashing, but I have checked about 3 mins in and the gpu was only at about 69 degrees...

[Blitzen]

How did you measure these temps?

[Infinite]

GPU core is definitely wrong. 4850 have like minimum temps of 70 and over 80 under load.

Use this, more accurate: http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

[MrSnaffles]

How did you measure these temps?

I used HWMonitor

[kalniel]

The GPU core is but one part of a card that can get hot - memory and voltage regulation modules are also critical to stability.

[MrSnaffles]

GPU core is definitely wrong. 4850 have like minimum temps of 70 and over 80 under load.

Use this, more accurate: http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

Ok, this is what it says in GPUZ



EDIT: My Gpu Core is running at 1.26v

[kalniel]

Fan problems? 74&#37; at idle doesn't leave much spare cooling for when it's at 100% load.

Leave that in the background then play a game for a few minutes and come back to it - the red graphs might show us something.

[Infinite]

Ok, this is what it says in GPUZ

lol, my bad. Didnt look at it the type of 4850 you had. XFX has those custom coolers, so temps would be better. Well this kinda confirms that this isnt a heat issue.

I guessin this a driver/OS issue now

[MrSnaffles]

Fan problems? 74% at idle doesn't leave much spare cooling for when it's at 100% load.

Leave that in the background then play a game for a few minutes and come back to it - the red graphs might show us something.

Ok, loaded up Supreme Commander:

after 2 mins:



after 5 mins



after 8 mins



Then quit - didn't want to push it to crash again

Does this tell us anything??

[MrSnaffles]

lol, my bad. Didnt look at it the type of 4850 you had. XFX has those custom coolers, so temps would be better. Well this kinda confirms that this isnt a heat issue.

I guessin this a driver/OS issue now

I have the latest Ati drivers, and my windows 7 is up to date - the games are both listed as compatible with Windows 7 on a number of websites

[Boon72]

it could be down to the PSU not supplying enough on the 12v rail, my old 420w thermaltake did the same thing on the 6800gt, the rail dropped below what the card needed to run, they just cut out and go off.

[MrSnaffles]

it could be down to the PSU not supplying enough on the 12v rail, my old 420w thermaltake did the same thing on the 6800gt, the rail dropped below what the card needed to run, they just cut out and go off.

I have used two different psu's - my ocz and a friends (not sure what it was)... I would be a bit annoyed if it was the psu though - I only just got it!

[Boon72]

its just how psu seems to work, i would see if you can find some software to keep track of the volts etc while your playing (Asus have probe software for there boards) and then you can see if the 12v drops below say 11.85v which was the 6800gt limit