Random graphics crashes in games

[kopite]

hey guys,

At the moment I have an ATI X1900XTX graphics card but this problem occured with the X800 beforehand.

Basically in nearly every game I have The games crash at random times.

The temps never seem to go above 50 so I dont think its overheating.

I`m at a loss as to what could be causing it.

My current rig is listed in my profile but the main bits are

OCZ powerstream PSU, DFI lanparty UT ultra D, AMD X2 4200, 1 GB corsair ram.

Anyone have any ideas what could be causing this. Are there any issues with DFI and ati graphics because thats the only thing I have changed recently..


Also the problem only happens in games. My PC can be up and running for days 24 hours a day without crashing but when I play games(civ 4 atm) It will freeze then the VPU recover thing pops up

[TamDigital]

The fact that it crashes only during gameplay suggests that it could be lacking sufficient 'juice' to run at high capacity or a driver issue.

What juice does your PSU offer (particularly on the 12v rail), ATI cards are notoriously power hungry and would most likely need something in excess of 450watt to work flawlessly (even higher if you are one who uses many case fans, illumination mods and multiple drives). There are PSU requirement calculators out there (such as http://www.journeysystems.com/power_...calculator.php) but I'd still recommend something in excess of 450watt, and with 18amp or more on the 12v rail.

The fact that you get a VPU recover at crash may suggest that its not a PSU issue since it would normaly need a reboot to recover if it was. So maybe you should check that you have the latest driver installed and perhaps reinstall directx while you are at it?

.

[ExceededGoku]

yeah what is the output of your PSU, sounds like a classic PSU fault to me :S

[kopite]

MY PSU is an ocz powerstream 520W.

I have a hiper black label 580W in my HTPC that I could swap out if ya think that might be the issue.

[Clunk]

its definately worth a try, run memtest as well, ram might be dodgy.

[notsobig]

I agree with other posters, most likely your problem is down to faulty PSU or bad ram. Run memtest and prime to check your system stability.

[dangel]

I've got the same problem - with a 600W psu - having just moved from a x1800xt to the 1900 I had this happen a couple of times when trying to play COH in multiplayer. The weird thing is, it doesn't do it in single player (finished whole game) or any other game AFAIK. I've reinstalled everything *twice* too.. Latest catalysts etc and the card is watercooled. Memory tests out just fine.

EDIT: As I have a 600W SEASONIC S12-600 which can supply 18amps on each rail and stable memory i'm leaning towards this being game specific as i've found a few people with similar issues on google with COH. Apparently it's worth disabling VPU recover and patching the game to 1.2.