What's wrong with my system?

I cant seem to play graphic-intensive games for more than 10 min now. Games like Crysis, NBA 2k9, GTA IV etc that have great graphics seem to "hang" after a while. It's not a total computer freeze.

After 10 min, the screen will freeze, but I can still hear the background noise in a loop. So the background is may be 6-8 sec noise that is continually being repeated. But after a few min, this stopped too and everything is frozen.

Is this motherboard overheating? GPU overheating? RAM leak?

ie how can I know which parts of my PC is broken and needs to be replaced. I dont want to spend $200 on a new graphic card and end up with the same problem

 

I think you're on the right track here. If the video was was bad, I think you'd notice problems right away, not after 10min or so. Same applies to the RAM and/or CPU. However, if the games all read from the CD/DVD while playing, it could be a faulty drive or cable, or controller, or the hard drive drive may be failing or have bad sectors. But I really think it's a thermal issue. Download and run HWMonitor and check it to see what your system temps are at idle. You may be able to minimize HWMonitor and run it while gaming, but many games don't run correctly (or at all) with HWM in the background... I don't know why. Two apps I recommend are GPU Caps Viewer and GPU-Z. Install GPU Caps Viewer, with it open and running, launch GPU-Z. Use the 'Fur Rendering' tool in GPU Caps Viewer (see screen shot below; the green box) to start working the video card. Then go to the temp monitor in GPU-Z (screen shot below) and watch the temp. This will give you an idea where the temps get during gaming. You may be able to run HWM also to monitor your CPU temps; if not, there's others in the Monitoring section, and in the Processor section here at Major Geeks. Good luck! Keep us posted!

[dlb]

(you can also monitor GPU temp in GPU Caps Viewer; the purple boxes in the screen shot)

 

Bad news. It is my GPU.

Using the programs recommended, I was able to find out that the idle temperature is 51 degrees Celsius with fan speed at 30%.

I tried the Fur Rendering and it quickly shot up to 67 degrees in seconds, and then my PC froze. Immediately I turned my PC off.

A few questions:

Why is my fan speed only at 30% when the temperature is that high? Can I somehow force it to run faster?

Will the overheated GPU hurt any part of the PC as well? ie motherboard or other parts...

So right now my only solution is replacing the GPU? No need to replace other parts?

 

CPU at 23 degrees
Motherboard at 42 degrees
GPU at 51 degrees

My PC crash when my GPU hit 67.. but why is it so? I've read that some people can go up to 90 degrees consistently. I also doubled my fan's speed from 30% to 60%, yet the GPU temperature is still set at 51 degrees.

I'm not sure if it's my case problem since I've been using the same PC for over a year now. I did some cleaning from time to time to make minimum dusts settle in. Will it help if I just leave the case open?

 

I was having "snowy/grainy" graphics even while not doing anything. Then my skin starts to flicker with black screen and eventually, my graphic got so messed up I restarted. Now I'm on safe mode.

Does this mean my GPU is beyond help? But I wonder what caused my current GPU to overheat in the first place...

 

Possibly. All manufacturers have a minimum 1 year warranty, and a few have lifetime warranites, so it may be a good idea to register the card now at the manufacturer's web site just in case you do have to mail it in for a warranty replacement.

:confused Who knows.... occasionally a lemon comes straight out of the factory; sometimes a component on the circuit board fails or partially fails; maybe the card was overclocked or 'modded' which may have caused a problem.... the possibilities are endless.

Yeah... please answer Halo's questions and we can try to offer some more advice....

Happy Holidaze!! :drink

 

Hi,

I tried setting the fan speed to 100%. Even though all sensors say it is running at 100%, the temperature doesnt decrease below 50 degrees and the fan isnt making any more noise. I read that it should be really loud at 100%... I'm pretty sure I did it correctly though as I followed the step by step instruction. No abnormality detected.

I'm using GeForce 8600 GT

There isnt really any fan in the case. However I'm using CoolerMaster case and it has plenty of holes. I've been using it for over a year.. yet the problem only surfaces now.

 

I did some research, and it appears that many people have had problems like yours with the 8600GT series. What brand is the card? Yeah, I know it's NVidia but what maker? BFG? XFX? Asus? eVGA? Your problem seems to be most apparent with XFX cards, but does happen with others too.... here's one link that discusses your problem:
http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t81031.html

 

You are right.. it is a XFX card.

Well at least the problem is identified... now all I have to do is get some money to buy a new one.

Thanks for all the help!

 

I just want to confirm 1 more that that it is indeed, without a doubt, GPU problem right?

Just now for instance, I was in normal mode doing web browsing. I was monitoring the temp and at normal temp (50 degrees celcius), my screen suddenly flickered bluish and eventually freeze. I had to start in safe mode for now.

I'm going to get a new GPU soon but I dont want to waste $200 in something that isnt broken

 

You might want to try RivaTuner to max out your GPU's fan RPM. http://www.majorgeeks.com/download737.html I gave up on the regular Nvidia and ATI drivers. When I crank the fan up on mine, I can tell a big difference in the noise!

Another possibility is a clogged up heatsink on the card, poor airflow (as mentioned previously), improper thermal paste and/heatsink installation, or a weak/bad PSU. Do you have or can you borrow a Power Supply Unit to try with your setup?