ATI Blues

Only when I run a video game will the monitor loose signal everyonce in a while... I can still hear audio usually so i'm assuming everything else is still running. (its stable as hell when i run only 2d applications never had it crash) I've upgraded my CPU cooler and power supply to what you see below this still happens, I have the latest chipset drivers, bios flash, video drivers, audio drivers,
I've monitored my CPU's heat after playing a game for four or so hours and it doesn't budge...
The new power supply shows how many Watts i'm pulling and it stays consistently @ 100W

The only logical explanation to me would be the video card... i've never had these sorts of problems when running nvidia cards.

Any ideas guys?


Computer Specs

Mobo:
Biostar M7NCD Pro (flashed to latest bios release)

Proc:
AMD XP 2000+

Proc Cooler:
Coolermaster Aero Jet 7

Memory:
2x Kingston Value ram 256meg PC3200

Video Card:
ATI Radeon 9600XT

Power Supply:
Coolermaster 450W RS-450-ACLY

2 hard drives one western digital 120gig one Seagate 120gig

2 Older Dvd Recorders

 

are you sure the vga plug isn't loose?

 

i checked that and I retightened it in there....

sometimes it freezes now.... it has lost the signal also but half of the time now it freezes but only in game

 

Have you checked the heat of the card? Ati runs hot sometimes so checking its temp during gaming and such might help. Sometimes putting a case fan in a position to blow on the card will help as well. Check that and let us know how it went.

 

Checking temperature straight from the ATI Catalyst Control Center:

Time:
4:03pm 44C (before loading up game)
Load up Guildwars
4:04pm 60C
4:05pm 62C
4:08pm 63-64C
then the screen went blank....light blinking like it lost singal....

so basically a 20C change in temperature from idle to running....
and this is with the case side off....

 

i apparently cannot edit my own posts... however i ran those tests just leaving it at the main screen i saw it hit 69C while running around in game for a little bit...hovering around 67C usually

so whats normal for this card?

 

Okay man. That is amazingly hot for your card. I can't believe you haven't burnt it out yet. You should be down around 50 - 55C under load. What model of the 9600xt do you have?

 

now its running around 50-55C odd... earlier i noticed a pocket of hot air around the video card.... my pc had been on for a while.... hmm normally when i have the side of my pc on i have a fan pulling out air near my video card....
i've still had it where it wont be on for a long time and freeze up.

Any reccomendations on a vga cooler for this card? i might as well spend 30 bucks and keep this thing ice cold

 

Depends, what kind of cooling is on your card now? What company made it? Are you running oced? There are lots lof aftermarket vga coolers out there. Depending on the airflow that you can get around your case I would go with the Zalman ZM80D-HP Dual Heatpipe Noiseless VGA Cooler. Its a tad bit tricky to install but once on there ya should be okay. If you aren't getting real good airflow around the try the VANTEC Iceberq CCB-A5C RAM Heatsink. This one has a fan on it and should provide good cooling. Also, a little boost of ram might help your overall performance in games.