Gaming Problem (Video Card?)

Specs first..
Board: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD MS-6701
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG 01/24/2003
2.80 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache
768 Megabytes Installed Memory
Windows XP Home
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700LE
Realtek AC'97 Integrated Audio
All updated drivers, chipsets, etc..

Restored computer (yearly clean-out) less than a week ago.

Alright, here's some background.. I updated my video card from a GeForce(2?) MX 440 to a GeForce FX 5700 LE AGP over a year and a half ago. For a year, I had no problems whatsoever. About a month ago, I started having a problem where any game I play that is even a LITTLE demanding on my card (as basic as Neverwinter Nights) freezes anytime after playing the game for 15 minutes or so. I don't know much about hardware, but to counter a possible overheating of my card, I have opened my case and put a fan by my computer, but it doesn't help any. Using Motherboard Monitor, my case temperature registers at 33c and my CPU temperature at 25c.

I did notice that my card is assigned to IRQ PCI 16. Is this normal for an AGP card or should it be assigned under AGP instead of PCI? Like I said, I know very little about hardware

I have updated drivers, restored my computer completely, re-placed (not replaced) my card and memory, checked for dust buildup in my case, and checked connections and memory and everything seems fine so far, but I can't seem to find a fix in any forums for my problem.

So far I've found two possibilities: capacitor plague and GPU overheating. My PC is only 2 years old. Someone please help!

 

Well have you tried assigning your card under AGP setting?

 

Do you have the newest version of DirectX? DirectX 9.0c I believe.

Also make sure you've done Windows updates, too. If that doesn't help, keep posting on this thread. There are tons of people here who know a lot more than I do

 

I'm not very experienced in dealing with hardware How would I go about doing that?

 

I believe NEver Winter NIghts comes with Direct X 9.0 so that shouldnt be a problem. Go to Start>Programs>Windows Update (Its at the very top of the programs list) Make sure your computer is fully up to date. Your CPU being 25c and your case been 33c tell me its NOT a Heat Issue. Your GPU...especially on the 5700...should have its own fan on it, correct? So I dont see how the GPU could be heating up....

Check to make sure all your hardware cards are seated correctly. It may have gotten slowly bumped slightly out of the socket over time. Make sure your Video Card/Sound Card/Network Card/CPU are fully locked in and secure. Tighten any screws you need to, to make sure they stay put

 

Ah sorry, forgot about that post.. I do have dx 9.0c and all Windows updates currently available. And, Unexperiencedn00b, I'm ahead of you, I've already checked connections alllllll over the place.. But evidently, the 5700 and 5700 Ultra have nice fans but the 5700LE has a pice of crap fan (from what I've read). Either way, I'm limited to adjusting settings and hardware and using outside help (desk fan if the problem is overheating) for right now. Can't afford anything new

Did notice something new in the past day: I have the side panel removed from my case and I've noticed that after awhile my fan on my card gets louder than usual. I've taken the card out and used some canned air on the fan and checked for a blockage and found nothing. Seems to be in perfect working order. Is it possible something is making my fan spin faster than it should be?

And yes, whenever I work on my innards, I'm grounded

So far, thanks everyone, I was amazed at how fast I received responses. Any other help is appreciated!

 

Well it could be just like your hard drive or any other fan on your mother board. When you card is working extra hard, it sends a message to the fan to spin faster and harder to account for the extra workload. I would ASSUME that's what's happening. I dont see any other reason for the fan to work harder than it should. *Shrug*

 

Check your video card settings to see if it really is detected as AGP; control panel, display, settings tab, advanced, Geforce 5700 tab and check where it says BUS. If u cant get there that way, right click ur desktop, and under Nvidia Display select ur monitor. Check the BUS, it sould say AGP. If not, then thats probably ur problem. But unfortunately thats all i know

 

yep, one of the first places I looked, AGP 8x

 

Do you have any friends who might have a card you can borrow, incase it's the Mobo, or that can put your card in their computer and see if that's the problem?

Is the card still under warranty?

 

Well my girlfriend's PC is incapacitated at the moment so I'm going to steal her card for a day when I get the chance, but no, my card isn't under warranty

 

Have you tried rolling back your video driver? I have had issues with some of the nvdia driver releases and rolling back to a previous version fixed it.

 

Yeah I did try rolling back because I've had trouble with other Nvidia cards and that fixed it, but no such luck here

 

Whats your power supply rated at?

 

Input: 110-120V~,5A,50-60Hz
Output: 250W
Fuse: T6.3AL/250V~ (+3.3V & +5V = 165W max)

 

probably your power supply then , u should at least get a 350+ watt one just to be safe and stable, although you dont have that many power hogging components, unless you overclock,

 

He's packing a P4, so I'd recommend going 400, minimum. Here's some options from http://3btech.net
550 watt:
http://3btech.net/ch550wadufan.html
480 watt:
http://3btech.net/ch45atxposup.html

Personally, I recommend buying from 3btech. I checked newegg against them, and they're far cheeper fo the same product. Not to mention, that A) Shipping is included, and B) They're actually close enough to you, that it might be easier to just go pick it up from their store.

 

Alright, after my last freeze I immediately opened up my PC, grounded myself, and felt around for heat. Definitely felt some extreme heat all around my video card. So I'm pretty sure that's the reason for the freezing. I DO know I need another power supply as well But for now, I'm trying to find an extra card to try out. Found another AGP card in an ooooooold PC, but doesn't fit in my AGP slot. I think my girl's is an MX440 (yuck), but it'll do. Thanks everyone, I'll let you know when I experiment with another card.

 

Even if the other card works, it won't conclusively point to your video card. The MX440 may not pull as much power as your 5700. I also tend to suspect the power supply. 250W is not enough for a P4 system. I think the general consensus is that 300 is the minimum. 350-400 recommended.

 

And I disagree with using less than 450W on a P4 class system. Better safe than unstable. Even if you're not over clocking. This card wasn't factory overclocked was it?

 

Nope, not overclocked. I just don't understand why everything was perfectly fine for an entire year and all of the sudden I'm having problems. I haven't added any new hardware at all and I'm playing the same game I was a year ago when I had no problems.

 

Computer hardware can go bad just like that. My suggestion would be to find a friend with a 350-400W power supply and try that.

Go Bucks! Beat the Irish!

 

Yeah, hardware does do that. I had my powersupply just die all of a sudden, and took my processor with it. Of course the processor had been going as well. My on board sound was sounding like it was on helium, and when I replaced the processor, it was fine.