PC Problems...

Yo, i just built a PC with the following specs:

2.4 Ghz AMD 64
ATI Radeon 9600PRO
500W Power supply
512 MB RAM
(and i think that is the only specs that matter)

anyway, I have been having alot of problems with it...programs randomly crash, i get some blue screen crash sometimes and the most annoying thing is when i go to play a game...such as Guild Wars.

What will happen is the game will come up for a little, then it will crash and the following webpage will appear:

http://www.guildwars.com/support/hardware-failure.html

The webpage has some suggestions of why the computer failed...I'm thinking maybe it's over-heating? and if it is, what can i do about it?

Anyway, any help is MUCH appreciated...thx

 

First thing is to check that you have the latest drivers for your graphics card.

If it is an over heating problem then there is aftermarket coolers that you can buy.
These however can be quite tricky to fit and would void your video card warranty so its only reccomended as a last resort.

I would check that overheating is the actual issue, after the game has crashed and the webpage has appeared, check the temperature of your graphics card.

 

Well my graphics card has a fan on it, i was thinking the over-heating was more along the line of my CPU...i once looked at the temperature and it was 46*C about 2 minutes after i started my computer (I checked in BIOS), the computer was also idle

 

46C is a pretty normal sort of temperature for the CPU -- after it's been running long enough to stabilize the temperature. But the temperature isn't likely to stabilize in two minutes, so that figure could be low.

Let the computer idle for at least half an hour before you check the CPU temperature. That gives you one useful benchmark. Then, like MutD says, check the CPU temperature immediately after it crashes. Post both temps in this thread. When you do that, let us know if your room temperature is outside the range 20C-25C, because that will have an impact on the effectiveness of your CPU cooler.

 

ok i will do that, i will be posting again in about an hour or so...thx

 

ok so i left it on for approx. 30 mins and the final CPU temp was around 54*C...I take it that is not a good thing (and of course i have a CPU fan). As for my room temperature, I'm currently checking and will edit my post when i have it.

 

Ok...now for my room temperature...it is around 75*F in here

 

thats pretty high, i would guess. my p4 prescott which is supposed to be uber hot idles at 31-34C.

 

Given a 24C room temp that is a bit high, but not likely to cause a problem in itself. AMD CPU chips are usually good to something like 85C-90C, but I don't know about the 64-bit CPUs.

Let us know what temps you show when your machine has been under full load for a while -- like while you're gaming and has just crashed.

 

Ok, i started playing Guild Wars, it ran all of 30 seconds then crashed. So i rebooted my computer so i could get into BIOS to check the temperature, and it was about the same as it was before.

BTW, i read it is bad to get an AMD 64 above 50*C, so that is why i am thinking it is over-heating...my problem is fixing it :/

 

I think it's time to look elsewhere for the cause of your problem. If I've correctly read AMD's spec sheet for the Athlon 64 CPU's, you shouldn't expect trouble until the CPU temperature climbs above 70C. You're well under that.

But your idle temps are a bit high, which suggests that your case temperature may be high. This may be allowing your GPU to overheat. Try gaming with the computer case open and a small fan blowing air into the case -- see if that prevents the lockup. If that works, you'll want to do something to improve the airflow in your computer case.

 

No, that doesnt work, I'v already tried, infact iv tried an industrial fan as well, still no go...what other problems could this be?

 

If your CPU is truly overheating, Windows is going to go kaput. If the game is the only thing that is crashing, then I'd suspect drivers.

My AMD64 system does the same, however it dies in Windows, and outside of Windows. I've strapped a Hper 48 cooler on there without any change, but my temps are near the same as yours. Those should be fine, assuming your motherboard has accurate temperature probes.

If Windows is crashing as well, check out this tutorial to help find the cause:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35246

 

Its the first time I'v seen a page like that in a game,if everything else works fine its just guild warz,the problem would suggest the problem to be guild warz and the page is page written by the programmers to say "we aint done nothing wrong its your computer"

check the guild warz forums for people with similar experiences

 

Well the thing is i was able to play Guild Wars on my old computer

AMD XP 900Mhz
GeForce4 MX440
512RAM

and as you can see, my new computer is quite a bit more powerful...Also i will admit i have had problems finding drivers for my graphics card...anyone else have an ATI that could help me (I'm used to nVidia)

 

I'm assuming your running win xp,catalyst 5.11 is the driver you need

https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&folderID=293

to be totally sure your old drivers are removed before installing the new ones use this utility,follow the instructions in the readme to the letter

https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&folderID=293

 

Well i downloaded that Catalyst thing, but i did not know how to uninstall the old version...so i just didnt uninstall, do you think that is why?

 

I was also thinking...is it possible i need to update the BIOS for my motherboard?

 

It's worth considering.

When you visit the manufacturer's site to get the updates, look for the release notes for whatever update you find. If there's a mention of a bugfix for similar problems, the upgrade may be your answer.

If there's no mention of a fix for similar problems, treat the BIOS update as an option to be used with caution. Regardless -- make sure that you read all warnings and follow BIOS flashing instructions carefully. A BIOS update wrongly done can render the BIOS unusable. And your system won't boot without it.

 

*Update* I did a google on one of the blue screen errors i recieved, and it was mostly a memory problem. I have determined i have a memory leak (where programs don't dump memory when they should), at least that is how i have interpreted it. So uh, could this be the problem?

I guess it would make sense that the game crashes after a while cuz my RAM just gets full.

 

I posted this before...you must have missed it.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35246

If you are getting Stop errors, go through it. Guessing sucks, but educated guesses go a long way.

 

ok cool ill look that over, sorry i missed it