Computer locking up after 40min of Gaming

[fustercluck]

After gaming for around 30-40 mins, my computer has been locking up lately. It's that kind of lockup where a certain sound in the game plays repeatedly. Can't minimize or ctrl-alt-delete. All i can do is restart, or wait for it to manually restart (which it will do after 20 seconds or so). First thing i thought of was temperature probs, which it could be, but, temps seem normal. Temps arent great, but should be fine (high 40s celcius is usually what it tops at out). So if it isn't heat causing the problem, what's the next most likely issue?

 

[Fardringle]

I'm assuming the 40C temperature you posted is for your CPU. Locking up after playing games for a while is usually a sign that the video card's processor (GPU) or RAM are overheating or failing.

 

[Noema]

Sounds like heat to me as well, though a faulty PSU might be the culprit as well.

 

[Pulsar]

You are overclocked.

 

[Fraggable]

Make sure you're reading the right temp probe, and it might be worth checking for a mobo BIOS update, there's a possibility that your GPU probe isn't being reported right.

It sounds to me like a GPU overheat, there's this thing called VPU Reset which kicks in a few seconds after it locks up.

 

[fustercluck]

The the under 50c temps i was talking about are for everything. CPU, HDs, Video Card. Whether or not the temps are reported accurately i don't know. This seems to be a recent thing. Only thing i've changed recently is installing a new hard drive. Some of the games that have been locking up aren't on the new hard drive though (would that matter anyway if my new HD is bad?). I'll look into a Bios update.

 

[Mutilator]

Are you saying after 20 seconds or so you get an error message and are back at the Windows desktop or is your PC rebooting?
If it's going back to the desktop then try turning off the ATI VPU recovery and see if that stops the sound looping.

 

[fustercluck]

Nah, once it locks up it's done for, and the only way to get out of it is to reboot, which it will do automatically after about 20 seconds or so of the 'repeating sound' phase.

 

[Mutilator]

Have you looked in your Event Log to see if it has any entries? Sounds like it might be a driver causing a memory dump (BSOD) and then it reboots once it's done dumping the memory.

 

[daveybrat]

2 Questions:

1) What brand/wattage of power supply? Maybe adding the second hard drive is now pulling more power from the 12 volt line?

2) Have you tried running your processor at stock speeds and then play some games?

 

[fustercluck]

How do i get to the event log again? Too lazy to look around right now

I think it could be the PSU, with the new HD addition putting it over the limit. It's a 420w Enermax Noisetaker. I've never had any problems relating to my CPU, it is at stock voltage afterall. I'll check my voltages and see if i'm getting any weak readings. Whats a program that shows all the voltage. Edit: Here's my voltage readings Those all look normal too me, but i kinda forgot what normal is since i haven't dealt with voltage stuff for a long while. That's just idle voltage though, not gaming for 40 min voltages.

 

[Mutilator]

Not sure about the voltages... only one I'd question would be the -5V being low, but I'm not sure if that matters or not. Usually I'm just testing them to see if they're bad, not if they're under powered.

As for the event log - right click on My Computer and go to Manage - you'll mainly be interested in the System & Application logs at the times when you experienced the crashes.

 

[fustercluck]

Event log doesn't appear to show anything useful after it crashes. This is still happening a lot, really seems like temp probs, but like i said, temps are good.

 

[themusgrat]

Can you try it without the extra HD? That would save the cost of getting a new PSU, so you will have a better idea if it is the PSU's problem. But more likely, since the enermax's are generally wayyyy above average, it is RAM. Always suspect RAM before CPU, GPU, motherboard, or whatever. GPU is the next thing to check. Have you ever overclocked the GPU? They seem to be more prone to permanent damage or recurring lockups at high temps than anything.

 

[fustercluck]

That's why i hate computer problems, too many suspects. Could be ram, video card, one of my HDs, heat problems, could be the CPU who knows. I'll probably lazy it off and just deal with the lockups in the future.

One thing i noticed though is that it only happens with graphically demanding games. Swat 4 and stuff on the HL2 engine is what i've been playing lately. Doesn't ever lock up when i'm playing Quake 1 though, so that should tell you something.

 

[themusgrat]

Well, I would still take the extra hard drive out and see if that makes any difference, it shouldn't be too much trouble, unless it is required for whatever reason. But here's to hoping that it will miracuously disappear........ ya right, but good luck.

 

[MrPro]

lol i never could get the hang of over clocking. i have a 3800+ x2 2.0ghz and when i had it over clocked to 2.6ghz the games would do exactly that, yet i could run prime95 all night long with no problems, and other programs like transcoders had noticible improvement. in fact at 2.2-2.4ghz the computer would be perfect and most games would play but every once in a while there would be a random reset when playing a game for hours and my cpu never came close to over heating. anything higher than 2.0 ghz and games seemed fine but dvd movie play back would randomly freeze.. but nothing is more perfect then regular clock speeds. although as for video cards go, they benefit greatly when over clocked and have a hgh margine with no overclocking problems.. cpus just arnt any good for over clocking in my experience.

 

[syee]

Originally posted by: Adaman
That's why i hate computer problems, too many suspects. Could be ram, video card, one of my HDs, heat problems, could be the CPU who knows. I'll probably lazy it off and just deal with the lockups in the future.

One thing i noticed though is that it only happens with graphically demanding games. Swat 4 and stuff on the HL2 engine is what i've been playing lately. Doesn't ever lock up when i'm playing Quake 1 though, so that should tell you something.

Probably PS then. I had the same thing happen when playing HL2 - it would always blue screen on a certain spot, every time without fail. Turns out it was my PSU. I had a Enermax 350W (system is an A64 3500+ with a 6800GT).

Got a Antec SmartPower2 500W power supply and haven't had a problem since.