My friend recently asked me to upgrade his computer to be suitable for some gaming. I installed a 512MB video card, and 2GB of RAM, and he runs windows XP. He also has a quad-core processor installed, and it has it's own little (well, big) cooling fan. The video card has a cooling fan as well.
Well, yesterday, while he was playing World of Warcraft, randomly, the screen would flash blue, go black, and the system would reboot. Last time I heard, he had his video settings maxed out in WoW. and I don't see to make places for heat to escape. Could this be an overheating issue? and if so, how could I correct it?
Any suggestions as to problems or solutions would be greatly appreciated!
I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure it's not a dell. The Video card is an NVidia, btw.
Yeah, it's supported, It's a Geforce 6 series, if I'm not mistaken. Should I have him try to update his drivers?
alright thanks! I'll let him know as soon as he gets off work this afternoon.
in order;
1) update drivers.
2) check for memory conflicts, and ensure that all ports are forwarding
3) run a memcheck program. if this comes up with any errors, then try either swapping the two sticks over (ground yourself first, or you'll risk damaging the RAM) or buying new ones.
4) ensure proper airflow
5) ensure that both channel 0 slots are full, before you start filling others. this means that the RAM should not be adjacent, normally.
on a second reading, it does seem like a temp. thing. ensure that the GPU...is it...see, my 3870 has no fan, just a massive, MASSIVE heatsink.
so, I bought a little expansion bay cooler. it was running at 48 anyway, but its down to 40 now. which is actually quite cool, for a card that OC'ed
There really isnt a lot I can tell you, without being able to see the problem. the very first thing you should do is drivers though.
32 or 64-bit OS?
XP Home, the only cooler on the card is a fan, but the casing is Really Hot he says.
I'm having him update the drivers, and all the jazz.
How do I check for memory conflicts, and ensure all ports are forwarding?
Oh, as for the heat, I'm going to have him move the computer out of his cabinent (I warned him against that, theres no airflow under there) and possibly have him the side panel from the casing of the tower.
If this entire thread were written in the lost language of the Cro-Magnon it would make no more and no less sense to me.
*max briefly considers updating his Apple IIe w/64K*
UPDATE: His computer crashes more and more frequently. the most recent crash was almost immediately after he booted it. RAM issues are looking more and more of a possibility. Could any of this be resolved through the BIOS? or might i need to resort to CLI if all else fails?
Sorry for being so...frantic, but I helped him install these parts, so I have a bit of a resposibility to get it all fixed
right, tell me if my problem is similar.
playing a game, blah blah. screen freezes. goes to standby. game resumes. or it might BSoD.
you installed it...for gods sake, tell you you were earthed when handling the RAM?
I was definitely grounded when I handled the RAM, I made extra sure of that. (had a ram chip fry before). and your problem does sound somewhat similar, though it's expanded from freezing during a game, to freezing or BSOD more and more frequently. i was also grounded when I installed the video card too.
how did...can you get a picture of the insides?
Grounded myself by touching the side of the casing, as I can't access my anti-static gear. and as soon as my friend gets here, I'm going to his house to deal with it all in person. I can get a picture then.
Do you have MSN, or another way I could get ahold of you once I get there? (I'll be using his router so I can work on his, while finding solutions)
It sounds like overheating. My Asus A7N8X-X and Athlon XP Barton 3000+ would do that when overclocked and I forgot to turn on my air conditioner!