Gah! What's wrong?

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shadowbreaker513

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 15, 2005
Messages
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My computer has been getting all wonky again like it used to be. My 6800GT has been getting steadily hotter as I've had it. Right now I have the side of my case off, and a slot fan below it, and I am planning to rig a 120mm fan beside it to blow over it, but it still getting very hot. It only reads 63C idle (10C hotter than when I got it), but the air around it is scalding hot. I think this is probably the reason for the random graphical glitches, distortion, static, and polygon pulling that I've been getting on my desktop and while playing WoW. However also just now, I was playing WoW when it locked up for a minute. I heard my hdd click, and then start spinning up again and the game resumed. My performance has also been getting steadily worse. Also only the CD drive I have on the middle plug on my one cable (probably more of a cable problem) and from time to time they blink and spin up randomly. Also the one that does work sometimes makes strange sounds while spinning. What's wrong here? I don't have much money to change things, only around $150, but I'd be willing to replace some parts.

EDIT: By random glitches on the desktop I mean stuff like random colors coming up in specks and flecks all over the screen that are cleared when I scroll up and down. Vaguely similar to the effect on my 9800 pro shortly before it overheated and died. 6800GT is on the stock cooler at stock speeds. Longest it has ever been overclocked was mabye 2 hours for benchmarking.
 
clean the GPU heatsink.. also - what PSU do you have? check voltages with multimeter - it might be the cause of your drives acting weird..
 
System is in my sig. I'd like to upgrade the psu but I haven't found anything else that fits. I have cleaned the gpu heatsink and got most of the dust off, but there are still bits I can't even get off with my finger. One of the problems is it is basically an inverted metal fan with 2 fans with blades on their sides set into it. There is probably loads of dust thrown up into the actual copper part of it that I couldn't get to without voiding my warrenty.
 
As long as you don't brake it while doing that (i.e. physically), the company won't know and won't care.

What kind of case fans do you have? What's your ambient temp?
 
Right now no case fans actually. The side of the case is open and I have that slot fan right under it, ambiant temp is around 65C, but by the end of the day it's not uncommon for the computer to heat this up to 80C just because of the sheer amount of heat it creates. It's currently in the mid-tower case I had and not the SFF (was crashing also because of heat in that). I rigged up 2 80mm intake fans behind a side vent on the SFF, so I'll probably have to try that out again later.
 
If your HDD "clicks", then spins down, then spins back up, you have some very BAD HDD issues.

This can cause your computer to hang... then come back alive.
It will cuase loss of data (random at first) and choppy performance.
Then it will die.

If this is continuously happening, you should back up any critical data NOW.

Then, go to your HDD manufacturer's website, go to their download section and download their HDDdiagnostic utility. They all have them... just have to look.

BACK UP CRITICAL DATA BEFORE DOING THIS. Just to be safe.

Your heat issues:
Take that slot fan out, and just blow a big fan into the side of the case... that should lower temps on you vid card (try it and see!).

Good luck.

-Skystalker
 
The HDD click was only once after a crash, haven't had it before or since. Also 2 new problems. The first one may be software, but I have a feeling it may be bad RAM. Whenever I use any UI mod other than TitanPanel in the capital city in WoW, the computer crashes. Everything locks up, and my screen becomes smeared with the colors of whatever was on my screen at the time of the crash. Also, from time to time, my screen will just cut out and my moniter will come up with the same thing that it does when I turn the computer off. My music will keep playing in the backround, and the computer will keep running. Nothing will come back on and my moniter goes into standbye mode. If I turn it off by pressing the power button, and reboot, everything is fine again. This used to only happen when something giggled the moniter plug in back of the computer (usually me moving it), but last night it happened without the computer being moved, and without me doing anything. I'm guessing my RAM and PSU are starting to crap out as well. My PSU seems to work fine for normal use, but I'm guessing weeks of full load 12+ hours a day continously is starting to bring it to its last legs.
 
Any chance a reformat would help any? I got a feeling that with all the hardware swapping and the fact that my system has basically been on a binge and purge mentality, something may have gotten screwed up in all of the mess.
 
This sounds like it could be caused by almost anything, so you'll have to test everything.

- Check the voltages on your PSU
- Check your temps
- Check eventvwr for any errors.
- Grab memtest and run it to test the memory
- Grab prime95 and run it for 24 hours
- As someone else suggested, grab an HD diagnostics floppy from your manufacturer and give it a shot
- Grab 3dmark01/03/05 and loop it

It can also be a software issue, when was the last time you re-installed your drivers? your OS? Do you get any BSODs? Error messages? Anything?
 
I've been running off the same installation I did back in may. Now that I think of it, the problems with uis in WoW may have something to do wit the fct that after I swaitched the computer from the SFF I had it in to a larger midtower on a different motherboard for the summer, I didn't reinstall the OS. However, the 2 motherboars run on the same chipset and I have done it before without problems.
 
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