n00b question

N

n0s0upf0ry0u

n00b
Joined
Dec 24, 2005
Messages
6
anyone have a clue as to what may be causing this weird problem? after about five minutes or so of playing a pc game on my rig (below, set at stock speeds), the game freezes for about thirty seconds or so, and then resumes at a much slower, choppy rate, with "snow" pixelation, necessitating me to quit out of the game back to windows. on one occasion it actually forced the system to blue screen and then reboot. this happens no matter what game i'm playing. my system specs are:

msi k8n nf4 platinum sli mobo
athlon 64 4000 san diego
ocz pc-3200 ddr-400 ram (1GB x 2 dimms)
xfx geforce 7800gtx 256MB GPU
antec TPII 550w PSU

any help greatly appreciated.

thanks,
abe
 
thats far from a n00b question 0_0

eek id say one component, either the video card or powersupply is likely taking the piss... id try switching both out for alternatives as a test :) if switching the video car dfixes it, well there you go, if switching the PSU does it (make sure its a good one) then there oyu go aswell :)
 
if you're seeing "snowy pixelation" that sounds like RAM overheating. I'd make sure that the heatsink is making proper contact with the RAM/GPU, and also check out the temperatures via a program like rivatuner.

You could also try running the computer with the side panel off, and see if that makes an impact as to how long you can play before it starts going funky.

Post back with the information you grab from rivatuner (max temp @ load and idle temps) and whether reseating the heatsink or having the side panel off makes any difference.
 
This happened to me with C&C generals, but on a Radeon 9200SE. My guess:
Conflicting background processes
Conflicting video card driver
 
ok, i think you were right... i think my GPU is overheating. didn't install rivatuner, but i did check the temp on my GPU immediately after quitting the game (when the snow pixelation came on) via the nvidia driver software. i got a GPU temp of 111 degrees that started coming down immediately after i quit the game. i think i have to play around with my cooling. i'm such a n00b i guess i don't even know how to properly wire the case fans on my antec p180 (how embarrassing!). how would i go about reseating the heat sink???

thanks again guys, everyone's been truly helpful so far. joining this forum is one of the best things i've ever done.

abe
 
Well, you're going to want to make sure you've got a lint free cloth (eye-glass cleaner cloth is an example), a screwdriver, new thermal paste (arctic silver 5, ceramique), a credit card/razor, and 99% rubbing alcohol. First, begin to disassemble the heatsink setup on your card by removing the screws. Once you've disassembled the heatsink entirely and removed it from the card, your card should look like this:
Silencer-5-7800GTX-009.jpg


Now take the lint free cloth and dip it in the alcohol. Rub the gpu and ram with the alcohol dampened cloth to remove the old thermal paste. Once the thermal paste is completely off (the gpu should have a mirror-like finish), you're ready to apply the new thermal paste. Apply a small amount of thermal paste to the gpu and spread it using a credit card or razor. When spreading the paste, you'll want to make the layer extremely thin (as long as 100% of the gpu is covered, the less thermal paste used, the better it will perform). Do the same for the ram chips. Once you've applied the new thermal paste, you can reassemble the heatsink setup.

After you've reassembled it, make sure that all the components (RAM + GPU) are making good contact with the heatsink, and you're ready to go.
 
quad,
thanks alot for the info...
but i've got two more questions for ya-

1) do you think that temps this high might be a result of improper setup of my case fans (i've got an antec p180) and NOT the heat sink? i'm not very knowledgeable regarding proper cooling, as this is the first system i set up, and with all the fan connectors on the mobo and the separate power supply connectors its very possible i screwed things up.

2) should i just RMA the GPU to xfx? i mean if i try to reseat the heatsink, will that void my "lifetime warranty?"

thanks again,
abe
 
n0s0upf0ry0u said:
quad,
thanks alot for the info...
but i've got two more questions for ya-

1) do you think that temps this high might be a result of improper setup of my case fans (i've got an antec p180) and NOT the heat sink? i'm not very knowledgeable regarding proper cooling, as this is the first system i set up, and with all the fan connectors on the mobo and the separate power supply connectors its very possible i screwed things up.

2) should i just RMA the GPU to xfx? i mean if i try to reseat the heatsink, will that void my "lifetime warranty?"

thanks again,
abe
Click to expand...

it was running at 111, chances are the damages has been done, rather than take a shot at voiding it, yes, id advise RMA :)
 
n0s0upf0ry0u said:
quad,
thanks alot for the info...
but i've got two more questions for ya-

1) do you think that temps this high might be a result of improper setup of my case fans (i've got an antec p180) and NOT the heat sink? i'm not very knowledgeable regarding proper cooling, as this is the first system i set up, and with all the fan connectors on the mobo and the separate power supply connectors its very possible i screwed things up.

2) should i just RMA the GPU to xfx? i mean if i try to reseat the heatsink, will that void my "lifetime warranty?"

thanks again,
abe
Click to expand...

It certainly isn't due to improper case temps; the p180, no matter how poorly you set up the airflow, will still cool better than most
;)

As for an RMA, the reason I suggested reseating the heatsink is that it will be far quicker to do that than wait for an RMA. However, you are correct that by adjusting the heatsink you could possibly void the warranty, and therefore if you aren't comfortable with that, just head for the RMA. It's all based on your comfort level, and the amount of time you're willing to be without the card.

Best of luck!
 
overheating video card is throttling down to try to save itself. take the hsf off it and apply arctic silver 5 and reapply the hsf, or send it back to the company that made it
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top