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What is the issue here?

A

Actuary

2[H]4U
Joined
Feb 8, 2005
Messages
2,468
I've had this problem on and off with Left 4 Dead 2, eventually giving up on trying to fix it and moving on to other games. Someone got me Starcraft 2 for Christmas, though, and I was chugging along and it happened again during one of the video cutscenes. Essentially, the games freezes, any sound that's playing loops and I'm forced to restart. I've attached a picture I found online that closely approximates what the screen looks like every time this happens.

System: Gigabyte 965P-DS3 Mobo, e6400 cpu @ 2.6 ghz, 4 sticks 1gb G. Skill DDR2 800 (running slightly over at 405 instead of 400), a corsair 650 psu, and a gtx 260, Windows 32bit (I don't know why the hell I did 32bit), and a creative xtreme music sound card.

Thoughts? I think I'm going to upgrade in a month or two once Sandy Bridge is out, but this is a pain in the butt.

Edit: I put everything back to stock (cpu overclock, RAM divider, core voltage) and it's still happening in the same cinematic every time. Fun Stuff.

Edit 2: Made it through the cinematic this time. I kept an eye on my temps, cores never got above 50 C even though they were under 100% load. GPU brushed up near 90 C. Are temps that high normal? I'm guessing the GPU temp might be the issue, no idea why it's that hot. I'm using a big HAF 932 case and the room is about 70-72 F. Maybe there's a lot of dust in there and it needs a good cleaning. Any ideas otherwise?

998010_f496.jpg
 
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Those temps are fine.

It could be a defective video card. Load up Furmark and see what happens.
 
There was a ton of dust in the fan area, blew it all out and temps are holding in th low 80s now. I've never heard of Furmark before, I'll give it a shot.
 
low 80s? In c or f? If it's in c then I would say its your gfx card. I still think it's your GFX card. EVGA is very good with their rma stuff so I would suggest rmaing the card personally.
 
Ran furmark, that was a blast. First time it froze the computer instantly. Tried to restart and it entered an endless loop of restarts. To get at the CMOS battery I had to take the video card out, and I still couldn't get it, so I had to disconnect everything, lift the tower off my desk and over my monitors, get the CMOS out. Then, as I'm putting my video card back in, one of the clips snaps, so I unscrew the back fan, wiggle loose the bar holding the clips in, remove that one, put the bar back, put the fan back, and use a screw in that slot. I finally rehook everything up and bravely run it again.

It lasts for about 20 seconds before my screens go totally black.
 
Ughhhhhh. Thanks for the help guys.

Of course, it has been doing the same thing in Left 4 Dead 2 for probably about a year, so I have to wonder how long it's been messed up. You'll have to excuse my ignorance on the subject, but does this happen often - the video card working fine 95% of the time, but causing freezes/crashes occasionally? Will the card get worse at some point?
 
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The card will get worse and worse over time. Doesn't happen often but not rare either.
 
Part of the core is dead, likely from overheating considering you found the fan full of dust. RMA and be glad you have lifetime warranty, since a few years ago this would've meant you were just out of luck. Also be more careful about keeping the internals of your machine clean in the future.
 
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