Techy Help - Crashing PC

TIMMY · 7th November 2011, 03:34 PM

I've had a problem with my PC for a while now, it will shut down/crash whenever i try to play games like Football Manager or watch HD films in full screen mode.

This started happening when i upgraded my graphics card. Thought it might be my PSU as it was only 300W. Upgraded to a 500W PSU at the weekend and am still having the same problem.

Any ideas anyone?

A mate said it might be the processors overheating?

AndrewP · 7th November 2011, 03:35 PM

Drivers up to date? Especially video drivers?

If it's only happening on full screen video then that would suggest it's that.

Gingga · 7th November 2011, 03:37 PM

Make sure the cpu fan is clean.

Wilfy · 7th November 2011, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gingga

Make sure the cpu fan is clean.

^^This.

Sticky Vicky · 7th November 2011, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wilfy

^^This.

^ ^

Not this.

ajthemackem · 7th November 2011, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewP

Drivers up to date? Especially video drivers?

If it's only happening on full screen video then that would suggest it's that.

This. Is it an Nvidia card?

AndrewP · 7th November 2011, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gingga

Make sure the cpu fan is clean.

Aye, could be that, but then it should happen when video is playing in a window too.

Also the "started happening when i upgraded my graphics card" bit seems to suggest the fault could be related to the graphics card/drivers.

GingerNick · 7th November 2011, 03:39 PM

the overall wattage of the PSU isnt always that important, its the voltage it can deliver on the 12v rail that feeds the graphics card

a cheap PSU with a high wattage can still fail to deliver the voltage a graphics card requires when its working really hard

though to be honest it doesnt sound liek the most graphically intensive of tasks

I would be looking at drivers as well

Town End Farmer Giles · 7th November 2011, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TIMMY

I've had a problem with my PC for a while now, it will shut down/crash whenever i try to play games like Football Manager or watch HD films in full screen mode.

This started happening when i upgraded my graphics card. Thought it might be my PSU as it was only 300W. Upgraded to a 500W PSU at the weekend and am still having the same problem.

Any ideas anyone?

A mate said it might be the processors overheating?

Im ok watching films, but when I’m gaming I turn the fan on my graphics card up a bit, otherwise certain games freeze. Other option may be faulty RAM, though this would cause more random crashes than just when watching films or gaming.

TIMMY · 7th November 2011, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewP

Drivers up to date? Especially video drivers?

If it's only happening on full screen video then that would suggest it's that.

I thought it was this for months as i switched from a Nvidia card to an ATI Radeon HD card and i used to get a lot of errors saying “Display driver stopped responding and has recovered”, the PC never shut down though.

I think a lot of people had similar issues and neither ATI, Nvidia or Microsoft were sure what the problem was.

After a lot of research and driver updates i thought it was finally resolved. Maybe not.

I actually paid for program at the weekend that checks and updates all drivers so hope it isn't that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gingga

Make sure the cpu fan is clean.

A can of compressed air is on my shopping list as a few sites have suggested this.

I now need to find out what the heatsink/heatsink compound is

.
I have no idea

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajthemackem

This. Is it an Nvidia card?

As above, changed from Nvidia to ATI.

Was this my first mistake?