My computer sucks (Formerly "Critical overheating issue

[Keeloth]

Ok, so, I am having a major hardware problem that I need some tech help with.

My computer, which I custom built using parts from newegg a few years back, is overheating and shutting down after about an hour of play.  The inside is clean of dust, and I've reapplied thermal paste to the processor fan.  No dice.

This computer has a history of doing this, but it's never been so bad, and SWTOR is hardly graphically intensive anyways.

Hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145213&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-N82E16822145213

DVD drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106245&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-N82E16827106245

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227298&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-N82E16820227298
(I got 2x of those, for a total of 4 sticks)

Power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182067&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-N82E16817182067

The graphics card (a likely culprit): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102747&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-N82E16814102747

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130136&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-N82E16813130136

Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103273&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-N82E16819103273

I too my compy to Frys to be looked at, and the best that they could come up with was "Buy a new graphics card."

Legit advice?  is there another way that doesn't require me to drop a couple hundred down?

[likwidtek]

What is it doing exactly?  Why do you say that it's "overheating and shutting down"?

Do you get beep codes?  Error codes?  Are you getting temps from the bios or something?

[Keeloth]

It just shuts down.  Sound cuts out for a second or too, then it just turns off like someone ripped out the power cord.  No beeps or error codes.

[likwidtek]

And it only does this after an hour or so of 3d gaming?  What about an hour or so of web browsing?

Do you have a spare power supply that you could test with it?  Same goes for the video card.

[Revalis]

TOR may not look graphically intensive, but it certainly sucks a lot of power and demands quite a bit from the video card. My system is pretty solid and I tend to run most games on their highest settings. This is the first game that has managed to kick my fans up to high for a sustained period of time. Not sure if it's just because the Beta builds are not optimized, but I'm hoping so.

Have you tried to play any other games to see if the same thing happens? Or even try playing on lower graphics settings to see if it happens?

[Ketamininja]

Download a graphics benchmark tool and run for a while and see if you get the same results (i.e. crash).

OR

Run with the side off the case, see if this keeps the machine up (if crash still happens, it may not be overheating).

It is possible it's one of the bridges on your mobo (the northbridge usually has a dirty great heatsink on it because it gets hot!). Check there are no devices causing heat to the chipsets as THAT may be overheating it.


BTW, if it crashes and you immediately turn it back on, does it switch on immediately... can you simulate the crash more quickly after you switch back on immediately?


Also, check the event log and Windows crash report to see if it points to anything in particular. It may NOT be the graphics card, but if they have had the machine to do some tests, then I would expect some basics to be performed to rule out other components!

[Keeloth]

Well, I moved the graphics card to a new PCI slot, further awat from my CPU fan.  So far that seems to have done the trick, haven't had any crashes after 2 hours of solid gaming.

And it only does this after an hour or so of 3d gaming? What about an hour or so of web browsing?

Do you have a spare power supply that you could test with it? Same goes for the video card.

The two games that did it are Skyrim and TOR.  I used to have the problem with some other titles a while back, but not anymore.  I never had the issue just browsing the web or anything.  In essence, if I heard my card revving up, a crash would be imminent.

Don't have spares, sadly.

Or even try playing on lower graphics settings to see if it happens?

Changing settings didn't seem to fix the issue.

[likwidtek]

What are your card temps?  Is the fan moving fast?  What about your CPU?  What are the temps?  Is the fan spinning fast?

[Ketamininja]

Well, I moved the graphics card to a new PCI slot, further awat from my CPU fan.  So far that seems to have done the trick, haven't had any crashes after 2 hours of solid gaming.

That DOES sound like the southbridge chip.
The GFX card top PCIe slot usually covers this chip.

Anyway, glad that was cheap to resolve!

[Keeloth]

What are your card temps?  Is the fan moving fast?  What about your CPU?  What are the temps?  Is the fan spinning fast?

According to speedfan, they were around 80 degrees (when playing games) before I moved the card.  Now it's more around 60.

The fan was moving fast, I could hear it revving up quite a bit whenever I play graphically intense games.

That DOES sound like the southbridge chip.
The GFX card top PCIe slot usually covers this chip.

Anyway, glad that was cheap to resolve!

While I'm a little bummed that I paid fifty buck to the guys at  Frys just so that they could apply a little thermal paste and clean out the dust, I am definitely glad I didn't follow their advice and buy a new graphics card.  Note to self: never bring computer to Frys again, no matter how bad the issue.

[Keeloth]

Have new issues now.  Sometimes, the hard drive isn't been read and I have ti restart multiple times.  Even when Windows DOES load, I get a cascade of "Delayed Write Failed" errors after a while that freezes and crashes my computer.  I've been advised by Skry that it's likely the motherboard.

[Tecknik]

Run a disk check if you haven't.  When that's done, run a defrag.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Check-your-hard-disk-for-errors

[ZephixLeer (Zephic)]

The delayed write errors: Does it do this if you start up in safe mode? Did you notice any missing shortcuts or start-menu items?

Not to send you on a wild goose chase, but FYI: There's a virus that I had contracted recently on my PC that removes all the start menu items, random shortcuts and causes those same errors.

However, I doubt yours is related since you haven't reported other symptoms and you're having the issue with the HDD being read. That does sound more hardware related, so probably just keep the virus thing in the back of your head, if you started seeing other symptoms of the issue I mentioned.

The issues you've seen with the HDD actually being read definately smells of hardware issues. If what Tecknik suggested doesn't work to resolve the issues, try replacing the sata cable first, then i guess it'd be time for a new HDD. After that it gets scary.

[likwidtek]

Listen, if you're getting "Delayed Write Failed"  DO NOTHING OTHER THAN BACK YOUR DATA UP FIRST!!  Don't defrag don't do anything.  DO not spin up that drive until you've backed all your data up somewhere else.

Then you can start monkeying around with it.    Before you do anything listed above, please do the simple things first.  Reseat/Replace the cables, the the hard drive in a different SATA port, things like that.  To me it sounds like something surrounding the hard drive.  Could be power source, cable hard drive controller or the drive itself.  Either way, back your shit up, it sounds like it's going!

[Keeloth]

Well, I now get the errors right away: the icons on the desktop don't even load before I get the errors. Go go Blackberry browser!

Tecknik, the chkdsk utility has been run several times.  It always finds and "fixes" errors with no noticeble difference in the problem.

Zephic, this is actually the second hdd, because skry is awesome and (when I asked if he had an old one laying about he wasn't using) flat out bought me a new hdd when my old one had issues not being read.  The old one did not have the delayed write issues, however.

And Likwid, already there from the first time through, heh.