Curse

knoll · Nov 10, 2008, 05:55 AM // 05:55

So while playing GW my video card randomly stops working after a bit. Though when I play any other game it continues to run fine, fallout 3, war hammer online, and COD4. I'm thinking it is my power supply making it fail but who knows. It really makes me QQ.

My video card is Nivdia GeForce 6800 GS.

JupiterStarWarrior · Nov 10, 2008, 06:08 AM // 06:08

What do you mean by "(your) video card ... stops working"? Does it go to a Blue Screen of Death (where you have a blue screen with white text telling you to restart your computer), or do you get a black screen with no picture but you're able to get audio, or anything else?

Also, what operating system are you running? What are the specs of your processor? How much RAM is available to your computer? Have you checked the manufacturer's website for any updated drivers?

A little more information would be pleasant.

knoll · Nov 10, 2008, 06:36 AM // 06:36

I guess I could allow you to have more of my information.

Screen Freezes.

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
OS Service Pack Service Pack 3
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4, 3000 MHz (15 x 200)
Motherboard Name Asus P4S800D-X (5 PCI, 1 AGP, 4 DDR DIMM, Audio, LAN)
Motherboard Chipset SiS 655FX
System Memory 1536 MB (DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type AMI (09/07/05)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GS (256 MB)
Monitor Plug and Play Monitor [NoDB] (ETL5108459)

Hope this helps. And thanks.

Quaker · Nov 10, 2008, 04:58 PM // 16:58

First of all, open the machine up (take off the side panel) and make sure that all fans inside are running - there may be fans in the power supply, the cpu, the mobo, the case, and/or the video card. Any and all fans should be running.

Secondly, get a can of "Dust Off" (or w/e) and blow the dust out of the fans and heatsinks.

Thirdly, update your mobo, video card and sound card drivers.

4thly, what's the rating on the power supply (watts)?

knoll · Nov 10, 2008, 10:59 PM // 22:59

So halfway through the summer my power supply failed me. So I went and took my old one out of my other computer and it seemed to work fine. But anyways...

Old one was 450
The one in my machine is 115/230 so I'm guessing I should buy a new power supply and see what happens. EDIT: looked up the serial number and it says it is 350 W so I dunno.

So if anyone could tell me what wattage I should buy would be nice :P

Pucca · Nov 11, 2008, 12:54 AM // 00:54

Are you running Vista? Because there has been a known problem with Nividia graphics cards and Vista and I am not certain it has been fixed yet.
P.S. I also get this problem sometimes and the rate fluctuates randomly.

knoll · Nov 11, 2008, 03:04 AM // 03:04

Like mention before it is XP SP3. Dusted the whole computer and all fans are working.

And would this be a good power supply, it seems to have a lot of molex pins which I need and it is cheap.

Quaker · Nov 11, 2008, 04:29 PM // 16:29

I'm not familiar with that brand, but something tells me you can't get a good 600watt PS for even the $35 regular price.

It's probably overrated, but you only need about 450watts anyway.

P.s. - the 115/230 on the old power supply is the AC voltage it runs on, not the power output. 115VAC for North America, 230VAC for Europe. (It probably has a switch on it to select them.)