Comp locking up

Merlijn

Shadow Master
Mar 11, 2009
2,284
So yesterday I started having problems with my comp locking up 3 times in an hour. As much as I hate this I'd like some people's input / suggestions on what to test and what could possible be wrong.... I'm running out of idea's myself but I want this problem solved.

Some info to start with.

First of all my comp is placed on the attic which tends to get quite hot during the summer (I don't have exact tempratures but 10C above the outside temprature feels right)

Now as for my specs

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83 GHz FSB 1333
Asus Striker II Formula nForce 780i SLI, SATA2
Chieftec Powersupply CFT-850-14C 850W
Corsair 2x2GB DDR2 SDRAM PC6400 CL4.0
Seagate 500GB SATA300 32MB (3x)
XFX PCI-e GeForce GTX260 896MB DDR3
Gigabyte PCI-e GeForce GTX260 896MB DDR3

After getting suspecious for overheating problems I downloaded Speedfan and noticed that one of the 2 GPU's was around 75C whilst playing and the other was at 55C. Now a friend of mine mentioned that GPU's are allowed to reach around 90C without causing any problems and the fact that the system freezes instead of the screen turning black make me doubt it's the GPU. Once I opened my case though and placed a fan directly at it I haven't had any problems anymore so that aims back at overheating again.

I'll install RivaTuner as soon as I get home and configure an scheme for trying to increase the fan speed but if anyone has any other suggestions then please let me know.

Another small point is that I occasionally get a screen freeze in WoW (very rarely though) and need to press Ctrl-Alt-Del and press cancel to switch back to WoW to resolve it. If anyone has thoughts on this I'd like to hear them as well. Maybe my often alt-tabbing causes this?
 

Ayu

You need help.
Staff member
Aug 26, 2005
15,256
Merlijn said:
As much as I hate this I'd like some people's input

You sure have way with words. :Q

Anyways, try removing 1 gfx card (the one that heats up alot) and check if you crash. If not, you are much closer to isolating the problem.
 

Lebuff

Huge, throbbing Member
May 1, 2007
1,302
I would check for a bios update. And if that don't work do what Ayu suggests.
 

Fuurinji

Member
Oct 22, 2005
422
I'd check if the ram memory (or the motherboard's ram sockets) are working properly, could be that there are some memory handling troubles and maybe that's why you get some freezed screen and also the ocasional restarts.
 

Mystara

Master of Elements
Staff member
Dec 4, 2009
1,463
Merlijn said:
75C whilst playing and the other was at 55C. Now a friend of mine mentioned that GPU's are allowed to reach around 90C without causing any problems and the fact that the system freezes instead of the screen turning black make me doubt it's the GPU. Once I opened my case though and placed a fan directly at it I haven't had any problems anymore so that aims back at overheating again.

I ended up having to do that to fix my prob too Merlin. GeForce cards are prone to burning up since they changed that. If it pushes 95+C you'll still be able to carry on without Black Screens. 110C and with my cards it's an instant crash. I've found that since I used the fan my black screens have stopped. Mind you I did have to use a Recovery Disk to fix another problem so maybe that fixed my black screens lol.

Massive shout out to MSI Afterburner - Pretty much Speedfan/Rivaturner in one and a little easier to use. If your cards are like mine they'll only start on around 50% speed on start up and then not spin up in time during gaming to make up on the heat loss. Save a profile with the Fan set to 100% without it changing the speed changing automatically.

If it's not overheating (fans might not be spinning up properly) then maybe try a recovery disk or what the rest said ;)
 

Lonei

Shitpenis
Aug 7, 2008
499
When my pc did that it was a soundcard problem, does your sound loop when you crash?
 
OP
Merlijn

Merlijn

Shadow Master
Mar 11, 2009
2,284
So far it seems it was overheating after all. Been using MSI Afterburner since yesterday now (RivaTuner is too annoying and didn't let me change stuff) and after finding out that SLI wasn't even enabled (prolly due to driver roll back or something >.>) it's been going well so far. Even made a slightly pumped profile for WoW now and janked the fans to 70% instead of that weak ass 40% NVidia suggests. Neither card has been over 55C yet but I'll have to keep an eye on it during some warmer days too see if it keep going steady