Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC.

mpphotographics · 08-16-2008, 07:32 PM

Hi,

Here's the specs of my new PC I bought off Ebay. The seller builds the PC's and has sold a few, but not many. Looking at the feedback others have worked fine.

Intel Q6600 Core 2 Quad
Point of View Nvidia 8800GT
Biostar GF7050V-M7 Motherboard
2 x 1GB XMS2 Xtreme Performance Memory
Windows XP SP2

I haven't over clocked anything.

When I first got it and tried to install windows, it was only showing the 250GB SATA drive as 130GB, which the seller said was because the original XP (No service packs) didn't have the drivers to recognize SATA drives properly. I installed XP onto this drive and tried some game demos. First I tried NFS Pro Street. The intro screens worked fine but as soon as I got on the menus, it started sticking and was unresponsive when I clicked things. Most times I could get into the game, but within a second it crashed, usually a quick flash of the blue screen before restarting, sometimes a message saying it's encountered a problem and needs to close. I tried the latest drivers and no better. The seller said this would almost certainly be caused by the SATA driver problem and I needed XP SP2.
Next I tried my old IDE drive, installed XP/drivers etc and tried the demos again, still the same problem.
Next I bought XP SP2 and put my new hard drive back in, this time it recognized it as 250GB and installed XP fine. Tried the demos again and still the crashing and blue screens all the time.

One thing I have noticed is a sound which comes from inside the computer. It reminds me of the sound modems used to make using dial-up internet, but quieter. Whenever i'm in a game, and the menu or intro screen changes or changes colour, the tone of the noise changes. I don't know if this helps diagnose the problem?

I videoed the screen on my mobile to try to see what the blue screen said because there's not time to read it. It's hard to make out on my phone but here's what I can read, where I have X is what I can't make out...

The problem seems to be caused by the following files: XXX_disp.dll

XXX_FAULT_XX_NONPAGED_AREA

There's some codes further down the page but I can't make out all the numbers so it's probably not worth posting them.

To me the disp.dll suggest a display problem of some sort, but if an updated driver doesn't solve it is there anything else, or could it be a dud card?

If anyone knows anything else I can try or what the problem could be, please help.
Thank you!
Mark.

**Aus_Karlos** · 08-16-2008, 10:23 PM

Hi mpphotographics

The first error : XXX_disp.dll
Is you display drivers, this error is actually quite common. The best thing to do is to visit Nvidia from my sig and get the latest Graphic drivers. If you have the latest, try some other ones.

The second is a bit more difficult to explain. But put it simple, a program tries to write some data to the pagefile but writes it in the wrong area. (Meaning any part of the HDD thats not the designated pagefile section.)
This could be caused by Faulty RAM, Faulty HDD or some Motherboard drivers are missing.
Use memtest86 from my sig to check for faulty RAM, Test could take upto 30min or more per RAM stick.

Also what Power Supply was put into the PC, could you post those spec aswell please.

mpphotographics · 08-17-2008, 07:39 AM

Hi Aus Karlos, thanks for your reply.

I have tried this freeware version of Memtest...
http://www.softpedia.com/progDownloa...oad-10259.html

It said I should run two tests at the same time with 805mb on each, so I did that and started them both, within a minute there were errors, I was pressing ok and there were more every time I pressed enter so I just held enter down until it stopped at 912 errors! and it was only a few % into the test. The other test also had over 300 errors. After the messages stopped the test was still going but then I got the blue screen.
I restarted, tried the test again and this time as soon as the first error message came up the blue screen flashed again and the computer restarted.
I didn't catch what the blue screen said this time but would all those errors suggest the RAM is faulty?

Also to answer your other question the power supply is 570W. It was advertised as 500W but I got a message from the seller saying that would be no good and he'd put in a 570W.

Thanks for your help

**koala** · 08-17-2008, 07:55 AM

Run memtest86+ on one stick of RAM at a time to test for any errors.

Direct link to pre-compiled bootable ISO (click the link to download the zipped ISO file)
http://www.memtest.org/download/2.00...+-2.00.iso.zip

Unzip the file and burn the ISO to CD (as an image, not as data) to create a bootable CD. Reboot and go into the BIOS. Change the boot order to 'CD first', save settings, insert the CD and reboot. This will start the program. Run for one RAM stick at a time (very important, to prevent false readings) for at least 10 passes each and post back with the results.

To see the 'blue screen of death' (BSOD) without the computer restarting, go to Control Panel > System > Advanced tab > Startup & Recovery Settings button > System Failure and remove the checkmark from 'Automatically restart'. The full BSOD message and Stop error code will help pinpoint the cause of the problem.

mpphotographics · 08-17-2008, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by koala

Run memtest86+ on one stick of RAM at a time to test for any errors.

Direct link to pre-compiled bootable ISO (click the link to download the zipped ISO file)
http://www.memtest.org/download/2.00...+-2.00.iso.zip

Unzip the file and burn the ISO to CD (as an image, not as data) to create a bootable CD. Reboot and go into the BIOS. Change the boot order to 'CD first', save settings, insert the CD and reboot. This will start the program. Run for one RAM stick at a time (very important, to prevent false readings) for at least 10 passes each and post back with the results.

To see the 'blue screen of death' (BSOD) without the computer restarting, go to Control Panel > System > Advanced tab > Startup & Recovery Settings button > System Failure and remove the checkmark from 'Automatically restart'. The full BSOD message and Stop error code will help pinpoint the cause of the problem.

Thanks for that, i've tried that but I can't see how to only check one stick at a time, it just started testing straight away.
I think I maybe got a false reading, there were over 1 million errors!
To check one stick at a time would I just take one out or is there a way to do it in the program?
Thanks.

**koala** · 08-17-2008, 02:07 PM

Yes, take out all RAM sticks leaving just one. Then repeat for each stick. Any errors at all means faulty RAM, but running memtest on more than one stick at a time can lead to false errors. You can cancel memtest if you start to get errors, and move onto the next stick.

**Aus_Karlos** · 08-17-2008, 10:40 PM

Yeah Forgot to mention that, memtest86 has a problem with dual-channel configs and will report errors.

For your PSU do you know what amp it is putting out on the 12v Rail.

Post your findings.

mpphotographics · 08-18-2008, 01:37 PM

I just tested both sticks separately and no errors.
Also according to my motherboards hardware monitor the 12v line is showing 11.65v.
Not sure what else to do now, I was sort of hoping the memory was at fault.

**Aus_Karlos** · 08-18-2008, 10:02 PM

I need the apm reading from your PSU, To find this information take the side off of your case and look at the sticker on the side of the PSU.

mpphotographics · 08-26-2008, 05:48 PM

Can't see an APM rating anywhere.
I'm getting even more problems now though...

BSOD:
BAD_POOL_CALLER
PFN_LIST_CORRUPT
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONE_PAGED_AREA

Others:

Generic Host Process for Win32 has encountered a problem and needs to close.
Also when I tried a game again it said it encountered a problem and needs to close, this was in the error report: winmm.dll.

If anyone can help I would really appreciate it, thanks.
Mark.

**Aus_Karlos** · 08-26-2008, 07:34 PM

Have you tried scanning for errors on the HDD.

The PSU information will look something like this.

Could you post what you see on your sticker.

Most of these BSOD can be caused by corrupt drivers. Its hard to find the right one so you may have to just re-install all of the drivers.
Or you can try and use verify.exe located in the system32 folder under windows. This is for users that have basic/advanced knowledge of windows. Im still trying to get my head around it.
But here is a link to MS to try and explain a few things. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/244617

mpphotographics · 08-27-2008, 02:32 AM

Thanks, I will check the PSU when I get home tonight.
Also how do you scan the HDD for errors?
I've done a few fresh installs of XP, formatting the HDD with NTFS each time, and re-installing the drivers off the disks each time. I have also tried the latest drivers for the graphics card and mobo, and flashed the BIOS.
One time I even had a blue screen while XP was installing.
I'll also look into that verify.exe tonight.
Thanks again for your help.

mpphotographics · 08-27-2008, 03:45 PM

Here's what's on the side of my PSU...

Also tonight I have done another complete re-install and everything went well until I installed the motherboard driver and I got the IRQL not less or equal BSOD before it had finished. When I turned it back on it said the system has recovered from a serious error and what was in the error report is in the other attachment below.

I read about verify.exe but it sounds way too complicated for me so I think i'll keep away from that for now if I can help it!

**Aus_Karlos** · 08-28-2008, 07:49 AM

Your PSU is underpowered to run a 8800GT you only have 16a on the 12v rail. The 8800GT requires 32a on a 12v Rail. But before you rush out and buy a new one just wait for koala to post. He knows more about PSU's.

**Aus_Karlos** · 08-28-2008, 09:49 AM

Can't edit my last post for some reason.. But anyway.
After getting some some help from Koala.
You PSU has 2 +12V lines (+12V1 and +12V2) with 16A each. When PSUs have multiple +12V rails, you add them together. 80% of this total is the approximate overall total amps.
So you have approximately 25A for a card that requires 32A.
So i would recommend a High-end 650W PSU with some amps behind it.

Here are two Newegg Products thats i would suggest you look at.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153063
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817256021

mpphotographics · 08-29-2008, 02:27 AM

Thanks for the info.
I was hoping that was the problem but I have contacted the seller again and this is his reply...

Quote:

Nope, that's not the problem. I have seen the same misinformation too. For a start, they have quoted your PSU figures wrong. I think (from memory) you have an 18 and a 19amp 12v rail. Do not believe what you read. That's really bad information. 8800GT is the most energy efficient card in it's class and uses nowhere near those figures to power it. I have sold 5 totally identical PC's over the last few weeks and none of them have had these problems and they are all playing games on them as I sold them to gamers. This is something I researched at length before using these PSU's as they are not the highest ampage around. From the well of misinformation, I managed to gather that 8800GT uses around 150Watts at peak power and needs no more than a total of just over 20 amps to safely power.

I think the next thing I will try is getting a Vista 30-day trial to see if that sorts out the problems. I know it's slower for gaming but if it stops all my BSOD's and crashing i'll get it.

dai · 08-29-2008, 06:52 AM

the figures given out by the hardware team are based on what the video card companies say is required
nvidia states a pcie card requires a min available output on the 12v+ lines of 26amps from a quality power power supply
with a 8800 this puts you in this minimum range of quality and output
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...corsair%2b650w

mpphotographics · 08-29-2008, 07:36 AM

Tonight i'm going to put my old graphics card in, ATI Radeon 9550, I imagine it's much less demanding and if everything works fine i'll know it's the PSU at fault.
Thanks for moving this, I was thinking it's not games related anymore.

**koala** · 08-29-2008, 07:53 AM

Contact your seller and ask him to check his facts again. All PCIE cards need a minimum of 26 amps to run efficiently under stress.

His statement about the 8800GT needing only 20 amps is rubbish. You can power an AGP card safely with 20 amps, but a PCIE card would have trouble running in 3D fullscreen mode for any length of time with so little power.

Have a look through the forum posts for people with underpowered 8800 cards, and you'll see problems with artifacts, overheating and crashes while gaming. Maybe these problems don't appear in the first few weeks, but they do appear after a while, depending on usage.

Your PSU has a combined +12V rating of approx 25-27amps, which is just about enough to power an 8800GT. A 570W PSU with 26A/+12V is cutting it fine, no matter how energy efficient the card is.

I've got an 8800GT with a Thermaltake Toughpower 650W which has four 18amp +12V rails giving a combined total of approx 57amps. I've tried lower quality PSUs (22-28amps) and the performance definitely suffers.

mpphotographics · 08-29-2008, 08:11 AM

Thanks for that info Koala.
I could ask him to send me a better PSU, he's been very helpful so far but it seems some of his info isn't accurate. Are they easy enough to install for someone with little knowledge like me?
I'll still try my old card tonight, that should confirm if that's the problem.

08-16-2008, 07:32 PM	#1 (permalink)
mpphotographics Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 16 OS: XP SP2	Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. Hi, Here's the specs of my new PC I bought off Ebay. The seller builds the PC's and has sold a few, but not many. Looking at the feedback others have worked fine. Intel Q6600 Core 2 Quad Point of View Nvidia 8800GT Biostar GF7050V-M7 Motherboard 2 x 1GB XMS2 Xtreme Performance Memory Windows XP SP2 I haven't over clocked anything. When I first got it and tried to install windows, it was only showing the 250GB SATA drive as 130GB, which the seller said was because the original XP (No service packs) didn't have the drivers to recognize SATA drives properly. I installed XP onto this drive and tried some game demos. First I tried NFS Pro Street. The intro screens worked fine but as soon as I got on the menus, it started sticking and was unresponsive when I clicked things. Most times I could get into the game, but within a second it crashed, usually a quick flash of the blue screen before restarting, sometimes a message saying it's encountered a problem and needs to close. I tried the latest drivers and no better. The seller said this would almost certainly be caused by the SATA driver problem and I needed XP SP2. Next I tried my old IDE drive, installed XP/drivers etc and tried the demos again, still the same problem. Next I bought XP SP2 and put my new hard drive back in, this time it recognized it as 250GB and installed XP fine. Tried the demos again and still the crashing and blue screens all the time. One thing I have noticed is a sound which comes from inside the computer. It reminds me of the sound modems used to make using dial-up internet, but quieter. Whenever i'm in a game, and the menu or intro screen changes or changes colour, the tone of the noise changes. I don't know if this helps diagnose the problem? I videoed the screen on my mobile to try to see what the blue screen said because there's not time to read it. It's hard to make out on my phone but here's what I can read, where I have X is what I can't make out... The problem seems to be caused by the following files: XXX_disp.dll XXX_FAULT_XX_NONPAGED_AREA There's some codes further down the page but I can't make out all the numbers so it's probably not worth posting them. To me the disp.dll suggest a display problem of some sort, but if an updated driver doesn't solve it is there anything else, or could it be a dud card? If anyone knows anything else I can try or what the problem could be, please help. Thank you! Mark.

08-16-2008, 10:23 PM	#2 (permalink)
Aus_Karlos Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Western Australia Posts: 3,447 OS: Vista Ultimate x64, Windows XP 32-bit/64-bit, Ubuntu x64, Windows 7 x64 Beta My System Blog Entries: 2	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. Hi mpphotographics The first error : XXX_disp.dll Is you display drivers, this error is actually quite common. The best thing to do is to visit Nvidia from my sig and get the latest Graphic drivers. If you have the latest, try some other ones. The second is a bit more difficult to explain. But put it simple, a program tries to write some data to the pagefile but writes it in the wrong area. (Meaning any part of the HDD thats not the designated pagefile section.) This could be caused by Faulty RAM, Faulty HDD or some Motherboard drivers are missing. Use memtest86 from my sig to check for faulty RAM, Test could take upto 30min or more per RAM stick. Also what Power Supply was put into the PC, could you post those spec aswell please. __________________ MemTest86 / Nvidia Drivers / ATI Drivers / DirectX 9.0c / Sys Requirements / Everest Folding@Home

08-17-2008, 07:39 AM	#3 (permalink)
mpphotographics Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 16 OS: XP SP2	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. Hi Aus Karlos, thanks for your reply. I have tried this freeware version of Memtest... http://www.softpedia.com/progDownloa...oad-10259.html It said I should run two tests at the same time with 805mb on each, so I did that and started them both, within a minute there were errors, I was pressing ok and there were more every time I pressed enter so I just held enter down until it stopped at 912 errors! and it was only a few % into the test. The other test also had over 300 errors. After the messages stopped the test was still going but then I got the blue screen. I restarted, tried the test again and this time as soon as the first error message came up the blue screen flashed again and the computer restarted. I didn't catch what the blue screen said this time but would all those errors suggest the RAM is faulty? Also to answer your other question the power supply is 570W. It was advertised as 500W but I got a message from the seller saying that would be no good and he'd put in a 570W. Thanks for your help

08-17-2008, 07:55 AM	#4 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,331 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. Run memtest86+ on one stick of RAM at a time to test for any errors. Direct link to pre-compiled bootable ISO (click the link to download the zipped ISO file) http://www.memtest.org/download/2.00...+-2.00.iso.zip Unzip the file and burn the ISO to CD (as an image, not as data) to create a bootable CD. Reboot and go into the BIOS. Change the boot order to 'CD first', save settings, insert the CD and reboot. This will start the program. Run for one RAM stick at a time (very important, to prevent false readings) for at least 10 passes each and post back with the results. To see the 'blue screen of death' (BSOD) without the computer restarting, go to Control Panel > System > Advanced tab > Startup & Recovery Settings button > System Failure and remove the checkmark from 'Automatically restart'. The full BSOD message and Stop error code will help pinpoint the cause of the problem. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

08-17-2008, 02:07 PM	#6 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,331 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. Yes, take out all RAM sticks leaving just one. Then repeat for each stick. Any errors at all means faulty RAM, but running memtest on more than one stick at a time can lead to false errors. You can cancel memtest if you start to get errors, and move onto the next stick. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

08-17-2008, 10:40 PM	#7 (permalink)
Aus_Karlos Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Western Australia Posts: 3,447 OS: Vista Ultimate x64, Windows XP 32-bit/64-bit, Ubuntu x64, Windows 7 x64 Beta My System Blog Entries: 2	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. Yeah Forgot to mention that, memtest86 has a problem with dual-channel configs and will report errors. For your PSU do you know what amp it is putting out on the 12v Rail. Post your findings. __________________ MemTest86 / Nvidia Drivers / ATI Drivers / DirectX 9.0c / Sys Requirements / Everest Folding@Home

08-18-2008, 01:37 PM	#8 (permalink)
mpphotographics Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 16 OS: XP SP2	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. I just tested both sticks separately and no errors. Also according to my motherboards hardware monitor the 12v line is showing 11.65v. Not sure what else to do now, I was sort of hoping the memory was at fault.

08-18-2008, 10:02 PM	#9 (permalink)
Aus_Karlos Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Western Australia Posts: 3,447 OS: Vista Ultimate x64, Windows XP 32-bit/64-bit, Ubuntu x64, Windows 7 x64 Beta My System Blog Entries: 2	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. I need the apm reading from your PSU, To find this information take the side off of your case and look at the sticker on the side of the PSU. __________________ MemTest86 / Nvidia Drivers / ATI Drivers / DirectX 9.0c / Sys Requirements / Everest Folding@Home

08-26-2008, 05:48 PM	#10 (permalink)
mpphotographics Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 16 OS: XP SP2	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. Can't see an APM rating anywhere. I'm getting even more problems now though... BSOD: BAD_POOL_CALLER PFN_LIST_CORRUPT IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONE_PAGED_AREA Others: Generic Host Process for Win32 has encountered a problem and needs to close. Also when I tried a game again it said it encountered a problem and needs to close, this was in the error report: winmm.dll. If anyone can help I would really appreciate it, thanks. Mark.

08-26-2008, 07:34 PM	#11 (permalink)
Aus_Karlos Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Western Australia Posts: 3,447 OS: Vista Ultimate x64, Windows XP 32-bit/64-bit, Ubuntu x64, Windows 7 x64 Beta My System Blog Entries: 2	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. Have you tried scanning for errors on the HDD. The PSU information will look something like this. Could you post what you see on your sticker. Most of these BSOD can be caused by corrupt drivers. Its hard to find the right one so you may have to just re-install all of the drivers. Or you can try and use verify.exe located in the system32 folder under windows. This is for users that have basic/advanced knowledge of windows. Im still trying to get my head around it. But here is a link to MS to try and explain a few things. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/244617 __________________ MemTest86 / Nvidia Drivers / ATI Drivers / DirectX 9.0c / Sys Requirements / Everest Folding@Home

08-27-2008, 02:32 AM	#12 (permalink)
mpphotographics Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 16 OS: XP SP2	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. Thanks, I will check the PSU when I get home tonight. Also how do you scan the HDD for errors? I've done a few fresh installs of XP, formatting the HDD with NTFS each time, and re-installing the drivers off the disks each time. I have also tried the latest drivers for the graphics card and mobo, and flashed the BIOS. One time I even had a blue screen while XP was installing. I'll also look into that verify.exe tonight. Thanks again for your help.

08-28-2008, 07:49 AM	#14 (permalink)
Aus_Karlos Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Western Australia Posts: 3,447 OS: Vista Ultimate x64, Windows XP 32-bit/64-bit, Ubuntu x64, Windows 7 x64 Beta My System Blog Entries: 2	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. Your PSU is underpowered to run a 8800GT you only have 16a on the 12v rail. The 8800GT requires 32a on a 12v Rail. But before you rush out and buy a new one just wait for koala to post. He knows more about PSU's. __________________ MemTest86 / Nvidia Drivers / ATI Drivers / DirectX 9.0c / Sys Requirements / Everest Folding@Home

08-28-2008, 09:49 AM	#15 (permalink)
Aus_Karlos Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Western Australia Posts: 3,447 OS: Vista Ultimate x64, Windows XP 32-bit/64-bit, Ubuntu x64, Windows 7 x64 Beta My System Blog Entries: 2	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. Can't edit my last post for some reason.. But anyway. After getting some some help from Koala. You PSU has 2 +12V lines (+12V1 and +12V2) with 16A each. When PSUs have multiple +12V rails, you add them together. 80% of this total is the approximate overall total amps. So you have approximately 25A for a card that requires 32A. So i would recommend a High-end 650W PSU with some amps behind it. Here are two Newegg Products thats i would suggest you look at. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153063 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817256021 __________________ MemTest86 / Nvidia Drivers / ATI Drivers / DirectX 9.0c / Sys Requirements / Everest Folding@Home

08-29-2008, 06:52 AM	#17 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,569 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. the figures given out by the hardware team are based on what the video card companies say is required nvidia states a pcie card requires a min available output on the 12v+ lines of 26amps from a quality power power supply with a 8800 this puts you in this minimum range of quality and output http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...corsair%2b650w __________________

08-29-2008, 07:36 AM	#18 (permalink)
mpphotographics Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 16 OS: XP SP2	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. Tonight i'm going to put my old graphics card in, ATI Radeon 9550, I imagine it's much less demanding and if everything works fine i'll know it's the PSU at fault. Thanks for moving this, I was thinking it's not games related anymore.

08-29-2008, 07:53 AM	#19 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,331 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. Contact your seller and ask him to check his facts again. All PCIE cards need a minimum of 26 amps to run efficiently under stress. His statement about the 8800GT needing only 20 amps is rubbish. You can power an AGP card safely with 20 amps, but a PCIE card would have trouble running in 3D fullscreen mode for any length of time with so little power. Have a look through the forum posts for people with underpowered 8800 cards, and you'll see problems with artifacts, overheating and crashes while gaming. Maybe these problems don't appear in the first few weeks, but they do appear after a while, depending on usage. Your PSU has a combined +12V rating of approx 25-27amps, which is just about enough to power an 8800GT. A 570W PSU with 26A/+12V is cutting it fine, no matter how energy efficient the card is. I've got an 8800GT with a Thermaltake Toughpower 650W which has four 18amp +12V rails giving a combined total of approx 57amps. I've tried lower quality PSUs (22-28amps) and the performance definitely suffers. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

08-29-2008, 08:11 AM	#20 (permalink)
mpphotographics Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 16 OS: XP SP2	Re: Blue Screen and Crashing on games, New PC. Thanks for that info Koala. I could ask him to send me a better PSU, he's been very helpful so far but it seems some of his info isn't accurate. Are they easy enough to install for someone with little knowledge like me? I'll still try my old card tonight, that should confirm if that's the problem.