pcmatt

I recently got an nvidea 7800 GS graphics card. Ever since i have installed it my PC shuts down randomly - sometimes after a couple of minutes, sometimes 1 hour, sometimes 4 hours, but most commonly within 10-15 mins, of which i then have to hold in the power button to reset my PC. It ONLY happens during game play.

What is really confusing me is that it runs Call of Duty 2 and 4 perfectly and has never switched off during them, yet it ALWAYS switches off duing Star Wars Battlefront 1 & 2, NBA Live 08 and NHL 08. These games are lower spec than call of duty 4 by miles!!! And with my old nvidea 5200 both battlefronts played fine!!
I have purchased a new power supply (620W cooler master) as it says i need 400W to run a 7800 card (i had 320W). I have changed drivers to 84.21 from the current ones. There is no overheating what so ever, i have defragged my PC with o & o defrag etc...
I am totally stuck, please help!!!!
I have intel pentium 4 - 3.00Ghz and 2.00GB ram.

FreoHeaveho

Hi, welcome to TSF!

Download the latest nvidia drivers for your card and save it to your desktop from here (DONT INSTALL YET): http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_169.21_whql.html

Download Driver Cleaner here: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Securit...-Cleaner.shtml and install it.

1. Reboot into safe mode by pressing F8 on boot.
2. Uninstall your graphics drivers using the Control Panel, uninstall programmes option
3. Use Driver Cleaner to remove nVidia drivers.
4. Restart into Safe Mode again (tap F8 on boot).
5. Install the latest driver you downloaded to your desktop.
6. Restart normally.

Update Direct X here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

Restart.

Ensure you have all the latest Microsoft Updates and Game patches.

That should be enough to sort you out.

pcmatt

I have done exactly as you said and still the same result! I am pulling my hair out!
The computer still seems to run in the background (I forgot to mention before, rather than actually switching itself off), but the monitor totally shuts down. I the have to hold in the power button to shut down the computer completely. This happens every time I play certain games! Got about 2mins into a game on NBA live 08 just now and it shut itself down. Two hours ago I played Call of Duty 2 completely fine! Why is it playing some and not others??? And all the ones it plays seem to be of a far higher spec!

FreoHeaveho

Ok then, based on the fact that the computer monitor is not staying on is a bit different.

So let me clarify - your monitor switches off randomly and you are forced to hard shutdown, because you cant see the screen???

If so, its simple, your monitor is faulty. It seems to be drifting in and out of signal, or picture. It may be the cold cathodes (if lcd), or the tube if crt.

Essentially, i think your monitor is broken, but you need to try another monitor to be sure. If it works flawlessly for a few days, on different games, i think you can be pretty sure the monitor or its cable are stuffed. Swap the monitor and the cable over and then test.

good luck.

pcmatt

No, No, have a new monitor - does not work with either old or new one, is not the monitor!!!
Computer shuts down, but still runs in the background (if that makes sense, you can hear it running)! the power to the monitor goes completely, leaving me having to restart the comp!

Thimble

i think he means he gets a "black screen".

i'm guessin' low power or heat issue or both...

Deleted090308

To see if there's any log explaining what's happening:
Click Start > Run > type eventvwr.exe and click OK.
In Event Viewer > Click "System".
See if there's anything coinciding with the system shutdowns.

waassy

I had the same problem 2 years ago. I bought a MSI RX1600Pro. I noticed the same problems. I made contact every computer expert I know. I tried lots of things they said. Didn't work.
Finaly I decided to bring it back to the shop where I bought the card.
One week later the sent me a new one.
And that worked. Thats all. The card was wrong.

Try an other Nvidia card, if that one works the problem will be the same.

Waassy ( mygpu.info)

pcmatt

I will send my card back for a new one i guess, i have tried everything! But surely if the card was faulty it wouldn't work at all??!!! I still don't understand how it runs call of duty 4 flawlessly!
If anyone has further ideas please help!

pcmatt

I am determined to get to the root of this and checked the back of my game boxes.
Call of Duty 2 requires a dvd drive speed of 2X and Call of Duty 4 requires a speed of 6X. I ran a speed test and my dvd drive JUST averages a speed of just over 8X - meaning I am more than capable of playing these games. However - NBA 08 and NHL 08 require 8X (the read me file actually says 16X). Am I clutching at straws or is this why my PC is cutting out - because my dvd drive is not fast enough??!!

Deltanew2

i got same problem, when i play Battlefield 2 after exactly 10 minutes my screen turns black and my computer is still running. i can do everything else except playing games. i think its overheating or something maybe the fan isnt working properly

1 g0t 0wn3d

What are your temps and voltages check with speedfan in my sig

also try memtest in my sig

pcmatt

i have speed fan, but don't really know how to use it/what to be looking for? All i can make out is that the fitness of my drive is 97% and the performance is 98%.

My HD0 is 35C
My Core is 54C
My Ambient is 0C Not really sure what any of this means!

Nitro212519

Did you connect the 4 pin power connector to the 7800GS? some people actually forget to connect it

Nitro212519

Did you Connect the 4 pin power connector to the 7800GS? some people actually forget to connect it if so have you treid to update your chipset drivers?