help!!

zero9046 · 05-12-2008, 09:50 PM

My girlfriend just purchased an HP a6460t paviollion desktop. stock specs, cept for the 500gb hard drive.

Once we got it, and made sure things were running alright, I turned it off and installed a BFG 650W PSU, and an EVGA 8800GT graphics card.

Now, I'm pretty sure the graphics card isn't the issue, but I can't say for sure because we installed it before we experienced the problem I'm about to describe.

She has been kind of busy this week, so she has pretty much just done quick e-mail checks and things like that, spending most of her computer time on Wow.

Once or twice a day, for the last several, while she has been playing Wow, the game would freeze for up to 30 seconds or so, and then resume. Apparently, the computer also shut down on its own a couple of times (in conjunction to wow freezing).

Concerned because of how new this comp is, i ran the pc doctor diagnostics and it was determined, after a lengthy conversation with HP that the hard drive was a lemmon and was responsible for the random shut downs (which seem to be linked to the in-game freezes). The SMART short test was the diagnostic that would fail (I know nothing about hard drives other than that they hold data, so I'm not sure what that means).

They are sending a replacement hard drive, but in the mean time, she is still playing a lot of wow, and it is still happening. It happened tonight, thankfully as we were logging off after finishing an instance.

Anyways, sorry to be long-winded, but here are my questions:

Is it actually likely that the "defective" hard drive is responsible for in-game temporary freezes, as well as random shut downs?

And, given that several diagnostic tests determine that the graphics card (as well as the rest of the components) is fine, should I be worried that the graphics card is actually shutting things down?

I will also post this thread in the graphics card forum because it kind of straddles the fence.

johnhook · 05-12-2008, 10:19 PM

zero9046,

There have been a LOT of people having similar problems with games locking up with that GT8800 video card. In most cases - the card turns out to be bad. If you just bought it - I would ask for an RMA replacement. I say this because I've spent MANY days trying MANY things with that card only to find out that the card was bad. I would do a search of my posts - or search for 8800 here and you'll see what I mean. I've also included links to other sites where users of this card are having similar problems.

Hope this helps.

- John

zero9046 · 05-12-2008, 10:41 PM

well, to clarify, I bought one for her, and one for me. Mine has been working fine. So, I swapped the cards out between the 2 computers to see if I could get her card (now in my computer) to lock up like she has been seeing.

Since we just bought them, and have what, 15 days? I'll "test" it out for a few days and see if I have the same problems.

If she doesn't get them anymore, and neither do I (best case scenario), then maybe we just got a quirky card that works better in my system. Worst case I guess I can RMA it and put my old 8600GTS in her comp for the time being. Thanks for the reply

05-12-2008, 09:50 PM	#1 (permalink)
zero9046 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: North Texas Posts: 30 OS: Vista Home Premium	help!! My girlfriend just purchased an HP a6460t paviollion desktop. stock specs, cept for the 500gb hard drive. Once we got it, and made sure things were running alright, I turned it off and installed a BFG 650W PSU, and an EVGA 8800GT graphics card. Now, I'm pretty sure the graphics card isn't the issue, but I can't say for sure because we installed it before we experienced the problem I'm about to describe. She has been kind of busy this week, so she has pretty much just done quick e-mail checks and things like that, spending most of her computer time on Wow. Once or twice a day, for the last several, while she has been playing Wow, the game would freeze for up to 30 seconds or so, and then resume. Apparently, the computer also shut down on its own a couple of times (in conjunction to wow freezing). Concerned because of how new this comp is, i ran the pc doctor diagnostics and it was determined, after a lengthy conversation with HP that the hard drive was a lemmon and was responsible for the random shut downs (which seem to be linked to the in-game freezes). The SMART short test was the diagnostic that would fail (I know nothing about hard drives other than that they hold data, so I'm not sure what that means). They are sending a replacement hard drive, but in the mean time, she is still playing a lot of wow, and it is still happening. It happened tonight, thankfully as we were logging off after finishing an instance. Anyways, sorry to be long-winded, but here are my questions: Is it actually likely that the "defective" hard drive is responsible for in-game temporary freezes, as well as random shut downs? And, given that several diagnostic tests determine that the graphics card (as well as the rest of the components) is fine, should I be worried that the graphics card is actually shutting things down? I will also post this thread in the graphics card forum because it kind of straddles the fence.

05-12-2008, 10:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
johnhook Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 810 OS: MS SBS 2003 SP2	Re: help!! zero9046, There have been a LOT of people having similar problems with games locking up with that GT8800 video card. In most cases - the card turns out to be bad. If you just bought it - I would ask for an RMA replacement. I say this because I've spent MANY days trying MANY things with that card only to find out that the card was bad. I would do a search of my posts - or search for 8800 here and you'll see what I mean. I've also included links to other sites where users of this card are having similar problems. Hope this helps. - John __________________

05-12-2008, 10:41 PM	#3 (permalink)
zero9046 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: North Texas Posts: 30 OS: Vista Home Premium	Re: help!! well, to clarify, I bought one for her, and one for me. Mine has been working fine. So, I swapped the cards out between the 2 computers to see if I could get her card (now in my computer) to lock up like she has been seeing. Since we just bought them, and have what, 15 days? I'll "test" it out for a few days and see if I have the same problems. If she doesn't get them anymore, and neither do I (best case scenario), then maybe we just got a quirky card that works better in my system. Worst case I guess I can RMA it and put my old 8600GTS in her comp for the time being. Thanks for the reply