Off Topic Computer Glitch Question

[BulletToothTony Profile]

Just curious if anyone can answer this question, I've looked around on the web and can't seem to find anything specific:

Does anyone know what problem, software or hardware wise, causes the computer to just go to a black screen? Occasionally, while playing a game like RTCW or WWII Online, my screen will just go black, all sound will stop, and I have to do a hard reset. No crash to desktop, no way to bring up the system window with ctrl-alt-delete, nothing.

I know that when you are playing a game and the screen locks up and the sound repeats it is usually due to your video card getting too hot. I'm fairly knowledgeable about computer issues and can usually fix or find the answer, but this one has me stumped.

My specs are an Athlon XP 1700+, 512meg PC2100 DDR ram, MSI nForce mobo, GeForce 3 video card, running WinXP Pro and not overclocking anything.

Any help?

[MeatShield]

my first guess would be a hardware issue... mainly heat..

Of course be sure to cover all of your bases.. update your grafix card toe the latest drivers... update the game to the latest patch...yada, yada..

Also how long has this been occuring, and was there anything that you can remember that has been changed...anything.. since this problem has started to occur ??

as you may already know, a classic sign of a heat issue would be the pc shutting off for no reason, but in your case I would assume that the pc does stay on.. Just for giggles, I have also seen a power supply cause these types of problems too.. If you have a spare 400watt ps just laying around... (this will prove your true geekness..lol) give it a try too..

again... my $0.02

[Lord ZOG Profile]

I agree with Meat...faulty or under-powered power supplies can cause similar problems.

Do you have a CD-RW and another CD-like device (DVD)? Fast video card (64MB RAM or more).

Overclocking?

Check that weazy power supply.

[MMmmGood]

When you do a hard reboot, go into your BIOS and look at your temps, what are they?

[Lord ZOG Profile]

Usually, when power supplies begin to go bad, your PC will spontaneously reboot. If it's just shutting down it may very well be heat related. My motherboard has alarms for temperature and fan speed warnings, so it starts beeping like mad before it actually shuts down.

[BulletToothTony Profile]

Thanks for the replies, I guess I never considered the power supply based on the fact that the problem is both rare and random. I figured if it were my power supply, I'd have problems more often.

My system isn't overclocked and I do have temperature warning software running. I'm usually in the 50 degee celcius range, maybe gets to 57 or so with a game running.

I do however have two hard drives, a cd drive, and cd-rw installed. My power supply is 350, so maybe I should look into a 400 or pull the cd drive. Card wise, I only have the video card in the agp slot and a networking card. Sounds more and more to me like this might be a power problem.

[MMmmGood]

Those temps are VERY high even for an XP.

What heatsink are you using? Did you put it on right? What thermal paste did you use? If you put too much paste on it will cause it to hold in heat instead of dissipate it.

[Horsepower Profile YIM]

those temps are a little on the high side. plus all of that hardware you are running does indicate you may need a bigger PSU. you may also want to try disabling ALL power saving options in your OS and BIOS. list your system specs please.

[MeatShield]

benchmark time !!!!

I am chillin at 31 c... for reference...

Chieftec case
XP 1600 (not oc'ed) with standard heatsink and fan
2 WD 40g 7200 hds.. 1 in removable drive w/fan
CD-RW
DVD-ROM
FDD
1gb DDR mem
ATI AIW 64mb vid.. with small fan
1 cc neon tube
400w ps w/ 2 fans
7 other case fans...


purrin like a kitten, kills like a lion!!!!

[(>Tool<)]

Get a new case fan and maybe even make sure your processor fan or power supply fan havent stoped running on you. I know when I was messing with comps that had the exact problem you discribed that fan had died in the power supply causeing it to over heat one day but maybe not the other, I also think the same thing could happen if your processor fan stoped as well. Just check stuff out, I've never had a problem with heat, but I did install 2 extra fans just to have them cooling everything off. Heat creates electrical resistance and that will make your comp work harder to do the same thing, the cooler the better and thats NOT only true for overclocking. I built a fan on the heatsink of my video card and I get consistantly higher frame rates now. It could get up about 125 fps, but only did in short spirts and it would usually run 30-40 fps most times. Added that fan now I'm 50-60 fps all the time and when I get in hallways I bounce off 125 fps the whole time. So definatly check some of that out that I mentioned........... Good luck man on fixing it, check fans, especially power supply fan, I'm almost positive (by book definition of that problem) I looked it up about a year ago to fix a comp.

[MeatShield]

ok, so it looks like you are going to be getting a power supply... if you are able, try to splurge a little. A quality p.s. can go a long way.. I have been very pleased with my p.s. ... it looks nice too..

Raidmax

[BulletToothTony Profile]

Oddly enough, Nvidia specifially addressed this issue with a path they released nov 30th or so for the nForce mobo. Seems there were issues with the MCP and how it was handing Directx 8.1 sound that was causing the black screen of death. I haven't had any probs since, but I appreciate all the help and suggestions that were offered.

[(>Tool<)]

But hey man, still buy another case fan or something, your temps are probabily still high, you can get a fan for new to nothing and if you need I could write you a guide of how to put it in. It would really be a smart thing to do. Your also welcome for my input, I try:D