Hard drive or psu dying?

R4--N_M4l-3R

I already posed this on hw disc before i saw that there was an actual help forum

if there is a double post rule please forgive me.

I haven't made any major system changes in awile. My problem is, whenever I start to play a certain game, after a time, usually about 10-40 minutes my computer will start to click and whirr, then the sound distorts and the computer will freeze, requiring a reboot. At first, I though this was a temperature issue, but my PC is well cooled, and the temps were fine, do I ruled out overheating. I think now that it must be my hard drive, or my power supply, and as I am on the verge of replacing one of them, I was wondering which one to RMA first. Hopefully to keep this simple. I must stress that the crashes only occur in 3D games (Lineage II, C&C Generals, Call of Duty, and Counter-Strike.) The computer runs Rise of Nations fine, and will sit at the desktop for hours with no problems. I did a full backup, and I am open to any suggestions

Thanks in advance

-R4][N_M4l{3R

Medlock

I'm not sure it's the HD. If it only happens in 3d games it's probably something else. Are you overclocking at all? Maybe your psu can't keep up with your system, and it's unstable. Can you check your voltages, and reply again? In the meantime, if you are overclocking, try lowering it a bit.

Straight_Man

'R4 wrote:

[N_M4l{3R']I already posed this on hw disc before i saw that there was an actual help forum

if there is a double post rule please forgive me.

I haven't made any major system changes in awile. My problem is, whenever I start to play a certain game, after a time, usually about 10-40 minutes my computer will start to click and whirr, then the sound distorts and the computer will freeze, requiring a reboot. At first, I though this was a temperature issue, but my PC is well cooled, and the temps were fine, do I ruled out overheating. I think now that it must be my hard drive, or my power supply, and as I am on the verge of replacing one of them, I was wondering which one to RMA first. Hopefully to keep this simple. I must stress that the crashes only occur in 3D games (Lineage II, C&C Generals, Call of Duty, and Counter-Strike.) The computer runs Rise of Nations fine, and will sit at the desktop for hours with no problems. I did a full backup, and I am open to any suggestions

Thanks in advance

-R4][N_M4l{3R

PSU a bit more likely, and possible bad data cable to HD also (clicking sounds possibly like a HD parking and unparking a lot, or the stepping motor getting under voltaged and repsonding slower, whirring could be fans going to higher speed as CPU gets fully loaded while you play game). Scratched CDs can also cause game-only crashes.

Flintstone

I'm no genius, but could it be the fan on the video card trying to rev up or taking a crap as the chip gets hotter during those intense 3D gaming sessions and then locking up the computer? I think I've heard of this before and since it only happens on high 3D stuff, it seems worth a shot.


Flint

R4--N_M4l-3R

Flintstone wrote:

I'm no genius, but could it be the fan on the video card trying to rev up or taking a crap as the chip gets hotter during those intense 3D gaming sessions and then locking up the computer? I think I've heard of this before and since it only happens on high 3D stuff, it seems worth a shot.


Flint

In response to all, thanks so much for the help, Flint, my case is well cooled and the temperatures are well within acceptable ranges for games. Its not a heat issue. I have no idea how to check the voltages on my power supply. All I know is its a 350W that came free with the case.

Omatic810

I think it's a video card issue. Since it's only on 3d games, this is a good possibility. However, that wouldn't explain the clicking noise.
Anyway, my suggestion would be to try and get another video card (if you just happen to have one lying around) and try that one out on one of the problem games (counterstrike can be run on almost any video card with more than 16MB).

Also, could you list your computer specs? That should help everyone out.

R4--N_M4l-3R

The problem was the power supply. I was using the 350W Raidmax psu that came with my case, and I replaced it with a brand new 350W Antec psu and now everything works fine, and it only cost me 50 bucks :Rocker:

ryko

congrats on fixing the problem....antec psu's are a good choice.

you could always try <a href="http://www.short-media.com/getdownload.php?d=223">memtest86</a&gt; just to make sure everything else is all good...kinda surprised nobody suggested it yet!