I'm having PC trouble, and I know there are a few ( if not many ) people around here who know there stuff. So if this is allowed, I'd like to pick your brains.

Basically, after spending about 45 minutes to an hour in a game (any game) the PC crashes.

Example;

I'm playing Silk Road (don't judge me). I'm an hour in and BAM! The screen freezes and everything goes a bit... weird. The screen looks like that http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b7/Missingno.png. I can still move the mouse to a certain degree, but it's extremely slow. The sound also goes nuts, everything goes robotic and deranged. No keyboard commands can save me, I have to pull the power.

Suspecting it was the graphics card, I opened the PC up and took it out to find it caked in dust. So I got the hoover out made sure it was completely cake free. On replacing it and rebooting the PC I noticed the fan on the card no longer came on immediately. That's good right? I mean, it no longer needs to try and cool off because of the copious amounts of crap built up inside it. Well, yeah, it didn't help. It still freezes.

I have the latest driver for my card (It's an Nvidia GeFore GTS 240 if that helps at all) and I'm all up to date with Windows Updates etc.

Any ideas folks? Have I buggered my card with all that cake? Someone suggested reseating everything inside the Tower just to make sure nothing's sitting funny and being knocked out of place.

Thanks in advance.

Is it just one game, or does it happen more often?

Every game I own. Except Morrowind.

Which is weird.

Still sounds like overheating though. Have you tried running a temperature monitor while you play?

Did you try reinstall those "latest drivers"? Sounds to me like they got corrupted.

Best to do a clean wipe of the current drivers. Use http://www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/ in safe mode after uninstalling the current drivers. Then reinstall them fresh.

P.S.

I second the temp monitor suggestion. I use http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/index.htm. (Works on all GPUs not just MSI.)

+1

Or even better, if it's a software problem, give your PC an enema with a good old Format C:.

As for temperature monitors, I've heard good things of a program called http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php. If the format C: doesn't clear it up, it's a hardware problem (and I'm pretty sure it is, probably your GPU since artifacts and screen distortion are typical of dying GPUs), then install speedfan and see how hot your individual components get.

But it's pretty likely to be your GPU. Did you clean its fan too? And not just with the vaccuum cleaner, but I really mean getting the dust out of the fan itself.

I've had the exact same artifacting and a driver wipe fixed it right up. Could really be either though, lets hope it's the easy fix. *crosses fingers*

P.S.

Seems I missed part of your post.



Agreed. Look down any fins/openings and make sure they are not obstructed either.

Agreed would try http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/which can give a good solid readout of your card including fan speed, GPU load, etc... . Use it almost religiously to test out games to see how my card is handling them instead of relying on other internal stress tests. Not sure what you could use as a processor monitor though since I have a digital readout on my EVGA board. If you're running Windows 7 then you could use Resource Monitor which will give an idea of what is being consumed.

Even though your graphics card is overheating I find it strange it permeates to the rest of your computer. Would try to do a sweep to see if you got any nasties hiding in your system then as mentioned do a complete uninstall then reinstall of your card drivers. What kind of card are you running exactly and what's the specs for your system setup? More info we get the more we can help you out to figure out the problem.

Yeah, indeed, let's.

Still, to be honest, unless you know what you're doing, I still think a Format C: is better than a driver reinstall.

Most people I know, if I were to just tell them to format c would either: 1. fail to do it or 2. lose a large chunk, if not all, of their data

Sounds like overheating to me, too. The best way of finding satisfaction is to wait for somebody you don't like to ring your doorbell and to drop the PC on them from the upstairs window.

Okay. I'll bust it open again and have a good look.

I'll report back.




Anything I should be looking for in particular inside Resource Monitor?



The card is a GeForce GTS 240 1024mb GDDR 3.

The system itself is a year old Dell - Studio Xps 8100.

Intel Core i5 3.20Ghz

6GB of Ram

64 bit OP system - Windows 7.

Well, it goes without saying that you need to back up your junk before starting. And if the OP needs help, we can always walk him through it.


No, no, no, that was pianos!

I have a hefty external HD. This can happen, if all else fails.

:icecream:

Going to open her up. Shall return.

Try using more cake

I never trust monkeys with guns.

Ooh, lah di dah, pianos indeed. "No more buttered scones for me, mater, I'm orf to play the grahnd piahno."

That was a precious Steinway!

GPU-Z has it's uses, but MSI Afterburner is better for your current needs. It has OSD so you can see what is happening while you play your games. If you have a KB with an LCD you can view it there to, as I do over OSD.

Ok, so. What's the typical temperature for a card when playing games?

I'm getting a reading of 49c when I'm on the desktop with no game currently running.

Nvidia cards are tested at 105-110°C so unless you can fry bacon on your GPU I wouldn't worry about it

Urgh.

53c in-game.

Back to the drawing board I guess. I'll try What Storm and Wolf suggested, then.

53°C in-game is very good. My card goes up to 85-90°C while gaming. :/

And if you can fry bacon on your GPU I wouldn't worry about getting the munchies while you game.