Computer randomly freezes

[Ghost]

I have no idea what the problem is but whenever I play any game(even some pretty old ones) the computer freezes and I have to restart it.
I have Windows XP SP2
Geforce 4 mx440 graphics card
512 mb or ram
80G harddrive

Does anyone know what the problem might be?

 

[Gogf]

I won't know the answer, but presumably it will help if you tell us what these games are.

Do any of the games change your resolution? That can cause problems on older computers.

 

[Ghost]

all the games freeze
Diablo 1
Diablo 2
Half-Life 1 and 2
Civ 3
Unreal tournament 2004
and so on

Every single game I play it freezes

My computer is actualy reletivly new

 

[vbraun]

Do you have ant viruses/spyware?

 

[Ghost]

I have sbybot and Norton
they both come up with nothing

 

[Zakharov]

How long have you been having this problem?

Some possible causes are:

- XP service pack 2
- Graphics drivers out of date
- Faulty 3d mode of graphics card
- Failing power supply
- A bad stick of RAM

I'm sure there are other possibilities too, but we need more info.

 

[Ghost]

I just got a new computer and right away I started having the problem
at first I thougth it was just the game but every single game I played crashed

 

[Ghost]

Also is there some program that can tell you if you have a good enough PSU?

 

[Zelig]

Also is there some program that can tell you if you have a good enough PSU?

No. IIRC newer NVidia drivers will let you know if you have really severe power issues, but software ways of detecting anything about the power supply are notoriously innacurate, a digital multimeter is the way to go if you're concerned about your power supply outputting properly.

Does it freeze only in games, or when in windowed applications as well?

What I would try:

1. Open your case and blow a room fan straight into it. If your games no longer freeze, it was a heat issue.

2. Download Prime95 and run the blend torture test overnight. If you're able to do so, it almost guarantees that your video card is the problem... if it fails, we've got some more work to do.

 

[Ghost]

HUH that do you want me to download?
and what does it do?
why would it working mean I need a new card and it not working mean I don't?
Isn't there an easier way to test that?
I dont want some program running on my comp for a month

 

[Ghost]

Also is there a way te tell what temperature my comp is at
maybe it's a heat problem because I just touched my Video Card and almost burned myself. It's been running for a week strait
I tried the fan thing and it didn't help but I'll shut down my computer over night and see what happens tomorow

 

[vbraun]

It's been running for a week strait

Have you tried letting your computer rest for an hour. Stop being such a slave driver, Computers have feelings to you know

 

[funxus]

If there's something wrong with your computer, reformatting is usually a good start. Maybe the support (if it's new) could help you out, they should be able to fix it for free, or tell you what to do.

 

[Ghost]

this computer is reletivly new to me but was baught 2-3 years ago
ALso I shut it down over the night and now I'm going to go try to play a game and see what happens

 

[Zakharov]

If there's something wrong with your computer, reformatting is usually a good start.

I wouldn't recommend that just yet. Problems can usually be solved before having to waste time and effort with a reformat. Anyway, I suspect this is a hardware issue so a reformat will not make the problem go away.

Ghost, when does a game freeze? Is is straight away (before reaching the menu screen) or after some time playing?

 

[Ghost]

I just got this computer
My brother gave it to me after buying a good laptop
It was reformated a week ago and the problem started right away so I don't think reformating will help

I think I found something:
THe games freeze when they go into 3D mode.
A gme like Unreal runs perfectly in the menues and everything but when you start playing the game it freezes after about a minuet or so into the game.
Same with Rise of nationt
when your in the 2D mode overlooking the map the game runs fine but when you go into battle the game freezes

 

[stormbind]

It sounds like overheating.

Changing the drivers might reduce features used (thus reduce heat produced).

Cleaning the fans and heatsinks might help, but beware of messing up any heat transfer compound between the chip and heatsink (insulating pockets of air in the bubbled surface of htc is bad).

Replacing the heatsink and fans is a good idea. This should be done periodically because fans wear out and pump less air.

See http://www.overclockers.co.uk for some example coolers. This will demonstrate what exists on the market and may help you to make buying decisions on ebay or whatever.

You may find heatsinks on 1. graphics card processor, 2. cpu, and 3. motherboard (northbridge).

You can also use oveclocking methods to reduce frequencies which can reduce heat produced.

The air intake (and extractor fans) can also get choked with dust so cleaning them might help.

 

[stormbind]

Disable all background tasks (like spybot or norton) when playing games as they waste CPU cycles.

 

[Ghost]

thanks
I'll try cleaning the fans and I'm getting a new video card soon.
I still don't think it's the heat though

 

[Zakharov]

It does sound like localised overheating of the graphics card core, though I wouldn't rule out a bad vRAM chip.

A new card definitely seems to be the best (and easiest) solution.