Hello,

I'm having a hard time with this brand new PC and can't figure out what is wrong.

I have tried the following games: Shayia, WolfET, Fallout3, Far Cry2.

All of them crash after 10min to 1 hour of gameplay. I get a blue screen that flickers then my pc reboots.

I tried WinXp 64b and WinXp 32 sp3. still the same results.

I tried with the drivers that came with my system, didnt fix the problem so tried with the ones on the manufacturer's websites for all hardware didnt work any better.

Here is my gear: CPU:Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3G/1333/6M/S775

MOBO: ASUS P5Q ( It broke after 9 days of games failing so I had the store give me a new one, since they believed that was the problem)

RAM: CORSAIR 800Mhz DDR2 NO-ECC 4096M TWINX C5

Hard Drive: 500G 7200 SATA2 SEAGATE

Power supply: Corsair 650W

Video Card, EVGA 9800GTX+ 512M

I use to understand everything that was happening with my old PC ( 5 years old) even changing blown up caps on it but this new computer with all the new technologies is overwhelming and after spending a good amount of cash I would like to be able to play a game.

Will wait your expert advice :-)

You describe typical heat related problems. Try opening the side and blasting a deskfan in there, then see if it holds without rebooting. How many case fans are installed in your case? Do you have room for more, and preferably big 120mm fans (don't forget power connections).

You might check the Event Viewer for entries just seconds (beyond that is not important) before the reboot.

I have 4 casing fans plus of course the cpu and video card fan.

No overclocking is done on anything in the PC.

Originally Posted by ulnamir

I have 4 casing fans plus of course the cpu and video card fan.

Okay, and how are they configured? Your goal is for good "front-to-back" flow so fans in front should be drawing air in, and fans on the back panel of the case should be exhausting hot air out.

No overclocking is done on anything in the PC.

That's good.

Who installed the CPU's heatsink fan? If you, did you use TIM.

What are your temperatures?

Originally Posted by Digerati

Okay, and how are they configured? Your goal is for good "front-to-back" flow so fans in front should be drawing air in, and fans on the back panel of the case should be exhausting hot air out. That's good.

Who installed the CPU's heatsink fan? If you, did you use TIM.

What are your temperatures?

The fans are configured so the front and side fans push inward and the back fans outward.

As for the CPU heatsink fan , I installed it as per the CPU book with the precoated TIM on it which seemed to have the right amount as the whole surfcae was covered but no overflowing of the paste anywhere.

The CPU fan is connected to the proper connector on the Mobo and two fans of the casing are connected to the chassis connectors on the mobo while the other two are connected to the PSU.


I have gone through some forums and they mentioned that it could also be related to faulty RAM and suggested to run Memtest86 , Prime95 and 3dmark.

Would these let me know of a heating fault?

oh and Thank you for the time you are taking :-)

I have gone through some forums and they mentioned that it could also be related to faulty RAM and suggested to run Memtest86 , Prime95 and 3dmark.

Your ASUS motherboard came with a utilities disk that would include PC Probe - a hardware monitor for temperatures. Alternatively, you could use CoreTemp for newer Intel and AMD64 CPUs. SpeedFan is a great and popular alternative, or you can try Motherboard Monitor. Unfortunately, I have found that these programs often have problems properly identifying and labeling the sensor they are reading. The temperatures shown are as accurate as the inexpensive, low-tech sensors will allow, but it may say System Fan instead of CPU Fan. Fortunately, the programs do allow you to edit the labels, so I use Everest to verify the temperatures (as it is able to put sensor to label correctly), then edit the label in the monitoring program. In Everest, look under Computer > Sensor, then wait a couple seconds for the readings to appear. Unfortunately, Everest does not minimize to the system tray to show real-time temperatures, otherwise, you could use Everest instead of the others.

You can test your RAM using one of the following programs. Both require you to create and boot to a bootable floppy disk or CD to run the diagnostics. Using the floppy method is generally easier (and another reason to include floppy drives in new builds. However, the CD method is just as effective at detecting RAM problems. Allow the diagnostics to run for several passes or even overnight. You should have no reported errors.

Windows Memory Diagnostic - see the easy to follow instructions under Quick Start Information.
or
MemTest86+ (for more advanced users) - an excellent how-to guide is available here.

Other causes of sudden reboots are faulty power supplies, failing motherboards, or failing (or over heating) graphics cards.

Thank you Digerati,

I will look into the programs you have mentioned, Im hoping they will bring up a big RED flag on one thing and that it will finally be the end of this frustrating problem.

With my luck and with Murphy's law I doubt it though ....but we never know maybe 2009 will be better than 2008 hehehe :-)

Hi everyone,

Thanks to Memtest86 I was able to locate the source of all the crashes and BSOD.

If you ever heard that the Corsair Ram never fails well never say never because it was the problem on my computer.

If you need more info about the problem and the troubleshooting story let me know. :-)

Now after 4 days of constant gaming with Far Cry 2 ...zero crash or BSOD.

:-)

Glad you got it sorted out and thanks for the followup.

I would not discount Corsair on this one failure. Even the best stumble.

Originally Posted by ulnamir

Hi everyone,

Thanks to Memtest86 I was able to locate the source of all the crashes and BSOD.

If you ever heard that the Corsair Ram never fails well never say never because it was the problem on my computer.

If you need more info about the problem and the troubleshooting story let me know. :-)

Now after 4 days of constant gaming with Far Cry 2 ...zero crash or BSOD.

:-)

I wouldnt totally discount corsair memory either, it is a proven fact that 6-8% of all electronics are faulty from the factory-and thats with the high quality name brand stuff. Corsair makes good memory. I dont use it personally but ive seen systems it has been used in and it works good