Game crashes; computer resets

[chamalscuro]

A problem has been cropping up in my game, more and more.

Out of the blue, the graphics turn to crap, then a few moments later the whole system seizes up. If I do nothing, the computer reboots itself.

As far as I can tell, it's client-side.

This ring a bell? Any quickie solutions?

[Grunt]

Do you mean turn to crap as in "rainbow glitches" and square test patterns everywhere?

My first check would be a heat issue on the card.

[chamalscuro]

Thanks, Grunt.

First thing I did after reading your post was to open the case and air blast out the dust. *embarrassed* Yeah, it's dusty Arizona and I haven't done that in a year. Lotsa dust in there.

I logged in to engage in a quick, graphics heavy spell battle. It did it* again, but recovered after a few moments, something the glitch hadn't done before. Twice in fact.

*It = graphics problems... frozen graphics, white grid lines, fuzzed out gui, inappropriate cursor, etc.

So, it's the graphics card then?

[Darkfire]

Sounds like it.

What you need to do is 2 things. Either one is bad. Run your computer without the case on it so you can check everything.

1) Does you video card have a fan/heatsink on it? If a fan, is it spinning? The dust may have burned it up.

2) Is there anything on your card that is overheating? You will have to force your card to work, so play a video game or something, but test it quickly as leaving it overheating for a long time (or even a short time) is bad. Depends on the card, but you should look for a chip to touch. It won't just be warm, but if it is overheating, it will be HOT.



Another thing you can check is to see if other games start having graphical errors while playing. Regular internet browsing, etc... will not cause your card to overheat so it has to be doing some work.

And lastly, another way to test it is to have a strong fan blowing in it while playing. Make sure it's aimed towards your Video Card as best as you can. If everything works, then it was overheating and that was the prob.

[chamalscuro]

Thanks Darkfire. I gotta work now, but I'll try all those later and post results.

Thanks both of you for your time.

[chamalscuro]

So far, I've played twice since the last big dust blow-out. Last time had the cover opened while I played. No problems at all. Looks like you guys were right on the mark.

I tried touching chips on the video card but it's dinky and there wasn't really anything exposed. I'm planning to upgrade cards sometime so I can play NWN2. If I keep having issues, that'll just motivate me to do it sooner.

[loki70]

check your .ini file for the number of processors. If you are running Vista, on a dual core, it can reset your CPU count to 255, and sieze up when you are in full screen mode.

[chamalscuro]

Nope, still running Win XP. But a good tip Loki. Thanks.

[S?retur]

If you have the slots for it, try to install a fan that blows air out of the cabinet, and not just in. Best would be some 12cm fans with adjustable speed, that way you could move a lot of air without as much noise. Some thin dust-filters are also helpful.

[chamalscuro]

UPDATE:

Computer crashed so hard last night it wouldn't reboot to Windows... 20 seconds after logging into Avlis. (NWN is the only graphics-intensive program I use.) Managed to get it into Safe mode, and there was noticeable of graphic artifacting. Anyhow, I figured that the video card was the culprit, went out and bought meself an NVIDIA 8600 GTS this morning and put it in. Worked like a charm.

I think the little fan died on the 7300. I heard intermittent, fast whirring coming from the computer a couple of weeks back, then it quit doing that. Looking at the old card, the fan was caked with dust. Well, now I'm a convert to keeping the case blown out, gotta watch that dust.

[rettah_mayv]

what do you mean by .ini file being changed to 255? I have the same problem, but it's with a brand new video card.....

So far it only does the acid graphics, and freeze up in NWN2, and rarely now and again in Sims.

Again though, it's a new graphics card.

Maybe this .ini file might be my problem? How do I find it, and fix it?