- Joined
- Nov 14, 2008
- Messages
- 1,283
Ok, folks, hang in there. My computer is about 6 months old, and I've been having this problem since week 1. I've posted this to the AMD forums but no one's been able to come up with anything really solid except maybe my PSU is not powerful enough.
Here's the quick system specs. Each item links to Newegg for the nitty-gritty info if needed.
Antec Sonata III 500 case w/500W PSU
Asus P5K Pro board
Intel E8400 3.0 GHz Wolfdale CPU
2 GB Kingston DDR2 1066/ PC2 8500
Sapphire ATI Radeon 4850 PCI-x card
XP Home SP3
So, here's what has happens. I'm playing a game (list to follow.) After a few minutes it crashes. By crashes I mean the monitor goes blank, the monitor power switches from green to blinking amber, which is what it would be if the PC were off, but the PC is still on. Sometimes the sound goes on for a bit, sometimes it loops a short clip. I hit the reset button to reboot.
I've checked the temps after boot and everything seems decent enough. I know the 4850 runs hot, I have a slot fan next to it and 1x80MM fan, both blowing out.
Games that have crashed:
HL2 - tons of times. I've stopped playing it.
Portal - once. The one time Portal crashed is when I put it at the same res as HL2 - 1280x1024, which the monitor supports cause that's what I run TF2 at.
Bioshock - several times, all within 10 minutes into the game.
Max Payne 2. I tried it just to run an old game. It crashed waaay before anything should have gotten overloaded/hot enough. It crashed on the opening movie, when you're in the hospital.
Games that have not crashed
TF2 - this is the game I've played the most, by far. It might have crashed ONCE, but I don't remember.
Crysis Demo. I've played maybe an hour. No crashes.
I do not have the latest BIOS, but I have updated several times. I have also been through every Catalyst version from 8.8 to 8.12, so don't tell me to update my graphics drivers, please.
I am not OCing anything. I tried setting the RAM timing to what Newegg says it's supposed to be, but after a couple boots, the BIOS gave me a "OC failed" type error and it reverted back to "auto RAM timing" and I've left it there ever since.
I have also had a very odd problem on boot. Sometimes the Window screen will freeze and go dim. If you notice, it kinda fades in (brightens) on boot. Sometimes it freezes before fading in all the way, sometimes it takes 3-5 seconds for it to fade in (brighten) all the way. Sometimes I have to reboot because it just freezes on the Windows screen. I've tried logging boot but I think it crashes before anything is written to the log file.
Anyway, I think I'm going to go pick up a new, more powerful PSU tomorrow, just because I don't really know what else to try. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Oh, I know the Amps on the 12V rail is important, I looked at my PSU, I believe I have 22A on the 12V, I'll double check, but it's not what it says on the AMD forums. That was from the Antec site, but the PSU in my case is actually different.
I've ran Memtest and the Furmark w/o any problems.
Here's the quick system specs. Each item links to Newegg for the nitty-gritty info if needed.
Antec Sonata III 500 case w/500W PSU
Asus P5K Pro board
Intel E8400 3.0 GHz Wolfdale CPU
2 GB Kingston DDR2 1066/ PC2 8500
Sapphire ATI Radeon 4850 PCI-x card
XP Home SP3
So, here's what has happens. I'm playing a game (list to follow.) After a few minutes it crashes. By crashes I mean the monitor goes blank, the monitor power switches from green to blinking amber, which is what it would be if the PC were off, but the PC is still on. Sometimes the sound goes on for a bit, sometimes it loops a short clip. I hit the reset button to reboot.
I've checked the temps after boot and everything seems decent enough. I know the 4850 runs hot, I have a slot fan next to it and 1x80MM fan, both blowing out.
Games that have crashed:
HL2 - tons of times. I've stopped playing it.
Portal - once. The one time Portal crashed is when I put it at the same res as HL2 - 1280x1024, which the monitor supports cause that's what I run TF2 at.
Bioshock - several times, all within 10 minutes into the game.
Max Payne 2. I tried it just to run an old game. It crashed waaay before anything should have gotten overloaded/hot enough. It crashed on the opening movie, when you're in the hospital.
Games that have not crashed
TF2 - this is the game I've played the most, by far. It might have crashed ONCE, but I don't remember.
Crysis Demo. I've played maybe an hour. No crashes.
I do not have the latest BIOS, but I have updated several times. I have also been through every Catalyst version from 8.8 to 8.12, so don't tell me to update my graphics drivers, please.
I am not OCing anything. I tried setting the RAM timing to what Newegg says it's supposed to be, but after a couple boots, the BIOS gave me a "OC failed" type error and it reverted back to "auto RAM timing" and I've left it there ever since.
I have also had a very odd problem on boot. Sometimes the Window screen will freeze and go dim. If you notice, it kinda fades in (brightens) on boot. Sometimes it freezes before fading in all the way, sometimes it takes 3-5 seconds for it to fade in (brighten) all the way. Sometimes I have to reboot because it just freezes on the Windows screen. I've tried logging boot but I think it crashes before anything is written to the log file.
Anyway, I think I'm going to go pick up a new, more powerful PSU tomorrow, just because I don't really know what else to try. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Oh, I know the Amps on the 12V rail is important, I looked at my PSU, I believe I have 22A on the 12V, I'll double check, but it's not what it says on the AMD forums. That was from the Antec site, but the PSU in my case is actually different.
I've ran Memtest and the Furmark w/o any problems.
As for all that other stuff, if this doesn't fix it, the PSU is next on the list. (holds breath and hopes for the best)
