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Geek Culture / Desktop "crashing" when playing certain games

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Plystire
22
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Joined: 18th Feb 2003
Location: Staring into the digital ether
Posted: 8th Jun 2011 05:12
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So, I've been having this problem for about a month or so. Seems like certain high-end games are crashing my computer. Screen goes black and suddenly the computer's booting up again, no errors shown... once fully booted up, my mouse won't work until the computer is restarted yet again. The crash happens anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 1/2 hours after starting gameplay. The games DON'T lag at all. Anything from Valve that I've tried crashes the computer (Half-Life 2, Portal 2, TF2), as well as BF:BC2.

For Portal 2, I was able to avoid the crash by turning all of the video settings down to medium. This, however, does not work for any of the other games. Also, I have all other unnecessary applications closed when playing these games.

My first thought was that I had a driver problem, so I updated my video drivers. Doesn't fix the problem.

System specs:
Vista 64-bit
2GB DDR2 RAM
700GB HDD
ATi Radeon 4870HD (Not sure bout video ram, but I believe it's either 256MB or 512MB... or one of those new -- weird, numbers.)


Any ideas what else I could try to fix this problem?


~Plystire

Only those who sow the seeds of their desires will reap their benefits later.
However, I have seeds of my own to tend to. I don't have time to be someone else's watering can.
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crispex
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Posted: 8th Jun 2011 08:09
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A common case of lack of system resources. First, your RAM is relatively low for running 64 bit. 2gb is the recommended MINIMUM.

Second, games run different engines at different graphics levels. Portal 2 still uses the Source engine, which is relatively light on mid-level hardware.

I would suggest a RAM upgrade and a graphics upgrade. That's about all.

I just now realized I've had a typo in my signature for the past 3 years.
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Plystire
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Joined: 18th Feb 2003
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Posted: 8th Jun 2011 09:36 Edited at: 8th Jun 2011 09:38
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Yeah, I should probably go get my 4GB back... I used to have 4GB, but one of the 2GB sticks had the heat sink melt off (the glue softened and the heatsink slid off), and I ended up accidentally breaking it trying to put it back on.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I HAVE played these games previously without issue... same system specs... and since this only happens when I play games, I don't think it could be a virus.


~Plystire

Only those who sow the seeds of their desires will reap their benefits later.
However, I have seeds of my own to tend to. I don't have time to be someone else's watering can.
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Quik
16
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Joined: 3rd Jul 2008
Location: Equestria!
Posted: 8th Jun 2011 09:46
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if your playing a valve game i dont think its the graphic card (iam running them on a very lowend computer, with 2gb ram, however iam running a 32bit win 7)
I would say try get that 2gb ram back on

and for the record, I am a man.

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Plystire
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Posted: 8th Jun 2011 09:50
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The RAM breaking was at least a year ago, and I've played these games without problems since then (Except, of course, Portal 2)... I'll be getting the extra RAM anyway, but anything else I can try in the mean time?


~Plystire

Only those who sow the seeds of their desires will reap their benefits later.
However, I have seeds of my own to tend to. I don't have time to be someone else's watering can.
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Plystire
22
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Posted: 8th Jun 2011 09:53
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Come to think of it... wouldn't it BSOD if it were a RAM problem? That's what I have seen in the past.

*Sorry for double-post, ticking mailback*


~Plystire

Only those who sow the seeds of their desires will reap their benefits later.
However, I have seeds of my own to tend to. I don't have time to be someone else's watering can.
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Quik
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Joined: 3rd Jul 2008
Location: Equestria!
Posted: 8th Jun 2011 12:20
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can you post the CPU then? because if thats the case then both theRAM and your gfx card can handle it

and for the record, I am a man.

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Plystire
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Posted: 9th Jun 2011 00:06
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I think I found the problem. My GPU is overheating. For whatever reason it's idling at 60-65C and reaching 90+ when stressed. I also noted that even when being used a lot, the GPU fan wasn't being turned on even though it's set to auto... Manually turning the fan on seems to be keeping it cool enough, though still not cool enough that I'm comfortable with it.

Thanks for the help, though, guys.


Oh, and here's the CPU, can't believe I forgot to list it:
AMD Phenom x4 9950 (2.6GHz)


~Plystire

Only those who sow the seeds of their desires will reap their benefits later.
However, I have seeds of my own to tend to. I don't have time to be someone else's watering can.
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