Re: Video card problem

Keith Brown wrote:
> My son bought the components for a gaming machine this past summer and
> we assembled it and he started using it. The problem is that when he
> plays graphics-intensive games the machine freezes ... not immediately
> but usually after some seemingly random time. If he doesn't play games
> and uses his machine for browsing etc. it behaves normally. During one
> of his gaming sessions when it froze I touched the graphics card and it
> was HOT!! So hot that I involuntarily pulled my hand away. The card is
> an ATI Sapphire X800.

Well, the GPU isn't the only subsystem getting a workout during gaming.
  I'd grab an Ubuntu live CD and see if they have memtest on them. It's
possible the memory is hooched -- a simple browser using < 64mb of RAM
won't see it, but a game that uses all 2gb for backing store will find
those bad transistors quicker than you might like ;)

It's also worth investigating the cooling on the CPU itself -- browsing
typically doesn't peg the fancy 2Ghz dual core CPUs of today, but a game
like Oblivion sure can (that rendering engine!). If you're using an OEM
proc with a cheap cooling fan, you could quickly be experiencing failure.

If both the CPU and memory are solid and you've tested them solid, try
with a spare other video card to also eliminate the possibility of a bad
motherboard before you assume the video card. You've definitely got a
hardware issue, but you haven't determined if it's the video card yet.
Do these steps and you'll know for sure.
Received on Sun Oct 22 13:46:19 2006