Crashing, PC Problem?

[andyw823]

Got round to installing RW2 on the SSD C: drive, and guess what....... same thing happened! Copied the RW2 folder over to my D: drive and the same thing is happening Tried to monitor the temps while running and both CPU and MB reached 50c max. AS before the whole PC is freezing solid.

[gptech]

To be honest I'm not too surprised. What happens, or rather happened, when you were just using the IDE drive? did it freeze then? If it ran OK I'd return the SSD and have it checked out.

[andyw823]

Yes it did run ok before the SSD! However I have copied the RW2 folder over to my D drive and the same happens or will what drive it's installed on have no effect? I can have the PC running all day long with a handfull of programs running and it's perfectly stable. I'm just wondering if the problem is else where? When the pc freezes it's still powered up but the screen goes black and my monitor displays "no signal" could it be a graphics problem? When I boot up windows does not through up any error messages or reports.

[Kromaatikse]

I'm thinking it's a graphics card problem, not the SSD. What graphics card is it?

[andyw823]

I'm thinking it's a graphics card problem, not the SSD. What graphics card is it?

ATi Radeon HD5750 1gb. It's on the latest driver.

[Kromaatikse]

That type doesn't usually have much trouble. Check if the cooling fan is working though.

[gptech]

.............. When the pc freezes it's still powered up but the screen goes black and my monitor displays "no signal" could it be a graphics problem.............

Why didn't you state that on page 1? if you have a blank screen how do you know it's frozen?---there could be myriads of messages just trying to get displayed or waiting for a response before continuing.
First thing that springs to mind is that the GPU is overheating and shutting down, even though reported temps may be in an acceptable range. When it shuts down can you bear to touch the heat sinks on the graphics card?

[andyw823]

Sorry my bad! Are you asking me to touch the heat sinks? If so I'll give it ago! I was monitoring the gpu temps via ccc and I recall them being around 50-60c. I'm sure there is a fan over ride in ccc, I'll try cranking it up.

[gptech]

Careful when touching the heat sinks though, if the temps are being reported wrongly and they are getting very hot you might end up burning your figures and saying some naughty words!!!

I had an nVidia 6800XT that went this way, reported temps were around 65 degrees--well within the design limits--but that temp was enough to cause it throw up lots of artifacts and tearing and other such nonsense. Has the card ever been overclocked in any way?

[andyw823]

No the card is as it was when the pc was built by mesh computers. Is there a way of checking for overclocking? If the card is overheating I might have a cure on the way as I've ordered an extra tower cooling fan!

[gptech]

Thers not really much you can do to check for overclocking, but as you know the full history of the card we can safely say it hasn't been stressed in that way. Another fan might help, it all depends on whether the card is just getting too warm or if it is in fact internally damaged, and if the fan will actually direct cooling air over the heat sinks. Be aware that it's recommended that fans should exhaust air rather than pull air into a case, and if you are fitting fans to pull air in you should have a greater number of fans exhausting air. How big is the fan and where do you intend fitting it?

Just read through the full thread, and you've already stated that when you tried an old card it ran as it should..... leads me to think you need a new graphics card rather than just a fan.

[andyw823]

Thers not really much you can do to check for overclocking, but as you know the full history of the card we can safely say it hasn't been stressed in that way. Another fan might help, it all depends on whether the card is just getting too warm or if it is in fact internally damaged, and if the fan will actually direct cooling air over the heat sinks. Be aware that it's recommended that fans should exhaust air rather than pull air into a case, and if you are fitting fans to pull air in you should have a greater number of fans exhausting air. How big is the fan and where do you intend fitting it?

Just read through the full thread, and you've already stated that when you tried an old card it ran as it should..... leads me to think you need a new graphics card rather than just a fan.

I don`t remember posting that due to me not owning any old cards!, i have tried different drivers if thats what you mean? But these had no affect. As for the fan it was a bit of an impulse buy, i do seem to have high-ish MB temps which might be down to me upgrading the CPU heatsink/fan, the pervious heatsink/fan blew onto the CPU/MB but this thing was stupidly loud. The one i upgraded to draws the air from below and pushes it up though the heat sink, which isn`t cooling the MB. I thought my exhaust fan was 120mm however its 92mm, the new fan on order is 120mm. My intentions were to use this to draw air in as i only have one exhaust fan exit. I can play around with this new fan as i do have ventilation in the side pannel.

[shaun123]

.............. When the pc freezes it's still powered up but the screen goes black and my monitor displays "no signal" could it be a graphics problem.............

Why didn't you state that on page 1? if you have a blank screen how do you know it's frozen?---there could be myriads of messages just trying to get displayed or waiting for a response before continuing.
First thing that springs to mind is that the GPU is overheating and shutting down, even though reported temps may be in an acceptable range. When it shuts down can you bear to touch the heat sinks on the graphics card?

Mine was doing exactly the same the other week! Load Railworks up, set up a route and then it would freeze and go to No Signal.

I also, had the side cover off, reason being it was getting hot in there, so I thought that it would be good to take the cover off.

I sent mine away to be fixed and was told it was graphics card problem, however on further investigation it was actually the Video Card (something to do with a lead as well ) and now Railworks now runs brilliantly.

[Kromaatikse]

Video card, graphics card, same difference. Seems like any type of card *can* go wrong, it's just more or less common with particular types.

[gptech]

Whoops, my mistake Andy--I read it wrong, and you did just use a different driver. This puts a new slant on things, as if you installed the latest driver just because you could rather than it offering a new feature that you just simply must have or resolving an issue you're having I'd suggest sticking with the older driver. Latest doesn't always mean greatest!

Cases aren't pressure vessels, you cant shove more air in there than it can naturally hold, but because of this and the fact that nature abhors a vacuum any volume of air you exhaust from a case is instantly replaced by air being drawn in. This natural flow across the components is what cools them, and the better the thermal design of the case the easier it is for air to gain entry in the 'right' places to flow over the components that need cooling. It's easy to add a fan in the 'wrong' place and just create a 'whirlpool' of air, which contributes nothing to cooling. You may find your case already has mounting positions, or possibly a cradle so this indicates somebody's done the physics and determined the best place for siting extra fans. As you have ventilation in the side, this would be a good place to try, but monitor temps as much as possible.

Shaun....

...I sent mine away to be fixed and was told it was graphics card problem, however on further investigation it was actually the Video Card ....

Graphics card and video card are the same thing.