Crashing during games please help !!

[sdfix]

I have been having problems with games crashing on my computer lately. I mainly play World of Warcraft. Whenever I start WoW my comp will run for 10 min or so and then I will get a VPU recover error. WoW will continue running for anywhere from 30 min to a few hours longer and at that point the monitor will flicker off but the computer will continue running. At this point I have to restart the comp to get the monitor to work again. I have the latest video card and chipset drivers along with completely upgaded win 2K OS. The only weird part is that this problem is intermittent, my comp may work fine for a week or so and then it starts crashing. I have reformatted numerous times and it seems to work ok immediately, but the problems always come back in a week or so. Forgot to mention I have a 420W raidmax power supply that came with the case. Any help to remedy this problem would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[vegasgmc]

Most PS's that come with case are usually crap. Thats why the case and PS costs less than a good PS alone. Most of the cheap ones dont even put out the power they claim and can even damage components over time. The components you have use quite a bit of power. You can get a good Enermax or Antec PS for about $40-50.
When I first got my 9800 it ran so hot that it would lock up. I had to put on an aftermarket cooler. You can also try an older driver. Also make sure Fast Writes is turned off. FW tends to make ATI cards unstable.

 

[olefarte]

I"m thinking the same as vegasgmc. The Raidmax 420 has 13A on the 12V line, and that could very well not be high enough, the 9800 Pro is a pretty demanding video card. Probably wouldn't hurt to get a new power supply with at least 18A on the 12V line. You might not need quite that much, but it sure wouldn't hurt to have it. Again, as vegasgmc said, it could be a heating issue. Have you checked your temps?

 

[sdfix]

Have you checked your temps?

Yes, i have checked my temps and I did install an aftermarket cooler on my 9800 pro when I got it. I had heard that the tiny stock fan on the graphics card was not gonna cut it :haha: . I think my temps are ok, cpu runs about 32-33 C no load, and maybe 45-47 C under load. I have some nice big fans in this case and the nice fan on the video card, so I am assuming it is not a heat problem. I am going to get a better power supply because that seems to be what the most likely problem. If I still have problems ill probably come back. Thanks alot for the help guys.

 

[zWarlord]

I had some of the same probs you are describing. I talked to Ati and they sent me to this page. (dont neglect the link to VIA Arena either) Hope this helps.

go to the ATI web page and open the customer care tab and open the FAQ's, #13 should help you.