Game Crash

[Lucky2@aol.com]

I have a Dell XPS 400:
Pentium 4 Processor 540 w/HT Tech
512MB
nVidia GeForce 6800
I play the Sims 2 and one day it just crashed and the monitor shut off (flashing) and a message flashes something about the video adapter. I also know I have a fan that gets loud sometimes, but it doesn't crash when the fan is on loud. From there, I'm not really sure what happened, a co-worker of mine said the hard drive could not be detected even in another Dell computer. So he reformatted it and gave it back to me, without any drivers at all. So I downloaded them myself and from there I replaced the video card (upgrade to GeForce 7600), sound card (soundblaster), and monitor. I still have the original problem I had in the beginning. I also updated BIOS and video, sound drivers etc. Could the fan be the problem or maybe something more? The game itself is not the problem as other games like it crash the same way. Please Help.

 

[mailpup]

Is the fan the CPU fan? You might have an overheating CPU.

 

[Lucky2@aol.com]

Game Grash

Please tell me is the CPU fan the one in the top right corner above the graphics cards and memory slots? I'm not real sure that, it's not the fan in the front of the computer where the vents are. I'm sure all computers are build different. I can find out.
Thanks

 

[mailpup]

No, I believe you are referring to the power supply fan which exhausts air to the rear of the PC.

The CPU fan appears to attach to the front of the case and directs air to the CPU heatsink by means of a plastic, right angle duct.

 

[Lucky2@aol.com]

Yes, the power supply fan is the one making noise. I think I figured out where the CPU is (it's covered in black plastic w/fan) in the center of the case. Could that still be an overheating CPU ? I've always thought it was an issue with the graphics card. In the beginning (before reinstall), the computer would not (even with dell tech) install the driver without crashing. But since I bought a new graphics cards, monitor and sound card, I really thought the problem would be resolved, but it's not. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mailpup]

It can be potentially more than one thing so it could still be an overheating CPU. However, a noisy power supply fan is not good either. If it fails and the power supply overheats and fails, it can take out other components at the same time.

Edit: Is the fan loud because it is running fast or is the fan going bad?

 

[Lucky2@aol.com]

I could replace the fan and see from there. I hope I'm hearing the right one, it only gets loud once and a great while. I think it's just going bad, I'm not sure. What else could I check on?

 

[mailpup]

What is the error message you've been getting?

 

[Lucky2@aol.com]

It flashed on and off with the monitor really fast but said something about the video adapter cannot be? displayed. And at a later time it would go to the blue screen and say "page fault in a nonpaged area" but that problem has since gone away with the new graphics card, but I still get the crash where it goes back to the monitor turning off and on. It happens anywhere from 5-35 minutes after playing high graphics games. The other programs (pictures, internet, etc) always run fine even for a long time.

 

[mailpup]

When the monitor goes off and on, what else happens? Do you get kicked to the desktop or do the games stay on?

 

[Lucky2@aol.com]

The computer will not respond at all, I try to ctrl alt delete and that usually doesn't even work. I have to hold the button to shut down. Then if I do restart right away and go back playing it works fine for another short time.

Edit: Sometimes it will freeze the game and do nothing for a long time and you have to ctrl alt delete and restart game

 

[mailpup]

I could be wrong but it seems to me to be an overheating problem from your description. The most likely candidate seems to be the CPU. Are you sure the fan noise is coming from the power supply and not the front CPU fan? You replaced your graphics card with no change, correct? If so, that's why the graphics card is not high on my list of suspects.

If the power supply fan is making noise, you generally don't replace the fan although it probably can be done. You usually replace the whole power supply. So if the power supply is already a known issue, try replacing it and see if that solves the problem.

 

[Lucky2@aol.com]

I could be wrong, I only listened with the case off one time. I will try to replace the CPU fan and post back later. I changed the graphics card and that solved the blue screen crash (Page Fault Error), but not the other one as described. Thank You.