Hey there, I'm new and I'd like some help regarding my PC - thank you 
For the past 4 months or so, my PC has been having problems when playing games. After a certain period of time, which could be anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 hours, the game simply shuts off. The PC is still on (lights are still on etc.) but no sound or image is displayed, and the monitor is black and says "No Input Signal".
For about a month, the problem seemingly went away. I was able to play as long as I wanted to. In the last week or so however, it has started up again, and it's very frustrating not being able to play games for longer than 5 minutes.
I've already checked my monitors cables and such and they are all connected properly, and anyway, if that was the issue, I'd get no picture at all, not just when playing games, and I'm also losing sound, which I've hooked up to my speakers, not the monitor's speakers. If it was the monitor, I wouldn't lose sound. This led me to believe this was a problem with my videocard.
Another interesting fact is that if I accidentally hit/shake my computer (eg. knee banging the computer desk - very painful) the no input signal thing happens straight away. The first time I "hit" it, it froze. About a month after that incident, the no signal input errors began appearing at random points, but if the PC was shook or hit, it would happen straight away.
I've cleaned my processor, all the PC fans, even tried playing in freezing air conditioned temperatures, and it continues to happen.
Recently, around the time the problem reappeared, a high pitched whirring noise started coming from the back of my PC. I believe the power supply is making the noise. The power supply blew out 6 months ago and I had it replaced, and it hasn't blown out again. Do games use up more power than regular PC apps?
The games that this has occured with include Quake 4, World of Warcraft, Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Far Cry. My graphics card is an Nvidia Geforce 5700FX, and I have 1 gigabyte of RAM. I run all the games at a suitable level so that they don't lag when playing. In fact, if they didn't shut off at random points, they would be working fine.
My current theories are:
1. The power supply is faulty again, and if games in fact use more power, this could explain them not working. Plus the supply is making a noise, which indicates a problem.
2. The video card is loose and any slight movement of it causes games to shut down, but normal programs are not affected as they don't require much video processing power.
Thank you in advance for any help. I appreciate it.
Now if only I could fix this, I could get back to raiding for better gear for my wow character... I've fallen behind all my friends
For the past 4 months or so, my PC has been having problems when playing games. After a certain period of time, which could be anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 hours, the game simply shuts off. The PC is still on (lights are still on etc.) but no sound or image is displayed, and the monitor is black and says "No Input Signal".
For about a month, the problem seemingly went away. I was able to play as long as I wanted to. In the last week or so however, it has started up again, and it's very frustrating not being able to play games for longer than 5 minutes.
I've already checked my monitors cables and such and they are all connected properly, and anyway, if that was the issue, I'd get no picture at all, not just when playing games, and I'm also losing sound, which I've hooked up to my speakers, not the monitor's speakers. If it was the monitor, I wouldn't lose sound. This led me to believe this was a problem with my videocard.
Another interesting fact is that if I accidentally hit/shake my computer (eg. knee banging the computer desk - very painful) the no input signal thing happens straight away. The first time I "hit" it, it froze. About a month after that incident, the no signal input errors began appearing at random points, but if the PC was shook or hit, it would happen straight away.
I've cleaned my processor, all the PC fans, even tried playing in freezing air conditioned temperatures, and it continues to happen.
Recently, around the time the problem reappeared, a high pitched whirring noise started coming from the back of my PC. I believe the power supply is making the noise. The power supply blew out 6 months ago and I had it replaced, and it hasn't blown out again. Do games use up more power than regular PC apps?
The games that this has occured with include Quake 4, World of Warcraft, Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Far Cry. My graphics card is an Nvidia Geforce 5700FX, and I have 1 gigabyte of RAM. I run all the games at a suitable level so that they don't lag when playing. In fact, if they didn't shut off at random points, they would be working fine.
My current theories are:
1. The power supply is faulty again, and if games in fact use more power, this could explain them not working. Plus the supply is making a noise, which indicates a problem.
2. The video card is loose and any slight movement of it causes games to shut down, but normal programs are not affected as they don't require much video processing power.
Thank you in advance for any help. I appreciate it.
Now if only I could fix this, I could get back to raiding for better gear for my wow character... I've fallen behind all my friends
