Computer freezes during gameplay

[donleyd602]

I just built a new system and have but one complaint about it. every time I try playing a game such as Age of Empires 3, age of mythology, or any other game my system freezes and I have to reboot. I have to manually shut my machine off. This same thing also happens when I try to download files off of the Internet. im using:

850 watt psu

zotac 9800 gtx graphics card (ill eventually be running 2 using a sli connector)

intel quad core processor (2.6 Ghz)

atx elitegroup black series x48t-a motherboard (ddr3)

2 gb of ddr3 ram

250 gb hard drive

and im running windows xp professional

Any help is appreciated.

 

[gabbo93]

Go to event viewer and record the error that has occured down and then post so that I can see whats wrong, or set your computer up to not restart when it encounters an error and upload the dump file.

If you need any more help please ask.

 

[donleyd602]

i dont know how to do either of these things. if you could explain how to do them it would be greatly appreciated.

David

 

[gabbo93]

Well to open event viewer open run in the start menu and type in eventvwr and the press enter. Then when your in their choose windows logs, then go to system logs or something like that, then look through there for an error, or to make it easier, cause that error then when you restart just open event viewer straight away and look for the critical error.

If that doesn't work then i will tell you how to use dump files.

 

[donleyd602]

ok i did this and it brought up an error that said "side by side". and thats it.

so now what?

 

[gabbo93]

Can you open that error and look for a description of it because that error can refer to many things.

 

[windmill007]

If its a hard lockup where mouse stops moving you may not have any error listed in the event viewer. And if it is a hard lock I would say you have a hardware problem. Could be heat related. Have you done a prime test on the processor or a memtest on the memory? Usually when you build a new system those are two things you want to test to make sure they are stable and not over heating.

 

[donleyd602]

to windmill007

ive been in my bios screen and checked my pc health and have never seen my my cpu temp. go above 55 deg. cel.

im beginning to think its a hardware problem now too. Windows wont even boot up any more

 

[donleyd602]

to gabbo93

i cant even get windows to boot up anymore, just a tiny white line flashes up in the top left corner of the screen, or absolutely nothing happens

 

[gabbo93]

Have you tried disconnecting the graphics card and other components that aren't abosolutely neccecary and seen if any of them are causing the problem. You could also try a different ram stick or move the card to another slot.