My computer shuts down when I play games (HELP)

[Vern]

When I play games, (Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005), MCM2.... after a while my computer shuts down and reboots by it self. Everything is new in my computer except the hard drive. Please help me with my problem because it sucks!

Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2999mhz
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9600 series 256mb
Memory: 1024 mb
Free Disk Space: 33.4 Gb
OS: XP & SP2
Power supply: 480W

Thanks
Vern

 

[dgower2]

Over Heating CPU

Reboots are a primary sympton of an over heating CPU. Take the case cover off, make sure the CPU fan is spinning and free off dust. Get a household fan and run it so it's blowing right into your PC case (with the case cover off). Run your game and see if it still reboots. Do you have a program installed that measures the CPU temperature? If not, you should get one that will sound an alarm when the CPU reaches a certain temperature. Speedfan might work - http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php.

 

[Vern]

I have 3 fans in my case, 2 going in and one going out. Should I reverse the front fan for it to blow out and have just the side fan going in instead? I can see that you got a ATI 9600, do you find it fast. I had a 9000 128mb before and I don't see much difference with my 9600 256mb.

Thanks
Vern

 

[vegasgmc]

Install Motherboard Monitor. It will tell you your system temps. Also check the Event Viewer in Administrative Tool for error messages. A damaged video driver can also cause reboots in gaming.

 

[dgower2]

Regarding my ATI 9600, whether it's "fast" or not is relative to what I'm playing at the time. Unfortunately, for my wallet, I've been playing FarCry and the card is fine when all settings are set to medium. I'm trying to determine what the best card would be for FarCry now. I want a card that will handle all settings high or very high.

 

[Vern]

I Think it's My Video card

Thanks vegasgmc!!

I played Tiger Woods 2005 last night and it rebooted again so I went to see the event viewer and it sayed Warning, and the source was ( Ati2mtag ).
So I checked the properties and it sayd ( invalid pixel fomat ). Do you have any clue of what I can do at this point.

Thanks Again
Vern

 

[C0d3Warr10r]

Almost there

Ok, now that you've identified the video driver as the culprit, goto either ATI's website or visit the Omega Drivers site and download the latest drivers for your card (I prefer Omega's). Download and install Driver Cleaner. Restart your computer in safe mode, uninstall any ATI software from Add/Remove Programs, run Driver Cleaner (and Cab Cleaner), and remove anything that says "ATI". Reboot your computer, install the new drivers, and reboot again. Play Tiger Woods for a while and see if the freezing still occurs. Either way, post back to let us know.

C0d3Warr10r

Big Blue:
Asus P4P800 I865PE
P4 2.8GHz 800MHz
2048MB KingMax PC-3200
Maxtor DiamondMax 9 /160GB /7200RPM /8MB Cache
ATI Radeon X800 Pro
Enermax 420W PSU
Aspire X-Dreamer II
Lite-On 12X DVD+/-RW
Sony 48X CD-RW
Samsung SyncMaster 997DF 19" CRT
3DMark03 Score: 10,035