Screen goes out and computer locks up in games

[madmike]

Hey guys im new here, nice to meet you all.

I've had a problem for a long time, and have spent quite a lot of time trying to figure out whats wrong. Everytime I try to play a graphics intensive game, in the middle of play the screen will suddenly become all garbled color and then my monitor goes to standby and my graphics card fan stops. My computer stays on but its locked up and requires me to shut off power, cant just hit the reset button. Like you guys are probably thinking right now, i checked heat levels. I first shut off all overclocking- didnt help, then tried replacing the cooler on my card and then the card itself, all to no avail. 2 things of notice, my fan on my mobo failed so its no longer active, and when i ran a memory test it came up with errors. It only happens in graphically intensive games. I ran prime95 and it was fine. I really appreciate any ideas or help you guys can give me. Thanks - Mike

 

[Liquidlen]

Mad.. Quotes;
"2 things of notice, my fan on my mobo failed so its no longer active, and when i ran a memory test it came up with errors. It only happens in graphically intensive games. I ran prime95 and it was fine."

If you are talking about the Fan on top of your CPU, you better replace it before you do anthing including turning the machine on.
Next try swapping/replace ram to eliminate the bad one/s.
Since you have been overclocking there is a chance you have fried a component or two.
How does your machine stack up in comparison to the hardware/software requirements of the games you play?
Once you have stabilized,check Vid driver versions , you might need to try are version more appropriate to your needs, (be it older or newer version)

 

[madmike]

hey thanks for the reply

haha no its not the cpu fan, i was talking about my northbridge fan. Other than that, i have a decent rig i guess. 2.6 @ 3.3, 6800GT, gig of ram. I tried testing all my ram chips and it failed with each combination. I feel like there might be something fried on my motherboard and has something to do with either the ram or the agp slot. Ive tried, older and newer drivers for my vid card... this has been driving me nuts for a while now. Thinking of buying a new mobo, but if i do it will be pci-e thus making my 6800gt a paperweight.....

 

[Liquidlen]

If that fan is not on this could be a problem, also combined with the questionable Ram .I wold start planning some hardware changes.
Switch to PCI-e, no problem sell the AGP card on ebay!

 

[madmike]

i said i was done with computers...

haha well the adventure continues, i guess i will do that. Hello AMD64x2 goodbye 1000 dollars

thanks

 

[Jaf]

Hi all. I have got a similar prob to madmike. Lately, the computer has been dodgy, with a bsod every second, pc just freezing. I've sorted that, I had a bad ram module, so now I'm down to 512MB of ram until i get a new stick. I thought all was well, but oh no. Now when I'm playing any game (GTA SA most of the time) it plays well for 15-20 mins. Then all of a sudden sound goes stuttery and choppy, and the computer just freezes. The reset button doesn't even fix it, becuase when I do restart the computer I get a message on the monitor saying 'over frequency', then the monitor goes into standby. If I switch the computer off for a minute, then switch it on its fine. I am really stumped as to what it could be, I hope it's not my gfx card as I've only had it about 10 months (least its still under warranty), I think I will try the monitor rigged up to my old onboard gfx 2moro when i have more time, as currently the monitor is rigged up to the agp 6800gt gfx card. I have tried the normal restart routine from Start > Turn Off Computer > Restart, and i haven't got the over frequency message when it restarts that way.

Here is my set-up

AMD Athlon XP 2700+ (2.17Ghz Not overclocked)
512MB PC2700 DDR 333MHz RAM
MSI 6777 MOBO
NVIDIA 6800GT 256MB AGP GFX CARD
120GB HARD DRIVE
ANTEC 480-WATT PSU
WIN XP HOME
I would be grateful for any suggestions/help. Thanx all