video problems

[marky]

hi i have currently got a problem with my computer and i wondered if anyone new what was causing this problem
i am running a ati radeon 9600 graphics card on a pentium 4 3.20gh pc with 1 gig of physical memory and when i play two games i have a problem the games in question are civilization 4 and the fifa football manager game what is happening is that it will play the games for so long and then the graphics card will shut down and stop sending signals to the computer and reset my pc, when it has happend on the fifa game it comes up to report the error and when i do all that they tell me to do is to install the latest drivers for the graphics card or if that fails to turn down the hardware acceleration.
now if i turn this down then it does help a little and i can play the game for longer but it still ends up doing the same thing, i was wondering could it be that my power supply unit is not good enough to cope with all that is in the pc and would putting a bigger one say a 400w or 500w one make any difference.
i would be gratefull for nay help that you can give me on this problem as i am getting ready to pull my hair out with it
cheers

 

[Rik]

The question you ask about psu is impossible to answer as you have not said what psu you have!!

It looks more likely to be a heat related problem. You should open your pc up and give it a good dust out and check the condition of your graphics card's heatsink and fan.

 

[marky]

cheers thanks i will give that a try and i will find out what psu i have in the computer

 

[marky]

hi i have just checked my computer and i have just found out that i dont have a fan on the graphics card just the heatsink and that the power psu in my computer is only a 350w system.
there is something that i also forgot to say i sometimes have problems getting the computer to boot up as it will start but then it just gets stuck and i dont get any display on my monitor and the whole thing just stops booting up and it can take me four or five starts to get it to work and usualy only then after i have left it for about ten minuets hope this extra info can help solve the problem

 

[Rik]

I'd say a new graphics card is in order!!

 

[marky]

cheers thanks for the help

 

[Rik]

Let me know what slot you have and i will help you find a good card for a good price if you like!!

 

[marky]

hi thanks i have got a agpx8 slot in my computer and what size psu would you advise going for as i think that only a 350w seems a bit small considering what i have got installed in the computer

 

[Rik]

A good quality 450watt psu or better with 18 amps or more would certainly be a good thing to put in there.

For a new graphics card, i need to know the primary use(s) of your pc and your budget.

 

[marky]

hi the main use of my computer will now be for games and mainly power hungry games like company of heros and the new star trek game i am quite flexible on the budget but dont want to get into stupid prices like you can do with some cards so a good mid priced card would be ideal if you could surgest one thanks a lot

 

[Rik]

Check this out - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Prod...agp&FilterMinPrice=&FilterMaxPrice=&OrderBy=1


And for psu's check this out - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Products.ASP?CatID=33&Category=Power+Supply&Thumbnails=yes

 

[tweakboy]

This is a heat issue ,,,,

Also PSU might not be able to handle it,