problem in playing games on my PC

[louie31313]

Hi!

i have a problem on my PC.. it is a 3 year old PC..on about the 1st yr until now..when i play mvp05 on it or any other games in general.. sometime in the middle of the game my computer pauses/hangs and after about 5 seconds it will restart..but this does not happen in other programs..only in games. can you help me with this problem? i have changed memory's because the old ones were broke.. but even before that this problem happens..

is it a hardware or a malware that causes this??

thanks in advance :D

[Batter-up]

Hello, I would try a register program but before that defrag you hard drive and run a antivirus spyware program and see if that helps.

[MarkB]

I'd put money on the system overheating. It restarts because the system is too hot, the air temperature sensor detects this and restarts the system to kill any programs that are causing the increase in temperature.

If you're comfortable opening the system, check the CPU and PSU fans, make sure they're both spinning. Run the game with the system cover off and see if it restarts with the cover open. If it does, try using a fan or something to cool the CPU area while running the game. If it doesn't reboot doing either of these 2 methods, it's more than likely to be overheating.

If you're not comfortable opening the system, run the game and feel the air outlets at the back of the system and check how warm the air that is coming out is. Use your hands (fingertips, specifically) on the case to check if the case feels warm when running the game.

Also, just for regular maintenance, defragment your HDD, run whatever anti-virus/anti-malware program you have, and remove anything it finds.

How old is the PC, what make and model, and where is it stored?

[louie31313]

thanks for your replies/help specially MarkB.. i am going to try those things...

meanwhile my PC is reformatted because my windows got corrupted..T_T

just saying..

my PC will be 3yrs old this December.. i really don't understand the what make and model but what i know is this is build part by part by my cousin.. like different brands of motherboard,processor etc.. some technician that repaired my PC calls it a "clone",(hope that it answered ur question), the PC is stored in a place like a cabinet....only no doors(hope you understand this again) so overheating might be the problem...

again..sorry for my English and thanks to all that replied..

[louie31313]

i have just another thought that the make u are asking is the specs maybe??

here it is:

motherboard: kn1 sli extreme mboard

Processor: AMD althon 64bit

graphic card: Inno3d Geforce 6500

memory cards: one 1gig. 1 256mb.

HD: 180 gig sata

i hope that answered your question.

thanks!

[MarkB]

Yep, all makes sense.

Storing the system in a cabinet, especially a rather hi-end set-up like you have, will cause heat issues, no doubt about it. Although you may not want the system to be the centrepiece of a room, it should almost always be kept in a well ventilated area for fresh air to run through the system and cool the components.

If you need any further help, feel free to post again. :)

[louie31313]

Thank you very much markB.. tomorrow i will rearrange my room so that i can place my PC on a better ventilated place..

i will just ask again what is this PSU fan.. i am newb

thanks in advance

[Batter-up]

PSU stands for your power supply unit Louie.

[MarkB]

No problem at all Louie, happy to help .

Inside your system, there will be a box that sends power to the various components inside the PC called the power supply unit - abbreviated to PSU. In order to keep the system's air flow at a appropriate level, get rid of hot air and sometimes suck fresh air in to the system, there will usually be a fan inside the PSU, and this should usually always be spinning when the system is on. I'd say in around 98% of cases, if a PSU fan isn't spinning, the cause is probably a faulty PSU.

[louie31313]

[louie31313]

Hi again..

thanks again for the help..

i transferred my PC to a more ventilated place and i even removed the side cover of the CPU.. unfortunately it still restarts when i play MVP05/games but the good thing is it restarts only few times.. it's like i when i play 15 games only 3of those will the PC restart.

I've checked all the fans and all are running fine..and when i checked the BIOS because i need to set up the time..i opened the PC health status and the Temperature shutdown was disabled... i didn't changed it

and also I forgot to tell that this problem happens to me since about 3months after we bought the PC and it still happens up to now Sad maybe there's a hardware that may be damaged???

thanks in advance..:)

[MarkB]

Hey,

OK, so it's restarting less with the side cover off, although it's less than previously with the cover on - that pretty much defines it as a heat issue, unless there's a similar secondary fault, which I doubt, unless you've been having issues with anything else.

Were there any blockages in the fan, such as visible amounts of dust or debris in them? Also, did you check these with the PC on or off?

Checking the BIOS is a good idea. The thermal shutdown being disabled is slightly concerning. Can you enable that?

My main concern right now would be that the CPU is becoming too hot, which is causing these issues. A number of things can cause this, but I've found from experience it's usually either thermal paste (poor quality thermal paste, found in most pre-built systems from companies like Dell, H.P., Compaq etc. can cause the system not dto dissipate heat correctly, which has the opposite effect that good quality thermal paste has and actually causes higher CPU temperatures, or incorrect amounts of thermal paste, which, again, can cause higher CPU temperatures), faulty CPU, faulty heatsink, or faulty CPU fan.

Something else to try to give us an idea of roughly what temperature the CPU is running at - download and install the Speedfan program by clicking on the SpeedFan 4.35 link on this page, and post the temperatures that the program detects. Also, try running Speedfan, start MVP, start a game and play through the first half-inning, then alt-tab out and note the CPU temperature at this point and post that as well.

Thanks. :)

[louie31313]

hi there!.. sorry i only posted this today..

before there is dirt in the fans and i cleaned all of the fans and the PC also

i checked it when the PC is turned on.

Yes i can enable the temperature shutdown.. what temperature should i set ??

here is the speedfan readings..

Without MVP

GPU:56

Temp1:61

Temp2:32

Temp3:23

Local:48

Remote:51

HD0:46

Temp1:40

Core:46

playing MVP

GPU:60

Temp1:62

Temp2:55-82

Temp3:-17-25

Local:49

Remote:55

HD0:46

Temp1:40

Core:50

[MarkB]

Hey,

No problem. Good job on clearing the dust out of the fans.

As for the temperature readings, I'd need to know what they are before saying what the shutdown temperature should be, but seeing 55-82 in there is worrying. If that's a CPU temperature, I'd look at taking immediate action to cool it down, A CPU should never really get that hot.

For example, what is temp 1? Is that the first sensor on the GPU, or is that a sensor for something else? I see there are quite a few of them, so it would be bets to know what's what before changing anything.

[louie31313]

hi here is the reading speedfan had after i cleaned the fans..

the first post was the one taken before i cleaned up the PC..

w/o MVP

GPU:56

temp1:61

Temp2:25

temp3:23

HD0:44

Temp1:40

Core:45

Core:52

Ambient:0

playing mvp

GPU:59

temp1:59

Temp2:59

temp3:34

HD0:44

Temp1:40

Core:48

Core:52

Ambient:0

i will just ask is there a way to play mvp05 in window mode so can i see the actual temperature when i am playing because when i alt+tab out of the game.. the temperatures go down.. and so maybe i can see the temperature where my PC restarts... one more thing..can i ask ur temperatures in ur PC so that i can compare maybe...

thanks again for the help.. :)

[MarkB]

Sorry, I meant I'd need to know exactly what temp1 etc. actually represent. The numbers themselves don't say much unless we know what they are for.

I hadn't used Speedfan in a while, so I just re-installed it again, and it looks like it's quite hard to tell them apart. I'm on a pre-built OEM laptop, so I don't have many temperature sensors, whereas if you're on a custom build, you probably have a lot more, as your log shows.

Try this. In Speedfan, go to the Readings tab, then click Configure on the right. You should get a screen like this;

Post a screenshot of that and we'll try to figure out which core is what. (You can also see the temperature of my laptop in the screenshot above as well - this is with 194 tabs open in Firefox open (I know, I know), wireless enabled, my remote access software started, 1 network folder and Winamp playing on Vista Home Premium.)

Yep, you can play in window mode - just add " -window" into the target of the shortcut on your desktop, like below.

[louie31313]

thanks again!...

sorry i can't post a screenshot because i cannot take one.,. how do u do it???

and when i added ( -window) in the shortcut it is still not window mode maybe i think the window is too big that it looked like still fullscreen.

can i adjust the size of the windoW??

thanks.

[SpaceFlare]

thanks again!...

sorry i can't post a screenshot because i cannot take one.,. how do u do it???

and when i added ( -window) in the shortcut it is still not window mode maybe i think the window is too big that it looked like still fullscreen.

can i adjust the size of the windoW??

thanks.

To take a screenshot:

1. Hit the Print Screen button on your keyboard. It can be the PrtSc key if you have trouble finding it.

2. Open Paint and hit Ctrl + V (which pastes the screen shot).

3. Resize as you see fit and save the image.

[louie31313]

Thanks SpaceFlare!!...

here is the screenshot MarkB..

[MarkB]

Those temperatures look OK, your CPU is pretty cool, my only concern would be that the GPU is at 52°c, and one of the sensors on your motherboard is at 57°c - not amazingly high, but could climb when using MVP. I don't know if GForce cards run hot or not, so that may be normal for them.

This is after cleaning out the fans etc. and moving the PC to more ventilated location, yeah? And the system still restarts when playing games?

You'll know the game is in window mode if you can see some borders around the edges of the MVP window. The whole command in the target box should be as follows;

"C:Program FilesEA SPORTSMVP Baseball 2005mvp2005.exe" -window

[louie31313]

exactly... the GPU temperature rises as high as 60°C

yes that temperatures were taken after i cleaned and transferred the pc...and the PC still restarts when playing games..

maybe the videocard or other hardware is damaged because this problem is happening since about 8months after we bought the PC...

thanks for the guide to window mode...

Thanks again... :)

[MarkB]

It's definitely possible. I'd ask your cousin to take a look at it to see if he can figure out what's wrong. One thing I'd like to try is removing the graphics card and running the game on onboard video to see if it restarts with that. If not, t's probably the graphics card causing the issue.

[louie31313]

ok.. thanks.. i will ask him to take a look at my PC...and i will try your suggestion..

one more thing.. the window mode still is too big for my screen...

can i minimize that?? i can't see the borders so that i can adjust the size..

thanks again!.. :)

[MarkB]

Try increasing your screen resolution, I guess, but you really shouldn't have to - it should be in a small enough window as is, unless you're using a very small screen resolution. If you move the cursor to the bottom right of the window, you should be able to resize it by dragging the borders in.

To change screen resolution, go to Start-Control Panel-Display, then click the settings tab and drag the slider to a higher resolution.

Good luck. :)

[louie31313]

Try increasing your screen resolution, I guess, but you really shouldn't have to - it should be in a small enough window as is, unless you're using a very small screen resolution. If you move the cursor to the bottom right of the window, you should be able to resize it by dragging the borders in.

To change screen resolution, go to Start-Control Panel-Display, then click the settings tab and drag the slider to a higher resolution.

Good luck.

thanks... but i tried it.. i maxed the resolution and the window is still to big to be minimized...when i press alt+tab..when i point the mouse at the place where the title bar is... i see the square button beside the close button and i clicked it and the window did not resize.