Chimpy Chompy on 4/6/2009 at 00:07
Hi all
Every so often while playing games, my screen goes blank and the monitor flicks into standby. There's still sound coming out, though. Also I have no problems if the machine is left running on the desktop.
This suggest me the graphics card is cocking up somehow. Overheating, probably? I think all the internal fans are going, is there any mileage in, er, opening the case and pointing a desk fan at it?
Any other such cheapskate ideas are welcome. However if it comes to a new card I may as well get something that will last a while, so can anyone recommend something decent in the £150-£200ish range? I'm so out of touch with hardware.
Nameless Voice on 4/6/2009 at 00:10
You should be able to use (
http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php) Speedfan to get a temperature status on your graphics card.
Simply opening the case can reduce the temperature of the components by a few degrees.
bikerdude on 4/6/2009 at 16:42
Quote Posted by Chimpy Chompy
Hi all
.
Ok what your describing dosent sound like the card over heating, so first tell me what gfx card you currently have.. and we can work from there..
Chimpy Chompy on 4/6/2009 at 20:35
Right yeah I should have mentioned that, sorry. It's a: Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256MB
bikerdude on 5/6/2009 at 10:00
Ok, the cooler on that card should be quite beefy and quite noisy(when in game it should be making noticable noise). Have you done the basics like checking for dust in the fan/cooler, also check how good the airflow is through the case etc..
When in game and it goes dark screen, can you alt tab out of the game into windows..? Also to check if the card is over heating, run rivatuner and run the temp/fan/speed monitor graph while in game, to see how high the temps are going.
steo on 5/6/2009 at 11:57
Quote Posted by Nameless Voice
Simply opening the case can reduce the temperature of the components by a few degrees.
I've heard this is a bad idea, and will have the opposite effect, because it will disrupt the airflow in the case, so the cool air won't be going where it's supposed to. The thing to do, I suppose, is get a decent hardware monitor with temps for your various components and see what happens when you do open the case.
Nameless Voice on 5/6/2009 at 13:26
In my experience it cools it down slightly, at least it did in one of my past computers which used to overheat on warm days unless I opened the lid.
I'd recommend (
http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php) SpeedFan for temperature monitoring. It can monitor the graphic card's temperature, too.
bikerdude on 5/6/2009 at 13:48
Quote Posted by Nameless Voice
* In my experience it cools it down slightly,
* I'd recommend SpeedFan for temperature monitoring.
I used to run my case with the side off and it dropped all temps by 5-10c
I don't think speed fan measures and logs temp over time, when you alt-tab out of a game the temps will start to drop, so your better of using rivatuner.
Nameless Voice on 5/6/2009 at 15:55
SpeedFan has logging and charting options.
bikerdude on 5/6/2009 at 16:57
Quote Posted by Nameless Voice
SpeedFan has logging and charting options.
ah cool, I stand corrected.
