More like CRASHmo

Crashmo

Okay, so I've been having a bit of a crashing problem since I put together my pc. (My first build, big surprise there)

Specs:
ASUS P5N-D Mobo
Intel Core 2 Duo 3.00ghz Processor
4 GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 RAM
GeForce 8800GT
750w power supply
Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit SP1

Alright, now here is the specific crashing problem I'm having. Whenever I'm playing most modern games, I'm getting a full cold crash, with no kind of warning. This can happen anywhere from 5 seconds to an hour into whatever game I'm playing. This also only happens with specific games, not all of them.

I've been able to play TF2, Garry's Mod, Empire: Total War, L4D, and various other HL2 mods for long periods of time without any problems. I think L4D actually crashes after ~2 hours, but who wants to play that game for that long anyways.:whistle:

Warhammer Online, Dystopia (HL2 Mod), Shotgun Sunrise (PA made HL2 mod), and Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor (Haven't tried the original on this pc) all crash me in too short of a time to get any joy from them.

Fixes I've tried so far:

New RAM. First set was A-Data 4gb DDR2
New CPU fan + goo, temperature is not a problem.
Pretty sure vid. card temperature is not a problem.
The ASUS P5N-D reportedly has some audio driver issues? I've tried uninstalling, reinstalling, reformatting, etc. trying to make sure that this isn't the problem, but it is still a possibility.
I've also tried changing processor priorities and outright disabling one of the processors for the game I'm playing, with no noticeable difference.
Changing graphic settings from low to high and back, no noticeable difference.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

exoplasm

Wait, what kind of crash? Computer freezes up? Blue screen?

imperial6

By cold crash I assume you mean everything shuts completely off, including the power? Often that's an emergency shutdown from overheating but since you seem to have ruled that out, I'm going to have to guess bad power supply. What psu do you have and how old is it?

Crashmo

imperial6 wrote: »

By cold crash I assume you mean everything shuts completely off, including the power? Often that's an emergency shutdown from overheating but since you seem to have ruled that out, I'm going to have to guess bad power supply. What psu do you have and how old is it?

Yeah, a full shutdown.

This is the power supply I purchased new last July.

exoplasm

Could be a bad surge protector or circuit the outlet is using. Try another surge protector and/or wall outlet and see if that helps. My brother had this problem with his new PC. Changing the surge protector fixed it.

imperial6

exoplasm wrote: »

Could be a bad surge protector or circuit the outlet is using. Try another surge protector and/or wall outlet and see if that helps. My brother had this problem with his new PC. Changing the surge protector fixed it.

Yeah hopefully that does the trick. If not, don't try to play on it anymore...a bad psu can fry your other components.

Crashmo

Well I just tried every combination between two surge protectors, two power chords, and 3 sets of outlets to no avail. Is there a way to tell if it's the psu?

exoplasm

Crashmo wrote: »

Well I just tried every combination between two surge protectors, two power chords, and 3 sets of outlets to no avail. Is there a way to tell if it's the psu?

Trying a different PSU is the easiest way, really.

Cronus

exoplasm wrote: »

Crashmo wrote: »

Well I just tried every combination between two surge protectors, two power chords, and 3 sets of outlets to no avail. Is there a way to tell if it's the psu?

Trying a different PSU is the easiest way, really.

I've got to agree. If you can get a friend to bring over a computer it'll be a very quick job. Just about a 1/2 hour and then you'll know for sure if you need to replace it.

I'd also do a backup if I were you, just in case the worst happens.

Quetzatcoatl

I have a similar built computer and was having a ton of crashes due to the Geforce 8800 being factory overclocked with inadequate cooling.

There is an app by NVIDIA that can force your clock speed down to the default speed. I think its just called control panel or something simple but I remember it was a separate download from the drivers and software. I'm at work so I can't get the specific name of the program but I will post it later today.

JustinSane07

Did you try checking the voltage of the memory? Make sure the mobo both supports and is set to the memory's voltage. I had this problem when I first built my PC last January. The memory was 2.2v and the mobo's default was 1.8v. It caused all kinds of crashing problems under stress.

Mblackwell

Is there beeping after it shuts off? Depending on the type of beep the system is telling you different things... unless you didn't hook up the PC Speaker.