OT: Help needed,my system becomes unstable

Skybird · 07-06-06, 05:01 PM

Symptoms:

during the last two weeks, the system shut down completely (black death, power cut) two times while running idle, or running Words (so, no stress for the CPU). Two or three other incidents when it did not shut down, but started to reboot suddenly.

Three or four times, the booting sequence took up to 30 seconds to even start with showing the first BIOS screen.

Today, after having left a game (Oblivion), the desktop was heavily blurred and washed-out that I needed to reboot. But even the BIOS screens showed the same blurness and washing-out. I cut power and waited three minutes, started again then: blurred and lots of white noise. Again completely shut down, and waited some more minutes. Booting went fine again.

Setup:

I run my tower with an almost open back and a room ventilator behind it, it is more silent, and very effective - I feel a gentle flow of air at the front's openings with my hand.

I have inserted a new graphics card two weeks ago, and equipped it with a new cooler.

System was stable since 1.5 years.

It is very hot over here, room temperatur often above 27°C. That'S why i open the wide side of the tower, too.

My thoughts so far:

The new graphic card (nVidia 6800) needs more power than the AC can provide. It is a 350W device. However, one would assume that the problems would appear when the board is under maximum stress, what is the case when playing Oblivion, and I play it a lot, currently. However, the problems never rose when playing Oblivion. Sometimes, they even started when the system was in idle.

Overheating. The CPU cooler is an Arctic silent 4 (P4, 3.0). The CPU has a temperatur of 37-38°C in idle. It was no problem in the last 18 months, or last summer. The graphics board is equipped with a Zalman VX900 at around 2200 rpm. when touching the copper fins, they are handwarm. Again, one would asusme the card overheating when under stress (Oblivion), but it runs Oblivion well.

Hard Drive.

RAM (2x512).

Any other thoughts? I am clueless and don't know what to do. I checked cables and connections. Cables inside are nicely bound together.

Could it be a power problem, or a colling problem? Can anyone make sense of the symptoms described?

07-06-06, 05:01 PM	#1
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,609 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	OT: Help needed,my system becomes unstable Symptoms: during the last two weeks, the system shut down completely (black death, power cut) two times while running idle, or running Words (so, no stress for the CPU). Two or three other incidents when it did not shut down, but started to reboot suddenly. Three or four times, the booting sequence took up to 30 seconds to even start with showing the first BIOS screen. Today, after having left a game (Oblivion), the desktop was heavily blurred and washed-out that I needed to reboot. But even the BIOS screens showed the same blurness and washing-out. I cut power and waited three minutes, started again then: blurred and lots of white noise. Again completely shut down, and waited some more minutes. Booting went fine again. Setup: I run my tower with an almost open back and a room ventilator behind it, it is more silent, and very effective - I feel a gentle flow of air at the front's openings with my hand. I have inserted a new graphics card two weeks ago, and equipped it with a new cooler. System was stable since 1.5 years. It is very hot over here, room temperatur often above 27°C. That'S why i open the wide side of the tower, too. My thoughts so far: The new graphic card (nVidia 6800) needs more power than the AC can provide. It is a 350W device. However, one would assume that the problems would appear when the board is under maximum stress, what is the case when playing Oblivion, and I play it a lot, currently. However, the problems never rose when playing Oblivion. Sometimes, they even started when the system was in idle. Overheating. The CPU cooler is an Arctic silent 4 (P4, 3.0). The CPU has a temperatur of 37-38°C in idle. It was no problem in the last 18 months, or last summer. The graphics board is equipped with a Zalman VX900 at around 2200 rpm. when touching the copper fins, they are handwarm. Again, one would asusme the card overheating when under stress (Oblivion), but it runs Oblivion well. Hard Drive. RAM (2x512). Any other thoughts? I am clueless and don't know what to do. I checked cables and connections. Cables inside are nicely bound together. Could it be a power problem, or a colling problem? Can anyone make sense of the symptoms described? __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.