Solve : A small computer problem.?

1.	Solve : A small computer problem.?
Answer» Well, I'm out of ideas on this brand new problem I've been encountering with my PC and I'm not sure which exact forum this should go in, so I'll try here. You see, the problem I am having only occurs when I run a program such as JKA, Flight Simulator, or any other game - but not with other smaller programs like Xfire or other programs of minute status. The problem also only occurs 5-15 minutes into the gameplay of the program, and can be cured by minimizing the program or shutting it down. The problem also ends up turning into a "critical error" system reboot if I let a program run with the problem too long, or minimize the program too long and try and maximize it again. The problem itself is hard to explain, since the only actual indications of it are audible - the PC simply sounds like it does at Windows startup or when you throw in a disk; that high-pitch, loud, full-fan, full-CPU sound most computers make when you throw in a disk or start the computer. Another hint at the 'problem', is that the CPU Indications of the computer are at 100%. Both outputs, on any program. This is irregular, as the most stressful game or program I have only throws on 40-50% stress on the CPU, never 100%, as the following picture details: The above picture describes what my CPU and temperatures are doing during the time of this odd ''high CPU'' condition. The green bar represents the CPU during the maximized condition of a program. The moment I minimized the program, this time Microsoft Flight Simulator X, you can see the result where the green bar, or CPU output, drops down below 50% to where it normally is for this program, and the ''loud computer sounds'' die down once more to a calm tone. The moment I re-mazimize the program, the ''loud computer sounds'' and high CPU output will continue again 5 to 15 minutes after re-maximization. Before I continue, I'd like to display my Computers technical stats... CPU: 2 processors running - AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ CPU Speed: 2.20 GHz Performance Rated at 6.30 GHz System RAM: 2.0 GB Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (Build 2600) Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT (GeForce 7950 GT) Sound Card: Realtek High Definition Audio Video Card Features: 512.0 MB Video RAM, 3.0 Pixel Shader. Also, the problem only recently BEGAN to occur (After I transported the PC from school back home VIA car). Otherwise, there is no actual reason for this to happen. The PC is infact an HP with selected parts from a computer store. The Problem itself apparantly is not curable. This is a detailed list of what I have tried so far to fix it: I have first deleted all of my installed programs and games. This including Microsoft Flight Sim, Civilization IV, and even FireFox. I have used Control Panels ''Performance and MAINTANANCE'' tab to delete every temporary file, internet file, and ANYTHING worth any kilobytes that can be cleaned, I then went through with ''Add or Remove Program'' and deleted anything not computer essential, including the remnents of uninstalled games. Finally, I went through the Program Files folder and purged everything. Everything. Next, I uninstalled all of my drivers. After a computer restart, I went and downloaded ''Perfect Disk'' Derfragging program offline, and did an entire system defrag which took 2 hours. Re-installed the drivers, restarted, re-installed the programs, restarted. After that failed, I cleaned out the physical insides of the computer from dust and debris. It shines like newly washed car in the summer heat. This also denotes any heat problems, as after a detailed check, I found no heat issues. I went and downloaded Anti-Virus program avast! which has had its way for 12 hours with my PC. First it did a sweep during system start before any programs could begin to run, windows included, then I went for the ''Omega, I'm going to rip through this PC like bread'' scan. Both of these showed zero viruses. After doing all of this, I started up a program, this time Flight Sim, and sat it there for about 5 minutes. (With a nice 20 FPS drop from the stupid Anti-Virus program, which is one of the reasons I never got one in the first place...) After the occasional 5 to 15 minutes of sitting there, this time 7, the CPU ran up to max 100% output, the fans went on its high-pitch rage, and the temperatures went up 2F. Thus destroying 2 days of hard maintanace and de-moralizing any hope I had left. To put it bluntly, I'm about to just pick up the PC and kill it. It is a PC with gaming in mind, and this critical error has disallowed me to play any games on it, throwing its usefullness pretty much to the equivilant of my portable laptop, which atleast can travel with me. There is no reason the CPU should be spooling up like a Jet Engine not on program start, but 5 minutes into playing the game, reboot, and upon windows restart give me the infamous Windows ''Your computer has suffered a serious error'' alert. If it isn't a virus, isn't overheating, isn't drivers or program oriented, then what is it!?I know games like Flight Simulator need a lot of processing power to run, which would account for the high processor usage. Have you had this problem ever since you started playing these games or is it recent? Also, looking at the temperature graphs, what does the pink and purple represent? (what parts of the comptuer) All I know about the temperatures is that 144F is very hot for a computer. (about 60C) I would try playing the game with a large fan blowing at the computer to keep the temperature low and see if the game starts to kill itself. Quote # After a computer restart, I went and downloaded ''Perfect Disk'' Derfragging program offline, and did an entire system defrag which took 2 hours. Re-installed the drivers, restarted, re-installed the programs, restarted. # After that failed... What exactly failed? Quote from: Carbon Dudeoxide on May 22, 2008, 04:13:52 AM I know games like Flight Simulator need a lot of processing power to run, which would account for the high processor usage. Have you had this problem ever since you started playing these games or is it recent? No, this only started to occur last week. I've had the PC, and flight sim, for the past 16 months now. Quote from: Carbon Dudeoxide on May 22, 2008, 04:13:52 AM What exactly failed? I might have worded that badly. My attempt to fix the problem I'm getting failed. Nothing I've done so far seems to have an affect. I'll see about the fan - 60C is pretty hot, but thats the GPU, I'm not sure about what the CPU temperature is. I suggest try downloading and running Speedfan to see what the temperature gets up to before the game stops. Perhaps you could check to see how much PF Usage you are using right when you start your computer up. If you want, you may want to have a look at your startup items in MSConfig 1. Click Start, Run and type: msconfig and press enter. 2. In the System Configuration Utility click the Startup tab. 3. You can uncheck programs you don't want to start up with the computer. Well, thats what I got from Speedfan - looks like the Core is overheating? MSconfig didn't help. Ended up just unchecking almost everything not system critical, running it up, starting a game and the loud CPU sound started 5 minutes after, even on the basic mode. I'm beginning to think it might be temperature related, I know I have more than 2 fans in my PC, so it shouldn't be displaying only 2 fans running. I know PF usage at startup was 320mb, not sure how that helps, but it is.Yeah, that is pretty hot. Like I suggested earlier, try using a tower fan or another large fan and have it blow at the computer. Quote from: Carbon Dudeoxide on May 22, 2008, 04:13:52 AM I would try playing the game with a large fan blowing at the computer to keep the temperature low and see if the game starts to kill itself. You're right, must be the temperature. I have that exact fan in your picture blowing away at the PC, the GPU/Video card is at 80C, the Core is at 75C, but the ''loud fan sound'' isn't sounding, or has yet to occur so far with the fan blowing at it. I think I may have a dead or clogged fan, because there is no way the video card should overheat unless the fan is busted. 75C??? do you mean fahrenheit?I would do what carbon said but also take the side of your computer and then turn it on. That will give you a chance to see which fan is acting up. Quote from: boo on May 22, 2008, 04:16:50 PM 75C??? do you mean fahrenheit? Nope, definately 75*Celsius is what I'm getting from the core. I'll try running it open and inspect whats up, and see if the drop in temperature from doing that doesn't help.Sheesh, that is definitely too hot. Your temp shouldn't be going above 40C. While you have your computer open, check to make sure all of your fans are functioning properly. This is the trouble with small computers.

Answer»

Well, I'm out of ideas on this brand new problem I've been encountering with my PC and I'm not sure which exact forum this should go in, so I'll try here.

You see, the problem I am having only occurs when I run a program such as JKA, Flight Simulator, or any other game - but not with other smaller programs like Xfire or other programs of minute status. The problem also only occurs 5-15 minutes into the gameplay of the program, and can be cured by minimizing the program or shutting it down. The problem also ends up turning into a "critical error" system reboot if I let a program run with the problem too long, or minimize the program too long and try and maximize it again.

The problem itself is hard to explain, since the only actual indications of it are audible - the PC simply sounds like it does at Windows startup or when you throw in a disk; that high-pitch, loud, full-fan, full-CPU sound most computers make when you throw in a disk or start the computer. Another hint at the 'problem', is that the CPU Indications of the computer are at 100%. Both outputs, on any program. This is irregular, as the most stressful game or program I have only throws on 40-50% stress on the CPU, never 100%, as the following picture details:

The above picture describes what my CPU and temperatures are doing during the time of this odd ''high CPU'' condition. The green bar represents the CPU during the maximized condition of a program. The moment I minimized the program, this time Microsoft Flight Simulator X, you can see the result where the green bar, or CPU output, drops down below 50% to where it normally is for this program, and the ''loud computer sounds'' die down once more to a calm tone. The moment I re-mazimize the program, the ''loud computer sounds'' and high CPU output will continue again 5 to 15 minutes after re-maximization.

Before I continue, I'd like to display my Computers technical stats...

CPU: 2 processors running - AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+
CPU Speed: 2.20 GHz Performance Rated at 6.30 GHz
System RAM: 2.0 GB
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT (GeForce 7950 GT)
Sound Card: Realtek High Definition Audio
Video Card Features: 512.0 MB Video RAM, 3.0 Pixel Shader.

Also, the problem only recently BEGAN to occur (After I transported the PC from school back home VIA car). Otherwise, there is no actual reason for this to happen. The PC is infact an HP with selected parts from a computer store.

The Problem itself apparantly is not curable. This is a detailed list of what I have tried so far to fix it:

I have first deleted all of my installed programs and games. This including Microsoft Flight Sim, Civilization IV, and even FireFox.
I have used Control Panels ''Performance and MAINTANANCE'' tab to delete every temporary file, internet file, and ANYTHING worth any kilobytes that can be cleaned, I then went through with ''Add or Remove Program'' and deleted anything not computer essential, including the remnents of uninstalled games. Finally, I went through the Program Files folder and purged everything. Everything.
Next, I uninstalled all of my drivers.
After a computer restart, I went and downloaded ''Perfect Disk'' Derfragging program offline, and did an entire system defrag which took 2 hours. Re-installed the drivers, restarted, re-installed the programs, restarted.
After that failed, I cleaned out the physical insides of the computer from dust and debris. It shines like newly washed car in the summer heat. This also denotes any heat problems, as after a detailed check, I found no heat issues.
I went and downloaded Anti-Virus program avast! which has had its way for 12 hours with my PC. First it did a sweep during system start before any programs could begin to run, windows included, then I went for the ''Omega, I'm going to rip through this PC like bread'' scan. Both of these showed zero viruses.

After doing all of this, I started up a program, this time Flight Sim, and sat it there for about 5 minutes. (With a nice 20 FPS drop from the stupid Anti-Virus program, which is one of the reasons I never got one in the first place...) After the occasional 5 to 15 minutes of sitting there, this time 7, the CPU ran up to max 100% output, the fans went on its high-pitch rage, and the temperatures went up 2*F. Thus destroying 2 days of hard maintanace and de-moralizing any hope I had left.

To put it bluntly, I'm about to just pick up the PC and kill it. It is a PC with gaming in mind, and this critical error has disallowed me to play any games on it, throwing its usefullness pretty much to the equivilant of my portable laptop, which atleast can travel with me. There is no reason the CPU should be spooling up like a Jet Engine not on program start, but 5 minutes into playing the game, reboot, and upon windows restart give me the infamous Windows ''Your computer has suffered a serious error'' alert. If it isn't a virus, isn't overheating, isn't drivers or program oriented, then what is it!?I know games like Flight Simulator need a lot of processing power to run, which would account for the high processor usage. Have you had this problem ever since you started playing these games or is it recent?

Also, looking at the temperature graphs, what does the pink and purple represent? (what parts of the comptuer)
All I know about the temperatures is that 144F is very hot for a computer. (about 60C)
I would try playing the game with a large fan blowing at the computer to keep the temperature low and see if the game starts to kill itself.

Quote

# After a computer restart, I went and downloaded ''Perfect Disk'' Derfragging program offline, and did an entire system defrag which took 2 hours. Re-installed the drivers, restarted, re-installed the programs, restarted.
# After that failed...

What exactly failed?

Quote from: Carbon Dudeoxide on May 22, 2008, 04:13:52 AM

I know games like Flight Simulator need a lot of processing power to run, which would account for the high processor usage. Have you had this problem ever since you started playing these games or is it recent?

No, this only started to occur last week. I've had the PC, and flight sim, for the past 16 months now.

Quote from: Carbon Dudeoxide on May 22, 2008, 04:13:52 AM

What exactly failed?

I might have worded that badly. My attempt to fix the problem I'm getting failed. Nothing I've done so far seems to have an affect.

I'll see about the fan - 60*C is pretty hot, but thats the GPU, I'm not sure about what the CPU temperature is.
I suggest try downloading and running Speedfan to see what the temperature gets up to before the game stops.

Perhaps you could check to see how much PF Usage you are using right when you start your computer up.
If you want, you may want to have a look at your startup items in MSConfig

1. Click Start, Run and type: msconfig and press enter.
2. In the System Configuration Utility click the Startup tab.
3. You can uncheck programs you don't want to start up with the computer.

Well, thats what I got from Speedfan - looks like the Core is overheating?

MSconfig didn't help. Ended up just unchecking almost everything not system critical, running it up, starting a game and the loud CPU sound started 5 minutes after, even on the basic mode.

I'm beginning to think it might be temperature related, I know I have more than 2 fans in my PC, so it shouldn't be displaying only 2 fans running. I know PF usage at startup was 320mb, not sure how that helps, but it is.Yeah, that is pretty hot.
Like I suggested earlier, try using a tower fan or another large fan and have it blow at the computer.

Quote from: Carbon Dudeoxide on May 22, 2008, 04:13:52 AM

I would try playing the game with a large fan blowing at the computer to keep the temperature low and see if the game starts to kill itself.

You're right, must be the temperature.

I have that exact fan in your picture blowing away at the PC, the GPU/Video card is at 80*C, the Core is at 75*C, but the ''loud fan sound'' isn't sounding, or has yet to occur so far with the fan blowing at it.

I think I may have a dead or clogged fan, because there is no way the video card should overheat unless the fan is busted. 75C???
do you mean fahrenheit?I would do what carbon said but also take the side of your computer and then turn it on. That will give you a chance to see which fan is acting up. Quote from: boo on May 22, 2008, 04:16:50 PM

75C???
do you mean fahrenheit?

Nope, definately 75*Celsius is what I'm getting from the core. I'll try running it open and inspect whats up, and see if the drop in temperature from doing that doesn't help.Sheesh, that is definitely too hot. Your temp shouldn't be going above 40C. While you have your computer open, check to make sure all of your fans are functioning properly.

This is the trouble with small computers.

Solve : A small computer problem.?

Discussion

No Comment Found

Related InterviewSolutions

Reply to Comment