Upgrading the PC Help

[derubermensch]

So Half-Life 2 and Sims 2, both graphically intensive games, have been shutting off on me whenever I play for an extended period of time. By shutting off I mean the cpu shuts down completely and I have to flip the power off then on again to get it back up. My research has found that the problem is either my power supply unit sucks, my fan sucks, or I need more VRAM. I've decided to upgrade all three. I'm running an AMD Athlon 64 proc, any suggestions on good fans, PSUs, or VRAM? I already have 256MB VRAM on my Radeon X800, so the VRAM might not be the problem. Any overall help?

[SnjoNegri]

So Half-Life 2 and Sims 2, both graphically intensive games, have been shutting off on me whenever I play for an extended period of time. By shutting off I mean the cpu shuts down completely and I have to flip the power off then on again to get it back up. My research has found that the problem is either my power supply unit sucks, my fan sucks, or I need more VRAM. I've decided to upgrade all three. I'm running an AMD Athlon 64 proc, any suggestions on good fans, PSUs, or VRAM? I already have 256MB VRAM on my Radeon X800, so the VRAM might not be the problem. Any overall help?
The power supply is whats fucking my compy around.

Do I wanna fix it? No I dont really care.

[Rasengan]

honestly dude, your video card is probably overheating or you got dust in your system...try taking some compressed air and blowing it on your video card processor as well as your CPU...if not, try updating the video drivers or maybe search for patches for your particular video card and the game...your video card is fine enough to handle at least The Sims 2

lack of video ram wouldn't cause your computer to shut off, games would just run a little slower or choppy as less textures and code are able to be stored in RAM...if the power suppy were bad it wouldn't do it only when playing games for prolonged periods of time...what causes your computer to completely shut off is usually overheating or driver issues (but most of the time if you have driver issues, it would blue screen or memory dump at least before shutting off) which is what Safe Mode is for (for diagnosing driver issues)

[derubermensch]

so are the dust and overheating probs handled in just blowing air or do I have to do something else for an overheating card?

[Rasengan]

so are the dust and overheating probs handled in just blowing air or do I have to do something else for an overheating card?

well if it is just dust in between connectors then blowing air may clear it and hopefully that solves that...you may want to remove each component (video card, memory, cpu, pci devices), blow air in the connectors, and reseat...i would try that first as it's the cheapest thing to try...blow the exhaust vents too as maybe it's clogged and hot air can't get out of the back of the system...get the system back together and upgrade the video card and maybe look for patches for that game and your video card

if that doens't help then upgrade the fan

i used to have the same problem with my computer just rebooting itself whenever i'd be playing for long periods and i blew some compressed air around the CPU and video card and it stopped doing it

[mpt0069]

Also when you remove your GFX card, ensure the fan is still operable and spins easily. I had the same problem you did while playing the Doom 3 expansion on a Radeon 9700 last year. I removed it and I spun the fan with my finger. It was not turning freely at all. So I installed it back into my PC to have a look at it in operation and I found it was not turning at all when inside my PC, so the GPU was overheating (and eventually stalling my PC) when I played a game.

I emailed ATI and sent the card back and they sent me a brand new 9800 for my trouble. Awesome.

[Rasengan]

yea y'know a while back i had a GeForce Ti4200 who's fan just wasnt' working right either, it'd lock up my system so i actually took the fan off and installed my own, a much larger regular sized one...it looks ghetto as all hell with this giant fan hanging from it but it cools the card a lot more than the previous mini one did

[dy-no-mite3000]

ho wmuch ram is in your pc? recomended is 512 but agig is relatively inexpensive.
also dust is your enemy.
go to staples pay 7 bucks for a can of compressed air like it was said above. i have to do it fo rmy laptop 2 times a week :(
overheating sucks.

Also if you want for your psu go to newegg.com and look around anything over 420watts will be more than sufficient for a serious system. and with your fans buy as many as you rpc can handle i threw blue light 80mm fans in the back an side of my pc as well as a 120 mm fan infront/hidden infront of the hard drives where your intake air is located on a tower.

[derubermensch]

ho wmuch ram is in your pc? recomended is 512 but agig is relatively inexpensive.
also dust is your enemy.
go to staples pay 7 bucks for a can of compressed air like it was said above. i have to do it fo rmy laptop 2 times a week :(
overheating sucks.

Also if you want for your psu go to newegg.com and look around anything over 420watts will be more than sufficient for a serious system. and with your fans buy as many as you rpc can handle i threw blue light 80mm fans in the back an side of my pc as well as a 120 mm fan infront/hidden infront of the hard drives where your intake air is located on a tower.

I have 1GIG of DDR. Its possible to attach multiple fans to a MoBo? I was thinking of getting that new Zalman CNP fan for primary use, what fans would you recommend as auxillary?

[Rasengan]

depends on your mobo but youc an get a splitter...the fan just needs power so you can get adapters for the regular power supply plugs...but if you want to attach them to your mobo then most mobos have slots for 2 or 3, usually 1 for the cpu, 1 for the front of the case, and 1 for the back...then your video card also has one

[dy-no-mite3000]

my main work pc has 2 in the rear, one on the side on on the top of the case. one 120mm fan for intake.

my cpu has abasic heatsink fan, and my vcard has a fan on it.

maybe you should think abou tupgrading your cpu heatsink fan if you are looking to spend some cheddar.

Regular vantec 8 buck 80mm fans work more than fine, geting fancy variable speed fans are pointless imo.