BSOD of Duty
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Over the last four months, I have noticed a drastic drop in my computer’s ability to run games. I have Call of Duty 4 and Call of Duty: World at War, both of which ran perfectly at 1400x900 with all settings at max or medium. But when I go to play them now, I experience momentary freezes, which I can “fix” with Ctrl-Alt-Del and then hitting Cancel (32-bit Vista Ultimate). But eventually, while playing the game, there will come a point where it just freezes the entire computer and blue screens. There are also many artifacts within the game, as well as other rendering problems. Now I have to play the games on the absolute lowest settings to delay the inevitable crash, which helps a little. Once rebooted, Vista will report either a fault from my graphics card—an Nvidia 7900 GT—or an unknown error. I have updated all my drivers, defragmented my hard drives, and re-installed the game. What’s going on here?
—Brian White
Brian, it sounds like you’re overheating. Either your GPU isn’t getting sufficient cooling or your PSU isn’t giving you the voltage you require. It wouldn’t hurt to power down and unplug your computer, then open it up, and make sure it’s free of dust and that the fans are unobstructed. Fresh, cool airflow through your case is essential. To clean your case, use short bursts of compressed air from a can held upright. Don’t let the fan blades spin while you’re cleaning, that can damage them. Be sure to monitor the temperature of your GPU using either the Nvidia Control Panel or a third-party app like SpeedFan (www.almico.com). If temps stay high, consider adding more cooling to your case or swapping out the stock GPU cooler for an aftermarket one. If your temps aren’t unreasonable (say, 50 C at full load), your PSU might be failing. You can get a power supply tester for less than $20 online.
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gamefanatic26
September 18, 2009 at 4:53am
this summer the very samething happened to me playing fallout3 and merc 2.
ElderJefferson
September 17, 2009 at 4:23am
I was having the same problem on my old gaming system (Mass Effect would keep freezing up and I'd have to CAD my way through it). It ended up being that I had a bad memory stick. Changed it out and everything has been running smooth ever since.
1337Goose
September 16, 2009 at 5:16pm
Sorry about this, but I really don't know where else this post would go. I noticed that this article is penned by the "Maximum PC Staff" so I decided to put this comment here.
Just a few comments/questions. I just got the November Issue of MaxPC today. I've really been loving Will's Ed Words lately. I especially liked the one about fanboys, and the one about the extended warranties. Anyway, what's up with the uber fast tracking of monthly issues. Not that I mind or anything, just curious. Doesn't it feel weird to be working on the December issue in September?
Also, is there a better place for me to leave comments like this one?
~Goose
twinkie
September 16, 2009 at 5:03pm
Whenever I play any games, the game would freeze up. I even replaced it and still freezes. I did the step-up program from a GTX 260. It never freeze on the games like the GTX 275.
nekollx
September 16, 2009 at 5:06pm
i belive the 275 eats more juice then the 260 so in your case it's probably bad power.
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Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Rob86
September 16, 2009 at 2:31pm
you know i am having a similar problem to this with my eVga gtx 275 they replaced the card and its still doing it so i hope i dont have to replace the power supply (pc power and cooling silencer 750w). ill see if it is still having issues after i get my evga classified.
ka0s5150
September 16, 2009 at 2:18pm
With that age in mind, and no cleaning being done (assumption) airflow may be a big problem about now, def monitor your temps, ATI has a decent fan control system in there driver set, its been a logn time since i used nvidia but make sure that fan is spinning at a decent speed, if the card is dead at this age i would further lose interest in nvidia but i don't think thats the issue hopefully but it is a possibility.
nekollx
September 16, 2009 at 1:42pm
another option (that i'm surprised you missed) is the GPU could be failing...
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
periodhyphenund...
September 16, 2009 at 8:48pm
another option (that i'm surprised you missed) is the Operating System is a Piece of Crap...
I'm sure you may have noticed by now that all the Spyware and DRM Garbage in Retail Copies of XP-SP3, Vista and Windows 7 are a HELLAVU LOT Slower than those Illegal Copies of XP floating around out there in CyberVille
If you haven't noticed, your a Fucking Noob
johnny3144
September 17, 2009 at 8:03am
you have no idea wtf you are talking about, so just STFU and don't talk.
retail copy of OS contain spyware? DRM GARBAGE IN OS? Vista and win 7 are slower than illegal copies of XP?
1. they absolutely not true! stop Bullshitting and promoting piracy!
2. what does this have to do with graphical failure? if it came with OS, won't he experience gaming failing right from the start? not like 5 month later?
i had the exact same issue, ended up swapping the GPU, and BAM, problem fixed! evga even give me a little upgrade on the RMA, changed from 7600GT to 7900GS
If you haven't noticed that you are a fucking noob and asshole, you're a Fucking Noob
Modred189
September 17, 2009 at 4:17am
Tell me, how does a retail copy of an OS contain spyware?
And I hate to break it to you, but it's the media files that contain DRM, not the OS.
And because you seem to be advocating piracy, you can be sure that no one cares about your opinion, because your actions are driving up our costs.
Don't post again, it's a waste of pixels.
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