zfleebin

I have been running doom3 fine for over a week now and then yesterday my PC started acting up. First, my PC would restart randomly while it was idling (screensaver). Now, it restarts whenever I try to run doom3 or any other game.

I am runing a p4 2.8c (768 ram) on a msi 845pe neo2 with Windows xp pro. Any ideas?

Destrox

First disable the auto-restart feature in XP so you can see what errors are going on.

Second, check your tempatures being video and cpu.

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zfleebin

I have already turned off auto restart and I havent seen any errors. Is there a place to look for errors that I dont know about?
Also my cpu temp is normal but I dont know where to go to see my videocards temp. It is an ati 9800 pro. Is there a program I can get to see its temp? Thanks for the help.

Dilbert1234567

try inside of the event viewer, look for the last error befor the shut down and see if its related.

the event viewer is in the administrative tools for 2k and xp

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Xepidemic

do you overclock your 9800 pro?

zfleebin

Xepidemic: I dont overclock my card.
Dilbert: I didnt see any errors and only found one event log that seemed appropriate. All it says is event ID 6005 and then under it it says an event log has started. I clicked on the windows help link and it says that this event log is started when the user initiates an unexpected restart or shutdown. It offers no more. Thanks again for helping me here, this is driving me nuts. Does it sound like a videocard issue?
(edited to add)I almost forgot my bios says I am running at 42c for my processor and 39c for my system. It says an NB fan is not running though. Maybe this is something?

Scorpion23

Try runing a hardare monitoring program and log the temp. and voltages. I had a computer awhile back where the +12V line dropped to ~10.5V whenever it was under full load. I ended up having to replace the mobo. If it starts happening more frequently it's worth looking into.

For a quick test try hooking up a multimeter to one of the molex connectors and run doom 3. Watch what happens when it restarts.

If the fan doesn't have an rpm connector it's not going to register as running.

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Dragonlich

In reality, is your northbridge fan running???

The 9800 pro should get pretty damn hot, and is probably located right next to your NB chip - if that fan is dead, and you're starting a game... oops.

You can check the temperature of the videocard by putting your finger (gently!) on the back of the card, where the GPU would be. If you can keep your finger there for longer than a few seconds without burning it, the card's fine.

Also, try leaving the case open, see how that works. If the reboots occur later, that might be an indication of temperature troubles.

zfleebin

Alright Dragonlich. I touched the gpu while my computer was idle and it is pretty damn hot. Does this mean it was fried?

platypus

An obvious question, but I don't see it addressed above... Have you updated your video drivers?

I also have an ATI 9800 pro. I installed Doom 3 last weekend and all was fine until I got to a certain place within the game and REBOOT! Went back to the same place and my machine rebooted again.

I downloaded the latest drivers from the ATI site and haven't had a problem since (except getting my ass kicked by Carmack's Hell-spawn).

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sheaux_down

I had a similar problem with FarCry and it turns out my power supply was fucking up. Installed a new one and I've been golden ever since.

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zfleebin

Platypus: I updated my drivers last night and it was still a no go.
Sheaux_down: Thanks for the tip, I will have to look into that.

Almo

If your card was fried, then you wouldn't see anything on your screen. Do you have sufficient air flow within the case? I would think the original fan would be enough to cool the GPU.

Dragonlich

No, it simply means it's pretty damn hot.

These cards are designed to go up to 70/80 degrees C. They generally come close to this in under-ventilated cases with stock videocard cooling. That shouldn't be a problem, but sometimes it is.

However, if you can play other games without any problems, and can run things like 3Dmark03 without the problems, I doubt your card gets too hot.

Y'see, I've seen computers with pathetic airflow sporting a 9800 pro. They still ran fine, even if the CPU cooler went into overdrive, and the PSU felt like it was melting...

y2ktenchi

Mind if I ask how far in you were when you encountered this problem? I'd read about some issues with ATI cards and Doom3 but I haven't encountered any problems yet (9700 Pro here).

But, then again, I'm not that far in because I can only play for about 20 minutes at a stretch before I get TOO FREAKED OUT!

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platypus

Only part way into the first mission. Nothing in particular was happening on screen at the time - no incoming fireballs or pre-recorded monster attack videos. Just rounded a corner and bye-bye BFG 9000.

If you aren't experiencing a problem then you may already have the latest drivers. I had last updated mine in February but they weren't good enough. I think the latest are dated June or July.

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y2ktenchi

Oh, OK. Yeah, I think I'm definitely running much more recent drivers.

You scared me for a sec!

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Jolt

is the video card's aux power connector daisy-chained with the hard disk?

that's usually a recipe for trouble...

zfleebin

I figured it out. I left the computer off for a while and when I turned it on it made a really funny noise. I traced the noise to the back of the pc where the power supply fan was telling me it wasnt happy. I am pretty sure its the power supply now, so I think I am going to go get a new one today. Thanks for all the help everybody.