datman2 0 Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 I am new to forums and I hope I am doing this correctly. I just built a new pc and installed Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. I launched the multi-player option and was online with my brother in our own room. I was just standing there, not doing anything, waiting for him to frag a sniper....when my screen went 'black'! I looked down and noticed my pc was rebooting. This exact thing happened twice again, I was playing alone on these last 2 occasions. After the 2nd occurance, I re-installed WindowsXP....I was going to do that anyway, but it didn't help, the pc rebooted for the 3rd time. When it reboots, I am always dormant, i.e., I am not moving or changing any of the screens. I'm usually just standing there. On the last reboot, I had brought up the Tactical Map and was filling out some paper work when...black screen, pc is rebooting, as if the RESET button was pressed. *NOTE* The pc was up and running for over 12 hours straight as I re-installed software, etc. It didn't even hiccup, only when I am in GRAW! Before I start typ- ing out the computer specifics, etc, I will wait for a response as there might be an easy way to gather any data that is requested. Thanks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chiles4 11 Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 The first most obvious "culprit" to investigate would be your power supply given the symptoms you're reporting. Things like you describe are exactly what can happen when you play a demanding 3D game and your power supply is not up to the task. What's troubling is that you say you just built your rig. I suggest you give us a list of your components including details on your power supply. I also suggest that anyone who builds their own PCs invest $10 in a power supply tester as well. I've found more often than not that defective memory leads to blue screens (BSODs) rather than reboots but I would still recommend that you go get Memtest86 and burn the ISO image to a CD to make a bootable memory tester and let that run for several hours and see if it lists any errors. I usually find the overheating components lead more to CTDs (fading crash to desktop) rather than reboots but you can play with that if you want. Take the side panel off and blow a fan into the case or however you want to try and cool things down and see if that has any effects. Does this only happen in GRAW? I'm guessing if you cranked any other recent video game the same would happen. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
datman2 0 Posted February 28, 2007 Author Share Posted February 28, 2007 The first most obvious "culprit" to investigate would be your power supply given the symptoms you're reporting. Things like you describe are exactly what can happen when you play a demanding 3D game and your power supply is not up to the task. What's troubling is that you say you just built your rig. I suggest you give us a list of your components including details on your power supply. I also suggest that anyone who builds their own PCs invest $10 in a power supply tester as well. I've found more often than not that defective memory leads to blue screens (BSODs) rather than reboots but I would still recommend that you go get Memtest86 and burn the ISO image to a CD to make a bootable memory tester and let that run for several hours and see if it lists any errors. I usually find the overheating components lead more to CTDs (fading crash to desktop) rather than reboots but you can play with that if you want. Take the side panel off and blow a fan into the case or however you want to try and cool things down and see if that has any effects. Does this only happen in GRAW? I'm guessing if you cranked any other recent video game the same would happen. Its interesting that you touch upon these items! First, I've cranked up several different games for test and diag purposes. Games like Doom3, Quake4, flight sims, etc. I did/do not have any memory testers...until now ) Computer case: Antec 900 ( 3 * 120mm, 1 * 200mm fan) Motherboard: Intel D975XBX2 Processor: Intel Core Duo E6400 2.13GHz I did not over-clock it Video pca ATI Radeon X1950 Pro Memory: 2GB 2 * 1 GB Manufacturer is OCZ It is the 1st time I am using their memory Each of the memory sticks are sandwiched in Heat-sinking mesh plates. Power Supply: WAS Antec NeoHE 550w I say 'was' because I initially encountered intermittent power problems with firing up the video card. It was brand new and I did put a tester on it that registered good! Current Power supply is a BFG Tech 650w power supply. So this only happens when I am within the GRAW game. It happened at different times. When it happened this morning, the pc simply started booting up as if the Reset Key was pressed. After logging in, the message "The System Has Recovered From A Serious Error" was displayed. It decoded to " Problem Caused By Device Driver, FIX = NO" The software did not know what driver was the culprit. I was not in MP mode. The only Processes running are ATI Catalyst, Creative X-Fi, USB Linksys Network Adapter. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Colin 0 Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Similar thing would be over heat, sys component over heating will shut down sys as well. Check your temps and make sure fans are clear of dust etc. Try without the sound card. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chiles4 11 Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 I suppose some other things you could try include: - using a different ATI driver - turning off sound in GRAW - disable the USB NIC - completely uninstall/reinstall GRAW Good luck! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
datman2 0 Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share Posted March 1, 2007 Thanks for your responses, Colin and Chiles. It now somewhat appears that the Power Supply 'might' be flaky. It does have a checkered past as it was in a PC which died during a bad-weather storm. I replaced this pwr spply and the PC came back up , however, I put a tester on this pwr spply and all tested well. Hmmmm, nothing works til it works! Following Chiles advice, I downloaded Memtest86 and created a Bootable floppy. I launched the memory test and let it run overnight. Here is where it gets questionable. I have a 52oz jug that I use for drinking water. I sat down and put it on the computer desk. When I looked up, the screen was BLANK....then...the Windows Logo with the band that shows activity. Finally, the WindowsXP login screen. Was it coincidental that the PC rebooted at the precise moment I sat down? Did setting the jug on the table 'jiggle' the mouse, which may have a flaky USB connector or something? Geez! I went ahead and ordered a Power Supply anyway. The Memory tests did not log a single error. And I doubt if I have a 'driver' problem..a Windows driver problem anyway. *NOTE* Before launching the Memory test last night, I changed out the Video pca, the Sound car was still installed. I will try the new power supply tommorrow. I changed out the mouse and this one is PS/2. Any other suggestions? Thanks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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