Is this overheating?

wright_91 · 6 Dec 2007 at 17:51

I think my computer is overheating, but I'm not sure. In games, after about 10 minutes, the screen goes blank, saying 'no signal'.

The reason I think it's overheating is beacuse when I put a normal, domestic house-fan next to my computer, blowing air into the side of my computer, games last at least 40 minutes, sometimes even a hour or two before the screen goes blank. However, it depends on the game, as to how long they last.

I've ran Prime95 for a couple of hours, and there were no problems, so I think I've isolated the CPU. A friend suggested it could be my graphics card overheating. Any suggestions?

Trunks9486 · 6 Dec 2007 at 18:06

Maybe PSU related, whats your PSU/GPU combo?

Zefan · 6 Dec 2007 at 18:07

Which games are you playing? What's your graphics card?

rodders · 6 Dec 2007 at 18:27

I had exactly the same on my comp.

My g/card was factory overclocked and I pushed it more. Kept crashing every 5-10 mins. Put back to default and ran ok.

Now put a new heatsink on g/card, big fan, lots cooler!!! and re clocked back to what it was crashing on and its been running fine!!

Ben M · 6 Dec 2007 at 18:36

use nvidia monitor or something similar to monitor the temp of your gpu under load.

wright_91 · 6 Dec 2007 at 18:49

My computer's quite old, but should still play games such as Medieval II total war and similar- which it does, until 10 minutes is up. GPU: Radeon X550 256 mb. CPU: Pentium 4 630 - which I know had heat problems. Also, I've got a media centre type case, so it's small, which I completely regret now.

My computer's prebuilt, so I don't know what the PSU is, and I can't open my case to have a look, because it seems to be stuck.

yantorsen · 6 Dec 2007 at 19:19

run 3DMark06, if you can, or 3DMark05.

jk1001 · 7 Dec 2007 at 18:53

wright_91 said:
My computer's quite old, but should still play games such as Medieval II total war and similar- which it does, until 10 minutes is up. GPU: Radeon X550 256 mb. CPU: Pentium 4 630 - which I know had heat problems. Also, I've got a media centre type case, so it's small, which I completely regret now. My computer's prebuilt, so I don't know what the PSU is, and I can't open my case to have a look, because it seems to be stuck.

Sounds like the problem could be a combination of high CPU temp and high GPU temp when under gaming load, with the small media centre case not helping. You could be taxing the PC more under gaming load than under media centre duties. I suggest you have a few options - newer cooler CPU if you can (e.g. E2180), new case with better airflow, more or better fans to get the hot air out of your case.

As a first step you could try the PC supplier's website for issue or give them a ring and see if there's a simple solution.

platinum87 · 8 Dec 2007 at 02:43

download a temp monitoring program, ie speedfan, or if you have nvidia card, rivatuner, or ATItools, record Idle + Load temps. for GPU more then (at idle) 50-60 is bad!