Random Shutdown/Freezes

[pumpkinhead76]

Hello everyone, I'm finally at my wits end and have to ask for help. Here are the specs:

Mobo: Asus P4T Socket 423
Proc: Intel Pentium 4 1.7 Ghz Socket 423
Video: Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800 pro 128
Sound: Soundblaster Live! 5.1
Memory: Generic 512MB RDRAM(2x256)

I also have a VIA(I think) USB 2.0 PCI card, a 40GB hard drive(Maxtor) and a DVD-ROM drive.

I've had this computer for almost 2 years now with no problems, but recently it started shutting down randomly. I'll be using my computer for awhile, but then suddenly the monitor will just go black. I can hear the power supply still running, but the computer won't do anything. I thought the sound card was fried, so I took it out and it continued to do the same thing. I then moved on to the video card and noticed that the fan on my video card wasn't moving when i powered up so i replaced the video heatsink and fan. I thought I had fixed all my problems, until I played Counter-strike and then it died on me again. I'm leaning towards a bad video card at this point, but I'm not positive that's my problem. The video looks fine until the monitor goes black so I have no idea what the problem is. I'm pretty sure it's not my hard drive(no weird sounds), my Power supply(Antec 350, less than year old), nor my motherboard(there's a light on it and it's green, that means it's ok, right?). So i'm finally breaking down and asking for help because this is driving me nuts. What do you guys think? Is it my video card?

 

[pumpkinhead76]

I forgot to add that I reformatted and reinstalled Windows XP SP1...

 

[johnjkr1]

The green light on the motherboard just means it is getting some power. That doesn't mean your power supply is not dead or that the motherboard is ok. I think you might be on the right track with your video card, especially given the fact the fan had died at one point. I would blame either that or the power supply, given your description. You might want to try borrowing a vid card from a friend and see if the problem goes away. Does the monitor go blank randomly?

 

[pumpkinhead76]

Actually, it usually goes blank when I play Counter-Strike....coincidence? Probably not...I have an old Geforce 3 card I'm gonna try when I go back to DC on Monday. I really don't think it's the power supply because it would have no reason to just breakdown, and being an Antec, I would think it's pretty trustworthy. Thanks for the reply

 

[johnjkr1]

Power supplies do not need a "reason" to break. I wish they did. If it only happens during counter strike, you might just have a refresh rate problem.

 

[pumpkinhead76]

Well, that usually causes it, but it also happens while I'm in windows. One thing, the DSC information on my monitor is max res of 1280x1024, but I override it and set it to 1600x1200 w/ 60 refresh rate. Do you think the problem is my monitor?

 

[johnjkr1]

HAHAHA!! Don't override your monitor's max settings! That's just crazy talk! try 1280x1024 or lower and see if the problem persists.

 

[pumpkinhead76]

The reason I overrode it was b/c I'm pretty certain that the monitor was advertised as max res. of 1600x1200, and it worked at taht resolution so....Does it sound like that could be my problem?

Edit:
Here's the link of where I got it from Staples As you can see the description says 1600x1200 at 68, that's why I overrode it

 

[johnjkr1]

It certainly does sound like a possible cause, try it lower for testing purposes. What model/brand is your monitor?

 

[pumpkinhead76]

I have the link above from Staples, here's the link from Samsung. Even this says it's 1600x1200, do you think I should return this to Staples?

 

[JK949]

Normaly a monitor shows a message when set to high of a resolution. if lowering it back down to a safe level and
refresh rate dosen't stop the problem than i'd be looking at the video card. it sounds like a heat problem.
I would not be suprised if your G3 works fine. your samsung monitor specs are inline with the settings you
are useing. remember to use driver cleaner before you install your G3 card. if the monitor goes blank in
normal windows apps then the power supply is suspect, since the card is not under any stress that
playing games puts on it.

 

[pumpkinhead76]

Edit: Spacing for better readability

Ok, so I tried moving my resolution to 1280x1024, but as I suspected, that is not the problem. I'm leaning towards this not being a video card problem either because when it froze up this time, the screen went dark and nothing would work. I tried playing a song(I have MS Internet Keyboard Pro which has a play media button) and it didn't work. I tried to just take of NumLock, and it also didn't work, which meant that the OS itself was freezing, so I'm leaning towards thinking this isn't a video card problem(which is a releif because I don't want my Radeon 9800 Pro to go bad), but then again, the problem persists. I'm also thinking this isn't the video card because when I reboot the computer, the video is completely fine. I have no artifacts or anything that appears to be wrong with the video.

Now I have the power supply left as a problem, but I continue to think that it is not the problem. What I'm leaning towards thinking is that perhaps the power socket I'm plugging into isn't the correct standards? Does this sound possible to anyone? Does anyone know of a program I could run to test the power? I don't have any hardware to do something like that.

Another symptom I am having, which I am not sure if it is related or not, is that my mouse(Logitech MX700) which I used to use on another computer with no problems, has been giving me problems with the pointer. Whenever I'd move the mouse around, the pointer works fine sometimes, but then sometimes it will move in the exact opposite direction of where I point or the pointer is very shaky and moves all over the place. I have the latest Logitech drivers and this problem has actually been persistent throughout all my problems, including after a reinstall of Windows XP Pro. I thought it might be the mousepad I was using, but I am now on my 4 pad and it is continuing to act this way. This is another problem which has been driving me nuts, but I'd like to get the one of my computer just "dying" taken care of first. Is there any way these two are related?

 

[pumpkinhead76]

Ok, well, I guess it may be the video card. I loaded up Warcraft 3 and set it to 1600x1200 resolution and then all of a sudden, the screen went black, then went back to my desktop where I saw a bunch of artifacts and could barely make out a small window that said 'ATI VPU Recover'. I'm giving into the fact that it's a video card problem(I'm going to make sure by switching my Geforce 3 in) but I'm going to try to see if Sapphire will replace this...Crossing my fingers.

 

[pumpkinhead76]

Well, I switched out my Radeon for the Geforce 3 and everything seems to be working fine now. I emailed Sapphire tech support hoping that they'll be able to help me with the card and have not heard a response yet, so I'm just crossing my fingers at this point. If anyone has any advice on how best to handle this, I would appreciate it.

I'm in a bit of a weird situation because the internet retailer I purchased the card from, Media Net Technology, dissappeared not long after I purchased the card. I have the receipt and also the response from the person who emailed me back when I inquired about the status of my order, but after receiving the product, their phone was disconnected not long after.

Anyways, I purchased this Sapphire Radeon 9800 in October 2003 and I'm hoping that Sapphire or ATI will be able to help me. Has anyone else experienced this and might have any good advice on how best to approach this?

Incidentally, I saw this other post which had a picture of what the video card was doing and mine is almost just like it, except it goes away when I reboot.

Thanks for everyone's help