Novice needs experienced gamers help

tedbprice

Distinguished
Oct 25, 2011
27
0
18,530
I built my rig with the help of a friend, which i sort of regret. anyway. I run nvidia gts 250. It is overclocked, which I am not even sure I need to do. I have 4 gigs of RAM and when playing games it freezes up. Everything is about a year old, but it has never really run well. I am really new at all of this and need some help. My BIOS is set to things that I didn't have a say in, he just did it because it is all greek to me. I understand a little of it now but really need help. This sucks. Please help me out.
 

tedbprice

Distinguished
Oct 25, 2011
27
0
18,530
overclocked it myself in BIOS. motherboard-770t-usb3
processor-amd athlon II x2 240 processor 2.8 gig
replaced the power supply that came with the case, which was given to me. can't remember what kind but bought the most expensive one i could.
Is the video card any good?
 

tedbprice

Distinguished
Oct 25, 2011
27
0
18,530
how do i set them all back to stock settings? is there a single button i can push to take them back or do i have to do all of them manually? i wouldn't know what to put them on. I have dialed back the cpu freq trying to get it to act right, to no avail.
i don't really know if it is the cpu or the video card?
 

humphreybot

Distinguished
Jan 20, 2011
144
0
18,690
the easiest way to reset bios to default is the "clear cmos" jumper. but without a manual you may have troubles. so i suggest you open the case, look for the "watch battery" carefully remove it. wait a few secs, then replace it. when you start up, your bios will be reset.


btw.....this is just opinion....but you can never have too many fans :)
 

humphreybot

Distinguished
Jan 20, 2011
144
0
18,690
nothing scarey about removing the battery at all, just take your time. the clip that holds it in place just slides out of the way. the other way, with the jumper, would require you to download a copy of the manual, then follow the directions. the jumper is tiny and i hate doing (i have huge hands)


i dont know if it is the OC doing it. building a machine with someone elses spare parts is always risky, really. but without knowledge of what bios settings were changed.......you might look in the bios to see if there is a way to reset to default. it seems like i remember there being something in amt bios
 

obiwan8000

Distinguished
Oct 25, 2011
25
0
18,530



Hey Ted:

I have had a similar system including 4 gigs of RAM, and 2 x GTS 250's SLI-bridged for ~ 2 years now. My system also used to freeze up on me - it was very frustrating since I knew how many different problems it could be. After buying a huge heatsink for the CPU and other fans it still froze up. Opened up the case one day - put my trusty old desk fan blowing straight at the video cards - hasn't frozen on me since.

Unfortunately - sometimes you just can't cool things well enough with internal components, no matter how awesome the case / fans / heatsink might be. Try something drastic and literally hose the entire inside with a fan just outside the case - play your game(s) and cross your fingers.

Hope it works out. Post back and we'll get it fixed up.

- 0bi
 

obiwan8000

Distinguished
Oct 25, 2011
25
0
18,530
Yep, the left side of my case is wide open. Little deskfan point-blank at the video cards.

Freezing at the same place is key however. If this changes when you try the fan then we know that heat may indeed be the issue.

If it continues to freeze at the same exact place, then we are probably talking about a software issue - bug / glitch / driver...something.
 

tedbprice

Distinguished
Oct 25, 2011
27
0
18,530
it went a little further this time then it usually does with the fan on it. then froze again. gonna try again. see what happens. just updated my video card driver. which other ones could it be?
 

obiwan8000

Distinguished
Oct 25, 2011
25
0
18,530
I would consider resetting your Overclock to default settings until the problem is fixed.

I've had issues where the CPU would overheat and it would freeze almost the same exact place. If this is the case the heatsink may not be seated properly.

A friend had issues with his RAM - however, this was a freeze upon starting his PC. Yours only freezes during a game. Have you tried playing other games? Gotta do a lot of trial / error unfortunately, but the more you can find out about it - the better.
 

humphreybot

Distinguished
Jan 20, 2011
144
0
18,690
28c for the cpu is great.....72 for the video card sucks. it shouldnt be doing that, it sounds like your friend tried too hard to pump it up. i have never owned nvida, but i do know that to overclock a vid card you first go into the software/control center that came with it. has anyone suggested that you reset the cards to factory default in the control center. you will lose a little raw power, but i know it will be more stable. anyone out there have experience with that card?
 

obiwan8000

Distinguished
Oct 25, 2011
25
0
18,530
Yeah - probably as surprised as I was when this "fixed" the problem. Like - "really... a fan...!?!?"

But computers hate heat, lol. The irony is - Your 'freezing' issues was caused by 'heat', nice!
 

tedbprice

Distinguished
Oct 25, 2011
27
0
18,530
Okay, so maybe not fixed. It worked for a while, and then went right back to what it was doing. Someone told me to replace my cpu, that the OC may have damaged it. IT has been OC'd, possibly too hot for over a year. What do you guys think?