Restart during gaming?

[akuma23911]

Which component causes the system(WinXP Pro) restarting during playing games(C&C Generals and SplinterCell)?
thanks
the system
CPU: AMD XP 2100+
Memory: Kingston DDR333 PC2700 512MB
Motherboard: MSI KT3 Ultra ARU
Vedio Card: Leadtek WinFast A280TD
SoundCard: Creative Audigy2
Harddrive: WD 120GB
Power: Turbolink CWT-420ATX

 

[Syndil]

My first guess would be the sound card. Try setting the hardware accelertion for audio down on its lowest level and see if that doesn't cure your ills.

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[slvr_phoenix]

It could be litterally <i>anything</i>, but if it is actually rebooting the PC then it's <i>probably</i> the power supply.

"<i>Yeah, if you treat them like equals, it'll only encourage them to think they <b>ARE</b> your equals.</i>" - Thief from <A HREF="http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030603" target="_new">8-Bit Theater</A>

 

[svol]

Have you set WinXP to reboot at a BSOD? You can set this in the advanced tap of Systemproperties under Start and restore settings or something similair.

I love my Delta 60HP 7000 RPM fan that puts out more dB then CFM

 

[akuma23911]

thanks for help, but setting the hardware acceleration for audio down on its lowest level is not working.

 

[akuma23911]

thanks for help.
What is BSOD? Is that be "Automatically Restart" under Startup and Recovery? If the BSOD is "Automatically Restart", I turned it off and the result is freezing screen.

 

[akuma23911]

Thanks for help. How big power supply should fit my system?
Should I need to buy a UPS to present the stable currency for my system?

 

[kinetic_tw]

I turned it off and the result is freezing screen

A freezing screen, or a blue screen with error information on it (aka BSOD)?

If you're getting a blue screen, post that error info here and we may be able to pinpoint the problem.

 

[svol]

It is the blue crash screen (aka Blue Screen Of Death). Which means it might be overheating, bad memory, to little power, a driver conflict, etc.

Try running Memtest86 and see if it reports any memory errors. Then try running Prime95's torture test to test CPU stability.

I love my Delta 60HP 7000 RPM fan that puts out more dB then CFM

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Thanks for help. How big power supply should fit my system?

I'd say that probably any supply of the ATX standard should fit your system, unless you have a MicroATX case or something...



Seriously though, as idealistic as rating power supplies by watts is, it is also about as meaningful as rating processors by MHz. Size is not the key issue. More does not actually equate to better. So I can't really just give you a one-size-fits-all answer.

If you can monitor the rails of your power supply (3.3V, 5V, 12V) and tell me what voltages these are at (specifically before a reboot) then this would help tremendously for determining if it is in fact the power supply.

Should I need to buy a UPS to present the stable currency for my system?

You shouldn't <i>need</i> to buy a UPS. However, I don't know the state of the electrical wiring in your house or even your town. It is theoretically possible that if you have bad wiring your problems might not be with your PC at all and a good UPS could indeed fix the problem. If you have good wiring though, this isn't likely to be a concern.

Another thought is what other things are plugged into the same circuit that the PC is plugged in to? I have a friend who told me once of a laboratory that he worked for was having their PC crash regularly. They put a thermometer to record the temperatures of the room over the weekend to see if it was a heating problem and found that the computer kept crashing moments before the room temperature dropped slightly. In the end they figured out that the problem was that the air conditioner in the lab was causing a power surge that would crash the PC. Heh heh.

"<i>Yeah, if you treat them like equals, it'll only encourage them to think they <b>ARE</b> your equals.</i>" - Thief from <A HREF="http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030603" target="_new">8-Bit Theater</A>