Problems when playing games, screen freezes, computer goes into safe mode

i have been having problems when playing games. I'll be playing for about 15 minutes and the screen will either freeze or just turn off and go into power save mode at which point i have to turn the computer off at the power point in order to turn it off. I thought it might have been a heat problem, however, i played with the case off and the same thing happened. Pixels start flashing after about 5 minutes of playing. All the rest of my PC functions properly, it just seems to stuff up when i play games. I am running an ATI Radeon 9800pro and have all the latest drivers. i just can't figure out what the problem is. Any help would be much appreciated.

This question was answered on June 19, 2004. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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To whom it may concern:

Even though you opened your case there is a big chance heat is still the problem This sounds like a heating issue to me There are a few things you can check in your computer to make sure it is properly cooled

Make sure you have atleast one fan in the front of your case blowing air to the back and atleast one fan in the back blowing the hot air out This will keep air circulation throughout your case cooling the case down considerably If you can put 2 in the front and 2 in the back.

If your case fans are fine, second thing to do is make sure you do not have your computer next to something hot, such as your monitor, or next to a heater

If your case is not near any source of heat, next and last thing to check would be your CPU fan and heatsink First make sure your fan is working and is blowing towards the heatsink If that is fine make sure your heatsink is tightly secure, if it is tightly secure remove the heatsink and check if there is a substance between the heatsink and CPU if there is not, that is the problem why your computer is restarting The CPU is overheating If there is no substance you can buy something called silicone which is a white substance, and in my opinion is not that great An alternative is something called Artic Silver, you can buy this at many online retailers including www.newegg.com and/or www.coolerguys.com When you do get the substance in put a think layer on the CPU core, once you have done that tighly secure your heatsink/fan back on to the CPU And the CPU should/will not overheat any more.

Regards,

Dimitrios Theodorou

About the author

Posted by Dimitrios of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on June 19, 2004

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