Games Constantly Crashing

[Lyerae]

Recently games have been crashing repeatedly on my computer, and I have no idea why. The only thing I've been able to find out is that it's not specific to a single game. It's all of them.

I've tired every game I have access to; Warcraft III, World of Warcraft, Minecraft, Vindictus, Guild Wars, Archlord, League of Legends, Perfect World, Open Arena, AlephOne, AssaultCube, and Cube 2: Saurbraten.
Farmville (my mother plays (this includes the other -ville games)) and RuneScape (I got bored one day) both seem unaffected, and OnLive (other than the usual lag) seems to be working fine (I've tried F.E.A.R 2, Darksiders, and Assassins' Creed 2).

Current set up is an AMD Athlon 1.67GHz processor, NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT, and 1GB of RAM (I can get the specifics if needed).
All drivers are up-to-date (I've checked about a billion times), and the only significant hardware change is a Wifi card I added (and the problems happened before I added it).

Anyone have any idea of what it could be?

 

[Nenad]

This is either a windows problem (i.e you got spyware or malware in the background, or possibly a virus).

Or, a hardware problem.

Now i know you probably don't want to reinstall windows, but you should give it a try if you hadn't done it in a long time (1+ year). If that fixes it :thup:

If not, you can also do hardware checks, specifically the RAM and GPU, those are most likely to cause problems. I had a 6600 GT that actually prevented windows from booting, and caused terrible crashes and artifacts when the windows did boot. I'd advise you to check hardware first before reinstalling windows ^^

 

[Wargasm]

to rule out any hardware errors you restore your pc first. With a format please.

Wargy
http://rogue.su

 

[sqrage]

And this didn't happen in the past? It seems like a shortage of RAM or perhaps overheating over CPU or GPU.

http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php?t=158561

http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php?t=159193

Check out those threads for how to diagnose overheating issues. If you can rule those out then we can diagnose things further. I'd personally leave a format as a last measure, however it's totally up to you which course of action you want to take...

 

[Lyerae]

This is either a windows problem (i.e you got spyware or malware in the background, or possibly a virus).

Or, a hardware problem.

Now i know you probably don't want to reinstall windows, but you should give it a try if you hadn't done it in a long time (1+ year). If that fixes it :thup:

If not, you can also do hardware checks, specifically the RAM and GPU, those are most likely to cause problems. I had a 6600 GT that actually prevented windows from booting, and caused terrible crashes and artifacts when the windows did boot. I'd advise you to check hardware first before reinstalling windows ^^

I'll run scans now.

to rule out any hardware errors you restore your pc first. With a format please.

Wargy
http://rogue.su

I don't have my install disc anymore. I can't. :/

And this didn't happen in the past? It seems like a shortage of RAM or perhaps overheating over CPU or GPU.

http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php?t=158561

http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php?t=159193

Check out those threads for how to diagnose overheating issues. If you can rule those out then we can diagnose things further. I'd personally leave a format as a last measure, however it's totally up to you which course of action you want to take...

It did, but not to this extent (once every 6-8 months or so. Only after heavy gaming).

It could be overheating. What would be the best way to tell if it is (as well as check to see if it actually is)?

Edit: Virus scan complete, nothing out-of-the-ordinary.

 

[Nenad]

It could be overheating. What would be the best way to tell if it is (as well as check to see if it actually is)?

While not the best way, the fastest way is definitively by using SpeedFan. I say not the best, cause it can give false results, but usually is proper. Also you can check out a program called RealTemp specifically designed for the CPU.

And a notice in front, laptops and desktops have a huge variance of what is considered overheating. While i'm unsure about laptops, CPU going over 70 is beginning to be a problem on the desktop, as well as the GPU going above what the manufacturer says (i.e my old GPU went to 90c normal, this one can go even more, but thanks to the two fans rarely does ^^ ).

 

[Wargasm]

do you have a brand pc like dell or hp or acer?
In most cases you do not need the cd's to reinstal windows.


Wargy
http://witchblade.net

 

[Lyerae]

I've confirmed it's not gaining any significant amount of heat (between 62-67C (143, 152F. Idle and gaming)), and it's a custom built PC.

 

[sqrage]

And how are you checking the temps while gaming? You can't just leave Speedfan open and alt tab to it, as stated by me in the thread a linked you to, by the time you alt tab out it'll already drop to normal temps.

You have to look at the graph for any spikes WHILE the game was running.

 

[Lyerae]

And how are you checking the temps while gaming? You can't just leave Speedfan open and alt tab to it, as stated by me in the thread a linked you to, by the time you alt tab out it'll already drop to normal temps.

You have to look at the graph for any spikes WHILE the game was running.

I'm using HWMonitor, and I play in Windowed mode.

Edit:
Idle: http://i.imgur.com/0SERZ.jpg
In-game: http://i.imgur.com/unbhG.jpg

 

[sqrage]

99 GPU is excessive!

Do you have CCC (Catalyst Control Center) which comes with ATI cards and can be downloaded from ati.com installed?

Download that to double check your temps.

152 GPU?! Stop playing games instantly. I'd open the computer and check for dust on the GPU, if there is a large amount of dust blocking the fan and heatsink fins it will create overheating. You need to clean out the dust.

 

[Lyerae]

No, but my graphics card is NVIDIA. Will that still work?

 

[sqrage]

Oh right, sorry don't know why I thought you said ATI for some reason. But it's showing 152 so even if that is off by.... 50 Celsius it's still WAY TOO HIGH!

 

[Lyerae]

What would be the normal operating tempature?

 

[Wargasm]

50C is normal for an nvidia card nothing to worry about. So 70 under heavy load the card can take it .
If you got a valid license key i would suggest u borrow a disk and format your pc if you know how to it .

 

[sqrage]

What would be the normal operating tempature?

I looked around on modding/OCing forums and 90 is worrisome for that specific card... forget about 152.

 

[Lyerae]

I looked around on modding/OCing forums and 90 is worrysome... forget about 152.

o_o

Recommended fix?

 

[sqrage]

o_o

Recommended fix?

Post 11. "I'd open the computer and check for dust on the GPU, if there is a large amount of dust blocking the fan and heatsink fins it will create overheating. You need to clean out the dust."

Shouldn't be a complicated task. Just make sure you touch metal before sticking your hand in the case to get rid of any electrostatic that might be on your hand. And try to be at least a little delicate with the hardware.

Wait first, I'd download this just to make sure it's reading the temps right.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nvidia_system_tools_6.06.html

 

[Nenad]

I don't believe that this is correct, something must be off with the heat detector, else you're card would probably be real toasted by now. I don't think a layer of dust is something to look for here, try actually using another GPU if you can borrow one or take one out from another PC. Also, Nvidia has a program (the Nv control panel and performance) where you can adjust the fan speed, so you can pump it up to max.

Also, if you overclocked the graphics card, put it back to normal, or even downclock it a bit and see if it helps.

Alternatively do this (just be careful of course):

Open the case from the side, and start the computer.
Do not touch anything inside while the computer is on!
Check if the fan on the GPU is working at all.

 

[Lyerae]

The whole inside is covered in layers of dust. Definitely going to clean it out and see if that helps at all.

Also, everything is at the default. No overclocking done.