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  #1  
Old September 24th, 2005, 05:10 PM
jaykayzer's Avatar
jaykayzer jaykayzer is offline
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O/S: Windows XP Pro
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 42
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Random Shut Downs

Hello,

My PC has recently been cutting out in a dramatic fashion for no apparent reason. By cutting out I mean it acts as though there has been a power failure. Some strange distorted beeps come from the computer and then everything turns off.

This only seems to happen when playing games, which leads me to believe it could be a graphics card problem of some sort. The game or type of game doesn't seem to matter. It happens with new games like Pro Evolution soccer and even ancient games from the early 90's. It generally happens after about 20 minutes of gaming.

There don't seem to be any other symptoms, and when I reboot my machine it works fine. And it hasn't always been like this, the problems have only started in the last month or so.

Also I don't think it is a problem of overheating, as there are 2 additional fans installed at the back of the case.

My setup is as follows:
Gigabyte GA 7N400 Pro2 motherboard
Radeon 9800pro Graphics card
Amd Athlon xp 2400+ Processor
768mb Ram
Windows XP Pro

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.
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  #2  
Old September 24th, 2005, 05:17 PM
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sho-dan sho-dan is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2004
O/S: Windows 7 64-bit
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how u doin

jaykayzer,welcome to CTH
u have 2 exhaust fans,do u have any intake fans(front/side panel, top o case) try this test,remove side panel,place a small table fan facing inside puter,not to close,play ur games post what happens ok
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  #3  
Old September 24th, 2005, 05:25 PM
jaykayzer's Avatar
jaykayzer jaykayzer is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2005
O/S: Windows XP Pro
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Age: 42
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Hmmmmmm I'm afraid I don't have a table fan handy. (It doesn't get too hot in Ireland!)

I do have 2 exhaust fans, but I only bought them as a precaution anyway. I generally have the side off my machine too, so that should help ventilation.

Why would this problem suddenly emerge though, when it worked fine with the same hardware, the same fans and the same games before? For example, a few months ago I played throught Half Life 2 in it's entirity without any problems.

And surely playing Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (over 10 years old) shouldn't put too much strain on my graphics card??

And thank you for your kind welcome.

Last edited by jaykayzer; September 24th, 2005 at 05:30 PM.
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  #4  
Old September 24th, 2005, 06:13 PM
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sho-dan sho-dan is offline
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how u doin

could u post your computer brand name and model # or motherboard's name & model #,the beeps what did did they sound like,ie.1 short,2 long 1 short
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  #5  
Old September 24th, 2005, 06:23 PM
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jaykayzer jaykayzer is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2005
O/S: Windows XP Pro
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Age: 42
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I put the computer together myself. As I said above, the motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro 2. The beeps are not sustained beeps, such as the ones you are refering to, which generally indicate motherboard problems. It's more like one dying beep, if you know what i mean. The beep starts, then weakens in an (almost) amusing fashion until the entire machine shuts down.

I know this isn't much to go on, but that's why I'm asking you lot, I've run out of ideas.
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  #6  
Old September 27th, 2005, 06:06 PM
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jaykayzer jaykayzer is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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Hello again. I've figured out why my computer was restarting! Don't know why it's taken me this long to realise, but the fan on my graphics card has stopped working.

Now that I know what the problem is, any tips on fixing it? Can I just buy a new small fan and screw it in on top of the heatsink? (The one that's on it seems to be removable with 3 screws & it plugs into the card like a normal fan)

Or should I just ship it back to the online shop I bought it from?

Also, am I mad to be running my computer with this broken fan? I have blue-tacced a larger fan into position in the case pointing at the graphics card as a temporary solution! (don't laugh) How likely is the card to die altoghter? (Bearing in mind that it has been running without a fan for, presumably, a few weeks at least...)

Any advice would be much appreciated!
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  #7  
Old September 27th, 2005, 07:11 PM
bAdWaYz bAdWaYz is offline
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Age: 50
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I have the same issue with one of my computers right now. The old Gforce 2 MX 400 card fan just went south and died a painful death. I actually looked into replacing the fan from ebay and pricewatch. After shipping as such it would be pretty cheap but I opted to just get a whole new card as there's no telling what kind of damage running the card with no fan for a while did to the card, plus I upgraded to a 256mb card yay!!
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  #8  
Old September 28th, 2005, 01:11 AM
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jaykayzer jaykayzer is offline
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O/S: Windows XP Pro
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I see, well I can get a new fan for €20 or a new card for €200, so I think I'll try the fan for a while and see what happens!
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