im a totall noob need help please

[maverick202106]

as i said im a totall noob and i really need help with this. its really pissing me off. to start with, i have installed 3 games. lineage2, gears of war, and counterstrike source. i just built my machine like 1 week ago. i have this as items
intel core 2 duo 2.33
evga nvidia 8600 gts
650i asus motherboard
2 stix of crucial memory. so i guess 2gigz totall
western dig 500 gig hard drive
vista 64bit ultimate

PROBLEM
when i try to play any of the games it starts up fine.. then 15-20 seconds in the screen goes black and sometimes comes back and sometimes crashes the game. i have tried to use the 129.25 and 129.28 drivers... still same **** happening. i dont know why. i would really like some help. if anyone has anything that might please respond. i just wanna play the damn games lol.
thanks
chad. p.s. if you need anymore info on system or anything just let me know.

[ScuzziOne]

In my experience, there are generally several possible causes of such behaviour. For one, it could be the video card device driver; however, it sounds like you've done "due dilligence" in checking this one out. The other systems drivers can also cause problems though. Have you checked to see if there are update motherboard chipset drivers available for your motherboard? Motherboard chipset drivers have often been at fault in similar lock-ups I've experienced in the past. Couldn't hurt to also check for updated sound card drivers and such for any other devices you have in the system. Beyond that, I'd say to keep an eye on graphics card temperature to make sure it's not running too hot. Also make sure that your power supply is powerful enough for your video card. A weaker supply might be able to keep up at idle, but be pushed over the edge when the graphics card is really being pushed. Similarly, check components on your motherboard to make sure nothing is getting excessively hot when the system is being pushed hard.

[3 of 7]

This is my guess..

[SRTDodge05]

I think the problem is your running vista x64.

[ddoggma]

I dont see your PSU specs. That could be it, if you are using a super cheap PSU that came with a case.

[3 of 7]

Who's Chad and why would somebody look for him here on his first post ever? this place gets weirder every day..

[jaketerminate]

Yea, you might not be streaming enough power to your graphics card, what kind of power supply do you have, if you got one free with the case its probably a 400W or lower and that might not be enough, Nvidia recommends a common-enough 350-watt PSU for a single card from its 8 series, but I would go above that and get at least a 600W upgrade. You gotta remember that the rest of the PC needs enough power also. Also check if you inserted it all the way, usually with PCI slots its almost guaranteed that you've inserted it right but you never know. Its a common mistake.

[Rick_EE]

It does sound like a heat or power problem. I had the same symptoms when I had a heat problem. However they took about 10 minutes to start. Adding fans and rearranging cards in front of my Vid card fan did the trick.

[maverick202106]

yes in fact i did receive a free power suply with my case. i bought an apieva case. ATX 500W Dual Fan W/ Automatic Fan Speed Control. turbo link model atx-cw500p4
everything stays cool even to the touch. so i dont think its a heat problem. and i also have made sure everything is snug in its home.

[CK8-04]

My guess would be the PSU isn't providing clean and stable power to the system. With the exception of Antec, Silverstone and a few others, PSUs bundled with cases are usually very low quality and don't provide anywhere near the rated output. For an upgrade, 600 watts is overkill. A good quality 400 watter should do the trick for a lower power system such as maverick's.

Jaketerminate, nVidia's PSU recommendations take into account the entire system and not just the video card alone. It would be ridiculous for a video card to draw 350 watts of power. Buy or borrow a Kill-a-Watt meter and measure the power draw of your computer to see what I'm talking about.

[maverick202106]

okay so i try to play a simple game like CS.S and it even blacks out at the begining of the game. so i downloaded riva tuner. cranked down my stuff and it doesnt have a problem. since my graphics card is already pre-overclocked i have to turn it all the way down. so therefor wouldnt that seem to be a simple power source problem. my roomate keeps telling me its because i have vista 64. i would really like to play GOW and cant. keeps freezing up at the intro... if anyone has more advice it would be awsome. also TY EVERYONE for your imput so far.

[SpeedDMN]

Originally Posted by SRTDodge05

I think the problem is your running vista x64.

That was my first thought. If it is a PSU problem. The symptom is usually an abrupt shutoff during stress (at least it was for me with my ::cough:: Ultra POS PSU.) I still think x64 is pretty much worthless and causes more problems then benefits. I might try to get rid of that first. If the same problem persists then try a new PSU.

[jaketerminate]

Originally Posted by CK8-04

Jaketerminate, nVidia's PSU recommendations take into account the entire system and not just the video card alone. It would be ridiculous for a video card to draw 350 watts of power. Buy or borrow a Kill-a-Watt meter and measure the power draw of your computer to see what I'm talking about.

Yes I am aware of this, they recommend at least a 350W power supply and that dosent give you much room to breath on top of the power the video card draws, even if it dosent take up much power, thats why I said to get at least get a 600W and "You gotta remember that the rest of the PC needs enough power also." My 9800 GX2 recommends at least a 580W and I dont think it takes up that much power. =P

[ScuzziOne]

The problem with arguing over power supply wattage is that it is a poor indicator of whether a supply has enough output current capability on the necessary voltage rails. For the graphics cards, it really boils down to how much current can be supplied on the 12V rail(s) and whether this is sufficient to meet system requirements. Since power supply wattage numbers are broader indicators of total power supply output capability across all the rails, it really doesn't tell you much about the all-important 12V rail. Throw in a 12V multi-rail power supply and the confusion only increases as now you have to figure out which rails are connected to what and whether each rail can feed what it's hooked to given that each independent rail generally has a lower current capability than the total maximum 12V current capability of the supply as a whole.

Now, on top of all this, you have the fact that each power supply manufacturer decideds how to split up power supply capability among their various output voltages. Some supply makers put more emphasis on the 5V rail output capability and leave the 12V rail with somewhat lower capability. As I've said before, this is mostly a problem with older power supplies where 5V was the all-important system voltage; however, this doesn't change the fact that buying any given power supply at a particular wattage will not necessarily meet your system's 12V requirements. I've got several older 400 Watt PC Power and Cooling supplies here that only put out 15 Amps on the 12V rail... which is totally insufficient for the majority of systems today. Buy a Silencer 420 from PC Power and Cooling today and it's got 27 Amps on the 12V rail which is actually fairly respectable for a system with a single video card. At least with PC Power & Cooling, you can feel pretty comfortable that you'll really get a supply capable of reliably supplying the rated outputs at the rated temperatures... which is more than I can say for some other power supply manufacturers I've encountered.

Personally, I'd prefer a supply with at least 30 Amps, if not 40 Amps, on a single 12V output rail for a typical modern system with a single high-performance video card. Again, that's just a "hip-shot" estimate as every system is unique and has it's power requirements based on the components in it. Unfortunately, hardware manufacturers have not typically made it easy to determine exactly what the power draw requirements are for each component... and it quickly gets ugly if you start working with "maximum" theoretical power consumption numbers for hardware. I certainly don't have all the answers as to the best way to present power requirements to the end users, but I really don't think talking power supply wattage is it.

[maverick202106]

well im going to try and install vista 32. i have to have vist due to the classes i am taking. i have to be proficient with using vista and troubleshooting with it. otherwise i would deffinetly be using the old xp(which i love) this comming up week im going to get a new power supply, and try that. do you have any suggestions on which (brand) is a good one to buy. and im going to get a 500watt. ty all of you guys for your help.