16 réponses à ce sujet

[turing.test]

 The game shuts off my computer after exactly 10 minutes every time I play. I've updated the drivers, and set the mobo to warn me if the temp gets high. There is no temp warning. I have four fans. This happens regardless of where I am in the game, even in the character creation. 

Any ideas?

[Gorath Alpha]

It's almost certainly your power supply, not the game.

[turing.test]

Thanks for the response, Gorath. That had occurred to me, but it's a 650w PS and I'm only running a geforce 8800gts and this doesn't happen in any other game. Also, why would it be exactly 10 minutes every time?

[Moondoggie]

It may be the correct Wattage for your system but if their is a problem with it that will hardly matter. Unfortunately the only way you could check that for sure is to rip it out and try a different one which is a pain.



The fact your computer itself shuts off while playing the game pretty much means it's nothing to do with the game itself. No game has the power to shut down your computer itself. Unless it's a dodgy copy but that's another matter alltogether.

[Yrkoon]

Bizzare.

When you say your computer shuts off...   are you getting a Blue screen of death?  or is it simply rebooting?

[turing.test]

Moondoggie wrote...

The fact your computer itself shuts off while playing the game pretty much means it's nothing to do with the game itself. No game has the power to shut down your computer itself. Unless it's a dodgy copy but that's another matter alltogether.

Legit copy; and you're right, I can't think of a scenario where the game would cause the computer to turn off, aside from overheating issues, but the mobo warning isn't going off. If it was something like a funky memory access the system would hang or bsod, but it's actually shutting completely off. What I can't figure out is why it only happens in this game and why it is always exactly 10 minutes. I clocked it. 

I'd have to buy a new psu to to swap it out -- don't have a spare. Guess that's my next move.

A friend suggested that the video card might be overheating and telling the system to shut down. He says his laptop has that feature. Guess I can check the geforce boards for that.

[turing.test]

Yrkoon wrote...

Bizzare.

When you say your computer shuts off...   are you getting a Blue screen of death?  or is it simply rebooting?

Neither. It's actually shutting completely off. :/

[Moondoggie]

We are dealing with a laptop here? Then overheating is likely. What you could do is use some sort of monitoring program and look at your heat readings once you start the game. If your GPU is skyrocketing theres your problem.

[RaenImrahl]

turning.test--



I think this is one of those situations where posting your complete system specs may help.



RI

[turing.test]

 System Specs:

C2D E6300
2GB Corsair XMS
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 v.1 mobo
80GB & 250GB Western Digital Caviar Blue HDD
EVGA Geforce 8800 GTS 650MB
SONY DRU-800A Super Multi Drive
Generic 650W PSU

Moondoggie wrote...
We are dealing with a laptop here? Then overheating is likely. What you could do is use some sort of monitoring program and look at your heat readings once you start the game. If your GPU is skyrocketing theres your problem.

Desktop, not laptop. Sorry about that. Didn't mean to mislead you. The heat monitor is still a good idea.

Modifié par turing.test, 28 janvier 2011 - 11:18 .

[Moondoggie]

Another thought besides checking a heat monitor is to open up your case and turn it on to check if you have a fan not working or failing. Perhaps clogged with dust. Especially on your CPU and GPU.

This is all a stab in the dark though i'm inclined to agree with Gorath Alphas original assesment of it being the PSU. How old is the rig?

Modifié par Moondoggie, 29 janvier 2011 - 12:17 .

[RaenImrahl]

Thanks for posting the specs.  If it's the power supply, and that's certainly possible, it can certainly tell time well.    First thing to check is the cooling system on the PSU itself... make sure the fan(s) are clean of dust, and that they're actually all working.  If the PSU is overheating and causing a fault, then that could be an issue. 

I would also monitor your system's CPU/Core temp and voltage closely.  Dragon Age probably puts a lot more stress on your Core 2 Duo than other games.  Nature of the beast.

I am VERY hesitant to suggest this one... check to see if your mobo manufacturer has released updated bios.  I generally don't recommend messing with that-- I've had some bad experiences-- but it's something to consider... maybe as a last resort.

If it's exactly ten minutes... and this is a wild, unfounded guess-- you may want to check to see if there is anything in the Windows power settings that are configured to shut off after a certain period of activity.  If, say, your second HD was set to shut down after 10 minutes... that *shouldn't* affect anything... but you never know, I suppose.

Finally, from my personal experience... the only hardware issue I ever encountered that caused a full shutdown was a faulty USB port.  Sometimes, when plugging in a thumbnail drive or exteral HD-- WHAM!  The system would fault and go crying to momma.  Do you have anything other than a keyboard or mouse plugged into USB?  Maybe something that shuts down, like an external HD?

Just some thoughts,

RI

EDIT:  Ah.. one more thing... experience any power outages or brown-outs lately.  That can cause all sorts of issues on a system, even if you have a surge protector.

[Yrkoon]

turing.test wrote...
2GB Corsair XMS

Is this your ram?

What operating system are you using?

Also one more thing:

turing.test wrote...
Generic 650W PSU

I have no idea if this is, in fact, your culprit here, but as a general note, many people grotesquely  ignore the importance of a *good* reliable Power supply.  They go out and  spend their money on  top of the line, critically acclaimed video cards and hard drives, then they turn around and settle for generic, no-name brand PSUs, even though they risk the sudden failure of their entire system when this PSU  inevidably goes out on them.

Modifié par Yrkoon, 29 janvier 2011 - 01:06 .

[turing.test]

 Problem solved. It was, indeed, a heating issue. I removed my video card and discovered a chunk of dust preventing the fan from moving at normal speeds. After removing the clump the game seems to be running fine. 

Thanks for the help. Sorry for the anti-climactic finale. :/

[RaenImrahl]

turing.test wrote...

Thanks for the help. Sorry for the anti-climactic finale. :/

Actually, so many people come here and dismiss the idea of overheating out of hand... so I think yours is a good finale.  And, most importantly, you get to enjoy the game again!

[Gorath Alpha]

turing.test wrote...

 Problem solved. It was, indeed, a heating issue. I removed my video card and discovered a chunk of dust preventing the fan from moving at normal speeds. After removing the clump the game seems to be running fine. 

Thanks for the help. Sorry for the anti-climactic finale. :/

As long as you are visiting with us here, and you have already described the power supply as being "generic", I have to warn you that you are gambling on losing a lot more than the power supply itself when it ultimately fails.  The cheaper units can far too often go up in a stinking cloud of smoke, sparks, and a power surge that fries RAM, graphics, and the MB's Chipset, and sometimes other add-on cards, such as audio processors. 

There really are only about a dozen truly well recognized quality brands for PSUs, and you should be choosing from among those while avoiding the rest.  A Chieftec "600 Watt" device is often not as good as a Fortron 250 watt OEM replacement PSU.

Gorath

[Moondoggie]

turing.test wrote...

 Problem solved. It was, indeed, a heating issue. I removed my video card and discovered a chunk of dust preventing the fan from moving at normal speeds. After removing the clump the game seems to be running fine. 

Thanks for the help. Sorry for the anti-climactic finale. :/

To avoid this happening again you'll want to pick up a can of compressed air. Every few months you'll want to open up your case and give it a good clear out of dust since they can get very dusty. Make sure to put a pencil or something in your fans so they don't move when you spray the canned air. Make sure to keep all fans clean and clear dust from your heatsink on your CPU, Also remember to get the top of your hard drives as quite a bit of dust likes to settle there and then proceed to clog everything. And of course your exhaust fan at the back or your PSU might blow up and that won't be fun for anyone.