So recently my friend gave me his old gaming computer because he was upgrading to something better and because he was having issues but couldn't pin point the problem.
I figured I could fix it easily, but so far I'm getting no where.
During any kind of video intensive application, or even most web-browsing I'll get a lock up or the screen will flash a few times and then turn black and then I'll have to restart. Sounds like an over-heating issue, right?
Ran three heat monitors, the hottest the cpu will get under intense loads is 70c, but never higher than that. (which yes, I know thats still pretty hot) It usually idles around 45-55c The gpu sits at around 30-40c
There are a total of six fans in the computer, which should keep it cool enough NOT to over heat.
So then I got to thinking maybe it's a driver crashing? Uninstalled and reinstalled all the video drivers, updated the bios, processor and sound drivers.
Put on new thermal paste. Disable turboboost in your bios settings.
Leo Baker
new PSU
Ryan Jones
it sounds like the RAM is bad or is going bad. Failing RAM or one of your video drivers keeps crashing. It could be an outdated driver with a bug or a conflict with your video settings.
Worst case- its your RAM shitting out. Best Case - Conflicting Driver.
Joseph Davis
This thing doesn't even have turboboost in the bios settings, it's using a phoenix bios.
And it's not an overheating issue by the looks of it, the hottest it's ever gotten is 80c and that was running it for 20 minutes on heavy load.
Luis Stewart
The problem is that your computer's graphics card has almost certainly gotten dirty, and that's causing crash's. Luckily it is a super easy fix. Go to your kitchen sink or a bathtub will do, and run your tower under warm water, and let it soak for about 2 hours. After that just dry it off, and plug it in, and boom I guarantee it will work perfectly.
James Allen
uninstalled the video drivers and reinstalled them.
uninstalled audio driver, installed a new one
uninstalled network drivers, reinstalled them.
Evan Green
Already blew the dust out, kek.
James Lee
I figured that, but I threw in my friends psu and it still ended up crashing.
Grayson Wilson
remove the hdd and replace it with a new one, install a fresh copy of something on it, see how it performs after that.
Sometimes all you can do is nuke that shit from orbit.
I'd also suggest flashing the mobo's bios, but....ehhhhh
Jacob King
Just try it my way first. These other user's are trying to scam you by doing something that will hurt your PC. My way is safe, and proven effective.
Levi Butler
PSU = Power Supply Unit. Kernel Power indicates that the CPU (or other vital components) is not getting enough juice or the 12V Rail is unstable. Renew the PSU.
Logan Morales
I'm aware what a psu is.
Kernal power actually just means it shut down randomly. It's a generic way for windows to report that the system crashed and then was shut down.
2/10 troll harder.
Nicholas Morgan
are you overclocking?
Jeremiah Sanders
Nope. It's not overclocked at all.
Luis Morris
Your lag and black screen issue sounds related to the memory. I had an issue similar to this before my GPU died entirely.
Jaxson Peterson
honestly i'd just wipe the hard disk and re-install everything. (Or just use a spare HD) that'll tell you definitively if it's a hardware or software problem
Isaac Perez
Change the psu
Elijah King
That's kind of what I was figuring, as it only does it during video intensive tasks such as videos or gaming.
Cameron Lewis
Do things like sprites or icons go blank in games?
when my ram died, I was playing minecraft and all my inventory items flickered erratically, then turned to grey. flat squares. Then the game crashed entirely and i got a huge lag, black screen and then the infamous *BEEP....BEEP,,,BEEP* from the motherboard signifying a major hardware failure.
Good times.
Jeremiah Young
Nope.
the screen will just flash a few times (usually the entire application will go black, like you're alt+tabbing, then just a portion goes black, then another portion and then the entire screen goes black)
Sound still plays for a moment before freezing and then I have to restart it.
Parker Parker
I had a similar problem with my computer when the video card physically started to die. It was the first failure in my home-built system, failed after about 5 years of regular use. Everything else lasted much longer. IMO video cards are one of the first things to go because they are always pushing the limits and they tend to get replaced every few years anyway.
Cooper Watson
I'm gonna swap in my friends video card and see if I continue getting this problem, hopefully it's just the video card going bad.
Most likely scenario: GPU is dead Mid likely scenario: HDD is mass fucked or GPU is physically fucked by some shitty haphazard Least likely scenario: A combination of fuck ups including but not limited to the motherboard having been fucked directly.
Your best option is to find another pc, and swap parts one by one, and see when it messes up. Granted not a fun process, but far better than tossing it or even attempting to sell it.
Ryder Carter
I'd highly recommend you do it the other way around, given that you don't know if it's the video card only, and could be combination, it's best to put piece by piece into the other pc. (starting with whatever you think is likely the issue of course)
Hunter Walker
Sadly, the computer is too old to swap ram or the cpu.
It's a pretty shitty computer compared to new shit, but it still manages to run new games and shit on medium to low graphics.
I'm just gonna swap the graphics card, psu and then the motherboard and cpu to see if the issue still presents itself. if so, it's gotta be the hard drives.
Levi Perry
This is and easy one. It is the GPU
Aaron Barnes
checked
Oliver Barnes
Quads of truth
Nicholas Jackson
Op I had the same issue, Its the GPU. Its broken, you will have to get another one.
Tyler Morgan
quads have spoken. Gonna change out the gpu in the morning.
Adam Wood
Post specs and pics OP
Evan Miller
intel core 2 extreme qx6850 EVGA 122-CK-NF68 nvidia geforce gtx 460 se 8 gigs of ram 1100 watt tagan power supply
It's an old machine, I know. but it surprisingly works well with newer games (when it wants to)
Jordan Walker
except it's probably the ram dumbass
Nolan Richardson
idk but I rec hirensbootcd.org to diagnose- it's got various utils for checking hardware. When my lappy was acting similarly fucky I used it- prob for me was dying RAM
Zachary Roberts
Oh shit, hirens has testing utils?
I've only used it to get into windows when I didn't have the password to any of the accounts. I'll have to give that a shot.
Logan Gomez
test ram with memtest also try running it with single ram module.
Matthew Mitchell
The graphics card is loose, pull it out and put it back in, make sure the power connectors are also plugged in all the way
Jose James
ya make it a bootable cd/usb and run thru the tests, gl
Bentley Martinez
Install Gentoo.
Jacob Lee
It is the psu
Landon Thompson
boot into the bios, find the vcore setting, the core voltage - turn it up to like 1.35-9 somewhere your chip is undervolted and crashing because a couple of the individual cores are shit
Caleb Murphy
being this retarded
Anthony Howard
I know you can't help being retarded, but don't link to my post to declare it
Leo Rodriguez
kys
Landon Russell
no u
Bentley Jones
Underclocking
David Martinez
Running a memory test is simple enough. Pop in any live distro and let it run. Also you can try pulling gpu and using integrated GPU, see if it still crashes. All in all sounds like PSU is a bit underpowered. Caps are a bit worn and as mentioned, 12v will dip enough to shut off your pc.
Chase Barnes
- Try removing and reseating your GPU - Try another PCIe GPU power cable - Remove and reseat CPU heatsink and apply new thermal paste.
70C on the CPU is way too hot... When the heatsink is properly seated you shouldnt be seeing more than 50C... Stock 1156, 1366 and 775 heatsinks are shitty and are often improperly installed
Gabriel Reyes
OS? Checked thermal paste? Dskchk? Checked Bios? Reset. Put your finger on the Northridge, check if that's hot. PSU check using a voltmeter. Reset all the drivers. Ground your tower. Tried a Live OS? Use a testing line unix-based.
Ryder Rodriguez
Chkdsk* maybe, it's been long since I used these mini-solutions
Aaron Foster
After posting this, I've read all the other replies, it's pretty much a standard, a mix containing all the other replies, nice. I always said, programming means you're 99% ready for hardware issues.
Colton Miller
tbh, I only posted on here to see if someone would give me a solution I haden't thought of, but it seems like it's all the same things that I didn't want to do cause I'm a lazy ass.
I'm gonna run through all of this shit in the morning, see if anything fixes it, hopefully it's just some really stupid issue.
I managed to just play a game of League of Legends, didn't crash a single time. Not too sure whats up, but I know the issue will arise when it wants to.,
Dylan Garcia
Could be the Northridge, you can remove the passive cooling and install a new one with a small fan. I suppose that in dollars that would cost around 10, depending on the brand
Nathan Watson
It has about 6 fans inside the computer to cool it, with another heatsynk and fan directly over what I'm assuming is the bios. (can't tell as it,s covered, but given it's location it looks to be the bios)
but it just doesn't seem like an over heating issue, everything looks and feels either cool or warm to the touch in the computer.