Screen goes blank after 5 minutes of CS:S

[reefer1114]

instead of starting another thread i figured just post on this one...

another dilemma. i got the xfx geforce 6600 gt 128 with dual dvi. i installed everything. upgraded the drivers. i had to get a vga to dvi adapter because of my monitor and i plugged it into one of the two dvi ports behind the video card. computer loads up fine everything works except for when i try to play counter-strike(on high settings!!! wow!). the game runs perfectly for about 5 minutes then goes into sleep mode. the mouse and keyboard is still on but i cannot get it to turn back on. anyone know what could be causing this? please help...again...
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I4 DOHC engine (http://www.ford-wiki.com/wiki/Ford_I4_DOHC_engine)

[Mike]

I went ahead and moved this to the problems are of the forums.

For future reference, the best way to get help is to make a new thread this the problems section...don't tack it on to a random thread in an unrelated section, that's just silly.

As for your problem...do you mean your monitor is going to sleep? Have you tried changing you screensaver settings? Can you tell if the computer has actually crashed?

[reefer1114]

during CS, all of a sudden the game will just freeze and then the monitor will go on sleep mode. the keyboard and mouse stays lit but the computer wont go back on unless i hold the power button and restart it. i have a crt monitor so i had to get a vga-dvi adapter to show the display. the graphics card is dual dvi which i am not sure on what that means. i also tried it with my Stubbs DEMO and it also did the same thing. the internet and regular programs run normally though. and it has not shut off while im just doing online work...
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Toyota Pod specifications (http://www.toyota-wiki.com/wiki/Toyota_Pod)

[brightblack]

I once had a very similar problem with my 9800Pro, and after racking alternatives, I fixed it by increasing the voltage to the AGP bus via the BIOS, as mentioned on a few ATi support pages.

I'm not saying that's your fix, but in 3D games, you may be pushing the supply over the threshold it doesnt hit in Windows.

[Crash]

i would say its ur psu overheating/cpu and everything shutting off, cause this use to happen to me with my old 9600XT

or ur card isnt screw in so if u move the monitor's cord a little(even if the mouse cord moves it) it moves the card in the slot and it shut off, this happend to me b4 too

[Mike]

This sounds like a lockup due to overheating...do you have any components in your computer over-clocked? Do you have adequate cooling?

[Crash]

wow. i just read my post above and it made no freaking sense...anyways


a cheap psu that came wth a case was overheating my whole computer...

[reefer1114]

yea i figured it was my 250w psu, but i was told that it would run fine in this forum. its rated at 14a on the 12v rail. too much work to get all the other stuff so im just going to build a pc while i research everything. thanks a lot for your help.
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mflb vaporizer (http://mflbvaporizer.com)

[Crash]

250 watt is good enough, if u dont have like 5 hdds , case lights and lots of fans

ur psu probally isnt stable enough

[brightblack]

I might have missed it, but could you let us know what's in your case? PSUs rarely hit the voltages they claim, and then even more rarely can they hit them purely and consistantly.

My old 9800Pro must've gone a bit too far on the power rail it was on, or the mobo was just couldn't put it out with everything else in there,as it just couldn't seem to get enough juice until I upped the AGP bus voltage as I mentioned. That was allegedly a 300W supply. Of course, newer generations of both CPUs and GPUs suck much more power than their predecessors.

I remember sites like Tom's Hardware going on a big rant after they tested some PSUs a couple of years back and basically decided a huge percentage got nowhere near what they claimed.

When I came to buiild my new rig last month, I spent a fair amount of time on the PSU - before, I'd gone with whatever came in the case, but this time I read a few reviews and got an Enermax model, and I must say that it's really working out for me. It's a lot cooler and quieter than my old one, despite being rated as capable of almost double the output.

It seems we live in an age of coolers and silencers now, rather than raw horsepower, or maybe I've just started noticing the looks I get from my wife now.

Either way, and back on topic, there's a chance you can make this work if you're willing to try a few things in BIOS, or if you feel safer, getting a new PSU.

Addendum: I just found this link which compares some 6600GTs (http://www.xbitlabs.com/misc/picture/?src=/images/video/geforce6600gt-oc/6600gt_power_table-b.gif&1=1) and suggests overclocked ones could hit 50W - that's a fair slice of that 250W PSU!

[Mike]

yea i figured it was my 250w psu, but i was told that it would run fine in this forum. its rated at 14a on the 12v rail. too much work to get all the other stuff so im just going to build a pc while i research everything. thanks a lot for your help.

If it's a quality 250W psu it should work fine, but it may be failing, or it may have just been cheap to begin with.

Personally I still think it's a temperature problem...

[reefer1114]

it was 59c when i was using the computer.

the pc is an hp pavilion a643n
amd athlon 64 3200+
1.25gb ddr ram (1gb+256mb)
160gb hd
currently have an agp geforce fx 5200 xt
250w psu

is there anyway it could have been the vga to dvi adapter? i noticed that there were two different kinds. one for analog and one for digital, how do i know which one i need? i believe i had an analog one with less pins...someone enlighten me on this...
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BMW E34 history (http://www.bmw-tech.org/wiki/BMW_E34)

[brightblack]

As much as I really think you need more power, one more check might be to keep your case open, and make sure all your fans are spinning - I know the CPU one may spin down a bit, but all your fans should be spinning - if not, then you'll be getting the heat issue on a component Mike suggested as one chip may just overheat - could be a bad fan then. Sorry - don't know much specifically about that model.

[Steve]

it was 59c when i was using the computer.

the pc is an hp pavilion a643n
amd athlon 64 3200+
1.25gb ddr ram (1gb+256mb)
160gb hd
currently have an agp geforce fx 5200 xt
250w psu

is there anyway it could have been the vga to dvi adapter? i noticed that there were two different kinds. one for analog and one for digital, how do i know which one i need? i believe i had an analog one with less pins...someone enlighten me on this...

An HP Pavilion?!
Then there is a 90% chance that your PSU was made by the company known as Bestec!
Now does the name "Bestec" make you think "Wow this company MUST be the best!"?

I hope not...

All sarcasm aside, the brand of the PSU is often way more important than the wattage specifications.
Safe brands include PC Power and Cooling, Enermax, and Antec.
Those are the only three that I would trust with my multi-hundred dollar PC equipment.

[bLaK]

I vote for temperature..strip da comp side panels down...put a fan der n blow fa hell out of it