Help with games crashing

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#299009 15-Feb-2010 10:39

coolspidey: Yeah it is nasty. I just don't wanna lose my files :( Hopefully I can still recover all the data before it's all wiped.

Don't you have *ANY* backup? External USB drives, online backup, tape, DVD, whatever?

Everyone should do a backup - if not everyday at least once a week. Even a month.

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coolspidey

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#299016 15-Feb-2010 10:56

I know I know... I should have. I kept thinking about it but was too lazy to do anything so yes I've paid the price for being lazy.

Anyways, xpd, I live in the north shore, Auckland. I have found a friend who might have a spare video card though. So I'll see if I could grab that off them.

If all this works out, I will back up my data!

uktuatara

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#299021 15-Feb-2010 11:02

I agree that your data is probably fine (don't quote me on that later!) if you're really worried about it you could always whip the drive out and attach it into an external USB enclosure (prob about $30) and copy it off somewhere in the interim? That way you can kill two birds with one stone.

1. Get a copy of your data
2. start your backups today!

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#299022 15-Feb-2010 11:02

Im on the Shore as well, if your friend cant help you with a card to borrow let me know.

XPD / Gavin

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coolspidey

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#299060 15-Feb-2010 13:21

Yeah that's what I'm planning to do, uktuatara.

Thanks Gavin, I'll let you know how I go.

Thanks everyone for all the info, suggestions and help, I'll give an update if/when I have everything sorted :)

ariosto

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#299062 15-Feb-2010 13:36

I had something similar happen a few weeks ago, that ultimately proved to be an issue with the PCI E slot on my motherboard for the graphics card (rather than the card itself.) It had all the symptoms of a video card failure (weird graphical artifacts, constant crashes, corrupted characters during POST, etc) but a new card didn't fix it.

Of course, me being me, I managed to completely wipe two HDs (and then physically damaged one-don't ask!) before figuring this out.

But your data should still be there on the HDs and be fine when you get the card sorted unless you're as clumsy as me.

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coolspidey

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#299088 15-Feb-2010 14:38

So how did you fix it? Did you have to get a new motherboard?

Oh and how did you figure out that it was the PCI-E slot itself?

ariosto

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#299096 15-Feb-2010 15:09

I toyed with the idea of getting the motherboard repaired (as it's probably a relatively quick fix if I'm right about the cause) but decided the possibility that wouldn't nail the problem meant I was better off getting a new motherboard as it was aging anyway-other than the case, it was the only original part from the PC I bought 5-6 years ago. And that was all the excuse I needed to splash out and get a completely new system altogether. :)

I figure it's the PCI E slot because I've tried two other (new) video cards in there with the same result-initially corruption and visual artifacts, then ultimately the BIOS beeps for "video card not correctly seated", which is now all that I can get out of the system at all even after resetting the BIOS to defaults, stripping everything else out, etc. I'm keeping all the parts, though, and once I have enough cash saved up, I'm replacing the motherboard with a relatively cheap alternative ($100ish) and throwing in a new HD so my girlfriend can finally have the gaming PC she's been bugging me for.

Sorry, that's probably not a very helpful solution with your problem though!

coolspidey

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#299127 15-Feb-2010 15:47

That's cool... well thanks anyway. We'll see ay...

coolspidey

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#299416 16-Feb-2010 09:40

Hi Gavin, looks like my friend couldn't find their spare card. I left you a private message.

Thanks!

xpd

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#299424 16-Feb-2010 09:51

Replied :)

XPD / Gavin

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coolspidey

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#299977 17-Feb-2010 23:08

Hi all, just a small update. I tried a different video card and it seems to be fine now. I tried running Mass Effect 2 again and it went past the point where it kept crashing the last time, so that's a good sign.

Gonna try running other games too. I checked the temp of this one and it's staying at around 64 degrees now instead of 79, so that's an improvement.

Well you'd be happy to know that I've backed up my PC lol...

xpd

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#300023 18-Feb-2010 08:34

I should get round to sorting out cooling for my PC.... another thing on the list. (Sigh)

XPD / Gavin

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#300031 18-Feb-2010 09:04

that card is new enough to be covered by the consumer act , maybe try to get it replaced

Common sense is not as common as you think.

uktuatara

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#300037 18-Feb-2010 09:20

xpd: I should get round to sorting out cooling for my PC.... another thing on the list. (Sigh)

Airflow good ... heat bad.

I'm amazed at the amount of times that people have the fans sucking / blowing the wroing way therefore creating the build up of warm air in the case rather than an air flow from front to back (or visa versa).

I first noticed this when rebuilding an old pc for a friend who was complaing of heat issues ... when I held my hand over the back of his PC no warm air was flowing out ... both fans had been blwing INTO the case, not his fault, the PC builder had done it that way.

Can't find it now but found a great site that had a nice layout for creating a good airflow i.e. blowing air across the hot components and sucking it out from the top of the case.

Works a treat.

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