Computer crashing, have tried almost everything!

[SMNaCarbie]

Hello FFXIV Community!

I am the resident go to guy when it comes to everything computers with my family and friends, as I'm sure many of you reading this are, but I'm semi-stumped on my friends current problem.

First, I want to state that it is NOT FFXIV specific, it also happens in other games (such as Diablo III) and even sometimes when she has multiple websites open (like a youtube video or two, chatting on fb, etc.)

Basically the computer just shuts off. No blue screen, no warning, just shuts completely down. On FFXIV, it was happening about every 15-30 minutes, on other games every 45 minutes to an hour and a half. To save time, here's what we've already done/tried:

• New case (old one was horrible at airflow)
• Memcheck, 1 piece had an error, taking out that piece did nothing to improve it.
• new PSU, didn't help
• Changed video card to a much lower end card. This helped, making the crashes happen every hour instead of every half hour.
• Changed the Heatsync by request of someone at BestBuy. I wasn't there, but something about it possibly being broke. This helped the most, but the crash still comes every couple hours.

Now everything points to a overheating, which is why my first instinct was the video card, but as it sits, the only things we haven't really touched are the processor and motherboard. She's low on money and can't afford to replace both (or maybe any at this point), so finding out which one it is would really help her (and me, I've been dealing with her computer for too long now...), her specs are as follows:

• Windows 7
• AMD FX-6100
• 8GB DDR 3 RAM
• MSI 890FXA-GD65 (MS-7640) Motherboard
• AMD Radeon 6700 series (I think it's the 6750, but not 100% sure, also not sure what the low end card she is using is)

Thanks for any help.

[Gonzothegreat198]

First off, with it crashing like it is the last things i would think it'd be would be the video card and PSU. If the video card crashes, 9/10 times it doesn't crash the whole computer you just lose video, with the PSU, normally your PC doesn't get past the first Windows screen without it either shutting off or BSODing. Even replacing the case was a little extreme, however if it is still crashing due to overheating after replacing all of that, and you have made sure everything is plugged in you have 2 options. The cheapest would be to find a low priced, even cheap, cpu that is tested as working fine from say ebay that fits your socket and test the computer out that way. The other option is to look at replacing the motherboard, or at least testing it using the same method. Unfortunately there is no cheaper option, though tbh it does sound like it's definitely the cpu.

[Ceelo_Mage]

have you tried upgrading to better hardware ?

[Ceelo_Mage]

i would suggest getting a NVidia GPU for a start

[Gonzothegreat198]

i would suggest getting a NVidia GPU for a start

Lol yah, because a Nvidia chip is better than ATI/AMD and vice versa. Let's not have that useless fight when its totally irrelevant to he the issue at hand.

[ZohnoReecho]

Did you try resetting the CMOS and checking if ram and cpu frequencies match what they should be?

[Ultradark]

Is the new PSU branded or just another trashy one? most cheap PSUs tend to be a major cause of problems. Also, you have given no time frame at all since all this happened, it could be a driver problem for the GPU. If everything fails I think it may be either the processor or the motherboard (I've never heard that a processor can cause a PC to crash unless it is an overheating problem, otherwise the PC wouldn't run at all.)
Things to try and look at:
1) Try monitoring the temperature of the PC components until it crashes using CPUID.
2) Try using the processor on another motherboard and see if the crashing happen to the other PC as well.
3) If the problem happened after a driver or a BIOS update, you should look into downgrading to the previous stable one.

[RLW81205]

Deja vu... there is already a thread about this. The first couple of pages are all about supposed fixes too... they haven't worked.

Please post on the other thread so something MIGHT happen.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...sh-BSOD-issues

[Gonzothegreat198]

Deja vu... there is already a thread about this. The first couple of pages are all about supposed fixes too... they haven't worked.

Please post on the other thread so something MIGHT happen.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...sh-BSOD-issues

This is not the same issue as that is. If you actually read the OP, you would have seen it mentioned that the computer in question crashes no matter what game is being played, or what they are doing on it.

Hello FFXIV Community!

First, I want to state that it is NOT FFXIV specific, it also happens in other games (such as Diablo III) and even sometimes when she has multiple websites open (like a youtube video or two, chatting on fb, etc.)

...Snip
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[SMNaCarbie]

Ah thanks for all the replies! I didn't get notification that I got any even though I subscribed! Going to read through these, try a few things, and post again once I have an update. I don't have the computer here at my house of course, so it's not easy to just try things...but thanks!

and "thank you" for suggesting an nVidia card! That must be it....I mean I've been using ATI/AMD cards for the better part of 15 years now and have never had problems, so that must be the solution... (Sorry for the sarcasm, just thought it was funny that Ceelo would post that "tip"...)