[coastie65]

Your video card supports DX11. Click on START then Type in dxdiag in the search box. This will bring up the DX info. You should have DX11 if you are running Windows 7. I have the retail disk of Skyrim as well. but it still ended up in my team Library along with Fallout: New Vegas, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and Dungeon Siege III ( all were retail disks, but you can't get away from Steam these days or Origins ( which is worse ). I am reasonably sure you don't have a hardware problem. Your rig should be handling anything out there except the really old stuff ( I have one that won't play on a multicore processor; Myst 10th anniversary edition as it was optimized for XP, but not the processor ). Skyrim should be playing on their without a hitch.

[blukatz92]

Yeah, that's why I went with the 6850, it seemed like the best value for performance. I know it's still on my Steam library, but I ran a force install from the disk rather than install over internet like it tries be default. For one, it installs faster, and I figured it would help give a more stable install. And what you said about older games is true, I have an old copy of Trackmania that doesn't play nice with Windows 7, and even compatibility mode won't help.

[waldojim]

Again, this is the point where we stop looking at hardware faults and think software. If you have an extra hard drive to test with, install a fresh copy of windows on it ( dont use your good key or activate for now) and set windows up with current copies of all the needed drivers. Install nothing else but a problem game to test on, and then test away.

[alishathomaz]

Perform the following tasks::

Scan your computer with an antivirus, after scanning stop AntiVirus
Apply De-fragmentation on your system
Delete all temporary files
Run disc clean up
Fix registry errors.

Click Start - Run, type in %temp% and then click OK.

Once that temp folder is open and you can view its contents, select and delete EVERYTHING that's inside it.

It's all junk and is a good place for "nasties" to hide.

If a few files resist being deleted, that's normal. Leave them alone and delete EVERYTHING else.

Repeat the steps with c:\windows\temp

After you're done with both temp folders, restart the computer.

[blukatz92]

I have AVG Free and Malwarebytes- both are run weekly and are up to date. I'm currently using a 3 week old hard drive that has no fragmentation needed at the moment. (According to Windows Defrag) I run disk cleanup every so often to clean out my temp files, so that should be empty/near empty right now. As for registry errors, there shouldn't be any, as I actually just repair installed Windows 7 again just last night. Aside from that, I never mess with the registry- too risky in my opinion. I'm hoping that the OS repair will fix things, since I also reinstalled all my drivers as well.

[blukatz92]

Okay, so it's been a while since I've updated here (I hope it's okay to continue this thread, I haven't had the chance to log on in a while). I'm still having issues, and I've now had issues in a couple other programs as well. I have a Playstation emulator (for PS discs, my old PS dies long ago) and RPG Maker VX which has recently crashed on me in the same manner as the Steam games. I have emailed ASUS support, so one of their techs is trying to help now. (ASUS is the brand of my motherboard) He thinks my PSU might be at fault, although it might still be overheating. He mentioned proper heatsink cooling around the Northbridge, and it occurred to me then that BIOS does not recognize the temps of anything other than my CPU and GPU. I removed my case right after one of the hangs and touched the heatsink over my NB, and found it to be significantly hotter than everything else (given, heatsinks are supposed to be warm, that's their purpose). I now wonder if maybe it really is hardware after all, my temps have been fine because the NB isn't being monitored. My PSU is also still under speculation. Does this sound like it could be the case?

[waldojim]

blukatz92, on 20 April 2012 - 09:51 PM, said:

Okay, so it's been a while since I've updated here (I hope it's okay to continue this thread, I haven't had the chance to log on in a while). I'm still having issues, and I've now had issues in a couple other programs as well. I have a Playstation emulator (for PS discs, my old PS dies long ago) and RPG Maker VX which has recently crashed on me in the same manner as the Steam games. I have emailed ASUS support, so one of their techs is trying to help now. (ASUS is the brand of my motherboard) He thinks my PSU might be at fault, although it might still be overheating. He mentioned proper heatsink cooling around the Northbridge, and it occurred to me then that BIOS does not recognize the temps of anything other than my CPU and GPU. I removed my case right after one of the hangs and touched the heatsink over my NB, and found it to be significantly hotter than everything else (given, heatsinks are supposed to be warm, that's their purpose). I now wonder if maybe it really is hardware after all, my temps have been fine because the NB isn't being monitored. My PSU is also still under speculation. Does this sound like it could be the case?

Normally, the NB will throttle itself. It is also designed to operate at temps up to about 110C. HW Monitor, speedfan, or similar tools should be able to pull the temps off it.

[blukatz92]

Ah, there it is, HWMonitor seems to have found it. Okay, if 110C is the limit, then I'm way in the clear(if I'm reading it right, it's giving me a temp of 30C). That pretty much leaves my PSU as the almost definite culprit here. I've tried a fresh install on my older HDD (Nothing but OS and Skyrim) and it still crashed on me. One thing I noticed though, was that in HWMonitor, the CPU Power Package readout was fluctuating from 16W to 117W, although I think that may be part of CoolnQuiet in BIOS. (My CPU speed also goes from 800Mhz-3.5Ghz, but independently of voltage changes) Also, the voltage for my gpu is 0.95V. Is that enough? (I'm using a Radeon 6850).

[waldojim]

Your voltage and power readings are very likely going to be all over the map. Your CPU has a TON of throttling options, and 16Watts sounds about right for idle, with 117 being a tad low for full load, though not low enough for concern (if it was topping out around 95W or so, there would be cause for concern. This is CPU specific of course) As for the video card, what you are seeing there, is the voltage being fed to the actual chip, not what the card is receiving. <1V sounds right for that card.

The only thing that doesn't make sense, is your chipset. Normally, I would be ecstatic to see 30C - on ANY component. But with the chipset, I know better. Are you sure HWmonitor is reading the right sensor? If you came back with 65C, I could probably see that - anything up to 90C is considered normal these days... 30C is insanely cool.

[blukatz92]

The 30C is for the Mainboard, is that different than chipset temp? If that's the case, then not even HWMonitor is reading temps. I have temps for all 4 cores of my CPU, Mainboard, HDD and GPU. Here's a link to a .txt file from HWMonitor-
https://docs.google....vsW3oMsrCU/edit

This post has been edited by blukatz92: 22 April 2012 - 12:32 AM

[coastie65]

I believe you are reading the mainboard Temps. If the Heat sink over the Northbridge is that hot, then it may be getting a bit too warm. I have seen 110c on the one in the Gateway. I removed the heatsink and cleaned thing up a reapplied some AS5 to it. I do wish that thing had a heat spreader, but it doesn't. I eventually put a fan on the Heatsink over the NB and the temps wil stil get to 80c under a big load, but usually remain around 75c.

This post has been edited by coastie65: 22 April 2012 - 09:53 AM

[waldojim]

blukatz92, on 22 April 2012 - 12:25 AM, said:

The 30C is for the Mainboard, is that different than chipset temp? If that's the case, then not even HWMonitor is reading temps. I have temps for all 4 cores of my CPU, Mainboard, HDD and GPU. Here's a link to a .txt file from HWMonitor-
https://docs.google....vsW3oMsrCU/edit

After looking at this, my bet is that the 'motherboard' temp it is seeing, is actually a 'system' temp. Meaning an open air case temp, which would leave that as quite normal.

[coastie65]

waldojim, on 22 April 2012 - 09:12 AM, said:

blukatz92, on 22 April 2012 - 12:25 AM, said:

The 30C is for the Mainboard, is that different than chipset temp? If that's the case, then not even HWMonitor is reading temps. I have temps for all 4 cores of my CPU, Mainboard, HDD and GPU. Here's a link to a .txt file from HWMonitor-
https://docs.google....vsW3oMsrCU/edit

After looking at this, my bet is that the 'motherboard' temp it is seeing, is actually a 'system' temp. Meaning an open air case temp, which would leave that as quite normal.

Yeah, most likely. I thought of that after I posted.

[blukatz92]

I took a look at my NB heatsink, and I couldn't find anything that looked like a spot to mount a fan over it. I'm using an ASUS M5A88-V Evo mobo. Although, without a way to measure the temps on the NB, it's kinda hard to tell if overheating is the issue. Especially since I have HWMonitor's overheat protection turned on, which is supposed to give me a system warning if any of the measured temps hit a critical mark.

[waldojim]

blukatz92, on 22 April 2012 - 12:50 PM, said:

I took a look at my NB heatsink, and I couldn't find anything that looked like a spot to mount a fan over it. I'm using an ASUS M5A88-V Evo mobo. Although, without a way to measure the temps on the NB, it's kinda hard to tell if overheating is the issue. Especially since I have HWMonitor's overheat protection turned on, which is supposed to give me a system warning if any of the measured temps hit a critical mark.

There are some things that are harder to prove than others. Overheating chipset is actually not one of them. During the other stress testing, an overheating chipset would have been noticed. SO other than knowing that the temp measured there isn't the chipset, there really isn't much to take away from this.

[coastie65]

blukatz92, on 22 April 2012 - 12:50 PM, said:

I took a look at my NB heatsink, and I couldn't find anything that looked like a spot to mount a fan over it. I'm using an ASUS M5A88-V Evo mobo. Although, without a way to measure the temps on the NB, it's kinda hard to tell if overheating is the issue. Especially since I have HWMonitor's overheat protection turned on, which is supposed to give me a system warning if any of the measured temps hit a critical mark.

I'm am an ex coastie and we usually never had what we needed so learned to jury rig. In my case I bought a Cooler Master fan / heatsink that was for the NB, but wouldn't work on mine, but the fan was the perfect size. Took it off and with a few strategically placed drops od super glue, placed it on top of the heat sink. Even found three pins close by to plug it into and it had pretty blue LEDs.

[blukatz92]

O.o Haha, wow... I guess if you REALLY wanted something to fit, you make it. XD I don't think I'd trust myself to go that far, I'd probably break something, with my luck, haha.

[LiveBrianD]

blukatz92, on 23 April 2012 - 05:45 PM, said:

O.o Haha, wow... I guess if you REALLY wanted something to fit, you make it. XD I don't think I'd trust myself to go that far, I'd probably break something, with my luck, haha.

Some people dare to mod their cases a LOT (for instance, installing a side window), but I don't think I'd trust myself to do that...

[blukatz92]

That I've seen. I'm using NZXT's Phantom 410 and I recently saw an article where someone took it and turned it into something out of Star Wars, looked like a miniature version of one of the starships. It's crazy how far some people will go!

[LiveBrianD]

Have you seen some of the PCs that are made of legos?