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Aurora Lockup
I was in the R3 thread, but my computer is not an R3 it is older, and has been intermitantly experiencing the same problems as the users of the newer R3's. I have a high degree of confidence that it is video card related, as the chance of occurance increases greatly when the video card is being taxed.
Here are my specs:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz 64bit/6 GB DDR3 PC3-10660 (1333 MHz) Freq: 1284 MHz /ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series 1024MB X2 Crossfired /Disk_Model: ST31000528AS /Disk_Size: 1000 GB /Optical: PLDS DVD+-RW DH-24AAS/Monitor: AW2310 Alienware Digital
Oh, and I've tried just about everything. I know I can play certain games without it crashing, while other games will most certainly make it crash every time. Also, early on, I thought perhaps it was because I had 2 monitors connected, as I have a Samsung SyncMaster 204B, but found over time this was not the case, it happens with or without both of them connected.
My thories:
Powersupply of 650W is not enough to power the 2GB ATI 5700 Video Cards and the rest of the system properly. Perhaps my cooling configuration causes power to shift to parts of the box that cause other parts to short in order to maximize efficiency or something.
Video Card is incompatible with certain games - so perhaps the problem could be the Actual Video Card itself. I've updated video drivers 5-6 times over the last year, and noticed marked improvements in lowering the number of freeze occurances for a limited time period.
Vintage1983
10 Posts
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June 14th, 2011 03:00
Hey Spy, I have exactly the same system as you do, and by the sounds of these lock-ups i would put it down to your Ram if anything. Maybe you should run a mem test on boot just to give you and idea if you havent already done this. I dont think its the graphics card at all. the Default psu is definetly good enough to provide your system with the needed consumption. Lock ups usualy occour when youve got a memmory stick thats faulty, ive never had a graphics card cause my Aurora to lock-up.
You could always take out one stick at a time and run a game that locks up your computer normaly. just to tell if its made any difference. If you still think its the psu though you could do a Voltage test with a simple program like speedfan that will list your Voltages underneath Temps. Talking of Temps.. this could also be a heating issue. As my aurora when i did a mod along time ago, couldnt handle the strain either and decided to keep rebooting my machine, this also caused the hard drive to take ages to load from a standard boot. I noticed that the Temp of my CPU's were really starting to get Toasty, even though there was plenty of cooling. and before i knew it. it did lock up, and rebooted. (countless times)
So overall youve got a few options here
1: It could be the memmory. (Do a mem test from boot. Or try the mem stick method i described)
2: Could be the Heat. (check your heat output from Alienware's CC)
3: Could also be the psu (Speedfan. Or check voltages from bios)
4: This one is a long shot, not mentioned before.. Try installing windows on a seperate partition, ie another copy. or linux. (whatever you preffer) and see if this happens still after youve checked the previous steps. Because there is always a chance its windows..
SpyvsSpy
3 Posts
0
June 23rd, 2011 20:00
You know it's funny Vintage, the computer appears to be working alright now. I ran some more windows updates, and honestly haven't changed that much. I put the cover on the side of my computer, that is about it. For now everything seems smooth, except I've been having some latency issues with my wireless internet seemingly unrelated, but I'll find out tomorrow. You're probably onto something, as I have a memory monitor and it's always running at about 33% utilized, however I've got AVG, spybot, and Adaware running in the background which I think does most of that. I'll keep you all posted as it's an ongoing issue with no real apparent cause as to when it comes and goes.