ATI RADEON HD 4350 keeps resetting/shutting down

[Apollyna]

I'm using the PC and it seems my graphics card is shutting down after maybe 30 mins of play...

 

I have a dual monitor set-up, with Oblivion on one and, say, UESP wiki on the other monitor, btw. The Oblivion monitor goes black and displays a box with three R G B boxes, then goes off/light at the bottom turns yellow instead of blue - like it's been unplugged (I've checked the cords several times) - on the secondary monitor, I can see that the resolution changes, as well as the colors going from 32 bit to 4 bit.

 

It takes hours to get it back up and running normally after such a "crash" (I still have no idea how to fix it, because Dad is the one to bring it back up xD). I have no new mods that I've never tried before - so I'm pretty sure the problem isn't there, AND my dad replaced our Radeon HD 4350 with a new one and the crashes ONLY happen when playing Oblivion for a while. It's happened twice so far, and as I said, I can't trial-and-error it because I don't know how to fix the issue afterwards and apparently it takes hours to get everything back up and totally normal.

 

Any suggestions? If it helps, the only new thing I was doing with Oblivion is playing it set to 800x600 or 800x800, whatever, because it would CONSTANTLY CTD or become horribly laggy and slow if I didn't - interestingly, the two different crashes are nothing alike (appearance-wise) AND the slowness has never happened until recently.

 

I've done some research on the internet before this, and the closest I can come to an explanation is that it's overheating or clocking or something like that... The side of our computer is open, so I don't exactly see how it's over heating. Other than that, it could be a power issue, but I have no idea how to test that and Dad thinks it isn't.

 

Please help me! I miss Oblivion so much! ;__;

 

-Lee, wif <3

[bben46]

It does sound as if your video card is overheating. First check to be sure the fans on the card are working. And that the air channels around the fans are not clogged with dust.

 

Have you tried swapping the port each monitor is plugged into to see if the problem follows the monitor, or stays on the same port?

 

One problem I have seen it the past was the CPU heatsink fan blowing directly into the video card air intake.

 

Another was the Video card being too close to another card restricting the amount of air getting into it.

 

A weak power supply can also cause overheating when the 12 volts drops too low - one function of the 12 volts is to power the fans. If the 5 volts drops you should start seeing the computer reset - everything shuts off for a second, then it reboots.

[MikeHibs]

Yes, it definitely sounds like it's overheating.

Something similar has happened to me, and i ended up buying a whole new case so that it would cool better.

 

You say that the side of the case is off, which is generally a bad idea.

The whole point of having fans in a case is to create a good air flow. And if you take the side off, the air just kinda floats around the computer, and doesn't really cool it very well.

 

I would put the side back on, and make sure that you have enough fans to keep the inside of the case cool.

[Apollyna]

Thank you all so, SO MUCH for the quick replies! I won't answer any questions until I can show this new info to my dad... I only know so much about computers, and I don't want to screw anything up trying to fix it myself. That hasn't worked out so well in the past... <_<;;

 

Hopefully I can get you new info later. Thank you again!

[Jenrai]

Pretty much agree with all the above. Thats a nice card you have there, and it should support dual monitor functions quite easily, unless you're trying to run two high performance programs side by side, then you might get issues depending on what is backing up the system.

 

Certainly get dad to replace the side of the tower. ATX towers are designed, as a previous poster stated, to maximize air flow. Leaving the side of the tower off disrupts that air flow. Not to mention the electrical build up in your computer will act as a magnet for dust, hair, and whatever else might be floating around the room.

 

It definantly sounds like a heating issue, so an additional step I would take is to make sure any PCI slot cards you have with the possible exception of a cooling fan are not in the adjacent slots to the card, and where possible there should be a space left between the card and a fan anyways to enable propper air circulation from that fan. It doesn't matter if PCI expansion cards are in the top slot, the bottom slot, or 3 slots apart, they'll still work.

 

Also, furthering Bbens point about the power requirements, assuming you just have a basic case (IE- with no flashing lights or extra fans or another additional power requirements) and 1 HDD, 1 CD/DVD drive, a dual core PCU, and just the usual USB devices and stuff, you want at least a 400 watt powersupply with that card... for everything thats higher (IE - Flashing lights, bells, whistles on the case, quad core PCU, extra DVD writer, whatever) you're gonna want at least another 25, but a 500 to play it safe should cover everything unless you have multiple HDDs, CDs, and a dozen unpowered USB devices connected at all times, then you'll have to just get the biggest, meatiest one going.

 

Jenrai