Troubleshooting a crash problem

[Buxtreme]

I am attempting to put the finishing touches on a powerful multimedia and gaming desktop I've put together from bits and pieces I've collected from a variety of sources. Everything seems to have come together nicely, with few exceptions. However, when I am running particularly demanding programs (games, specifically), I often encounter a crash in which the computer, without having an error message of any type, stops sending data to the monitor. The tower is still fully powered, and would appear to be working as expected.

Having asked a few friends about the situation, some have suggested that the problem may be the power supply. In their opinion, the power supply cannot handle the workload I've placed upon it.

Another friend suggested that it may be the video card. I'm currently operating with an NVIDIA GeForce 7600GT. He made this suggestion based on past experience with other video cards. In his experience, video cards commonly have a seperate input for a power supply, whereas this one pulls directly through the motherboard. I disagreed, because I feel it is unlikely for NVIDIA to produce a card with the capabilities of this one without providing a powerful-enough supply of energy to utilize it.

Is there any way I can troubleshoot this to find out where the error lies? Perhaps some form of a logfile that would summarize what is going on within the video card/ power supply when the error occurs?

Thanks for reading!

[caperjack]

I am attempting to put the finishing touches on a powerful multimedia and gaming desktop I've put together from bits and pieces I've collected from a variety of sources. Everything seems to have come together nicely, with few exceptions. However, when I am running particularly demanding programs (games, specifically), I often encounter a crash in which the computer, without having an error message of any type, stops sending data to the monitor. The tower is still fully powered, and would appear to be working as expected.

good job!

Having asked a few friends about the situation, some have suggested that the problem may be the power supply. In their opinion, the power supply cannot handle the workload I've placed upon it.

what size psu do you have in it .

Another friend suggested that it may be the video card. I'm currently operating with an NVIDIA GeForce 7600GT. He made this suggestion based on past experience with other video cards. In his experience, video cards commonly have a seperate input for a power supply, whereas this one pulls directly through the motherboard. I disagreed, because I feel it is unlikely for NVIDIA to produce a card with the capabilities of this one without providing a powerful-enough supply of energy to utilize it.

so did you have to plug a connector from the psu to the card when install it .

if this is same card as yours you can see extra plug at the back of the card .
http://www.guru3d.com/admin/imageview.php?image=6931

from this site.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/326/2/

Edit: i think the picture i posted is of the 7900
just read minimum350 /400 watt power supply

[Buxtreme]

Thank you for your feedback.

I am working with a 800W Power Supply from BFG. I'm pretty sure that the amount of power output is plenty for the machine.

Comparing the photograph to my card, they both seem very different. For comparison purposes, here is another photograph that appeared more accurate:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/video/xfx-7600gt-xxx/xfx_gf7600gt_card_angle.jpg

And another, for good measure:

http://www.legionhardware.com/Pics/ASUS_Extreme_N7600GT/Image_00.jpg

Thanks for your help!

[caperjack]

lots of power ,the first link works second doesn't ,looks like a small white plug [maybe at the back] ,between the last two capacitors.
Edit : never mind closer looks shows it to just a sticker!lol

the review here sounds ok,albeit not GREATTTT,ok for sure ,maybe just certain games require a little more!!

[Buxtreme]

So, is it possible that this card provides no means for using as much potential as its powering options will allow for?

[caperjack]

So, is it possible that this card provides no means for using as much potential as its powering options will allow for?

yeah ,i guess so ,im not really knowledgeable when it comes to video cards, as there are just way to much info about them to keep track of ,but yours is powered through the pci-e slot ,maybe there is a way to increase the power from that in the bios ,not sure you would have to check motherboard info for that.

[Buxtreme]

Update:

I recently purchased the NVIDIA 8800 GTS, installed it correctly, and I am still having the same crashing problem. I'm out of ideas!

Where do I find the logfiles for the activities leading up to the crash?

[caperjack]

not sure if any logs will be kept but you can look for errors by looking here .
type or copy this into Start/Run
eventvwr.msc /s

[Buxtreme]

Thanks for the response. Below are two of the entries I've found that reference System errors. The times listed next to them appear to be the same times I had my computer crash. Does this information mean anything to anyone?

Error code 1000000a, parameter1 80b90e44, parameter2 0000001c, parameter3 00000000, parameter4 8050184f.

Error code 1000007f, parameter1 00000008, parameter2 bab38d70, parameter3 00000000, parameter4 00000000.

[caperjack]

not positive but i think they point to a ram problem .have you ever downloaded and use memtest86, if not do so now .
http://www.memtest86.com/

micrsoft info .Bug check 0x7F usually occurs after the installation of faulty or mismatched hardware (especially memory) or in the event that installed hardware fails.
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/ms793589.aspx
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=137539&sd=RMVP

trouble shooting stop errors .
http://aumha.org/a/stop.htm

also right click on mycomputer ,go to advanced , then in settings of the startup & recovery section ,uncheck ,automatic restart in the system fail section ,this will show a BSOD screen next time it crashes .