Computer freezes during games

[Hess]

This has only just started happening today, but every time I try to run a game such as SA:MP or Arma II (and potentially most other games) it works for 1-5 minutes before my whole computer freezes. After about 30-60 seconds of just showing a frozen screen, it then cuts out and goes black then my monitor tries to search for another input.

I also noticed that when the screen does go black, the fan seems to get slightly louder (its a quiet fan overall, but the change in sound is noticeable).

The only way for my computer to work again is to switch it off completely, then turn it back on...

[Devin]

Check for blocked up fans, dirty heat-sinks, and simply dust in the PC.
Other than that, try monitor the temperatures when you open/run a game and see where it goes to.

It could even be your graphics drivers being a pain, perhaps try update them if you're not running the latest.

[Khm]

My sis have the same problem, it's the mother board or the ram.

[Hess]

Check for blocked up fans, dirty heat-sinks, and simply dust in the PC.
Other than that, try monitor the temperatures when you open/run a game and see where it goes to.

It could even be your graphics drivers being a pain, perhaps try update them if you're not running the latest.

Thanks for the reply.

I've done what you said and checked for dust. There was a little dust but I doubt enough to cause any problems. Nonetheless, I took the graphics card out and brushed most of the dust of that, as well as the other visible components and heat-sinks inside the case.

The average Core temperatures (according to Speedfan) are around 50C when not running anything (directly after start-up). When I ran Arma II for about a minute, I minimised and this went up to 70C (which is nothing out of the ordinary as far as I know). 5 seconds after I maximised the game again, the freeze happened.

The graphics card only went from 30C to around 37C, so that's fine. It's very efficient with cooling.

Graphics drivers are up-to-date from what I can tell.

My sis have the same problem, it's the mother board or the ram.

This is what I thought could be an issue. However, I have no idea how to diagnose a problem with either of these.

[Khm]

Check it, if the mother board and the PC still under "grantie" go to the seller if it's not, change the PC

[Devin]

Diagnosing a motherboard is not simple. It requires plenty trial and error tests with components that you are certain that works.

Other than that what have you recently changed on the pc before it started giving issues?

[TheRock]

Try running some diagnostic tests, to see if it is a fault of CPU/RAM or HDD.. Else, it is most likely temperature issue, if so try installing some thermal paste.. Also, Use Windows + R button (command line will be brought up), type 'dxdiag', click on yes then 'save all' button, find that .txt where you saved, and upload the very first pages with information about your system (ex; CPU/ Mobo/Ram etc), else give us a CPU-Z Validation...