PC shutting down all of sudden... o_O

[martinr]

Is it a case of the screen going black and then the sound turning into a crackly interference like sound then off?

This is something that would happen to me a lot playing Battlefield Vietnam and Call of Duty and was resolved by

a) turning off VPU Recover (Its supposed to prevent the black screeen and crashing, but uses a load of memory, so in some cases causes the black screen and sound thing, kinda lika those pop-ups that say "Stop pop-ups like me"

b) turning Anti-Alaising low, i believe i set mine to 2x AA (not quite sure, been a while since i used the 9700 pro. The AS (Anisotropic? or something) settings shouldnt matter.

After doing that i had no further problems with any games. (except HL2, but that was 'Steam' related grr )

[winky28]

Is it a case of the screen going black and then the sound turning into a crackly interference like sound then off?

This is something that would happen to me a lot playing Battlefield Vietnam and Call of Duty and was resolved by

a) turning off VPU Recover (Its supposed to prevent the black screeen and crashing, but uses a load of memory, so in some cases causes the black screen and sound thing, kinda lika those pop-ups that say "Stop pop-ups like me"

b) turning Anti-Alaising low, i believe i set mine to 2x AA (not quite sure, been a while since i used the 9700 pro. The AS (Anisotropic? or something) settings shouldnt matter.

After doing that i had no further problems with any games. (except HL2, but that was 'Steam' related grr )

i dunno but the AA i never messed with it, just keep it default so i'd say i don't use anti alaising, as for VPU recover... i dunno well... it sounds worthy... but if u say shutting it off may solve the problem i'm all for it... but i don't get weird sound before it happens.. it just suddenly "no sound". well i'll try ;o

[dakhound]

I have exactly the same problem as described, screen freeze (everything dead) and having to reset to play again.

from reading this I think the memory might be an issue as we both have completely different graphics cards

[Zerlin]

Your system shutting down or locking is most likely due to hardware issues of some sort. Probably overheating of some component like the CPU or VPU. Check yor fans to make sure they are dust free. Also make sure that air flow paths are not blocked inside and outside your PC case. Your power supply could also be overheating so make sure it is clean on the inside as well.

[rrwfreak]

how do u reset a bios?

on a side of note:
i've been flashing my bios now and then, i have an abit kv8 pro and there's a program from abit called FlashMenu which allows u to flash ur bios in 1 click from windows, tho in the settings u can choose if u want to clear the CMOS, and i've never picked that... u think i should? what does that mean if i clear the CMOS i'm a total bios flashing noob that's why i use this 1 step program :O

I would advice against flashing your bios at the moment.

More than likely it is one of three things:

1) RAM problem

2) Overheating

3) Power issue

I would tend to lean to it being a problem with your RAM since you just recently added a 256mb stick of DDR400. It could be a bad stick of memory or you possibly might not have installed it correctly. Using Memtest as dazman suggested should let you know if you are having a memory problem. If not, you can also try removing the 256mb stick you have recently installed and see if you can repeat the same problem. If you don't recreate the problem, then you have found the source, and you will need to see if you can take it or send it back from where you bought it as well as about getting a new stick of RAM.

If the problem still occurs, it is more than likely either as Zerlin suggested an overheating issue, or it could be a power issue in that your power supply is not supplying adequate enough power to your one or more of your system components (video card, cpu, memory, mobo...ect) when they are under load. If you find your memory to not be the culprit and your pc is not overheating, then let us know what size and model PSU you have in your system.

Let us know if you have any success or not

[hans1976]

Ehm, another stick of mem? Some MoBo will try to get two sticks running in DualChannel mode automatically. Try to check in you BIOS if this is on auto. Make sure Dual Channel is disabled anyway.

I had this happening to me, was really odd.