[Chewie4299]

First off, I'll say that I am not sure which category this belongs under as I am stumped on what the problem could be. I decided on hardware since the error message that I see for a split second mentions the Asus AI Nap (I THINK....)

I can run my computer for days without a problem and can usually play Call Of Duty 5 without an issue for hours on end. However, every once in a while (maybe one or two days a week), and only while playing the game so far, the game will appear to freeze for about a second, then go black and minimize to my desktop where I see a somewhat lengthy error message. I've never been able to read more than the first line of it but I think that I've seen Asus Ai Nap mentioned in the body of the message. It does not look like a typical Window's error message. The first line of the message reads "The power button configuration settings...."

After a split second my PC shuts down completely. I can boot it right back up and everything loads and runs like normal. When this happens it tends to repeat itself again soon after sometimes more than once. Today I ran the game for about 6 hours, afk half the time but still running, and then it shut down. I started back up and went back to playing and it happened again within the hour.

I think I can safely rule out overheating as my cooling is about as good as it can get without going with a water cooler. My CPU usage in game barely reaches 15%... I even ran for months overclocked from 2.66 to 3.8 without any heat issues and I'm back to 2.66 now.

Again, this has only ever occurred while playing the game...

I have never used AI nap or any of the asus software other than the Fan Xpert. The whole Asus AI Suite is installed in order to use Fan Xpert along with TurboV, PC Probe II, and AsusUpdate.

I have Vista Ultimate 64...

Here are some spec copied from my profile... I can furnish any other necessary information.

-Cooler Master Storm Sniper Mid-Tower case w/ 2x 200x30mm, 2x 120x25mm fans
-Core i7-920 OC'd to 3.8
-Asus P6T Deluxe V2 Mobo
-Cooler Master V10 Hybrid TEC
-Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA
-Cooler Master UCP RS700-AAAAA3 700W PSU
-6GB (3x2048MB) OCZ DDR3 PC3-12800 Intel® i7 Triple Channel
-Sapphire ATI HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E graphics card
-Samsung Syncmaster P2370 23' 1920x1080 LCD Monitor
-Logitech G15 keyboard and G9 Laser Gaming Mouse


Edit: I just remembered, I updated my BIOS to the newest firmware to solve a BSOD problem that I was getting also only during gameplay. That problem was solved but this one has since started.


Edit 2: I removed all asus software and the problem persisted. I get the same shutdown, I just don't have the game minimize to desktop at the last second just to see an error message I can't read. Instead, screen goes black and everything shuts down.

This leads me to believe that the error message I was seeing was caused by the shutdown and minimized the game just prior to everything shutting off rather than actually causing it.

[raybro]

Looks like a pretty nice system but, from your description of events, the most likely culprit is still heat. Download the free version of HWMonitor and see how things look temperature wise.

Raybro

[Chewie4299]

I downloaded the program and ran it. Then started playing again, sure enough after maybe 20 minutes everything shut down.

When I booted back up I checked my GPU temp and the high that was shown was 99 deg C. That's at stock settings with the GPU fan at 80%.

I've known for a while that these cards had serious heat issues but it can't seriously be that bad completely stock..... can it?

Also is that hot enough to force my entire PC to shut down? That's just below boiling.....


Edit: CPU temps barely elevated above idle as well.

[raybro]

99° C seems pretty high to me, but them, I'm not a gamer. So I don't really have a feel for what is normal or acceptable for the GPU's temperature wise. I use a laptop with on-board graphics

Perhaps someone else can contribute on the question. IMO, at least symptomatically, your computer is behaving as one would if the internal temps were to high.

Hang in and I'm sure someone with more experience with GPU's than I will provide some input. Meanwhile, I'm going to do a little research on the subject.

Raybro

[Chewie4299]

Yea, I agree everything points to temperature. I don't understand that error message though, and all temps except GPU are very good.

[raybro]

As I said I would, I did some first look type of reseach and found more confusing information than anything else. First, it appears there are a number of different versions of the Sapphire HD4850. The method of cooling seems to be the most significant difference between models. There is also some variation in the amount of RAM on the card. from 384MB to 1GB.

I've seen one called Vapor X, another with something called a "Dual Slot heat sink" (major fan on that one), and another with a "single slot profile". So perhaps we can narrow down the field of search a bit. Get ALL the information you can on the card you have and post it.

Preliminarily, it looks like 99° is on the high side, but I'm not willing to make that statement as a fact as yet.

Raybro

[Chewie4299]

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presenta...000101&pid=173


That is the card I have. 512MB GDDR3, Single slot, not the vaporX.

[crjdriver]

That temp is warm however it is still within specs. The fan speed on the 4xxx series is adjustable so have you set the fan speed to a higher value? This option is available in CCC.

Next I would uninstall ALL of the asus software and see if you still have the problem.

Next thing I see is you have ocz ram. Did you check that the ram you installed was listed on the qvl list at asus? OCZ ram very often needs a higher vdimm [ram voltage] set in the bios. Have you done this task?

[Chewie4299]

I will remove the asus software and see if that solves my problem. I like the intelligent CPU fan control setting in Asus Fan Xpert because it keeps the CPU cool but stays quiet when possible....I'll deal without it though.

My memory IS on the qvl for my board.

As for my GPU, with the default fan settings when idling on my desktop my GPU temp is around 88 deg C. I turn the fan up to near 100% and it cools to around 72 deg at idle but sounds like a tornado inside my case. I played last night with my GPU near maxed and still got a shutdown.

I'm hoping it actually isn't the GPU as it seems I would need to replace it or get an aftermarket cooler. Either way I'm too broke for that right now.

[Chewie4299]

I removed all asus software and the problem persisted. I get the same shutdown, I just don't have the game minimize to desktop at the last second just to see an error message I can't read. Instead, screen goes black and everything shuts down.

This leads me to believe that the error message I was seeing was caused by the shutdown and minimized the game just prior to everything shutting off rather than actually causing it.

[crjdriver]

You do not need any software to control the cpu fan. Your board has q-fan. The settings for the bios are on page 3-34 of the online manual.

Next you have not posted whether or not you set the correct vdimm in the bios?

[crjdriver]

Is this the only game that causes problems or does the system shutdown when running other things?

Just checked the specs for your memory and it uses 1.65V. Your board should default to 1.5V; so yes you need to set the correct value.

[Chewie4299]

This is the only graphic intensive game I play.... I don't really play anything else as of right now but I will be getting the new battlefield game in march.

If you mean the DRAM Bus Voltage, it is currently set at 1.64V..... I upped it there during overclocking of my CPU. I followed the guide at http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...rclocking.html

It was the first time I ever overclocked so I didn't want to go into it blindly. I used that guide since their test system has almost the same specs as mine.

You think upping it to 1.65 will solve the problem?

[crjdriver]

No.
If your system does not shutdown when running other things, I would tend to think the game is the problem. Have you checked for any updates, patches, etc for the game?

As a test, run something that stresses both the cpu/ram and the video card. A good example would be 3DMark.

[Chewie4299]

I'm pretty certain it's not the game. The game install is clean, it's up to date, all files are good, and I know plenty of people running it without issue.

Ill try 3dmark