UT3 breaks up & freezes PC

[abbey]

Hi
I have just joined the forum upon my M8's recommendation as he is also into UT3.
I am happy to be here and thanks to the ones who make this forum possible.

Now for my problem
I have installed UT3 on my PC today and I am have severe problems.
Firstly the Game start to pixelate 2mins into any screen and then rapidly breaks up then freezes.
My whole PC freezes until I press the restart switch on the PC...not good
Here is My setup for those who will ask me questions

M/board - ASRock 939N68PV-GLAN
CPU - 939 chipset 2.20 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200
MEMORY - Corsair 2GB @ 400Mhz
POWER SUPPLY - 600W
VIDEO CARD - Nvidia GeForce 7800GT - Driver Version 175.19 released - 09:07:2008
WINDOWS XP Professional Service Pack 2 (build 2600)
Screen Resolution is running at - 1280 by 1024 pixels

I need help please

Regards
Abbey

[RoadKillGrill]

Firstly the Game start to pixelate 2mins into any screen and then rapidly breaks up then freezes.

This sounds like your videocard is overheating, check the temperature on your gpu and try cleaning out the case.

[abbey]

Hi Roadkill
Thanx for reply
How do I check the temperature of my videocard
What software to use ?
Thx

[bclagge]

It could also be driver issues. The first thing you should do is go to www.nvidia.com and download the latest driver for your video card.

Then, to check temperatures download RivaTuner and use their "hardware monitoring" function.
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163

[oldkawman1]

Try running with the side of your case off. Visually verify the fan on the card is running and make airflow is not blocked by another card.

nvidia ntune is a nice utility for nforce motherboards and nvidia video cards

http://www.nvidia.com/object/ntune_5.05.54.00.html

It has a system temp stripchart utility you can run which records temps over a predefined period. It also has several test utilities.

[{DvT}JonahHex]

Running your system with the side of the case off generally is a poor idea. Doing so will cause the intake fans to just blow the air out of the side without passing the air over your components. Similarly, the exhaust fans will just suck air from the side directly to themselves and out the back.

If the airflow in your case is really bad, taking the side off can help but it is still a poor solution. If the circulation inside your case is so poor (few, small case fans) and taking the side panel off the case is appropriate, do it right and get a small floor fan to blow into the case. Something like this one:

(http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=1795820)
(NOTE: I am neither recommending this particular fan, manufacturer, nor supplier. I just did a quick look to find something to use as an example.)