Weird 3d game problems

[dracleath]

Hi, I've recently been having some trouble with my t42. Basically for the past couple of months whenever I've been running 3d games (most notably civilization 4 and titan quest) the computer crashes. Sometimes the computer just freezes, though I can still move the mouse pointer and the music keeps going, other times it goes to a blue screen reporting an error in one of the ati drivers. Also I've been similarly getting a lot of issues where the system misdraws textures, or just displays gibberish when trying to run a 3d application. I originally thought this might be a driver problem, but on my friend's computer the games work fine using the same driver which I am running.

Can I reasonably assume this is a hardware problem? I recently had the fan error problem, and upon taking the computer to the warranty repair center they replaced the fan and hard drive, which failed a reliability test.


Am I best off just returning it to the center and explaining my problem? I'm afraid the video card is hosed, possibly due to overheating from the fan problems, but since the problem only occurs in certain games and isn't really immediately replicable (it only happens after 30 minutes to an hour of running a 3d application) I'm a bit concerned that they'll just look at at and since it's working at the moment say that it's fine and not actually deal with the problem.



Anyone had a similar problem? My warranty runs out in a couple of months so if this is something that would be covered and is a hardware problem I'd certainly like to get it fixed, but if there's a simple software or driver solution I'd like to know it since I've tried everything up to this point to no avail.

[FTC]

Hi,

What's your T42 model ? What GPU are you using ? I think the best suggestion is that you check your GPU temps with Fancontrol or similar when using the GPU. For instance, start ATITool and show the 3D view while displaying fancontrol... after 5 minutes, note the GPU temp... if it's over 95C I'd say you have a cooling problem and then the first thing I'd attempt is cleaning the heatsink and/or reseating it with some arctic silver, because if your GPU is overheating, it makes sense that it generates hangs or arctifacts.

[dracleath]

The GPU is an ATI mobility 9600. I tested the temperatures and they top out around 85-90, so I don't think that's the problem.

[FTC]

Well, definetly the load temps for the GPU look normal (85-90C), so I am affraid your best bet is sending the machine to the repair center again...

[sktn77a]

Actually, that sounds a little on the high side. Maybe they didn't replace the "grey pad" on the 9600 section of the heatsink or properly rip it off and replace it with thermal paste?